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More so than Racism, the Crippling Putdowns of Black leaders, Keep the Black Community Down!
The Urban League's Campaign to Keep Blacks Down *By Stuart M. Butler, LA Herald Examiner, January 29, 1988* To borrow a phrase, there they go again: The National Urban League, in its annual review of the "State of Black America" once again presents a dismal picture of black progress. Sweeping aside the steady decline in the black poverty rate, solid employment gains and dramatic successes by black self-help organizations, Urban League President John Jacob- taking the position that every silver lining must have a dark cloud- declared the condition of Black America to be "deceptively grim." The Reason? It's because of Ronald Reagan, alleged reductions in federal programs and racism. Jacob's solution? Vote Democratic and get that federal cash flowing again. The depressing thing about the Urban League report is not so much its predictable litany of misinformation, but the damaging message it sends to blacks. By ignoring evidence to the contrary, the report shows itself to be just another partisan attack on economic policies that have been good for blacks and all other Americans. John Jacob is, of course, right to be concerned with the enormous gap between black and white unemployment rates. The gap has been growing steadily since the 1950s, despite the dramatic increase in federal aid to blacks during that period. Among teen-agers, the black and white unemployment rates were virtually the same in the 1950s. In fact the rate was lower for 16 and 17 year-old blacks back then, though the overall black unemployment rate has fallen 2 percentage points since 1986. Why are so many more blacks unemployed than whites? Does Jacob seriously think racism is more prevalent now than in the ‘50s? Look at minimum-wage laws that bar employers from hiring low skilled black youths. Look at welfare programs that have produced a non-working ghetto underclass. Trying to lay the blame for the black-white unemployment gap on Ronald Reagan's shoulders is a crude, politically motivated rewriting of history. Worse is the message the report provides for black Americans. In essence, it says: "You are unable to make progress without the right white man in the White House, and without being propped up permanently by White America, and without being given job preference through affirmative action." If a white leader suggested anything like that, he would be denounce-correctly-as a racist. When Jacob points in that direction he is hailed as a statesman. It's about time the Urban League and other leading black organizations put aside the guilt-laden rhetoric of the ‘60s. *They should begin to recognize that the problems of blacks have little to do with which white politicians run the government and more to do with the crippling putdowns from black leaders, and the crushing dependency their rhetoric has spawned.* With blacks being told repeatedly by their leaders that they cannot make it on their own, is it any wonder some of them believe it? The Urban League should ask itself why Koreans, with no special federal programs or political clout, can open shops in the poorest black neighborhoods and make a success of them, yet local blacks cannot. The Urban League should wonder why teen-age Vietnamese boat people, who spoke no English five years ago, can top today's high-school English classes. The reasons are quite simple. The new Asian immigrants consider welfare an insult, and are prepared to work 70 or 80 hours a week to improve themselves. They make sure their kids work hard in school-and do not drop out. They keep their families together. And those who are successful are usually willing to lend a financial hand to those who are still struggling to make it. The Urban League should be sending the same message to black Americans. It should be encouraging the new black middle class to pour some of its resources back into the ghetto and to patronize black owned businesses, rather than focusing exclusively on becoming members of the local white country club or becoming the token blacks on some corporate board. It should be recognizing the heroism of people like Joe Clark, the tough Paterson, N.J, high-school principal, who refuses to accept excuses and has turned an inner-city blackboard jungle into a center of excellence. Or Kimi Gray and the other residents of Kenilworth-Parkside public housing project in Washington, D.C., who manage their own project, and through tough love and hard work have created businesses and jobs, and dramatically cut welfare dependency and teen-age pregnancy. If the National Urban League needs its annual reviews and called press conferences to highlight what blacks have done and can do, and spent more time learning from the successes of other groups, it could play a major role in providing solutions for black America. Instead, today's Urban League is a major part of the problem. ********************************** Mind you, many of the problems and solutions of black America, as expressed by Stuart M. Butler, are just as true today.
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