CMV: What Holds The Black American Community Back In The 21st Century Are Black Organizations, Black Intellectuals, and Other So-Called Black 'Leaders' and Activists
"I am afraid that there is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don’t want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public." - Booker T. Washington
I want to clarify from the start that I am NOT denying the existence of racism, the history of systemic racism, or the link between poverty and crime.
And I'm acutely aware that internal critique does come up in the black American community.
The first half of the 20th century attributed group differences to genetics, a belief human culture is yet to recover from. The second half of the 20th century into today attributes group differences to discrimination.
This two-tier framework fails to account for what I see as the central issue in ongoing disparities: negative cultural attitudes, habits, and beliefs that undermine success in the black American community.
As racism became less of an issue, cultural patterns didn't gradually become the main variable in ongoing disparities. Rather the definition of racism expanded into 'prejudice plus power', Critical Race Theory, white privilege, among others.
It's my belief that those who control this narrative, primarily black organizations, black intellectuals, and race-focused commentators, often sponsored by liberal-oriented institutions, are incentivized to pontificate on the legacy of slavery and white supremacy, hand-wave cultural problems, and give little attention to and even outright resist, policies we know make a material difference.
Frankly, many of these types don't wish racism to end. Because it helps maintain their influence, funding, and public relevance.