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The Self Segregation of Black America

1/28/2015

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“In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” 
          
                             ~~~ Alabama Governor George Wallace                                                        Inaugural Speech 1963
Though Wallace would later apologize for the above referenced words conventional wisdom would suggest that Black America might just accomplish Wallace’s utopia wish. The majority of Black American social thought of present day, America represents an eclectic blend of various solutions regarding the institutions of American racism.  Unfortunately, none it would appear have worked. While the viewpoints of Black America play out buffet style, attitude towards Blacks remains steadfast despite the morphing face of America.

Looking through the store window from rational street affords one the luxury of a quasi buyer’s remorse sense of righteous indignation. Blacks bought integration in the 60s, tried it on in the 70s, realized it (integration) didn’t fit in the 80s, sent [it] to the tailor in the 90s and now in the 2000s, are making every effort to return it, minus the wrappings and the receipt. What is worse is that there exists no store to which to return it. Thus, in lieu of the in-ability to return integration, blacks have decided, as the courts would say to, ‘constructively evict’ themselves from society.

However, in the midst of this constructive eviction/self-segregation, questions arise concerning cause, effect, and intent. Intentions notwithstanding, the term self-segregation evokes for some, images of a reversal of blood-bought progress, while for others a welcomed come-to-Jesus moment. For example, the remaining remnants of Black Nationalists whose originators according to Northwestern University Professor Sterling Stuckey, PhD, "emphasized the need for black people to rely primarily on themselves in vital areas of life—economic, political, religious, and intellectual—in order to effect their liberation.”

Authors Bracey, Meier, and Rudwick argue in [their] book “Black Nationalism in America” that, "the concept of racial solidarity is essential to all forms of Black Nationalism." The authors added that, "no ideological or programmatic implications beyond the desire that black people organize themselves on the basis of their common color and oppressed condition to move in some way to alleviate their situation." However, familiarity demands we must once again ponder what intent, if any, lies in this present day self-segregation of Black America.

Despite the fact that nationalism as a doctrine, manifested in the North, nationalism originated in the South. It was there in the South during the 19th century that Africans banded together in an effort to distance themselves from forced assimilation refusing for many years to refer to themselves as Americans. Subsequently, the south represents in 21st Century America the obvious choice for research pertaining to segregation and [its] effects on blacks.

In 2012, researchers from Dartmouth, University of Georgia, and the University of Washington released a comparative study of trends in racial diversity. According to data obtained from the U.S. Census in 1990, 2000, and 2010, the study found that although racial diversity in the nation’s largest cities has been on the rise over the last twenty-years, African-Americans remain concentrated in segregated neighborhoods; that highly diverse neighborhoods are actually rare; and newly arrived immigrants continue to settle in concentrated racial residential patterns.

The research published in the Professional Geographer, presented substantial evidence of changes in neighborhood racial configuration in major cities. In addition, the research found that while there are no longer all black or all white neighborhoods in major U.S. cities, segregation still exists. According to Dartmouth geography professor Richard Wright, "It's clear from our research that we still have problems…with segregation.” Atlanta, Ga. for example according to Wright is a city that has changed dramatically over the last twenty-years, yet remains segregated.

“The trend we've seen is for predominantly white tracts to become more racially diverse and this is because of immigration….African-Americans have a longer history of settlement in the United States. So old histories are getting rewritten in these metropolitan areas, but African-Americans remain segregated," he said. Furthermore, according to a 2003 report by Harvard's Civil Rights Project at the beginning of the 21st century, education for Blacks is more segregated than it was in 1968.

Moreover, black students are the most likely racial group to attend what researchers call "apartheid schools," — schools that are virtually all non-white and where poverty, limited resources, social strife and health problems abound. One-sixth of America's black students attend these schools. The report also suggests a strong link between racially segregated schools and segregation by class noting that in heavily segregated schools the economically disadvantaged account for nearly half of all students.

Yet, as previously mentioned, proponents of Black Nationalism might welcome this segregated dynamic though surely not the results. In addition to Black Nationalism, the concept of Afrocentricity posits that African paradigms, symbols, myths, and values should constitute the starting point for all things black in America. For instance, adopting of African names, fashions and dress (kente cloths, kufi hats, African beads), hair styles (braids, dreadlocks, Afros), food, music, and religiosity. Despite its popularity however, Afrocentricity was not without [its] critics.

Noted African-American professor Henry Louis Gates and white liberal historian Arthur Schlesinger being among the most vocal. Both Gates and Schlesinger argued that despite its intent and contrary to what proponents of Afrocentricity believed, Afrocentricity might lead to the establishment of distinctive ethnic communities. Schlesinger even went so far as to label the pedagogy of Afrocentricity as racist, writing, "If a kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan wanted to use the schools to disable and handicap black Americans, he could hardly come up with anything more effective than the Afrocentric curriculum."

Having made the aforementioned points it is important to note that the underlying question of how these points detrimentally and broadly affects black America and America by default looms ever so large.  Although the answers appear difficult considering the data relative to schools and education there remains the subcutaneous symptoms festering beneath the visual wounds. Moreover, the side effects of the recommended solutions have yet to be addressed, and might never be.

 If the plight of America were to be determined according to African-American contributions the results gleaned from empirical evidence regarding incomes, wealth, education and political influence might appear to render America’s future bleak. In addition, were the determination real and not imagined other ethnic groups might well champion [their] respective ‘we told you so’ attitudes. Meaning that African-American contributions or the lack thereof might lend credibility to the facially neutral segregation of whites and other ethnic groups.

However, it is not the facially neutral segregation, which causes concern. It is the detrimental effect of self-segregation of Black America. Yet, for us to answer that question we are required to consider the visual wounds in addition to those not seen. In all probability, Black America has no idea of [its] self-segregation. It is likely that Black America sees only a neighborhood, sees only unemployment, sees only crime, and despair.  

What Black America and the rest of America fails to see is how self-segregation effects the health of blacks in the form of hypertension, mental disease, low birth weights among infants, and practically no political representation, - sans Ferguson, Mo. What Black America and the rest of America also fail to see is how self-segregation eclipses the ideological norms of race and neighborhoods. Self-segregation also translates into shunning one’s own people.

For example, in his 2010 book, "Buying Black - the Ebony Experiment," author James Clingman Jr. wrote, “There is $850 billion moving through Black consumers' hands each year, with 90 percent of that amount going to businesses owned and controlled by non-black businesses.” Back in the day blacks created benevolent societies to assist one another in times of hardship. If a member became sick or fell on financially hard times, the society would pitch in with food or visit and clean the affected member’s home.

When blacks needed one another, blacks loved one another and vice-versa. Moreover, it appeared that blacks enjoyed segregation. What frustrates the situation is that it is virtually impossible to remain clinical regarding this topic. Thinking outside the box takes us only so far before returning us back to the known and the visual wounds. Too often making factual observations is confused with passing judgment or assigning blame.

On the surface, it appears Black America is unconsciously attempting to return that old worn out suit of integration. Apart from engaging in the things Black Americans believe qualifies [them] as black, most blacks think of themselves as normal. Yet, it just might be the normal of Black America that results in blacks’ constructional eviction and self-segregation, intentional or not. Finally, self-segregation although strengthening the esteem and imagined superiority of others, undermines the foundation of the American economy and [its] ability to remain globally competitive. 


Written by Jay Arrington, Maryland Daily Examiner

For additional articles and information regarding the Maryland Daily Examiner, visit their website  or contact Reggie Kearney, Editor-in-Chief by sending an Email. 


CAUSE TO SUPPORT:

"Don't Punish a Good Cop for Standing Up to Police Brutality
https://www.change.org/p/thomas-p-dinapoli-don-t-punish-a-good-cop-for-standing-up-to-police-brutality
For more information regarding this cause and petition, contact Carol J. Horne at: carioljhorne@aol.com


 
SOURCES:

*History – UCR - http://history.ucr.edu/People/Faculty/Stuckey/

*Smith, Robert C. "Afrocentricity." Encyclopedia of African-American Politics. New York:  
   Facts On File, Inc., 2003. African-American History Online. Facts On File,  \ 
  Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE01&iPin=EAAP0011&SingleRecord=True 

*Dartmouth University - now.dartmouth.edu/.../racial-diversity-increases-but-s...

*Tolerance.Org - www.tolerance.org/supplement/segregation-today

 

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What Price Speech: How Entitlement for Some Makes Us All Accountable

1/22/2015

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“If your protest perpetuates instead of prevents then you may as well keep your mouth shut.”   ~~~ Poetry Emotion By Jay

Question -  Would anyone of you give a poisonous snake refuge in your pants pocket and then be mad that the snake bit you? Conventional wisdom would suggest that a snake will be a snake.

Question -  Would anyone of you deliberately jump over a barrier into a lion’s den and then be mad that the lion mauled you? Yeah, right, the lion would only do what is expected. So, given that common sense in these situations would or should prevent a person from committing such foolish acts despite that person’s right to do so, why is it that common sense would not apply to newspaper editors?

Although I resist giving qualifying statements, I feel in this instance it is necessary. Therefore, let me say that this commentary is in no way an attempt to condone the tragedy that took place in France. I value life and cannot begin to imagine what the families of those lost are suffering. However, the following excerpts taken from a Sept. 2012 NY Times article reveal a disturbing pattern of irresponsibility by Charlie Hebdo editors'. The article, “French Magazine Runs Cartoons That Mock Muhammad,  was written by 
SCOTT SAYARE and NICOLA CLARK, with contributions from Declan Walsh reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Waqar Gilani from Lahore, Pakistan.

“The French government had urged the weekly newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, to reconsider printing the illustrations, some of which depict Muhammad naked and in pornographic poses.

The newspaper refused; after Charlie Hebdo arrived at newsstands on Wednesday, the government announced that French embassies, consulates, cultural centers and schools in about 20 countries would be closed Friday as a precautionary measure. Security will be raised at embassies and consulates, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said, though no specific threats against French targets have been identified.



Accustomed to denunciations by the government, Muslims and almost every other religious or, political group in France, Charlie Hebdo stood by its editorial choice. “We’re a newspaper that respects French law,” said Gérard Biard, the editor in chief. “Now, if there’s a law that is different in Kabul or Riyadh, we’re not going to bother ourselves with respecting it. 

Folks, allow me to interrupt here for a moment to point something out. The editor in chief of the newspaper said, 

“We’re a newspaper that respects French law,” said Gérard Biard, the editor in chief. “Now, if there’s a law that is different in Kabul or Riyadh, we’re not going to bother ourselves with respecting it. 

Stephane Charbonnier the paper’s editorial director added, “Why should they prohibit these people from expressing themselves?” “We have the right to express ourselves, they have the right to express themselves, too.”

You see folks, there’s that sense of entitlement that many feel [t]hey possess because [t]hey have the right to do whatever- consequences be damned. Furthermore, keep in mind this was in 2012.  

Let us continue with the excerpts, 

“French officials acknowledged the newspaper’s right to publish as it pleased, within the limits of the law, but deplored its choice to print images that might be reasonably expected to cause violence.

“In the present context, given this absurd video that has been aired, strong emotions have been awakened in many Muslim countries,” Laurent Fabius, the foreign minister, told France Info radio. “Is it really sensible or intelligent to pour oil on the fire?”


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In a statement, the French Council of the Muslim Faith warned that the cartoons risked “exacerbating tensions,” but urged French Muslims “not to cede to provocation” and to express their grievances via the courts. An appeal for calm will be read during Friday Prayer in several hundred mosques across the country, the rector of Paris’s Grand Mosque announced.

The Arab League denounced the illustrations, as did the White House. “We don’t question the right of something like this to be published,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, told reporters. “We just question the judgment behind the decision to publish it.”

Again folks, judgment and common sense should rule the day. Unfortunately, however, the false sense of entitlement that some people carry around, in addition to a blatant disrespect for the faiths of other cultures, makes us all accountable.

“Police officers were sent Wednesday to guard the offices of Charlie Hebdo, in eastern Paris. The newspaper’s former headquarters were gutted by a firebomb last year after the publication of another issue featuring images of Muhammad. Mr. Biard, the editor in chief, described the newspaper as “atheist” and “democratic,” but also a defender of France’s fervent secularism, known as “laïcité.”

“We’re a newspaper against religions as soon as they enter into the political and public realm,” Mr. Biard said. Religious leaders, and Muslim religious leaders in particular, have manipulated their French followers for political reasons, he asserted.

“You’re not meant to identify yourself through a religion, in any case not in a secular state,” Mr. Biard said.

As I said earlier, I am not attempting to appease anyone, nor applaud any action(s) that results in the loss of life or property, or causes hurt or harm. My only purpose here is to point out that for far too long, people around the world and especially in America, have confused free will with free speech. The problem with that is neither one is free. Each one comes with a price and a consequence. 

Moreover, as it regards the surviving editor of Charlie Hebdo, while I respect your right to express yourself, I deplore your blatant disdain and lack of respect for others. Your decision to continue to jump into the lion’s den and to give refuge to a poisonous snake despite prior warnings and your knowledge of history proves at least in my mind that you have allowed your self-righteous sense of entitlement to trump your sense of responsible journalism. The worse part however, is that when you gave refuge to that snake and when you decided to jump into that lion’s den, you made your employees and their families accountable.


Written by Jay Arrington, Maryland Daily Examiner

For more information regarding the Maryland Daily Examiner, contact Reggie Kearney, Editor-in-Chief. 

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 “It Was Supposed to be a Joke”: The Minimization of Crime According to Ethnicity is a Matter of Accountability versus Entitlement

1/10/2015

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Originally Published for the Maryland Daily Examiner November 2013 –
Updated January 10, 2015

The November 6, 2013 headline in the local paper read, “Mall shooter called friendly but troubled.” The story was about the man authorities say fired six rounds in Westgate Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey and later took his own life. But this is not about him, this is regarding the inevitability that the media will automatically try to downplay criminal behavior by offering an excuse for that behavior, at least where it concerns whites. Call it what you will but it’s time somebody said it, and it’s not something that just started either - it’s been happening since this country’s founding.

History refers to Indians defending their lands and their families as savages therefore justifying their (Indians) slaughter (accountability) by whites. On the other hand, however, the white people stealing those lands and killing those families, history refers to them (whites) as settlers (entitlement).

A few seasons ago on the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” a couple of white male students at Temple University decided to get even with a rival student. The two students sabotaged the drink of their rival with a heavy dose of Milk of Magnesia and the student died. Upon being questioned by an uncle, one of the students said in a scoffing manner, “It was suppose to be a joke” as if to imply that the perpetrator somehow was the victim because the boy that died took the joke too far. Although fictional, the story is a classic example of art imitating life because that’s just the way things are done in these United States.

Ask yourself, when was the last time you heard some so-called expert talking about how troubled a black or Latino youth was before committing a heinous crime – answer…probably never.  No, the only thing you might hear, if anything, is a police rep surrounded by cameras spewing hate-filled rhetoric and calling the youth animals. Back in 1996 after the boys (white) who committed the rash of arsons in the south that turned several black churches to ash, MSNBC’s Dan Abrams had a white guest on his show, who as expected, said that what the boys had done was, “A prank that got out of hand.”  A prank ...Are you kidding me?

A few years later in New Jersey, police discovered pipe bombs behind several suburban 7-Eleven stores. Afterwards during interviews with local TV stations white teens defended the actions saying it was, “just a bunch of kids trying to have some fun”.  Really?

Furthermore, let’s not even talk about if it’s a white woman. I remember the day after Phil Hartman of SNL fame was killed by his wife as he slept, Hartman’s neighbor, a white female said on the local news that Hartman, must have done something to his wife otherwise she would not have killed him. Reality-check… she killed him while in a cocaine-induced rage, which as it turned out was one of many.

Up next, Debra Lafave the white teacher in Florida accused of having sex with her 14- year old male student. In court, her lawyer told the judge, “She’s young, blond, and too pretty for prison.” It worked.  Lafave received probation, we should all be so lucky. Marissa Alexander was young, and pretty too but she received twenty-years in prison for firing a warning shot into the air to prevent a possible assault on her person by her ex-husband. Oh, yeah Marissa is not white.

The evidence supports all that I am saying. Think about all of the school shootings and the first thing that comes up are mental-health issues and people searching for reasons. Surely there must be an excuse, because according to white experts, “we are not like them” (people of color).” Even when young men of color are the victims, the media, along with the police, portray the young men as criminals implying that these young men are responsible for [their] own deaths sans Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Sean Bell and perhaps the most egregious, Eric Garner. Let’s face it; I am not saying that anyone be excused. There is no excuse. Some people are just pure evil and excuses only serve to enable evil. 

What it comes down to is accountability versus entitlement, and it not only applies to crime. This ethnic favoritism applies in other areas too. For example, President George W. Bush’s hundreds of days of vacation time. Bush’s vacation time was referred to as deserved rest. Compare that reasoning to President Obama’s relatively low number of vacation days, which gave rise to people casting false light aspersions on Obama’s character and entitlement, versus accountability once again appears to be a matter of race.

I often wonder how this accountability versus entitlement ideology will play itself out when the role is called up yonder…I don’t think it will pass the laugh test.

Written by Jay Arrington
The Maryland Daily Examiner - 

For more information on this article and the Maryland Daily Examiner, contact Reggie Kearney, Editor-in-Chief.

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    Jay Arrington

    Jay Arrington is a featured staff writer and reporter for the Maryland Daily Examiner.  

    Jay's political commentary is cutting edge, and stands on truth and justice.  

    An activist and advocate for civil rights and a fair judicial system, Jay reports with the conviction of equality for all. 

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