By: Alexander K. Robinson
The progression of Black Americans from activists during the civil rights era, to their current condition as inhabitants on America’s lowest social rung, is the cause of much frustration for the youth of Black America. What happened to the vivaciousness that once took hold of a people looking for a better life in an era of 2nd class citizenship? Many may view the Civil Rights Era as a huge success and have happily embraced the fruits of integration. These successful Black Americans who have been complacent in the Black Flight from the majority Black metropolitan areas have led to a subculture in these cities where Black on Black crime has become a way of life.
According to the Justice Department 10.4% of Black men ages 25-29 are incarcerated. In 2000 there were 791,600 black men in prison and 603,032 enrolled in college. According to the 2010 Census, black children are three times as likely to be poor as white children. According to 2005–2008 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 51% of non-Hispanic black women aged 20 years or older were obese and according to AVERT.org, of the over 1 million people living with HIV in the United States today, more than half of them are Black. These statistics may paint a dim view of life for Black Americans, but it disguises a very powerful segment of Black America. There are numerous Black Americans who have achieved success in the arenas of entertainment, sports, business, politics, academia, law, and religion. These individuals are the heads of Black America’s institutions, churches, schools, and communities, representing the Talented Tenth the W.E.B. Dubois wrote about in his magnum opus, The Souls of Black Folk. Black America need to embrace this group in order to achieve progression as a whole, but cannot do as such when members of the elite class have accepted the views, culture and mindset of White America. The wealth that is held in the hands of this privileged group would have an unimaginable affect if invested in the communities that have suffered immensely from lack of access to capital.
The communities left behind by the success of Black America have actually become what the glorified drug dealer/ rap star have labeled them, the trap. A trap is defined as having the following characteristics: little to no employment opportunities, businesses owned by those who want nothing else but to see Blacks stay in a position of dependency, drug peddling as a major industry, the block as a first home; with the prison/jail cell as a close second, and children born unrestrained in fatherless homes. The reality of this is disheartening, but this reality is life for millions of Black Americans. The anger built up through this unfulfilled life is remedied by drugs, alcohol, sex as a sport, and the act of killing one another. The youth are so mad at their status in society that they no longer value life, neither theirs nor those who share the short end of the stick of the world’s most prosperous nation.
This way of life is unacceptable, but can only be remedied by swift, direct action. The government knows of the issues at hand and what is at stake. What actions do they take to solve the problem? Institute a “War on Drugs” that has only exacerbated the problem, instead of a War on Poverty to address the underlying causes. President Obama knows of the issues at hand and what is at stake. What has he done to solve the problem? Ignored the very ones who hail him as a hero and a source of hope. So the answer lies with us, those who have the will and ability to give back. Black America no longer needs an Martin Luther King type figure to lead them out of their predicament, but a generation of leaders that will provide an example of how success can be achieved without depending on those outside of the Black community.
1 comments:
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