Hero Worship and Religiosity

By: Alexander K. Robinson

There has been much written and said about why those who are living in substandard conditions usually concentrated in the core of urban centers, about the causes and consequences of their conditions. Whether the cause is contributed to intergenerational poverty or lack of sense of community due to the lack of family structure and values, the effects are always crime, desperation, and desolation. 

Economists point to the lack of human capital as one of the reasons why these populations are unable to remove themselves from this state. I propose the idea that it is not a lack of human capital but a concern for issues that delivers an intangible gratifying experience as opposed to ideas and methods that will lead to preferable outcomes.

Education is always expected to be the savior of Black Americans, who in American have become a disenfranchised, marginal group. What is never specified is type, form, and purpose of said education. Should the goal be to prepare them for employment in the pre-dominant economy of our time, with the focus being high skilled service employment? 

While these questions need some serious thought in order to reach serious answers, inherent to any call for education is the presumption the those within the Black community lack education and the skills necessary to “pull itself up by its bootstraps”. This is untrue. There is a strong collection of knowledge in the Black community, but it has been concentrated to perverse hero worship and extreme religiosity.

The hero worship in the Black Community is idolatry. Rappers, celebrities, and athletes are the overwhelming percentage of role models for these misguided youth. Adulation of this sort is understandable because it is only these professions where individuals who share common characteristics of their followers and often share similar backgrounds are allowed highly visible levels of success.

Kobe Doin' Work

Additionally, these individuals appear to have skill sets that are easily attainable. Getting payed to play basketball is extremely attractive to those who play basketball everyday for free. Females follow reality TV stars such as those on Basketball Wives and imagine a reality where they would only have to shop and be responsible for the interior decorating of their husbands mansions. Those who aspire to be the next Heavy D, can rifle off countless verses of memorized prose.

Unwavering commitment to religion is a fact of life in many Black communities. A more serious concern is the fact that this religion was used as a justification for slavery, and in some places is taught in a similar fashion as it was over 100 years ago. Religion offers spiritual guidance and provides a moral foundation for its many followers. 

Mega Church Pastor T.D. Jakes

What religion also provides is the situation where one accepts the conditions around them and the statements of their leaders with unwavering support. This behavior of acceptance without question is transposed to other aspects of life, exampled in politics, where one party has routinely garnered support by Black Americans without any real policy to reverse the conditions of permanent poverty for a prominent portion of the population.

When the focus of Black America is redirected, from extreme hero worship and religiosity, goals that have more of a tangible, economic benefit, will be the day the this community begins to climb from their position on the social ladder as America’s permanent working class.

Thanks to Dr. James Chaffers for inspiring this post.

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