“I Fear I May Have Integrated My People Into a Burning House” – Martin Luther King Jr.
This notable quote got me to thinking some years back. Around the early part of the millennium, I actually challenged some people on Blackvoices with my stance of integration being a great big fail. Oh, the comments were so predictable, but a few over-stood my point. That was a long time ago.
Now, looking back, and examining our country and the violence that has literally echoed images of the sixties; people being targeted by the police, and the murders of innocent Black men–does this sound like white folks trying to reign us in? Excited that Obama is leaving office and they can now take off their masks.
My epiphany came actually in a comment that I made to someone who had commented on one of my articles on this blog. It was to a white girl who said she felt bad about how Black people had been treated and how appalled she was. That was all good, but I challenged her with my rebuttal. Basically, I felt that white people can feel bad all they want, hold hands, sing songs, and wish us all the best, but the truth of the matter about race, racism, and global white supremacy is that white people really don’t want things to change because if so; than the fight really was about equality and not race. White people are not going to fight for the equality for Black people because that would mean their economic end. And that’s what this war is really about–who controls the wealth. And right now, white folks have the upper-hand. Does anyone truly think they are going to do something to shake the apples off of that tree? Of course not.
Depending on white folks to change in order to free us was ridiculous and chaotic. It split our community and weakened our ability to do for ourselves. Yes. We have many Black entrepreneurs, but this should have been the model from the beginning. From Booker T. Washington to the late Elijah Muhammad, all stated that our greatest efforts should be in building wealth in our own communities. Integration destroyed Black economic independence. We were doing just fine before this became the directive of civil rights leaders, but in reality; it’s just stupid. Was it all vanity? Did many desire acceptance of the white man rather than RESPECT for our own ingenuity?
So what did Martin mean by the above statement? He felt that America wasn’t living up to its creed and values. Even he knew that this was an economic fight. He made that comment to Harry Belafonte before he was assassinated.
In 2015, The Black Buying Power reached 1 Trillion dollars. But if we aren’t harnessing that money into our own communities; the wealth that could be generated is only keeping our oppressor richer, and us, dependent on goods and services form others, but never benefiting from our economic power.
A few days ago, someone made a very insightful comment: this person stated that a degree was only a VIP pass for many of us to work for our oppressor. Black folks have always valued education but we are the only race of people who obtain mountains of education, only to work for someone else.The irony of this is that many of us are being educated by people who don’t give a damn about us.
Why not create new markets with those brains and control them, as the Asians have done that with Black hair care. The irony and ignorance of that is just impugning.
Integration is like moving into a house, but you are only renting. The money you pay will not benefit you and certainly not empower your children; it will only enable the owner of that home to pass along that home to their children–that you helped pay for. What will you children inherit?
In truth, Black people have become an occupied state. Who are the people making money from our people? And back to those Asians. Just how many Asian shop owners are sending their children to college because of our lack of economic intelligence?
If this were a true partnership; we wouldn’t be dependent on our oppressor and our lack of understanding of this, puts us at true socio-economic risk and security.
