BLACK WRONGS

WHEN I PASS A BIRTHDAY, I GIVE A PASS TO MY GERMAN/HUNGARIAN HERITAGE TOO. WHY LOOK TO MY PREDECESSORS FOR MY LIFE CHOICES? I WISH TO MOVE INEXORABLY FORWARD. COMMON SENSE RIGHT? WRONG. A GENTLEMAN - AT LEAST HE SPOKE GENTLY - FROM THE NAACP, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE - HAD THE IDEA OF BLACK HERITAGE ALL ALL WRONG. IN AN INTERVIEW HE REVEALED HOW BLACK DEMOCRATS, BLACK LIBERALS, BLACK LEFTISTS HAVE IT WRONG NOT JUST ABOUT HISTORY BUT ALSO ABOUT REALITY. THIS INDIVIDUAL IDENTIFIED THE MISSION OF THE NAACP AS "INFORMING BLACK YOUTH ABOUT THEIR HISTORY,." ABOUT THEIR "CIVIL RIGHTS." HE REGRETTED THAT HE ONLY LEARNED BLACK HISTORY IN HIS COLLEGE COURSES, HAVING BEEN UNINFORMED IN THIS AREA IN THE LOWER GRADES OF EDUCATION. FURTHERMORE, THIS HISTORY WAS NECESSARY TO "TEACH BLACKS WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW"

THE RADIO HOST OF THIS CONVERSATION SUPPORTED HIS GUEST'S OBSERVATIONS BY REPEATING THE STORY ABOUT THE BLACK INVENTER OF BLOOD PLASMA WHO DIED - WITH TRAGIC IRONY - AFTER AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE A WHITE HOSPITAL WOULD NOT ADMIT HIM FOR A TRANSFUSION. THIS IS WRONG. IT NEVER HAPPENED. THIS IS LIE #1.

WRONG #2, LIE #2 IS THE LAST QUOTE ABOVE, THAT WE NEED TO "TEACH BLACKS WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW." WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW? WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ASSUME IS HAPPENING NOW? RACISM, INEQUALITY, "JIM CROW" AMERICA? WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THERE IS NOTHING IN 2005 TO STOP BLACKS FROM ADVANCEMENT. FROM OBTAINING AN EDUCATION, FROM COMPLETE PARTICIPATION SOCIETY. ASK BILL COSBY WHAT'S NOT HAPPENING NOW? THE NAACP ASK FOR NOTHING TO HAPPEN NOW.

LIE #3 IS THE QUOTE ABOVE REQUIRING THAT BLACKS KNOW THEIR "CIVIL RIGHTS." THE LAST GREAT HOPE FOR BLACKS IS NOT WITH THE MISPLACED LITIGATIONS OF THE NAACP. BLACKS NEED TO CHAMPION CIVIL RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE NO RIGHT EXISTS WITHOUT AN EQUAL AND COMPLEMENTARY RESPONBILITY. I USE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND W.E.B. DU BOIS TO FURTHER BRING THIS POINT HOME. MR. WASHINGTON PREACHED THE NEED FOR BLACK WORKERS, BREADWINNERS. HE ENCOURAGED BLACKS TO LOOK TO THE FUTURE NOT THE PAST, TO WORK HARD TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, TO NOT ONLY BELIEVE IN THEIR EQUAL RIGHTS IN THE POPULACE, BUT ALSO TO BE CIVILLY AND MORALLY RESPONSIBLE. IN CONTRAST, MR. DU BOIS PREACHED FOR BLACK THINKERS, ELITE. HE LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE PERVERSIONS OF TODAY'S NAACP. HIS EMPHASIS WAS ON RACISM, DIVISION, PAST INJURIES, CORRECTING WRONGS AND PUSHING FOR BLACK RIGHTS. WE GET RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS FROM MR. WASHINGTON'S PHILOSOPHY; WE GET CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS FROM MR. DU BOIS'.

THE THIRD WRONG, LIE #3 IS THE CALL FOR "INFORMING BLACK YOUTH ABOUT THEIR HISTORY." WHERE DOES THIS LEAD BUT BACKWARDS? WHETHER I'M 1ST GENERATION OR 3RD GENERATION VAMPIRE, WHO CARES? I WILL ADVANCE MYSELF BY WALKING 1NTO MY PAST. IF I EDUCATE MYSELF FOR THE FUTURE I MIGHT TREAT MYSELF TO A LOOK AT THE PAST, BUT IT IS NOT NECESSARY. THE NAACP WANT BLACKS TO THINK OTHERWISE.

LIFE IS TOO SHORT. LIFE IS TOO GOOD IN AMERICA TODAY, LIFE SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE - DEFINED AS ACCOUNTABLE, TRUSTWORTHY AND RATIONAL. THIS GENTLEMEN SPOKE GENTLY, BUT HE SPOKE OF A BLACK WORLD PERSISTING IN RACISM, IN DEMANDS FOR RIGHTS, IN A DREDGING UP OF THE PAST. HIS MESSAGE IS A LIE, A MYTH IF YOU WILL. LET'S GET REAL. BLACKS AND WHITES SHOULD PREACH WHAT'S RIGHT AND SENSIBLE. PREACH PRIDE TO EACH AMERICAN CITIZEN.

NO NEED TO JETTISON MY PAST. MY HERITAGE BEGAN THE DAY I WAS BORN.