Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / June 11, 1992, edition 1 / Page 7
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Whose mind needs changing? Continued from page A1 but dreading that awful day when somebody, somewhere is going to stop them and demand to know: "Where are you leading us, and did you know that we've been traveling in circles for the past 25 years? Whose mind are we trying to change, anyway? Are we trying to change white folks mind's about us? Or are we trying to change our own mentality about ourselves? Both, yes, but whose mind needs the greatest revolution? Black folks' minds or white folks' minds? All of us know well the need in the past to dedicate a certain . amount of our energy toward changing white folks' attitudes toward black folks, and the need to make them aware of the racism that is endemic to the American way of life. Our ancestors did a marvelous job of pushing this agenda forward. '? They helped to open the eyes of millions of whites in this country ' about who we are, what we can do, and what our contributions have been in making America the great est country on earth. So much for changing the minds of white folks. But when are we going to try to change our own minds? When are we going to spend time with our selves and leave the white folks alone? For the past 25 years, our un-elected, unaccountable black leadership has spent virtually all of its time trying to change the minds of white folks, and has thus neglect ed important discussions with us, about us, on us. Now it is almost as if we can't do a damned thing without white folks. We can't prepare ourselves for the future without white folks. We can't raise our own children without white folks. We can't teach them to read, write, and compute without white folks. We can't go to the bathroom without white folks. We can't wipe our behinds without white folks. We can't build a house, we can't build a church, we can't start a business, we can't even buy a pair of shoes without white folks. We can't do a damned thing for our selves without white folks. The next thing you know, it'll be "we can't get into heaven without whit$ folks." (Black clergy won't Tfcf it happen.) What in the world are some of us thinking about? Do our leaders know how powerfully negative and deadly are the messages we are sending to our children; messages that are far more powerful than the message Malcolm X received as he slept in his mother's womb while the KKK paraded around his par ents threatening to kill him and his father that fateful night in Omaha, Nebraska. We seem to have all but forgotten what we once knew about survival without white folks. This is incredible. Our ancestors would not have identified with many of our leaders Insecticide warning Using a metal object to remove the foil seal on bottles of Lannate L Insecticide could cause the liquid to ignite, Du Pont Chemical Company warns. Lannate is made with methanol, a flammable liquid, m Users of the insecticide should use * a wooden tool such as a dowel to puncture the container's inner seal. This will avoid any sparking and possible fire. "Pesticides should always be kept away from heat, sparks and open flames," state Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham said. "Growers are urged to use precau tion in opening any foil-sealed flammable pesticide product" Lannate L, a Restricted Use Pesticide, has been sold for years with no reported incidents. Recently in Florida, a user of the one gallon container and a user of the two and a half gallon container experienced sparks when they used a nail to open the seal on the plastic bottles. The N.C. Department of Agri culture's Pesticide Section urges all users of insecticides to follow label instructions. The Lannate L label warns that the contents are flammable and contain methanol. The label instructs users to keep the container closed and use with ade quate ventilation. For information call the NCDA Pesticide Section, 919-733-3556. today. They would have wondered aloud "who are they and what are ' they marching about, now?" What our ancestors knew that we don't What many of us haven't figure out yet ? especially our leaders ? is that there are only two ways to make it in America: Education and economics. Count them, one, two. Get it? - Get an education and more than likely you will not wind up as a ward of the state. Develop your own economy or you are going to forever be subject to those who have an economy. If you don't make "nothing,** don't do nothing for nobody that they are willing to then pay you for, then you ain*t gon* ever be nothing in America. This is * the way of America, then, and from ? now on. There is no other paradigm, \ no other mind set Either we as a people demand from ourselves that we become edu cated, that we are prepared to be employed, that we develop our own businesses to employ our own peo ple, OR we can just get prepared for things to stay just the same. The need to be loved Each of us has a natural tenden cy to want to shape the image of ourselves in the minds of those we think make decisions about us and for us. I understand a certain amount of that. But how much time should you spend thinking about who you are as opposed to trying to convince ME of who you are? At some point, I will become ruler over you because you feel the need for me to approve of WHO you are ? de facto. Why then do our "default lead ers" insist on spending all of our capital chasing the "feel-good ghosts of yesteryear?" One can only speculate that it is because they have fallen victim to the idea that blacks are inferior to whites. It is time to be blunt about this. Sure there are white racists and I know it There are white racists in powerful places. There are racists who couldn't care less about black folks and who would, if given half the chance, probably like to kill me. But I'm not worried about Bubba. He ain't gonna kill me. He is busy staying home drinking beer and beating up his wife whenever Dale Earnhart or Ernie Irvan loses a race. What I am worried about:is the black leader who is so convinced that he or she knows what is best for "all of us" that he neglects to talk to all of us about what he or she says for all of us, and in the mean while is using up all of the "legiti mate currency of white racism" until it has no meaning ? to white folks or black folks. If you love black folks so much, if you are concerned about our future so much, then do some thing about the issues that affect black folks ? not the issues to GET at white folks. There is a difference in trying to help my people and trying to get back at those who have hurt my people. 1 can spend all of my precious little energy fighting against racism in either one or two ways: 1 can point it out to those who are a part of the system, to let them see how they can do something about it. Or I can do everything in my power to prepare myself and my people to be prepared, to overcome and defeat racism. Which course of action do you think will ultimately lead to my own freedom? Which course of action do you think will ultimately lead to a liberation of an entire gen eration? If you ask the average man on the street, privately, away from his white enemy and his black overseer, you will discover that black people are very smart, and very insightful. It is just a shame that many of leaders don't consult them more often on the things that will really make a difference to them and their future. Only a revolution in mentali ty will change anything. Hillcrest Furniture: ? 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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June 11, 1992, edition 1
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