Wednesday, September 09, 2015

THE BRAINWASHING OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
THE BRAINWASHING OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
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DO BLACK LIVES REALLY MATTER . . .
OR IS 10 MINUTES OF FAME MORE IMPORTANT?
While I'm in complete agreement with the sentiment behind "Black Lives Matter," I was so put-off and disgusted by the organization's idiotic tactic of disrupting the rallies of Bernie Sanders and Al Sharpton (both, ALLIES!!!), that I decided to go fishing. It occurred to me that it would be instructive to throw out a lure and reel in an ideologue to demonstrate just how destructive these people can, and have been, to the Black community. Whether they're well-meaning or self-serving (and we have our share of both), such people help to perpetuate many of the problems that plague the community. So I baited my hook and posted the following message on Facebook:

REGARDING BLACK INFERIORITY 

A HOME IN THE BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD
OF BALDWIN HILLS, CA. 
"There are two Black communities. There is one that is made up of strivers.  Strivers use the adversity inherent in the Black experience as an educational tool to make them MORE rather than less. They understand that it is through the effort of overcoming adversity that we grow. They also recognize that the only reason we can walk is because we got tired of having to crawl. Thus, they have the insight to understand that having to deal with both overt and covert racism every day of their lives provides them with an opportunity to EVOLVE, and to develop an intellectual muscularity to become masters over their oppressors.
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"Then there's another community. This is a community that's made up of slackers, people who refuse to grow and invest in themselves. It's made up of people who find it more convenient to use adversity as an excuse for failure than to see it as the challenge that it represents. These are the people who claim that White supremacy is keeping them from moving forward. But the fact is, if these people are allowing the White man to hold them down, the racists are right - they are inferior, but it's wrong to attribute it to race. Just like in the case of a White, barefoot Hillbilly, yes, such people are inferior, but their inferiority is a matter of individual character, and has absolutely nothing to do with their race."

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In response Stewart Scott said:
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 "I don't think you'll find any race of people that can easily be split into two groups. I also don't think the author is in any position to relegate lower class blacks who do not have the same opportunities as more well to do blacks to "inferior" status. Stop the victim-blaming."
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STRIVERS
Stewart, show me where I even once mentioned either money or class. I was discussing attitude and mindset. I only attached the photo of the big home to demonstrate the fallacy of the argument that "the White man" can hold Black people back if we're determined to move forward. If that were a valid argument the White man would be able to prevent ALL Black people from moving forward. So what you've shown here is the knee-jerk response of many who are always trying to find excuses for any shortcoming in the Black community. We could develop cancer and people like yourself will insist that it's only a heat rash. The problem with that is, while we may gain temporary comfort in calling cancer a rash, our failure to address the reality of our situation is killing us.
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My initial post was a lure to pull out a person like yourself to make a point. It's attitudes like yours that's at the very root of many of our problems in the Black community, from crime and drug addiction, to a lack of education and the destruction of family values. Think about it - the fact is, EVERY culture is made up of strivers and slackers (and again, you don't have to be rich to be a striver), but we're not allowed to even HINT that ANYBODY in the Black community may not be taking care of business - it's considered "politically incorrect" - and therein lies the problem. We have far too many ideologues among us who see it as an ideological sin to look at the Black situation objectively. They keep telling us that we're the salt of the Earth and can do no wrong, even as we rob and kill each other in record numbers and refer to the very womb of our culture as "bitches" and "hoes."
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Now, ideologues don't mind seeing us demonize our entire culture in 10 minute commercials that's being disseminated all around the world in the form of videos (which makes it that much easier for police to kill our children and walk away), but to say we're being stupid is a definite no-no. We must NEVER say a Black person is being stupid. We must simply watch and applaud, regardless to how asinine the activity - as in the case of BLM antagonizing hundreds of thousands of potential allies to our cause. BLM's actions were so ridiculously counterproductive that if they had put any kind of forethought into it AT ALL they could have gotten the Republican National Committee to finance their atrocious behavior  They've managed to turn what WAS a brilliant slogan into something that now enrages hundreds of thousands of people every time they hear it.  But if we tell the truth, we're "Blaming the victim," and we insist on giving this ridiculous ideology priority over truth while our children die.  Well, I'm sorry,  that's stupid - and it's not helping Black people at all. Refusing to acknowledge reality is delusional, and it only gives Black youth a convenient excuse for failure.
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I also have a problem with the phrase, "Blaming the victim," because the term "victim" implies that we're powerless.  Black people are not powerless, we're merely failing to use our power.  Many of us simply prefer shaking our fists over using our minds.  And while demonstrations do have their place, we must be proactive in laying a foundation within the community where our demonstrations have teeth behind them, and are more than just a lot of noise, attention-seeking, and microphone- grabbing.
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The mindset that you've embraced came about after the death of Martin Luther King and Malcolm. Shortly after their deaths, poverty pimps came out of the woodwork to fill the void and enrich themselves They convinced the Black community that we were incapable of managing our own fate, so we needed to "HIRE" them to represent us before the" White man." They told us that, "Nothing is your fault; just pay us $30,000 a speech (Cornel West) and we'll handle it for you" - and we've been doing that for the past fifty years - waiting . . . waiting as our children die, and our lives crumble around us.
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I BEAR WITNESS
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I sit, I watch,
and I grow ever more obsolete
as I bear witness.
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I bear witness
to a once vibrant people greedily gulping down society’s hemlock. Even as they claim to be “keeping it real,“ they continue to maim, kill, and despise their own in hot pursuit of the prime directive with the passion of a sheetless klan.
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I bear witness
to Black fists in the air in false solidarity promoted by self-serving poverty pimps as the world looks on and giggle at crooked fingers pointed elsewhere.
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I bear witness
to the superficial attempt to ban the “N-word” while the new "un-niggas" stand around watching children killing children and fathers drugging sons, as they celebrate, lionize, and enrich those who denigrate the very womb of their culture with impunity.
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I bear witness
to a generation of lost knowledge, cut off from its roots by Ronnie’s “Just say no” generation of crack, greed, death, and political corruption; A generation where the new N-word is pronounced “Responsibility” and the keepers of the flame completely ignore the destructive power of bitch, slut, whore, and tramp.
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I bear witness
to the reckless disregard of the words uneducated, irresponsible, and classless. Should we not ban these words as well, or should we ban banning words altogether as we celebrate their meaning?
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Yes, I do bear witness.
I bear witness to a new world -
a world where gross ignorance comes disguised as enlightenment, and funky sneakers look down with disdain upon the sweet smell of Florsheim; a world where saggin’ pants and gaudy glitter enable country bumpkins to masquerade as elegant, and the exquisite surrender of eloquence is the very essence of what it means to be hip.
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Where's Langston? Where's Baldwin? Where's Oscar Brown, Jr?
We need you stormin' this beach, because . . .
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I now bear witness
to a world where motherhood stands alone, to be “dope” renders a smile, and posterity is forced to embrace the wind for paternal sustenance; A world where the walking dead strut about rapping the wisdom of idiocy, and we praise the illiteracy of vulgar nursery rhymes as profound; a world where the mother of salvation's final gasp is compared to the pigmentation of brown paper bags.
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Malcolm, Martin, where are you?
I once stood with a crowd.
Now seemingly alone, I'm forced to bear witness -
horrific witness . . .
to the imminent demise of our people,
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And my heart bleeds.
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Eric L. Wattree
http://wattree.blogspot.com/
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.