A More Devastating Problem
The most devastating problem for blacks is the very weak black family structure. Tim Scott (a Black U. S. Senator for South Carolina) wrote, “If you have two parents in the household, you reduce poverty in the African-American community by 85%. That’s a stunning truth that needs more oxygen.” The absence of a father in the home predisposes children, especially boys, to academic failure, criminal behavior and economic hardship, not to mention an intergenerational repeating of handicaps.
BLM makes it clear that encouraging self-reliance and freedom from government dependency is not at all a priority. These radicals have no belief that an intact family, personal property, personal wealth, and achievement are healthy rights. And because of this, they do not promote a sense of personal accomplishment or greater attainment in the next generation.
Trying to distinguish between the lower case “black lives matter” movement from the uppercase “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) is a red herring. Many blacks are tired of BLM’s leftist political agenda because it will only lead to harm for their community. Niger Innis recently exploded, “I’ll be g—ed if you use the suffering and misery of black Americans and our legacy to the United States of America as your shield and use us as cannon fodder when your agenda really has not a d—n thing to do with saving black lives.” Leo Terrell, racial activist and lawyer, insisted that a “criminal element” has taken over the protest movement that began with the death of George Floyd.
“There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public,” Booker T. Washington rightly observed over a hundred years ago. “Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
Sadly, this problem is as dangerous today as it was in Washington’s day, yet with one warning: Many of these race hustlers instigating the grievances of identity politics aren’t black. There’s good money to be made in peddling the Left’s narrative of “white privilege,” and whites are eagerly forking over their money for the privilege of being told just how racist they are.
Activists seek pledges from local governments to “defund” or “dismantle” police departments, but black Americans haven’t received any well thought out alternative public-safety plans to curb violence. It is clear that most African-Americans would desire police reform over abolition. Their thoughts on this matter deserve to be considered, but the “antiracist” movement virtually disregards how working and middle-class African-Americans define and pursue the good life.
The most successful formula for escaping poverty is to finish high school, marry before having children and get a job. But that last step, getting a job, is made difficult by the welfare state. This was made all too clear when the response to COVID-19 was to shut down a majority of American businesses. To allay the fear this brought to many Americans the government decided to give each unemployed person an extra $600 a week, on top of the unemployment check they were already receiving.
No wonder so many people didn’t want to return to work! They were not motivated to do so because they were making ample money by staying home. This is reflective of what the welfare system has done to “de-motivate” people to find work. The response only highlights those policies which redistribute wealth to the impoverished in much the same way that a Marxist systems would. If Americans take the time to thoroughly examine the lessons of history, we would all know that the remedy for impoverished Americans of all colors isn’t offering free handouts or defunding the police. The solution certainly isn’t fighting the unproven “systemic racism.” Instead, it is hard work, family values and improved educational opportunities.