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The Agony Of Poverty On Christmas Day
by Rodney J. Sumler, Publisher
. As a child, I had a recurring vision each November
of how I would enjoy Christmas. I would be with my
family in a big house, I could see quite vividly, in a
large family room with a fireplace and Christmas tree.
My mother and two sisters would be there, enjoying
the spoils and toys of the season.
But the fact of the matter was - we were poor and
I didn't know it. Still, I had my vision and I liked it.
My bubble of a vision would start to burst about the
beginning of December, when I would realize we
would probably be looking at a Christmas with no
toys, no gifts and no means to give to others.
The idea of Santa Claus and Christmas must have
been painful to me back then, for reasons I care not
td remember Later, after college, after working
nuniet u odd jobs, working as a lifeguard for the
V'Vinston-Saleni Recrealirrn Department and working at
the U.S. Host Office, I learned to apprerriate my
"Christmas Past. " In fact, after a while, I began to like if.
I felt right at home enjoying not having some of the
things other chiidretr had, who had a mother and father.
My father abandoned our family when my youngest
sister was born. But for years, I would return to that
world, my December world. But always I returned with
a sense of relief and release. I had love, good health,
pride, self-respect and a competitive spirit. These were
the only gifts that my mother could afford to give us.
But they are the kind of gifts that last a lifetime.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about those days.
Especially now that it seems Black Americans are mak
ing their way to the bottom of the pot in national con
sciousness and economic development.
As a -ace, it seems, Black Americans with an .innua!
buying power of more than 30 billion dollars, still have
their hands out asking for others to give us something.
As it appears, the trouble begins with the words "San
ta Claus." As children, we look for some jolly white
man to bring us our Christmas presents and many
blacks grow into adulthood expecting to get something
for nothing.
Many blacks grow up with the "Santa Claus Com
plex" expecting to receive, instead of being able to
give. Fact of the matte- ;, if you can give, you are able
to help others and , i'- 'i..>''tly, help yourself. Perhaps
that is why it is better to give than to receive.
The "Santa Claus Complex" manifests itself
throughout AfroAmerican history. Black Americans
seem to hold on to the "Santa Claus Complex" and
expect others to constantly give to us. We expect the
ctrmplex to filter down through jobs mostly. The big
gest reason being, blacks have not used their economic
resources to create business and industry, and thereby
create jobs. Blacks constantly demand that white
landlords come in and clean up our neighborhoods
because we refuse to stay behind and rebuild our
communities.
Not surprisingly, blacks also insist that white people
come in and solve the drug problem in our com
munities and black-on-black crime. Someone else has
to do it because we refuse to share our time and
resources to solve our problems ourselves.
To put it bluntly, the majority of Black Americans are
suffering from the "Santa Ctaus Complex" and there
doesn't appear to be any magic potion that can cure
it. We are waiting on solutions to our problems to come
in the form of gifts from some great benefactor. Instead
of doing for ourselves - digging deep within for prtde
and self-respect - we turn elsewhere for solutions.
The central focus of this writing is directed at the
nature of the failure of Black Americans, Currently, we
are failing in economic progress, educational achieve
ment and the control of our destiny as a people. True,
there have been some individual breakthroughs, but
can one black, or a million for that matter, rarr^- the
rest of us on his shoulder?
The first step in the quest of blacks to become self-
sufficient is to • .urselves of the "Santa Claus Com
plex," Why don't we give Santa Claus back to children
and restrict him to our children only? As a people,
blacks need to learn to give to ourselves. Maybe then
we'll understand the meaning of the biblical phrase that
states: "It is better to give than to receive."
Season’s
|| Greetings
From
Ann Simmons
BPAL
"Education Turns Me On"
AC Cultural & Educational
Commission, Inc.
Special Happiness
To You and Yours
This Time of Year
Alderman
Virginia Newell
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