The State of Black America in One Word ~ Crisis!
When I survey the landscape in black America, it does not take long for me to recognize the massive impression of a vehement struggle of a collective group of people to simply keep their head above water. The problem in the black community is that it is where every ill of this nation is felt first. It is the place in which much of the economic devastation is felt and absorbed in order to relieve some of the pressure off of this nation’s more affluent citizens.
There are multitudinous signs that are highly indicative of the poor condition of blacks in America, and there does not seem to be any immediate relief in sight. If I had the responsibility of summing up the current condition in Black America in one word, that word would be “Crisis.” The term crisis is expressive of a pivotal point in which an already dire situation will either turn for the better or turn for the worse. The black collective is in crisis in almost every aspect of its existence — creating a situation in which proactive and strategic measures are in order.
There is no shortage of layman debates and emotional activity; however, there is very little in the way of strategic engagement of the enigmatic issues that are incessantly pressing against the peace and livelihood of blacks across this country. On a national level, in 2014, the nation experienced significant struggles in the area of education, income, employment and socioeconomic advancement, and the group that was most affected by these economic, social and political struggles was the black collective.
The black collective is currently caught between a system that is hostile to it and cultural paradigms that almost guarantee that it will implode and destroy itself. Although there is some disagreement as to the origin and source of the internal hostility and self-hatred that is present in the black community, one thing is certain; if no efficacious action is taken in a relatively quick manner, the black collective will suffer a fatal malfunction from which it will never recover.
I could argue with great confidence that there has never been a group of people who have been in such a monumental state of crisis than the black collective is today. No area of existence has been unaffected by the pervasive crisis that is literally choking the life out of blacks in America.
Dealing with an Identity Crisis
To me, the fact that the vast majority of blacks in America are completely unaware of who they are is where we must begin if we are going to overcome this critical situation. The lack of progression, the fratricide and internal conflict, the inferiority complexes, and more, are all a part of an identity crisis in which blacks have allowed themselves to be defined by external influences. We have failed to effectively educate our progeny, trusting a fallible education system to provide what should be provided in the home.
When the general image of blacks that is portrayed in the media is that of a people who are inferior, naturally violent, morally corrupt, lazy and misguided, and black parents have not invested the time to give their children a proper and inspiring image of blackness to be proud of and celebrate, they will begin to believe the lies that are being circulated throughout mainstream media. The internal conflict that exists in the black community is the result of a group of people who are unaware of themselves, so there has been very little value placed on the uniqueness of their blackness, a blackness that many of them despise. Anytime self-hatred exists at this level, it makes it easy to bring harm to those who share the same characteristics that are being abhorred.
We must come to the full knowledge of self in order to develop a sense of pride that motivates us to celebrate our blackness instead of loathing it.
The Devastating Force of Financial Crisis
On the eve of the Civil War, blacks in this country owned less than one half of one percent of this nation’s aggregate wealth, and 155 years later, blacks still only own less than one-half of one percent of this nation’s wealth. It is important to understand that it is absolutely impossible to compete in this economic system without ownership and control. Blacks have always been the mechanism by which others have enriched themselves. While some of this is the result of direct action taken by white supremacy America for the purpose of perpetual oppression, blacks must take ownership of some of the culpability.
The white power structure in America has invested a significant amount of effort in ensuring that blacks don’t get a solid economic foot on the ground; however, I would argue that the greatest impediment in this area is the failure of blacks to aggregate their spending power and create a specific spending plan and economic agenda. Individualism has wreaked absolute havoc on our people. Consumerism is another devastating force that has to be addressed in Black America. We are a race of consumers and produce absolutely nothing. There must be a paradigmatic shift in the way that blacks view money and black group economics practiced on a vertical scale.
The Peril of a Social Crises
The variables of the social crisis in Black America are too multitudinous to engage in this one article; however, there is one aspect of the social experience in black America that cannot go unmentioned — the disintegration of the black family nucleus. Despite an all-out assault on the black family structure during slavery, our ancestors fought hard to sustain some semblance of a functional family; however, the black family is all but non-existent now. The family is that institute through which the identity crisis mentioned earlier must be addressed. The black family is the core of our support structure and the institution through which black men are cultivated as leaders, providers and protectors, and black women are cultivated to be the spiritual support and affirming force for their men.
Unfortunately, too many black men and black women have abandoned the passion for the black family. Currently, the black family is in a full-blown crisis in which blacks lead the nation as far as divorce rates are concerned. To exacerbate matters, black men are marrying outside of their race at a rate that surpasses all other men combined. Only one in four black women will ever be married. Additionally, a substantial number of black men have indicated that they will never marry. No matter what cultural or religious background a person may have, history has proven that when the institution of marriage is spurned by enough people, moral decay and the loss of purpose is inevitable.
We must take the time to realize that we are in a state of crisis. We must overcome the disunity that is a cancer that has metastasized throughout the fabric of our existence. It is only through unity that we will be able to develop a collective strategy that will serve as the blueprint for overcoming our current dilemma. We are at a pivotal point in our existence in this country, and if we don’t take some decisive steps to right the ship, we will find ourselves becoming a simple footnote in the history of this nation, despite being the very foundation on which its power was built. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace, Ph.D.
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