The Curse of the Civil Rights Era

Though this guy's bad attempt at humor may have gone far off center, it in no way warranted the insane amount of Media coverage and attention. If someone were just to judge by the Media's sound bites, they would've thought that Mr. Imus' over 5 minutes of off-colored commentary only targeted the ladies of the Rutgers Basketball Team. They would have no idea of the remarks that were aimed at the Duke Ladies Basketball Team that too weren't all that flattering. Could it be because the Duke team had more Caucasians than Rutgers? Are we in 2007 still judging people and treating people based not on the content of their individual character, but the color of their group identity? Is there some agenda by the elite via the Establishment Media purposely showing the Black American Community as perpetual victims that are easily offended and need to be consoled, protected, and defended by Caucasians? Why is it that the Negro in America is portrayed as the one group that needs to be constantly coddled, given a pass when it comes to anti-social behavior, that leads to sub-par performance both academically and socially, and treated as though we are so emotionally fragile that mere words is cause for a visit from a shrink? And why has it come to the point that in the "land of freedom of speech" it is only free till it offends someone, particularly if that who is offended is Negro, or of color?

An argument can be made that America has always had a division amongst it based on color of skin and or ethnic persuasion. If that is the case, why has there been no substantive debate, discussion, or reconciliation since the supposed abolishment of slavery and "racial" segregation, via the "Civil Rights Era"? After the struggle for Blacks and Whites to sit next to each other, we seemingly know less about each other and lesser about ourselves. Why is it that the issue of "race" is such that it sucks all rational and logical conversation or discussion out of the country?

There are many questions to be asked on the issue of so-called race in America and few answers are being discussed. At least not ones that many people want to hear.

It is my opinion that two events set in motion ripples that are vibrating throughout this nation till this very day that has retarded any hope or resolution of the issue of so-called race. The greatest one was what came out of the "Civil Rights Era" itself. Though there were many options and voices being screamed during this challenging period from "the turn the other cheek" or non-violent approach of Martin Luther King to "the eye for a eye" philosophy exposed by Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party, and the demand for social equality to economic equality, even to the degree of complete separation espoused by Marcus Garvey & Elijah Mohammad. The one that was chosen and highlighted by the Establishment Media was the one that posed the least threat to the Powers and the least real benefit to the Negro in American beyond being able to commingle socially with Caucasians - something that I believe was inevitable on simply the bases of national economics and survivability.

Let's really examine the fruits spawned by the "Civil Rights Era". The Era was meant to bring about social equality for the Negro in America. Instead, it has born the fruits of over 60% illegitimate child births and single-parent homes - largely fatherless. There are more Blacks in poverty today than in the 50's. There are more Black men in the penal or prison system than are in the educational system. Black on Black crime is more perverse than at any other time. Though there are more Blacks holding political office in America and disposable income of Blacks as a group rival the GDP of many nations today, Blacks are closely identified as beggars, largely consumers while produce little to benefit society, loafers, and always looking to receive something on the cheap or free. Too many Blacks in America have become a people who beg for what we need, while buy what we want.

It may have been once said that the Negro American community was politically rich and economically poor. But today it may be correctly said that we are politically adrift, socially dysfunctional, and economically ignorant.

While the Civil Rights Era made it socially and politically acceptable for Blacks and Whites to set next to each other and walk through the same door, there was little or no exchange of economics or education between the groups or themselves. The greatest exchange was Blacks exchanging their community for that of the White communities, as many once thriving Negro American communities were abandoned for the presumed greener pastures presented by Caucasians. The "Civil Rights Era" cemented the notion that Blacks in America were rightfully due "Forty Acres and a Mule", or to be made equal by the White majority. It did plant subconsciously that Negroes were eternal victims of past gross mistreatment, the Caucasian Elite were to pay and make them whole, and without artificial assistance, such as Affirmative Action Programs, Black are unable to succeed.

The next event that literally poured gas on the smoldering racial issue was the airing of the mini series "Roots" based on a novel written by Alex Haley in 1977. This depiction of the gross mistreatment of Negroes in bondage was visually disturbing for the nation as a whole because it was the first time that such visualization was injected into America's consciences - both Black and White. The airing of this entertainment presentation was taken as a literal account of that era, though it lacked true historical integrity due to the fact that it failed to detail the critical involvement in the slave trade of Black Africans by other Africans or and European Jews. Nor did it seek to educate viewers on the reasons for the placement of Black Africans and other Blacks in bondage and the imposition of such harsh draconian treatment. Roots more than any other event, due to the huge emotional presentation coupled with lack of comprehensive education and understanding of the African Slave Trade Era, placed guilt at the feet of every White person in America and gave the Blacks a social license to dislike Whites.

One can but imagine what the relations would be between Whites and Blacks in America, or the Black American Community as a whole, if the battle for Civil Rights focused on strengthening already established Constitutionally protected rights to treat all men equally under the law, without creating another classification, encouraged Negro Americans to become self-supportive and a more relevantly beneficial partner in the nation's society, as the European Jew did to escape the bottom of social relevance at the turn of the 19^th century. Actually civil rights was already included in the Constitution. Imagine if the agenda of Blacks in America was centered around becoming economically self sufficient, to succeed socially and educationally, and have the highest social standards? Also, imagine if that upon acknowledging that as Blacks in America we had true equal rights and protections and that Black leaders would have decried forgiveness for past discretion of Whites, in following with Biblical teachings.

Fast forward to today. America is neck deep in social disintegration. Our standards aren't based on equal treatment under the Law. We now have "protected classes" of people. The basic ideals of self-responsibility and individual identity have all given way to group identity based on ethnicity, age, and gender. The policy of political correctness, along with societal feminization, the social unacceptability of being offended has left a cavity of truth and honest discussion. Rational and logical thinking that had made this nation great is now critically ill to the point that social debauchery and religious secularism is considered the norm. The ripples of the "Civil Rights Era" has been like a 2000 mile wide whirlpool that is draining America's prosperity and promise because the issues of "race" and group identity is so polarizing that it prohibits the nation's unification and moving forward with strength.

The outcome and application of the "Era" called for social equality without first resolving the fundamental issues and beliefs that were, and still are, the cause of hate, fear, and mistrust between the "races". It is comparable to the police answering a domestic disturbance, get each party to say sweet things in their presence, never resolving the root cause of the drama, and leaving them with a loaded gun on the end table. Sooner or later, another call we made for a return visit. But, the next time someone may be seriously hurt. The Congress, using its power to regulate interstate commerce, created the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include discrimination based on "race, color, religion, or national origin" in public establishments that had a connection to interstate commerce or was supported by the state is prohibited. It really was not intended to address the issue of discourse between Negro and Caucasian Americans.

The festering seeds of both the "Era" and Roots have not only relegated the Negro in America to second-class citizenship, social cannibalism, political marginalization, but have spawned the "niggerization" of the national society as a whole. What I mean by "niggerization" has nothing to do with one's skin color, ethnicity, or so called "race", nor gender. It has do to with one's negative mentally and attitude towards himself and others. Niggerization I characterized as a severe anti-achievement disposition, a gross belief in entitlement, a selfish or self-gratification mentality with little or no regard for others, complete disregard for high social norms or manners, and little taste for the application of self-responsibility.

Prior to the "Era" there was a stronger since of independence, not just the Black community, but for the nation as a whole. Prior to the airing of Roots there wasn't the social and political acceptance of White guilt and Black victimization and or entitlement that is so pervasive today. The entitlement mentality and the legacy of guilt born to White America today for what some number of Caucasians have may done to some number of Negroes years ago, coupled with the gross mis-educational system, have contaminated this great nation's intellectual atmosphere to the point of killing any chance of a true unified America. The "powers that be" and people who benefit from the racial chaos, Caucasian and Negro both, jump on every opportunity to thoroughly pour gas on the embers on racial discourse.

What the Era and TV series established was a chasm of indifference between the Caucasian and Negro nations within America and positioned the American Black as a permenant second-class citizen with the belief that we were not totally American, but really are of another country, and have no stake in the future of this country. It established a more adversarial climate, not one of compromise that would be advantageously beneficial to the nation as a whole. The aftershocks has niggerized generations of Black Americans like no frontal assault by any group, like the KKK, could ever do. It has fostered self-marginalization to the point that it is acceptable that there is nearly 10% unemployment in the Black community, much higher amongst the young, that there is a anti-achievement mentality that has created greater than a 50% school Black dropout rate, that nearly 90% of Black babies are being born out of wedlock and or to a single-parent, and such deviant behavior such as Black young men wearing pants down to the knees and young ladies wearing very revealing clothing. The predisposition to mediocrity combined with the notion of victimization has created an environment of perpetual serfdom. This is not due to any lack of ability, capacity, or opportunity, but mentality. Despite whatever may have occurred during the Negro Slave Era, there is no more worst slavery then that what is self imposed upon ourselves, whether it's physically or mentally. The ingrained notion that a people whose history goes back to before history, authored millions of inventions and innovations that have been vital to man's existence, and who have created monuments that have lasted for centuries, can now have to receive verbal or some overt omission for something that is without little question that did occur before we can go about doing what we know is in our capability, gives others the sovereignty and power over us while we have more collective wealth and freedoms than Negroes in any other nation to me not only is unrationale illogic, but is unacceptable.

The Civil Rights Era created a protected class in America via statutory enactments and policies void of any Constitutional limitations or balances. A class of people that which not a harsh or discourteous word can be spoken, no societal standards applied, and who should be accepted due to no other reason other than the color of our skin. The plague of the Era has given precedence to policy enactments such as "hate crimes" and "affirmative action" that by the shear definition of the word pairs are oxymoronic. Such social policy enactments can only end in social disarray. The shadow of Marxist-socialism is cast long as the implication of the Civil Rights Era's unveiling where the notion the one should be given based on their need from others based on their ability and citizen groups are to be looked upon equally to individuals and protected and given preferential treatment . The Era's consequences have cast a curtain of statutory protection over seemingly ever group in America except one - the Caucasian male.

Today, the nation is terminally ill of it's effects due to the fact that once you establish protectionist and or preferential policies simply based on skin color and instill in society's consciousness the notion of victimization and guilt the door can not be easily closed. Today the nation is critically infected with unprecedented mass illegal immigration, particularly Mexicans and Latin Americans. Unlike in the past, where such a effort to enter the nation improperly would have been soundly rebuffed on the idea of not only if anyone desiring to enter this nation should do it legally, nationalism, but the idea of right and wrong. The strong American belief of individual right to property, that one's work for ownership has been seconded for the needs of the community. How else can you explain the desire to surrender what so many Americans have fought and died for, the right to own property and benefit all that comes from it, to the poorest people of the region? America's compass of right and wrong is being thrown off by the magnetic debris left by the Civil Rights Era - guilt and entitlement. The proponents of illegal immigration into America always speak to the right of the illegals to be able to work and live here, even though they got here illegally. And if they should be attached and or restrained by anything, like the imposition of the law, they scream racism and work on the wound of White guilt that was opened up by Blacks in the Civil Rights Era. The societal weights that would normally come into play to counter the blatant mis-justice being perpetrated by the mass invasion of foreigners into our communities and the accompanied disruption to correct the situation, such as profiling and or targeting them by appearances, habits, and or behavior, detouring their efforts to commit their illegal activity have been largely made ineffective by appealing to the lingering residue of White guilt. No one wants to be labeled a "racist" or to be "discriminating" against the invaders due their ethnicity or national origin. If this kind of asinine thought was pervasive in America during the battle of the Alamo, the Americans would have had to lay down their arms due to the fact that it may have been shown that they were indiscriminately killing people who appeared to be of Aztec or Spanish persuasion or ethnicity.

The proponents have masterfully made the natural nationalistic reaction of the citizen to an unwelcomed intruder not a matter of the unwelcomed intrusion, nor the unlawful entry by the intruder, but the color of the intruder's skin and ethnicity. Though I do not by any means desire to minimized the critical negative role of the US Executive Branch in this matter by not carrying out it's duty to enforce the nation's laws and Constitution, but the weapon of division used would not be available if not for the fingerprints left by the Civil Rights Era that made judging people not by their character, but their skin color and not enabling the best of people based on logic and understanding, but their worst based on emotion and ignorance.

Yes, the Imus uproar, and others like it is like a whitehead of a pimple, it's evidence of a more serious dis-ease of a natural course or order of things. America was created with much promise. The promise of individual liberty and freedom, the promise of Devine governance, the promise of blind justice, and the promise that America would be the beacon for all those who sought our light. But, today it does appear that it is America who has lost it's way. We can no longer shout that we are a nation a Law when law enforcers and policy makers work to neither enforce laws nor enact law due to any quest other than equal justice. Past U. S. Supreme Court Justice William Orville Douglas stated, "A people who extend civil liberties only to preferred groups start down the path either to dictatorship of the right or the left.", current U. S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence ThomasGovernment cannot make us equal; it can only recognize, respect, and protect us as equal before the law." And one of the Nation's Founders, Thomas Jefferson stated, "We shall have our follies without doubt. Some one or more of them will always be afloat. But ours will be the follies of enthusiasm, not of bigotry, not of Jesuitism. Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant. Education and free discussion are the antidotes of both." These three very learned men, from different points in said, "America's history expressed basically similar beliefs regarding the issue of equality and justice. Preferential treatment enforced by color of law is injustice and is incapable of creating anything thing other than social chaos. Injustice and inequality can only be defeated by real education. Another food for thought that was spoken in 1916 by William Boetcker, a German-born Presbyterian clergyman, "You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."

The issue of so-called "race" is a issue that can only be handled by frank opened dialog and communication. The Negro has been in America before America was. The Negro in America is America. What effects America affects the Black American. All Americans should fight for our survival and prosperity for from all who may threaten America - whether the threat is external or internal. Cause if America is destroyed it will be because we stayed apart because we were Negro and Caucasian not come together as Americans.