Human nature is a sinful mess. It seems we are born with greed, pride, lust, sloth, perversion, lying, cheating and violence all wrapped up in a "little bundle of joy"....also called a baby.
The other things we humans resist like the plague is the capacity to point a finger at ourselves. We would prefer that ALL OUR PROBLEMS are really the fault of some other outside force beyond our control....and our actions are simply the unstoppable result of what acted on me.
And so goes the black community....
Last week the Mpls Star-Tribune published an article from a local black man and he said a lot of the things we white folks would like to ask, but can't...because we would be called racist if we even asked the question.
Everyone agrees that Trayvon Martin’s death was a senseless loss of life. While we’ll never know all the facts, it seems likely that George Zimmerman did “profile” Martin when he first saw him. What happened after that will forever be unknown, and, in my mind, the facts were insufficient to convict Zimmerman.
The establishment view of this tragedy is that it is primarily about racial profiling, “stand your ground” laws and the relative value our society places on the lives of young black males. Many black leaders argue that if Martin had killed Zimmerman, the verdict might have been different.
What often gets lost in this narrative is how we in the black community often contribute to our own destruction. The Martin case, tragic as it is, pales in comparison to the epidemic of black-on-black murders, which is the leading cause of death for young black men in this country. In Chicago, the murder rate is so high that it is affecting the city’s credit rating. It is broadly accepted that crime in Detroit is a major reason the city is bankrupt.
Where is the outrage, the indignation, the marches for victims of black-on-black crime? The simple fact is that black thugs pose a much greater threat to me and my family than racial profiling ever will.
More important, where is the honest self-examination in the black community of how we tragically devalue our own lives? How can we build a culture of self-respect, honor and dignity when the most visible expression of black culture today is hip-hop and rap music? This malignant new form of black culture plays a dominant role in defining what it means to be an authentic young black male. Hip-hop culture, with all its trappings, is embraced and celebrated by many black entertainers and athletes, who are the only role models many young black men have.
What other culture in the history of the world has routinely referred to its women as “hoes,” while pimps and hustlers are celebrated and education is devalued? How can we in the African-American community ever demand respect from others when we show so little of it for ourselves?
I would like to ask history a question, please....How long do societies last that have made it politically incorrect to even ask a logical question?
Logical question #1: Dear black community....what are YOU doing to fix the problem of 70% of black babies being born to unwed mothers? This would seem to be at the core of ALL of your problems.
Logical question #2: Dear Arab community....since 99% of all terrorist suicide bombers are Middle Eastern males between the ages of 18 and 30, for the good of society, why can't we single you out for searches at the airport until you figure out how to FIX your own explosive problem? Why do we have to strip search 70 yr old white women from Iowa while costing society BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to do such an idiotic thing?
Of course I say all this KNOWING FULL WELL that peace between nations and races will NEVER happen until King Jesus returns. However, I don't believe we need to suspend logic until that time.
