Blaming the Black Poor; Part 979,467

Everything that is wrong with Black people is caused by the Black poor. This is the sentiment I get from reading op-eds, books, web-sites and Blogs of those who seek to either excuse America for the roll this nation has played in the destruction of Black people or seek to remove themselves from being part of the problem. One of the many things that the Black poor is being Blamed for now is the declining number of Black men and women in America because poor Black folk have more Abortions. This sentiment is mostly being espoused by the Christian Right, but not exclusively by them. The argument goes something like this, Since the Roe v. Wade decision in the 1970’s over 13 million black babies have been killed thus reducing the number of Black folk by that number, and the great majority of these abortions were had by the Black poor. One would believe that those who speak about this are Black Nationalist but that is not the case, their position is more centered on their opposition to abortion than it is their hope to rebuild the Black family and save Black people from extinction and because of that they have to frame their arguments against abortion such that it garners the attention of the Pro-Black crowd who will oppose any and everything that kills Black men and women.

As a self proclaimed Black Nationalist, when I hear that over 13 million of our people have been killed by any one thing or method since the 1970’s this disturbs me. I am equally disturbed by the anti-abortion crowd trying to win support by playing up the number of Black babies that have been killed when they have no real interest in saving Black people and the Black family. As a self proclaimed Black Nationalist I am anti or stand in opposition to anything that threatens Black people and the Black family, from our own pathologies to external realities barring down on us. This include but is not limited to drug use, drug dealing, murder of any kind, and black men and women passing up equally yoked Black men and women for a man or woman that is not Black. You see many of those Black folk who are anti-abortion that are using the argument; abortion has killed 13 million Black men and women, would have us believe that their goal in making such an argument is to express their deep concern with the decline in the number of Black people being born and living in America or give the impressions that their overly concern with the disappearing Black family. Nothing can be further from the truth.

If one is concerned about the Black populous and the Black family, they would stand in opposition to all things that threatened these two things and no one can deny that Black men and women choosing mates from outside our community is contributing to the destruction of the Black family. Also if there is a concern about the Black population decreasing than surely you can not Blame this all on the Black poor who have been beaten down over the years for having babies they were told they can not afford but now the Black poor are too believe they are solely responsible for reproducing children to stop the declining number of Black folk in America? Can’t have it both ways. The Black poor is continuously reminded that they are poor because they continue to have babies they can’t afford, or if they have a baby their chances of doing this or that is reduced and because of that the Black poor have taken it upon themselves to not become one who will be subjected to any odds that works against them having a prosperous life, so they turn to abortion.

Abortion itself is just one of many things that are responsible for the decline in Black people over the years. We can not forget about those upward mobile Blacks men and women who choose their careers over having children and in some cases over marriage. What is their role in the declining number of Black people, are they as guilty of this decline as the abortion having poor? One thing we do know, the ends of both realities is the same, no Black child is born. Look at the facts, upward mobile Blacks are in a better financial situation meaning they more so than the Black poor have the means to care for a child but yet many of them do not thus any wealth they attain in life will probably die with them or maybe a few charities will benefit from it. Then there are the upward mobile Black men and women that marry non Black men and women and if their children are not classified as Black and who knows what the census takers are doing in this matter, we again are faced with a decline in Black people. Blaming the poor for the decline in the Black populous because they are more likely to have an abortion puts the weight of keeping the number of Black folk living in the U.S. on shoulders that are already carrying more weight than it can possibly bare. Furthermore if we are going to address the decline in Black babies being born than it should not be limited to Blaming the poor, we must go after those upward mobile Black folk who do not have children and or have non Black mates less it appears one is trying to cloak their anti-abortion sentiments in a Black Nationalist cloth to get support from those of us who are Pro-Black.