COMMENTARY
RACE STILL MATTERS WHEN YOU’RE NOT WHITE
By Ada Fisher
I’m sure that
the death of
more young
black males
will occur at
the hands of
the police but
racism may not
be the total story. As I watched a couple
of businesses burning in Ferguson, MO
I couldn’t help but reflect on the Black
Panther Movement where the police
became a force of their mass destruction,
the LA riots after the Rodney King
beating and now the unfortunate death
of Michael Brown. What did those riots
accomplish in the long run?
One of the major problems is young
black males are often perceived as
scary not just by the police but by their
own communities often terrorized
by their emerging underclass culture
imbued with a sense of hopelessness.
The irony is that we as a people often
brought to these lands for cheap labor,
discouraged from becoming educated
and increasingly isolated from a strong
family structure are showing no value to
a larger technologically based society.
The “Occupy Wall Street” crowd is
showing some of the same but on a
different plane. We can now produce
less with fewer people. Will people of
color be obsolete except for cheap labor
or a source of employment for our new
overseers, the welfare system?
We have given our power to others
rather than remember that dues have
to be paid every day. James Brown’s
mantras are lost and should be
readopted, i.e. “I don’t want nobody to
give me nothing, just open the door and
. . . “we must get it ourselves. “Say it
Loud we’re Black and we’re Proud” has
wilted becoming a pathetic discourse
of action for too many who pander to
victimization acting as if we say it loud
we’re black and can’t help it. Respect for
self must resonate to our very core for a
proud people keeps themselves in check,
informed and on point. As Malcolm X
noted in a different sense now, “Our
chickens have come home to roost “and
we haven’t prepared ourselves for the
fast pace change in society. We the
people do have a voice and the ability to
positively act isn’t being valued.
A second problem is the jobs too many
youth of color as well as white youth aim
to do and do well involve entertainment
6
which includes music and sports. It
saddens me to see the number of kids
and gang members who buy sports
jerseys for college teams that they aren’t
likely to attend. It is true that a young
black male has a better shot at becoming
a physician than making it to the NBA or
NFL particularly with the influx of foreign
born players; yet tens of thousands of
our kids aim to be professional athletes
and have built a culture of casualness
toward academics and technology while
dressed in sports paraphernalia. Where
are our doctors? Who will be our next
nobel scientists?
Thirdly, too many of our young and old
regardless of color, misperceive the value
of their talents. Coming from a time
when folks had to have two or three jobs
just to make it, Obamacare has triggered
a resurgence of this because anything
over 29.5 hours means companies would
have to pay benefits which affect their
bottom line.
Finally for me is the lost cultural
institutions vital for our growth, safety
and security which have become
dysfunctional -- Churches are glorifying
ministers instead of G-d. Families are
being disserted by