Who Will Take Care of Black Americans by Prof Devin Robinson

A friend sent me this post from the That Minority Thing Blog:

In this new emerging market where independence and innovation is needed, howwill Blacks, a group who were historically taught to be dependent, fair in thisnew economy?

There are three major problems for a poor or non-suspecting Black in America.One, he is subject to being educated by the public school system. Two, thepublic school teaches students how to become employees who are more likely tofocus on product consumption, not production and income dependence, notindependence. Three, this educational design does Blacks a disservice since itdoesn’t address the needs of a Black in a society where job creation ispredominantly done by non-Blacks. This poses a great obstacle for BlackAmericans.

Being conditioned to become consumers and employees wouldn’t be so much of a bigdeal if Blacks had a business infrastructure to step into to support ourpsychographics and cultural dynamics. It’s like spoiling your child. It wouldn’tbe a problem if your child never had to rely on anyone else for their care butyou or if they won’t ever need anyone else’s assistance in life. The problemarouses when a spoiled and entitled child has to depend on someone other thantheir parent for help.

Since the change of consumer dynamics where there is no longer consumerdiscrimination based on race, we’ve excelled in that area. However, thedisparities still exists in jobs and ownership, which creates a systematicdisadvantage against Blacks. Recent reports show that full-time workers willbecome the workforce minority over the next 20 years. This means contractors andpart-time workers, who must have a sense of entrepreneurship to succeed, willdominate the market. Contractors will be expected to pay their own taxes,organize their own work schedules and obtain their own clients. Part-timeworkers will be expected to manage multiple jobs and survive on inconsistentincome. Here’s the catch, unemployment rates may be at high levels but thedemand for products and services hasn’t declined. This simply means that theability for corporations to deliver a product or service to the consumer isbecoming difficult without having to skyrocket their prices. It also means thatthose who can fill demands of the population without doing so through employmentwill stand the test of time. Since companies are required to pay a minimum wage,with decreasing business revenues, employees have now become a steep expense.Being able to contract oneself out to communities that would employ you at alower wage rate than what the federal laws mandates will become a crucialability for Blacks in this changing market. Vice President Joe Biden cited thatof the eight million jobs lost since the 2008 recession, a vast majority of themwill not return.

Civil Rights activists such as Rev Jesse Jackson, Rev Al Sharpton, Marcus Garveyand Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have done (and continue to do) brilliantwork in toppling a system that wasn’t favorable to Blacks. However, the workmust continue in the form of economic subsistence of the people. Because of theill-informed nature of many Blacks, wealth transfer by Government to Blacks inthe forms of unemployment benefits, welfare assistance and social programs,which subsidizes expenses, guarantees that these benefits will be returned tobig businesses, that are typically not owned by Blacks or by people living inBlack communities.

So as this new market emerges, Blacks must systematically and methodicallyadjust in order to survive. Completing high school helps with success but doesnot eliminate the economic death sentence written for Blacks if we do not gainsupplemental and realistic American dynamic knowledge to compliment the basictheories learned in public schools. With Blacks being taught to self-destruct inthe early years of America’s birth, we have almost three times as much work todo in order to be a competitive group. However, all news isn’t grim forBlacks’ independence, with a nearing $1.2 trillion spending power all we needare lessons in how and where to spend in order to become a respected andindependent group in America.Devin Robinson is an economics professor at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GAand author of Rebuilding the Black Infrastructure: Making America a ColorlessNation. He can be reached at devin@devinrobinson.com.

And Kentke replied~

I am truly saddened by this post. The range of possibilities the author offers are so deeply limited. Then to read the majority of the comments and realize that they too express a view of themselves as victim and subjugated. The level of helpless dependency that all but one or two comments express is heartbreaking.

Not anywhere is there any mention that there is a world out there, and that we are strong survivors, descendents of the first human beings. All that we see in the manifest world would not be, if the courage, genius, creativity and seeking spirit of Life, did not first manifest in humans that looked like us. These same qualities, are still present in our DNA. They just lay dormant within us. This post shows how much centuries of social programming adverse to our own good, have succeeded.

America, first of all, is not the beginning or the end of the continuum of our lives. So when we think of ourselves, only within the context that America, and this experience has created for us, automatically we have limited truth. Surely, we have limited the possibilities of our intrinsic being. That is first for me. That we must make an effort to see the bigger picture. Otherwise, as the hip-hop anthem warned us....we are believing the HYPE (as in Don't Believe the Hype).

If we weighed our talents, abilities and experience on a scale, with that of other ethnic groups of the world, we would realize that the descendants of Africans in America possess qualities and abilities that far exceed those of many nations. Even without college degrees in every household, our communities are full of people with intelligence, understanding, integrity and great abliity. Because of the psychological and social ignorance here, our development and contributions are retarded, limited, warped and just plain stifled.

An intelligent person, recognizing this, would do what every other intelligent animal on the planet does, when confronted with these type of conditions. Raise it's head up, and look around to see, where there are environments and conditions, that would be conducive for a good life. All living things need certain conditions in order to thrive. It's clear, even with a Black president, that here, those conditions are either not present, or overcoming the obstacles to obtain them is so consuming, that it's often futile, or not worth the effort.

At this, point, for me, the question becomes: Are there other places on the planet where we might take our intelligence, talents and abilities and thrive? Are there communities and nations that would welcome people such as ourselves, even invite us to participate fully in the governance and good that wholesome life entails?

What's wrong with our thinking that we can only get angry at all these immigrants that come here anyway they can, because of opportunity? Why are we not also out on the world scene, living in other nations, working in other places, discovering where we can take advantage of openings in society, business, education, etc.

Our life here has made us experts in areas of civil life, both urban and rural. Even the high school dropout, or chronically unemployed, are rich in understanding and experience that would have value in the global arena. We have no idea of these factors however, because we've had our heads up America's a_ _ for so long, breathing the poison of her waste, that we've completely lost sense of who and what we really are.

That's the problem. Our "best" thinkers (ie: professors), are asking questions like the one posed here, instead of encouraging us to think outside of this box of mental slavery; Instead of directing us to listen to our inner self for solutions, not America's failed systems that are only to keep us in a certain role and place.

If we can reclaim our thinking, and make it reflect our authentic selves, serve Life, and our need to be true to ourselves....we will save not only ourselves, but we will positively affect America's destiny in the process, and if we let ourselves go all the way....we will definately be a part of the energy restoring wholeness all over the globe.

I respect and appreciate the effort of everyone here. I just want us to stop limiting evolution, and ourselves by relying on such a poor example of what's possible for us. We know America. We as Eldridge said, 'Live in the belly of the beast'.

I trust that each of us inwardly has an ideal of existence. Take some time and think deeply: Do my highest ideals of success and happiness come from American images, values, and programming, or are they truly mine? If you realize there is a discreprancy, ask yourself can you achieve your ideal here? If this place doesn't offer the possibility of your ideal in a reasonable amount of time, is it not our duty to have courage, be willing to explore and seek where a better place might be? Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, islands of the oceans, South America....Hey it's your world....

p.s. I highlight the word thrive here a couple of times, because I want us to think about that word. It's a wonderful word. It's a very important word, that we rarely hear anymore. Look it up. Get into it. Commit to it. It's very important to the living process. We are here to trive. Not just to exist, get by, or barely make it....Discover what you need to thrive, then surround yourself with it and soar.....

lovu,

Kentke

just in case you have a different dictionary than I do~

Thrive:

to have oneself in hand

1. to prosper; flourish; be successful, especially as the result of economical management.

2. to grow vigourously or luxuriantly; improve physically

so.....get busy thriving Beloveds! And have fun doing it!