Page 16, AC Phoenix, December 1991
PHOENIX OP-ED, co„,in„ed
SOCOnCi BOCOnStrUCtlOn j continued from page 14
'I he harassment of Black elected
I fficials in our time has not had
consequences as severe. But having
once occurred, the potential is ever
present."
While those statements provide a
V ,rning bell which the Black
community should heed, the
accompanying statistics must sound
an ominous alarm that rallies the
forces of the community whose
political future is in imminent
danger. The report cites (in 1987)
approximatly 500,000 elected pub
lic officials in the United States, of
which slightly more than 6,400 -
roughtly 1.3 percent - are Black.
The stategy being used now has
been updated from the days of
Reconstruction, reflecting the po
wer of today's highly-tech-
nological, world-reaching media to
try Black officials in the court of
public opinion. Those targeted are
investigated, accused, tried, and
convicted in media publications and
broadcasts before ever coming to a
court of law to face a jury of their
"peers."
It's crucial for the Black
community to understand how
nanipulative and dangerous this
strategy is. Developed and refined
by Joseph Goebels, Nazi minister
of propaganda during World War
II, it was implemented masterfully
by "Der Fuhrer," Adolph Hitler to
seize political control and commit
genocide on millions of Jews.
The effectiveness of that media
strategy was recently seen in the
gubernatorial race in Louisiana. The
irony of it, however, was that
David Duke, former member of the
Ku Klux Klan and Nazi
symphathizer, was defeated
soundly by the very stragey of the
dictator he has been quoted as
admiring. In Duke's case,
Lousianans decided that a phil
andering womanizer and gambler
was infinitely preferable to the
political and racial upheaval that
Duke represents.
registration for the Louisiana
election increased with Blacks
manning the phones and actively
taking a part in defeating a man they
feared would really damage their
freedom - political and otherwise. It
proves that, given proper direction,
fear, threats, and intimidation can
be turned into positive power.
What blacks need to understand is
ihow effective insinuation, in-
fmidation, fear, negative coercion,
and "press leaks" can be. If those
tactics can be used as key elements
of a strategy to deny a white man -
because of his views - political
access, what about today's "uppity"
Black politicians and leaders?
"What's happening today is
just the post-1965 Civil Rights’
New Reconstruction version
of an old song."
Manipulating the fear that Blacks
have today of virtually everything
works. We're afraid of our jobs and
being laid off or fired, of getting
sick and not being able to afford
care, of losing our homes, of each
other, and of our own shadows.
But, most of all, we're scared to
death of the white man. That causes
divisive behavior. Abraham
Lincoln, called "The Great Eman
cipator" (for historically-inaccurate
reasons), said, "A house divided
against itself cannot stand." He was
right. Black fear over being on the
"wrong" side of a controversial
investigation or trial of a Black
leader or political official very
effectively splits a community that
needs all the unity it can get.
The Hitler-Goebels strategy of
making selected people the targets
of witchhunts and trial by the court
of manipulated public opinion
represents the same kind of thinking
that lynched Blacks throughout
American history. What's happen
ing today is just the post-1965 Civil
Rights' New Reconstruction ver
sion of an old song. We must not
fail to heed the signs.
Our ancestors understood that the
price of freedom is eternal vigilance
and that the price is often high. We
owe a debt to everyone who
struggled, fought, bled, and died to
keep the light of freedom bright for
Blacks. That freedom includes the
right to participate in the political
process at all levels without fear of
harassment or other reprisals. We
also owe our children a future that
shows them they, not any op
pressors, are our next leaders.
As Th© TwIQ Is Bont, continued from page 14
families are headed, the argument
doesn't even hold water. The ma
jority of Black families living in
'otiay's black community will never
lave a financial means to move into
integrated communities.
Not only that, by taking our kids
out of the community for education
and training, they seem to develop a
latent disrespect for things (both
tangible and intangible) in the Black
"It is high time for the Black
community to become
accountable for the training
of its youth."
community. To them, white be-
c mes right. The institutions in the
Black community no longer carry
the same significance.
Perhaps the most amazing thing
, all is that many white educators,
coacl.cs and the like, have enough
gall to encourage Black youth to
Pcny their upbringing. Some even
go to the extreme of categorizing the
type of people who come out of
ccrta-i black communities or
iicigh'xirhoods. They draw ge-
nei^izations based upon their own
opinions and pass them on to the
kids. As a result, the young Blacks
who are successful refuse to return
to give something back to the
community in which they were
raised.
It is high time for the Black
community to become accountable
for the training of its youth. Not
just token treatments, but full-scale
programs to keep kids in touch with
who they are. Black churches must
practice what they preach. They
must find a way to have a
meaningful impact on today's kids.
It's not enough to just give Black
kids lip service; something more
substantive has to be done.
One oi the solutions to this
problem could be for Black
churches to develop their own
schools and other types of training
programs. Perhaps that is the only
way to ensure that some Black kids
will rise to the top of their classes
and become leaders. It would also
help them identify with the
institutions that are within the
community.
The training we need is not totally
educational. We must train our kids
to know what economic reciprocity
means—spending money with
those people who spend money
with us. That is the only way a
circular flow of money will be
developed.
Our kids also need to have
spiritual training. They need to
grow up in the fear and admonition
of God. That could be the link that
is missing in today's world. Our
kids are quick to fire a weapon
because they believe in retaliating.
Some even boast that they don't
mind going to jail and doing the
time. But maybe if they believed
there is a higher power than human
flesh, they might begin to think
before acting. And, after all,
wouldn't that be a greater deterent
than prison sentences?
need, a cutif, todcuf.—
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