Black Folk Must Change

At some point black folk must assume responsibility for their actions and take positive steps to improve their lives, the lives of their children, and of their community. No longer can we blame our troubles on "the white man", on being poor, on not having equal opportunity for advancement. The blame for our misfortunes lay squarely upon our shoulders. Sure we have some of our black "leaders" ever ready to feed us the dribble that we are not given the same opportunities as white Americans, and sadly we listen and accept their words. We accept it because it relieves us of the need to take ownership, to look in the mirror and say, "I can do better, if I try".
So where do we begin, how do improve our lot in the country? Well, it goes back to embracing the values that black Americans held dear when we were truly oppressed. We saw the need for strong moral values, for a good education, and for respect of self, family, community, and country. Sadly those values are often absent in today's loose knit black "family". In so many instances, there is no father in the home. Young black boys and girls are growing up without a strong father figure to provide guidance and discipline when needed. Often the mother is just a young teenager with no parenting skill and no concept of what motherhood entails. The result is young black kid growing up wild, undisciplined, and lacking the moral guidance to become respectful and law-abiding citizens.
The lack of education is troubling. Some black youth and parent do not seem to understand the importance and value of and education. Each year when LEAP and iLEAP results are released we find black students and predominately black schools with the lowest scores. Again we buy into the trash feed us by our black "leaders" and say the tests are biased. But even without the high stakes test, we see our black schools and students falling behind their white counterparts. Folks, it is not due to bias or discrimination, it is due to the prevailing "I don't care" attitude found in the black community. The only reason in this world why a black child in the eighth grade cannot read is that the parent and the child "don't care". We have more opportunity for education, more technology to support education, more schools, more college, more access to libraries, than at any time in the history of the black race; yet it seems as if our individual level of education has declined in proportion to the increase in availability of educational resources.
This is not a condemnation of the entire black community. It is directed at the small minority who are so visible that it seems as if they represent all black folk. However, the entire black community must share some blame because we as a community support the leaders and thought processes that empower some in our community to not care, to fail to seek excellence, and tear down what has taken years to build. It is only when we as a community say "ENOUGH!!!” will the lot of our community and race begin to improve.