Posted by Tina
Few Americans are unaware of the footprint Martin Luther King left behind or the legacy that civil protest played a major role in getting civil rights legislation passed. But how many are aware of black voices that argued for a very different approach? I was a teenager in the sixties. I have to admit I was unaware of any black position other than that voiced by our media, as they carried footage of Dr. King and his followers, filling the television screens with a single black perspective. I also never heard the opinions of someone like Pittsburgh Courier columnist George Schuyler:
Schuyler, who supported Barry Goldwater for president against Johnson because of his better record on civil rights, saw civil rights marches as a form of “beggary,” of prostration of blacks before white political leaders. Working in the tradition of Booker T. Washington, Schuyler promoted the idea of black economic independence in the form of cooperatives and black-owned financial institutions and businesses
Incredibly these are the very things that are not part of the overall black experience even after fifty years of affirmative action and government programs. It’s a condition that deserves an honest discussion and full consideration of alternative approaches.
In 1964 I likewise never heard the views of the prominent black leader Reverend Joseph H. Jackson, “the longest serving president of the National Baptist Convention,” who said he was opposed to “boycotts, pickets, sit-ins, and demonstration” in a speech before the Baptist Convention in 1964. “We must not allow the white community to pick our leaders or tell us what Negro to follow,” he stated.
These were independent thinkers. Men who believed that their Constitutional rights had already been granted. Men that believed the black man could “overcome” by using their own energies and will to establish themselves, as many other people had done in American communities where they were not at first well received, as business owners and bankers. Italian, Irish, Polish and German immigrants achieved equity by applying themselves, by saving and making sure their children got a better education than they had, and by learning that anything is possible when you work hard.
I can’t help wondering how different the black experience might be today if the drama of the protest and the martyrdom of Martin Luther King had not captivated the narrative for decades and cemented black loyalties to the pandering Democrat Party. The big government ideas of the Democrat Party have handcuffed all kids of Americans but none more so than those in the black communities of the American South.
There are voices today, men who were adults during the civil rights era, that continue to hold alternate views. One such man is Walter Williams who continues to live and express the American Dream his way as an individual and views like those held by George Schuyler and Joseph Jackson. Williams discusses this and more with colleagues and friends in a new public television documentary called, “Suffer No Fools.” You can read a summary here. Video preview of the documentary can be viewed here.
How wonderful to finally be exposed to the experiences, perceptions, and views of accomplished black men in America. I hope this is just a beginning. Congrats to public television for showing this very important “alternate voice” of the black community. What we’ve done over the last fifty years has not been positive for the majority of blacks in America, in particular black men. I hope this effort inspires others in creative fields. I’d love to see dynamic changes come as a result of this documentary that will finally begin to deliver full citizenship and better life outcomes for America’s black children. The fundamental principles expressed by these men apply to us all.
HT: Mary Grabar, P.J. Media
“These were independent thinkers. Men who believed that their Constitutional rights had already been granted.”
But…they hadn’t been, though. Or at least, those rights certainly werent’ recognized by the government at the time.
I’m all for broadening one’s knowledge of the diversity of the Civil Rights movement, but I’m surprised by the opposition to methods like boycotts and sit-ins, which were hugely effective in achieving the early goals of the movement.
One of the men quoted was a columnist of the Pittsburgh Courier. He had established himself in a main stream American occupation in 1964. The other was a pastor, an admittedly less main stream job but one that requires higher education and real effort. I assert that if their rights were not recognized by the US government they would have been barred from education and advancement beyond menial labor jobs. Attitudes were already changing in America. It was during this time that the great black comedians surfaced and became wildly popular. It was during this time that the Motown sound was born and was embraced by All American kids that weren’t already attached to country music. Barry Gordy started his own record company and made himself a lot of money and provided an opportunity for others to do so. Blacks had already worked in the auto industry since the war. The reality is that racism still existed but it was only severe in the south.
“I’m surprised by the opposition to methods like boycotts and sit-ins, which were hugely effective in achieving the early goals of the movement.”
The early goals were achieved. Whether it was due to the protests or the fact that Democrats saw an opportunity to exploit the situation and change their voting block, is something we’ll never know. We can’t change the past. But in the long term protest has little to offer other than a venue for expressing anger and distrust. I don’t see it as being very productive at all, in fact, I find it divisive.
The observations and attitudes these men have are very instructive and they serve as good models for any young man but particularly young blacks who desperately need someone to show them them there’s a way to success.
“I assert that if their rights were not recognized by the US government they would have been barred from education and advancement beyond menial labor jobs.”
So…the right to marry someone of a different race…the right to an equal education…those don’t matter? I know you don’t mean that.
“But in the long term protest has little to offer other than a venue for expressing anger and distrust. I don’t see it as being very productive at all, in fact, I find it divisive.”
You have advertised Tea Party events on this very site in the past. Do those not count as protests to you?
Chris: “So…the right to marry someone of a different race…the right to an equal education…those don’t matter? I know you don’t mean that.”
No I don’t mean that. The point is that a very one sided history has been written about the times. I think knowing the full history is important.
I went to school with black children as a child and in High School so I know they were not segregated everywhere. Conditions in the South were severe and needed to be addressed. Rosa Parks showed the way with bravery I cannot imagine. She was an elderly woman and got away with making a profound point, possibly due in part because of the good manners Southern folks insisted upon. Also as we have discussed before higher education for blacks did exist in the country long before the 1960’s. There was a path to the middle class and prosperity.
Some of the conditions probably would have been challenged through private individual legal redress as attitudes changed had we not enacted welfare and affirmative action.
“You have advertised Tea Party events on this very site in the past. Do those not count as protests to you?”
Valid point. But it’s hard to compare events that happen for a day with what amounts to a decades long grievance parade that never ends.
We all have the right to assemble and express our views collectively in splashy ways. We even have the right to decades long grievance parades. The question is how affective are they in the long run? I don’t think the black community has been well served by one-sided history, being basically bought for allegiance to a single party, or the political guidance of persons like Sharpton and Jackson who joined with the party to help control the black vote for their own personal gain.
We can find good and bad in almost everything. Isn’t it smart to look or areas where corrections can be made?
Chris, having been an organizer within the Tea Party movement at one time, I am no longer, I think their demonstrations pretty nicely done. Did you ever attend one? It was something to behold.
I’ve been at civil rights demonstrations, sit-ins, and of course the Tea party demonstrations. And while there many similarities, the overriding difference is the lack of volatility in the TP demonstrations and the feeling of safety. Police certainly felt at ease with them.
The aftermath was also quite telling. The TP demonstrations left behind no litter and did no damage. There were no arrests either. They were always held at a time and place for a minimum of disruption for the local people and traffic. The TP demonstrations were in all respects the model of decorum, probably the best run I’ve ever seen. I wish all demonstrations were as responsible and considerate. I’ve never seen a more patriotic, American loving, sincere group of people and from all walks of life. They were incredibly impressive.
Jack, I did attend the first Tea Party event in Fresno. I went with my mom who was sympathetic to the movement at first (until she got tired of the welfare-bashing). It was well conducted and there were no signs of racism, though it was an overwhelmingly white crowd, especially for Fresno.
But I don’t see how you can even compare these events to the civil rights protests of the 1960s. Those guys were fighting for basic human dignity and rights. As Tina points out, those rights were recognized in most Northern states but not in the South, and they had no federal recognition.
The Tea Party is fighting for lower taxes and less government regulation.
OF COURSE there is going to be less volatility and less antagonism toward the police.
Chris, I was not comparing the issues, only the crowds. Although I think TP issues are as important to America as anyone else’s issues.
Chris it’s a shame that people who are offended by “welfare bashing” can’t look past their personal experience to examine the reason’s people object to our current welfare system. There are problems, serious problems, that need to be addressed. If we look under the surface these societal and bureaucratic problems are as serious as the degradation that flowed from racist discrimination in the South. Too many people have made welfare a lifestyle they pass on to their children. Too many families have been broken because the rules make it easier for a single dependent mother to get money than a married couple with a low wage working husband. The rules make it very difficult to build a life beyond welfare. The very strong and well disciplined move beyond welfare dependency and good for them. Second, third, fourth and fifth generation recipients are a lot less likely to have a mindset or personal skills to even think about it. Our prisons are filled with men whose dignity was sold down the river decades a go by a system that presumed they were insignificant. This may not have been the intention, although a warning was issued by Democrat, Daniel Patrick Moynahan, but it certainly has been the result.
There is also the problem of waste, fraud, and abuse and the huge bureaucracy that taxpayers must support. This amounts to a hidden tax on the middle class that lowers their standard of living and compromises the future for the next generations.
It’s time we rethink these programs, and I include SS and MCare in that. Those who constructed these programs imagined they could be sustained because they counted on sustained personal responsibility and dedication to the work ethic and savings ethic of generations of past Americans.
While it’s true that not everyone who sees these problems in the Tea Party has the skills to express the problems well so that others can get it, it isn’t true that their upset, however expressed, is unfounded. When you’ve spent decades attempting to point out a problem you believe is severe and all the other side can think to do is call you names, insensitive or a racist, it gets mighty frustrating.
The lack of volatility isn’t just a result of having no reason to be antagonistic toward the police. It is a result of having respect for the process we’ve been given in the best system of government ever devised. It is a result of not buying into the false claims of the grievance industry that peddles helplessness and victim-hood for personal and political power. It is a result of good manners and self discipline. It is a result of having respect for the very ground and the nearby buildings or businesses and the people who own them.
Speaking of welfare, did anyone catch the 20-20 program showing Medicare patients using the ambulance as a taxi? The ambulance charged Medicare $400 a trip for what would be a $15 cab ride, and they even made stops for fast food and booz. Something like 250 billion a year is wasted on cheaters.
Example: A South Carolina woman was arrested after authorities discovered she called 911 at least 100 times in the past seven years to get rides into Charleston. Audrey Ferguson, 51, allegedly faked illnesses and would immediately sign out of area hospitals upon arrival, telling doctors she was fine, WCSC reports.
Each of Ferguson’s trips cost $425 plus mileage, and officials say taxpayers may have to pay a bill of more than $400,000 to cover expenses that aren’t covered by Medicaid, WCSC reports.
Phil306 wrote, Happens all day, everyday, in cities all across the country. Simple fact: The general public are naive, ignorant, and down right stupid to the facts.
A drunk person passed out on the sidewalk. Two police officers, a fire engine (3 firemen), and an ambulance crew are sent. Ambulance crew is a paramedic and EMT; or two paramedics, and combos there of. Every time, all day, each day, in the city I work in. I respond to 4+ calls of this a day. Everyday, on every shift I work.
Those are your tax payer dollars and you fools buy into it. You want it and are more than happy to pay more.
Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/2015681-ambulance-used-taxi-cab-cost-taxpayers.html#ixzz3PCbRkWwa
Here’s another ABC news story on same subject, ambulances used as taxis: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/ambulances-taxis-28286790
As Long as we have lots of folks screaming “pony up” we’ll be burdened by the extra high cost of government solutions.
Let’s hope in 2016 the middle class has figured it out.
THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH!
“Chris, I was not comparing the issues, only the crowds.”
Yes, but I think it’s hard to really separate the two when talking about civil rights protests v. Tea Party protests. The Tea Party is overwhelmingly “white, male, married, older than 45, regularly attending religious services, conservative, and to be more wealthy and have more education.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement#Membership_and_demographics
Compare that to the demographics of civil rights protesters, which were often made up of younger people from poor urban communities. Now you may believe the issues are equally important (though I disagree), but you also have to consider the backgrounds of the people involved. Tea Party rallies aren’t as hostile and potentially chaotic as civil rights protests because the white, middle class participants are part of the mainstream of society. They have access to power and cultural representation in ways the civil rights protesters did not.
Chris: “Tea Party rallies aren’t as hostile and potentially chaotic as civil rights protests because the white, middle class participants are part of the mainstream of society. They have access to power and cultural representation in ways the civil rights protesters did not.”
Bologna!
The minority/poor community has been given tremendous power through legislative and legal processes since the sixties.
White and Chinese kids have been shoved aside to make room in elite higher education schools (Like Berkley) even when the students were not really qualified to attend and would have done better in a junior college or 4 year state college. Minorities have been subsidized in all kinds of ways, grants, scholarships, preferences in hiring, food stamps, rent assistance, free lunches at school, tax credits…
A history of political (power) “affirmative action” steps can be reviewed here.
That report only goes to the Clinton administration. A lot more has been done since then, some of which played a big part in greater home ownership. (With the unintended consequences of collapsing the housing market and a huge credit crash. – do you know this administration is still using those lending policies?)
The point is anyone, ANYONE, in America can move from poverty to the middle class IF they apply themselves and don’t make destructive personal choices. (At least they can when a fundamental transformer isn’t killing the economy). People in the black community managed to do it long before all of this government subsidy and assistance so excuses are learned attitudes. The minority community has had legal representation as well during this period.
it’s a deception that poor people don’t have power. they have as much as the average American, especially now that the middle class has been decimated.
Here’s a perfect example of minority complainers never being satisfied:
Questions:
1. How many minorities have done the work to position themselves and make the leap to serve in Congress? It is ludicrous to blame the white man for the lack of effort and work by minorities.
2. How many Republican minorities have been criticized and demonized by the party that claims to care about minorities having representation in power positions?
3. What percentage of the different minorities have shown an interest in politics (power) and given up because white people discouraged them or showed they would not vote for them?
People who talk about civil rights today live in the past. The longer it goes on the more it sounds like entitlement thinking and reverse bigotry…especially when “house N****r” or Uncle Tom is leveled as criticism.
And by the way, Dr King’s marches were as civil as the Tea Party protests. That’s because all Americans had better manners then.