Many times, the "Black left" presents an image of Black America that is one of poverty and near hopelessness that cannot be overcome unless outside intervention is made.
Many times, the "Black right" presents an image of Black America that is one of poverty, laziness, and mired in self-induced hopelessness. A Black America that is incapable of thinking unless one of the appointed "leaders" tells Black America what to think.
That's what I get from much of the commentary by the elite "Black left" and "Black right" media figures.
"Both sides" are full of it. "Both sides" are negative. Both sides, for the most part, push negativity, in my opinion.
It's my strongly held belief that the "Black left" dwells too much on the plight of Blacks who are not achieving instead of also highlighting those Blacks who are achieving.
It's my strongly held belief that the "Black right" dwells too much on the plight of Blacks who are not achieving, instead of also highlighting those Blacks who are achieving.
The only difference between the two is how they go about their hyper-criticism. And, frankly, it's to the testimate of Black America that Blacks, as a whole, aren't more mind scrambled.
I had the opportunity to be a part of a "Black conservative" email list for a time. There were conflicts among the "Black conservatives" that took me by surprise because at the time because all I read from "Black conservatives" seemed to indicate a "Black conservative unified front."
All "individual thought" but thinking as a unified group. But, that wasn't group think...
But on that email list, I read Black conservatives calling some other Black conservatives "sell out" or "Black CON-servatives".
From that point on, you couldn't tell me nuthin' about the so-called "Black left" vs. "Black right" debate. From that point on, I've been convinced that it's all a bunch of useless nonsense that Blacks shouldn't be taking a part in.
Seeing that debate solidified the idea that I had in my mind at the time: the view of the Black community, be it from the outside or the inside, was too simplistic and all of the noise from the "elite" members kept it that way. And the Black community as a whole should be ashamed because no one is calling "both camps" out on their foolishness.
This is a prologue. I intend to give insight to what I have seen in my now four decades of life. I hope that I'm capable of showing the mixed bag to which life in the Black community is. I'll touch on:
If I do my job well enough, you should be able to see that the "Black left" and the "Black right" media elite are selling a bunch of goods.
P.S.
One last thing, the major driver behind this series is the inability of people to take questioning of ideas (dogma?) without assigning a political label to it.
I challenge global warming support, anti-capitalistism comments, ultra-Black nationalism, the "definition of Blackness", the Black support of Democrats, the Black support of Bill Clinton, etc, and I get called a conservative.
I challenge the dogma that the support of Democrats is not based on Republican action/inaction, the idea of "victimology" in Black America, that Blacks are some how anti-American, that Blacks are sheep of "Black leaders", etc, and I get called a liberal.
Can't a person intellectually embrace both? Seems like many people don't think so.
Posted by at January 16, 2005 03:45 PM | TrackBack