Applauding the system never changes anything!
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It is a fact that applauding the system has never changed anything about the system, and applauding the system only serves to bolster any claims by the system that nothing is wrong. Knowing this, I put the question to all those who are always quick to point to how much better things are today for Black men and women than they were twenty, thirty or even forty years ago, what do you attribute things being better to if not the voice and vigilance of those who have fought against racism and white skin privilege.
Every where we look we see Negro-Cons and their many minions out front speaking about Black men and women having a victim attitude, we see it in their books, on their web sites and in their op-eds. We read about how they believe race based programs that are meant to ensure an opportunity is afforded to qualified Black men and women is wrong and or unconstitutional. We hear their criticism of Afri-centrist and those who they say behave as if they are the holders of Blackness and determine who is Black and who is not. They will quote MLK, they will make references to Malcolm X. They will do this while espousing Euro-centric philosophy and beliefs conjured up in various white think tanks.
One thing the Negro-Con and his or her minions never stop to consider as they speak ill of Black men and women and profess that we have a victim attitude is that it is only those that have fought hard against America’s structural racist system that actually brought about change. White folk have never acquiesced or changed anything in this nation out of the goodness of their heart; change has only come by way of protest or outright revolt. We can take something as fundamentally flawed and under funded as Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, this legislation did not come by way of some Negro-Cons sitting at the foot of his white counterpart cheering him on, it came by way of Black men and women protesting the gross intestacies of the public school system and the skewed expectations of racist teachers whom Bush has called “soft bigots”. It was not someone applauding the system that pointed out to Bush and his cronies the “soft bigotry” of Low expectations, it was those Black men and women that have fought and spoke on our behalf that first brought this form of racism to his attention.
You take any legislation, any laws that have been passed to help remove barriers that prevented Black man and women from achieving our goals and you will find that these laws and legislation came by way of progressive Black men and women speaking on our behalf. Negro-Cons sit back and speak and write about how much better things are and how things will continue to get better but nothing will get better or change by them applauding the system. Change has only come by way of protest or outright revolt against those things that are wrong. Thus it is those who are accused of having a victim attitude or perpetuating a victim attitude that have brought about change and not those who repeat the platitudes of white think Tanks and applaud the system.
posted by Faheem @ 12/15/2004 10:11:00 PM
17 comments
17 Comments:
All opposition to Affirmative Action programs are examples of white folk opposing race based programs that ensured Black men and women an opportunity that may have otherwise not been available. Take the Michigan case for instance where there were clearly more white folk allowed into Law school with lower grades and standings than to two white plaintiffs who sued to end Affirmative Action. Did the two white plaintiffs go after what ever it was that allowed those white men and women into the school with lower grades and standings? NO! They did not go after them because amongst white folk there is a sense of entitlement. In the eyes of the plaintiffs those white folk deserve to be there but the Black men and women with lower grades and standings do not. This is the thing about white skin privilege; it turns a blind eye to white mediocrity while simultaneously requiring that everyone else must be borderline geniuses.
It is most certainly true that Black and white progressive men and women help push that legislation through, however as stated it was not the Negro-con and his or her many minions that now speak so greatly about it that started the snowball effect that lead to this legislation. The Negro-Con has been saying everything is OK in America for more than a decade now, thus any changes that have come and will come will not come because of the work of any Negro-Cons. In fact they do more to hinder progress that they love to celebrate than they do to move it forward. Would you agree with that?
There is middle ground between the Afri-Centrist and the Negro-Con but the difference between the two is not like the 10% difference you find say between a white Republican and a white Democrat. Brother Cedric Muhammad over on Black Electorate wrote a great piece on this very phenomenon. It is still posted over there; title Cedric Muhammad E-letter to Joe Watkins.
Hearing from the Negro-Con is not the problem; it is when we hear from them and under what circumstances we hear from them. For the most part they speak as the opposition of the Afri-Centrist/Progressive Black man or woman, not as simply a person celebrating how far this country has come. It is easy to say things are better today in those particular areas than they were in 1965. However in the areas of imprisonment, poverty, poor schooling, unity amongst Black men and women and so on how do we fare? You must remember things were better for Black folk in 1965 than they were in 1955, they were better in 1985 than they were in 1975 and ten years from now we will say things are better in 2015 than they were in 2005 and what I am saying is the reason why things will be better in 2015 will not be because of some apologetic Negro-Con out front repeating the mantra’s of the heritage foundation.
So my question again is: would you agree with the statement that Negro-Cons do more to hinder the progress they love to celebrate than they to move it forward! I believe the answer is obvious in the example of the NCLB Act. While they celebrate it, it was not them that pushed and fought to make it possible.
Faheem, please tell me of 1 just one national law passed in the last 20 years that helps black people.
The last I know of was Nixons around 30 years ago creating affimative action as we know today and SBA set aside programs.
That is all I ask please point out these politcal success of the last 20 years.
Very Good question Scott!!
The simple answer is there has not been one!! The interesting part about that is rather it contradicts all that I have said or does it buttress my position. I believe it is the later. There has not been one law passed that help Black men and women specifically because of negro-cons like yourself working hand and hand with white folk opposing any national legislation. Even something as simple as addressing Racial Profiling has not been addressed on a national level although Al Gore said he would have addressed it had he won in 2000.
Most battles Black men and women engage in are on the state level and not the national level albeit a victory in one state does not mean victory is immanent in others, but without a doubt, a loss for us in one state is immediately championed as immanent losses for us in the others.
So while we have similar problems nationally they are not as bad in some places as in others and for there to be anything done for us nationally their must be national unity which we do not have especially with men and women tomming as you and your co-horts do. Good question though.
Now can you a man who celebrate America and know of the many problems Black men and women have in this nation name a single law passed nationally that specifically speaks to our many issues?
Faheem can you provide one piece of evidence. Can you show us one bill that was close to being a law that was stopped because of as you say.
"There has not been one law passed that help Black men and women specifically because of negro-cons like yourself working hand and hand with white folk opposing any national legislation."
If you think the MAIN thing holding back black people is negro-cons you haven't been paying attention. Rap stars have more effect on politics and black people than negro-cons.
But back to the main topic since you can't name one law passed in the last 20 years. Can you name 1 national law that would have significantly helped black people that was proposed and rejected ?
EG, I believe you and I see eye to eye for the most part and your comments about class and education provides a great segway for my next piece.
Scott, the racial profilling legislation was rejected. As I stated, Gore said he would have addressed it but did not, however Bush was not interested at all in pursuing it. Negro-Cons give aid and comfort to white folk, and put forth their agenda. Look at your boy Connerly, he is traveling from state to state working against the interest of Black men and women. After his monumental failure in California with Prop 54 he is in Michigan now trying to get the same legistlation passed there.
In 20 years, all you could come up with is racial profiling law. Please tell me you got more than that.
Of course there are more Scott, but you only asked for one. There has been a continued struggle to get the five grams of crack cocain versus five grams of powder cocain law over turned. Clearly you are searching and dont have a point and I know now you understand all that I have written here.
Maybe you didn't know it but the president doesn't introduce national legislation.
So who introduced the racial profiling legisaltion and when did it get voted down. That is what I mean by legislation that was proposed. Not a silly bullshit campaign promise from Gore who had been vice president for 8 years and couldn't seem to get it introduced.
So how did we get a Martin Luther King Holiday in 1983?
Or are you saying that the left doesn't have to advocate for black people except when there is a democratic president.
Oh yea, and what Bill's got introduced after we put Clinton in office for 8 years.
Scott, it amazes me that you would say something like that with the ability to research the subject before you open your mouth.
Here are the questions you need to ask yourself concerning the King Holiday and once you find the answer to these questions you will see how foolish what you wrote above is.
First: who introduced the idea of a King Holiday?
Two: How long did it take to get passed after its initial introduction?
Three: What events in 1982 and 1983 led to this Holiday being signed into law?
When you are done doing your research you will find again it was not Negro men and women like you applauding the system that made this holiday a reality and infact it is the same man that introduced the idea of a King Holiday that has been trying to introduce the legislation on looking into the idea of reparation for Black men and women. (hint)
You still refuse to answer the 2nd question " Can you name 1 national law that would have significantly helped black people that was proposed and rejected ?"
You give excuses, but you have no facts. You have NOTHING to show for the last 20 years.
And you continue to blame your failure on a tiny minority within a minority. If you can't get shit done with 90% or more of black people voting for the same old democratic cracker, and having a Democratic president for 8 years. Maybe you need to rethink your worldview just a little.
But then again you are use to failure, just blame it on the white man and you are absolved of any responsibility for you community.
And I don't believe you put up getting crack cocaine dropped to punishment level of regular cocaine as some thing that would significantly help our community. You need some serious help. Or maybe you are just a upperclass black person who never had to live next to a crack house.
More signs of your state of confusion. First you accuse me of being a failure and then of being an upper class black person. OK..
You see Scott; you’re not as smart as you think you are. Faheem has not Blamed Negro-cons for nothing more than aiding and abetting the enemy and providing aid and comfort to them. You make my point when you point to the failure of crackers as you called them and all the other crackers as you might call them in congress not given a damn about the Black agenda, be they Democrat or Republican. Your delusion causes you to continue to associate me with the Democratic Party because I confront negro-cons and their apologist behavior. That’s your problem not mine.
I have stated more than once that Black men and women vote the party that is less hostile to the Black agenda or the one that is the most likely to listen to what Black folk have to say. I never said the Democratic Platform is our Platform or that Black men and women should be democrats. In fact if your memory goes back far enough you will remember Noah and me saying black men and women should not participate in the electoral process.
Your problem is you believe in the system and even worse you believe in a part of the system that is most hostile to your people. So while you sit there and claim I have nothing to show for the last twenty years, you simultaneously celebrate the progress in the last twenty years that Negro men and women like you had no part in making happen.
So as I said when you ask the question in your first response, I don’t have to have anything for you and that buttresses my position more than yours. Lastly as stated, my point is made in the very progress you celebrate be it by way of local and state legislation or simply making a company change their policies in the way they deal with us. Either way, the proggress of the last twenty years did not come by way of Negro-Con men and women and the truth is you all have done more to impede that progress than help it.
Oh yea, I did notice that you no longer back that MLK holiday crap you spoke about.
Your thesis was ""There has not been one law passed that help Black men and women specifically because of negro-cons like yourself working hand and hand with white folk opposing any national legislation.""
And you have now admitted that your thesis was wrong because you could not find a single piece of national legistation that was proposed for black people in the last 20 years, thus there is no legistation that people like me could have stopped from happening.
You are nothing but excuse after excuse. I thought maybe you were someone who could be honest with themselves and take responsibility for their own action and the action of those you support. But I now see you have to keep you blinders on so you keep following the same road like the lemming you are.
If it was not so sad it would be funny. Let’s take a look at what I said.
“There has not been one law passed that help Black men and women specifically because of negro-cons like yourself working hand and hand with white folk opposing any national legislation."
This statement stands true and I stand by it. It was you Scott that asked for a specific piece of legislation that was not passed because of Negro men and women like yourself. The goal of stopping anything that may rise to national or state prominence begins long before it becomes a piece of legislation. The Negro-Con allows his or her Black face to be put on an idea that is diametrically opposed to that which Black men and women seek, thus when we confront the racist and they send their little lapdog out front with his Black skin, it gives the appearance as if that which we are speaking on or to can not possibly be racist because some slave thinking Black person says so and that person are men and women like you Scott.
You continue to make my point and then you run from it when I point out the fact that what you are saying buttresses my position more so that it do yours. Now you want to claim I am full of nothing but excuses and pat yourself on the back as you think “I finally won a debate on BI”. You come here to learn Scott, thus I know there are some lessons you will not understand, but as you grow in understand you will begin to understand all that is said. There is nothing more to say on this matter.
and still not a single example in 20 years. Of even pro-black ideas for laws. How about on the local level. Anything anything. You had african town this year. which seems to be going forward in detroit. So it hasn't be stopped by negro-cons. What else ? Since its local level I do expect you to be able to provide more than 1.
Flies. Honey. Vinegar.
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