To hear many conservatives tell it, the problems of the black community are caused by blacks themselves. Drug abuse, gang violence, petty crime, broken families, and teen pregnancies are all preventable phenomena that the African-American community willingly indulges in. As a result, blacks suffer economically, dooming themselves to life in the ghetto.
That assessment of the black predicament is categorically false. All of these problems are merely symptoms of the real problems - a lack of employment opportunities and poor quality of inner city education. The reasoning is simple: a people with little no opportunity to move up the social ladder becomes mired a cycle of violence, drugs, crime and poor family values in reaction to their poor economic position. When your family is starving, and there are no jobs in your community, robbing is a viable alternative. If you're a proud man, you might abandon your family as a result of the psychological damage of not being able to provide for them. The misery of the ghetto robs children of their intellectual potential and leaves them to think they can expect nothing better in life than poverty. In short, a dearth of economic opportunity leads to a politically and socially dysfunctional community, a phenomenon which can be observed as easily in the Middle East as in black American communities.
Our current situation reminds me of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1968 statement that the lack of jobs was the most important issue facing African-Americans at the time. He knew that economic opportunity and true political equality are inextricably linked. King believed that jobs were the key to African-American wealth and, through that wealth, political equality. However, we have betrayed King's wisdom, choosing to embrace token progress while ignoring the black community's dire situation.
You might ask, What situation? I wouldn't blame you for not knowing. The black plight has been hidden from public knowledge by an apathetic power elite high off its own belief in inane post-racialism. To catch you up to speed, a virtual economic depression has been savaging the black community for years now, and with the recession, those conditions have only gotten worse.
According to the recently released "State of the Dream", a report on the black community written by United for a Fair Economy, African-Americans are well on their way to economic irrelevance. As usual, the economic disparities follow racial lines. While only 9% of white America was unemployed as of December 2009, the unemployment rate among blacks was an insane 16.2% (a 4.3% increase from December 2008). Poverty among blacks is approaching 50%. Yes, you read that right - almost half of all blacks live in poverty. A third of black children live in poverty.
To make matters worse, even blacks who have jobs can't expect a fair shake at things. For every dollar that a white person earns, a black person can expect sixty-two cents. If you have a college degree, don't expect that to be of any help. Black degree holders were nearly twice as likely than their white counterparts to be unemployed last year.
As is to be expected, this has dramatic effects on the distribution of wealth in America. Blacks could only claim ten cents of net worth for every dollar of white net worth. The median value of financial assets held by blacks were less than a third of those held by whites. The overwhelming number of foreclosure victims have been black.
How can we claim true equality in the new decade if we aren't willing to address these disparities? The Obama administration has certainly done nothing to stem the bleeding, choosing instead to ignore the black depression in favor of a broad approach (which has been ineffective in itself). In doing nothing, our power elite is tacitly signalling that the black problem does not interest them. They are fine with black inequality. What they don't realize is that America is ultimately going where its least fortunate citizens go. Our economy cannot move into the future without a solid middle class and less poverty. In addressing the black problem, the government will discover new ways to improve the situation of all working Americans. Policies such as a highly targeted jobs program will create a resurgent black community with money to contribute to the economy and more tax dollars to fuel government programs. All of America would benefit from a stronger black community. And by no means are such recommendations restricted to the black community. They should also be applied to working America at large. It must be acknowledge, however, that the black community is in particular need of such help.
Otherwise, all of America is living a lie. While we sit around feeling that King's dream was realized the day Obama was sworn in as president, we are actually kicking dirt on King's legacy.
while it can't be denied
while it can't be denied that black americans are suffering economically, you can't make the leap from that fact to a claim that "we are actually kicking dirt on King's legacy." that claim is only valid if there is a long-term (since, say, the Civil Rights Act, to pick a somewhat arbitrary chronological landmark) downward trend in black america's economic power in comparison to that of the rest of the country's population. that may even be a real trend, but you didn't say that in your post. if it IS true, then including some numbers to support that claim would bolster your argument immensely.
if you were to say that there is still a huge amount of work to be done in improving the economic condition of our poorest communities, comprised largely of blacks and other disadvantaged minorities, as you rightly pointed out, you would be absolutely right and the stats you chose to support your claim are certainly sufficient. but running quickly and loudly toward the notion that blacks are being actively and further disadvantaged by those in power, without providing some sort of statistical substantiation for that claim, is counterproductive and might just create backlash among those who resent being accused of continued racism.
only a fool would say that there is no problem of economic disparity between those of different racial backgrounds in this country. but i think ignoring the significant, however incomplete, progress made with race relations in this country is its own kind of betrayal of king's legacy. the swearing-in of a black president is NOT an insignificant milestone. there is no need to run to extremes merely for the sake of doing so when making a rational, coherent argument encouraging further investment in the black community would be much more persuasive.
Baileys Original I don't
Baileys Original
I don't think that I ran to extremes to make my point. At no point did I say that the government is actively impoverishing black Americans. That would be ridiculous. I did say that the power elite is apathetic towards the problem, which is definitely true. I doubt that you would hear about this problem in the corporate media very often. The Obama administration has preferred to enact broad jobs programs rather than targeted programs while only speaking on black America when prompted to do so. I stand by my statement that government is apathetic to the black plight.
My argument was rational and coherent. At no point did I launch into a polemic on insidious white racism, real or imagined. I provided my opinion that helping the black community will ultimately help America at large. I don't know where your perception of a wild-eyed argument is coming from.
Lastly, I did provide statistics on the black community. I dedicated three paragraphs to such stats. You should read them. I demonstrate that there has been a decline in the black economic situation. I also demonstrate that the black economic situation is much worse than that of white Americans. If you want further proof of such a decline, I have updated this post with a link to the report I reference. I urge you to read it.
I can't help but get the feeling that you did not completely read this article. If you did actually read it, your response seems, to me, to reflect the general mood among the mainstream that any discussion of the black plight is somehow irrational, sentimental, or extreme. I don't see how you could have read this and come away with the assumption that my argument was extreme. Impassioned, yes, but not extreme. You have resorted to the same old criticisms of this kind of argument, which is to muster up a response built on the assumption that any concern for the black community is extreme, or at the very least narrow.
Lastly, I agree that the election of Obama is a significant milestone. However, Obama is only one black man. White American has shown a disturbing tendency to ignore the rest of black America while focusing on Obama. The truth is, we are not a post-racial society, and pretending that we are just exacerbates our problems. In this sense, we are betraying the militant values that King stood for.
it is amusing that you said
it is amusing that you said "government is apathetic to the black plight" and literally two sentences later say "at no point did I launch into a polemic on insidious white racism, real or imagined." you are of course, technically, still correct, but how is accusing the government of being "apathetic to the black plight" not a thinly veiled accusation of racism? moreover, your original post claims, "The black plight has been hidden from public knowledge by an apathetic power elite high off its own belief in inane post-racialism." you are well within your rights to accuse the "power elite" of racism (if hiding the black plight is not a euphemism, i'm not sure what is), but at least have the courage not to deny it afterward. (of all things, i don't want this to devolve into a "you're a racist" shouting match, but in my defense, you started it. i urge you to end it.)
i acknowledged that you provided statistics, but you provided ones irrelevant to your point. the statement "African-Americans are well on their way to economic irrelevance" explicitly suggests a long-term trend of comparative economic decline, but you only provided statistics that show that the current situation is dire. to support your statement, you would need provide evidence (and you may be right, i don't know) that since King's day, black americans have, over time, seen their economic power decline in comparison to people of other backgrounds. nobody is disputing that black americans are, and always have been, worse off than white americans, but that's not what you're claiming.
i certainly do not believe that "any discussion of the black plight is somehow irrational, sentimental, or extreme." discussions of race are often, and always have the potential to be, productive and academically (and often practically) valuable. but that's not what this is about.
i do believe very strongly, however, that proposing targeted jobs programs based on racial background is wrongheaded. you do acknowledge with a token sentence (and let's be honest, two sentences in your entire post at least gives it a token feeling) near the end that "by no means are such recommendations restricted to the black community". it's important that you keep this in mind. affirmative action is one thing, but publicly funded jobs programs targeted primarily at black people is another. there is a very good reason to help an unemployed black man find a job, but that reason should have nothing to do with his being black; it should be because he's unemployed.
anyway, the point of my raising an objection to your piece is: america has a long history of racial discrimination, and that history has directly and very heavily (it could be argued, almost exclusively) contributed to the present situation. but race should not, and will hopefully never have, have a place in a government-sponsored economic program.
i am also confused by your suggestion that "we are betraying the militant values that King stood for." i am not an MLK scholar, so if you would care to enlighten the 2 people reading this as to his "militant values that King stood for", i would be much obliged. i was under the impression he stood for non-violent protest.
Hmm ...
"but race should not, and will hopefully never have, have a place in a government-sponsored economic program."
Seems like just prattling on about a race blind society to me. It's easy to say we can't base these things on race when you're not the one suffering. This kind of bs shouldn't fly when REAL people are suffering.
Black Russian
indeed, nowhere do I see white people dying from gun violence or being incarcerated on a massively disproportionate level. that kind of suffering is ignored by the mainstream discourse as well. at some point institutional blindness is just an excuse for racism, in the same sense that the federal government looked away for sixty years while Jim Crow flourished. your reference to Martin Luther King couldn't be more valid.
All Wrong
Baileys Original
In what world is apathy equated with racism? The government has also been apathetic to the poverty of white Americans living in the Appalachian mountains, Latinos all over the nation, and various other groups. The government's apathy pretty much extends to all poverty-stricken working Americans. So your accusation that by pointing out apathy I'm making a racial argument is just plain wrong.
In the same way, the power elite goes to lengths to white wash poverty in America for all racial groups. Before the recession, it was rare that you heard a discussion about poverty of any type in the mainstream media. The white washing of African-American poverty appears much more egregious, however, considering the increased nature of the suffering and the self-congratulatory fervor of American post-racialism.
I didn't deny anything - you simply misunderstood my argument. I didn't start an argument about racism, merely an institutional blindness. You read racism into the article. You're the only one guilty of turning this discussion into a "you're a racist" shouting match. If you thought that's what I was doing, you should read more carefully and refrain from creating imaginary arguments.
If showing that there has been a 4.3% increase in black unemployment relative to white unemployment since December 2008 to December 2009 isn't a sign of a worsening economic condition, I don't know what is. However, the point of my article was to show that there is still an economic emergency gripping the black community despite the idealism regarding race relations in America. That's what I'm claiming.
Your argument that a jobs program should have nothing to do with race is ridiculous. Race and class are intertwined in America. It's usually difficult to separate the two. At any rate, who cares for what reason a black man is getting a job - as long as he's getting the damn job. There's no point arguing over semantics. Just give him the job. A significant part of our population is dragging our economy down through extreme poverty. Something needs to be done. If a highly targeted program can get the job done - and it can, according to the study I linked to - then government should invest in it.
In addition, the special circumstances of the black community merit the special attention. You can't point to another demographic in America with the same levels of poverty. Therefore, blacks should get a particularly intense solution. You can't solve the problem by spreading a jobs program over the entire nation and expecting a program tailored to broader poverty levels to solve the problem of acute poverty in the black community. How can the black community be helped if the policies instituted aren't strong enough to put a dent poverty? You say that race should not have a place in a government sponsored economic program - how do you propose to solve the problem then, since past efforts (even under Clinton's economy, blacks were impoverished) have failed. Why keep going over the same old ground instead of trying a new approach?
Lastly, militant does not merely mean violent. It also means adamant and persistent in addressing an issue or supporting a cause. You can read any history of the Civil Rights Movement and see it described as militant. I suggest you read the study "Martin Luther King, Jr.: Apostle of Militant Nonviolence".
Good Points
You make some good points. But, don't you think that, in these conditions, a jobs program restricted to black people will not only look bad politically for Obama, but also shows disregard for people of other races who are suffering?
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