The great black hope: Black Metropolises
After the recent mess that took place in Atlanta recently, I was reminded about a piece that I have been wanting to write for a very long time. This may not be “The One”, but this will at least give you some idea of my thoughts on this matter.
As usual, after the smoke clears from any major catastrophe, the finger-pointing will be soon to follow. Michael King (of the blog Ramblings’ Journal) was just recently on the Bill O’Reilly show discussing the whole case about the recent shooting spree in Atlanta as well as the politics in that city in general.
Some quick highlights regarding this case:
*The policeman that was escorting this criminal was an approximate 5. ft. , 50 year old police woman (mind you, this guy was over 6ft tall).
*The justice system in Atlanta had a policy where a convicted criminals were not to wear the traditional prison orange jump suit and shackles when entering the courtroom. The reason behind this is to present in the best possible way that the person is innocent until proven guilty. (mind you, this guy was ALREADY convicted. We can thank the PC crowd for this policy)
*Instead of scanning local security and traffic cameras, the Atlanta police department decides to lock down the entire city of Atlanta.
Visit King’s site for all the other details
As a former resident of the Atlanta area, I can personally attest that this is not the first time where city officials have dropped the ball for its citizens. Not too long ago, former mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell was indited for corruption, the DeKalb county police department was rocked with a huge scandal within its own police department, and the list goes on and on. Both crime and poverty statistics are not very encouraging either. As far as the school system goes, all I will say is the school board made the decision a while ago to build schools with no playgrounds in an effort to get kids to concentrate in school (how ridiculous is that?).
What makes these negative trends somewhat unique is that a vast majority of them take place under black governmental leadership, mostly Democratic.
[For the sensitive among you, I am not suggesting that blacks are incapable of positive leadership]
In this posting, I am using Atlanta as an example, however, if we are honest with ourselves we have to admit that the problems that I mentioned above are sadly very common in cities with a high percentage of black leadership.
Another city under black leadership facing similar problems is Detroit. Under Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick watch, approximately 34 public schools were shut down, city worker wages are being cut, many public school teachers are applying for early retirement, and other bad news that I will not take the time to cover here. Newark, NJ is another example as they were recently voted as the most dangerous city in America.
In the years that I lived in Atlanta, I saw how time and time again blacks were considered over “everybody else” over and over again in highly visible positions in government. This happened a whole lot under Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, and Bill Campbell. I did not see any signs of this practice slowing down under Shirley Franklin (Atlanta’s existing mayor). This is why Atlanta is considered by many as the cradle of Affirmative Action (where the color of skin is preferred over qualifications).
When I was about to move to Atlanta, I have to admit that I was taken by the idea that I would finally live in a city that was controlled by us. As I was driving down interstate 95, all I kept seeing in my mind was all the nice pictures I always saw in Ebony, Jet and other black publications. In these pictures I saw blacks living in all- black communities with beautiful, well kept homes. To me, it seemed as though it was one big happy family that I wanted to be a part of.
Now please don’t get me wrong, Atlanta is still a very nice place to live with an ever-growing population. For me, after a few years I found the city to have some of the same quirky characteristics that I thought I left behind in my hometown in New Jersey. Instead of the “we are family” attitude that I expected to find in many of the sprouting black communities, I found in many cases outside of church, the most interaction I had with people was the typical suburban wave as one would give as they are pulling into their garage. To me, the black metropolis was not all what it was cracked up to be.
Many of my black friends noticed this as well and soon left the area all together. It was not too long that I was right behind them.
For years, blacks have always envisioned a place where we could control and set the quality of life for us and our families. What I soon discovered was that the very problems that we have been accusing white-controlled governments of not fixing, we ourselves were virtually ignoring in jurisdictions “we” control.
For example, in places where unemployment is very high, instead of building more businesses where we can hire each other and lower the unemployment rate, we blame white people for not bringing in businesses to do that for us. And when they do come, we turn right back around and accuse them of being racist for being a white-owned company in the first place.
Another point to consider is the poverty rates in the jurisdictions “we” control . If we are so concerned about taking care of the poor in the inner-cities, then why in 2003, the city of Atlanta was ranked #8 in the amount of poverty cases in the US (39% of its children live in poverty)? The truth is, instead of fixing our own problems, we want “white money” to continue to flow into our communities while local government leaders (who in many cases are unqualified) continue to mis-manage city funds. This has nothing to do with them being black, just not ready for “prime-time” leadership.
Again, please do not misunderstand me here, I have known quite a few black city officials who are trying their very best to make a difference and are in fact qualified to do the work. Unfortunately, the work of these brave soldiers is usually overshadowed by the black “powers that be” who won’t admit that they are either not qualified, or just don’t have the heart to face the awful truths concerning their city.
If you find a true “black mecca”, please let me know, because I have not found it yet. And if many of you are honest, you have not found it either.
” I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” -Dr. King
There’s the secret, content of their character. The problem with these cities isnt their blatent racism in hiring only blacks for highly visible jobs. The problem is that the people they choose are based on political paybacks and not on whether they can do the job or not. There are plenty of overly qualified black people out there (if the cities insist on black only) to choose from, they just arent considered. They arent considered because corruption has just been an accepted thing in black politics. Same goes for Louisiana politics, everyone just accepts the fact that the whole system is corrupt. It will only change when enough black people (and there are a lot coming around) realize that they can have so much better (and it’s not race traitoring to criticize black leaders) if they just start standing up and demanding reform. Actually (as you already know) it isnt just a black problem, it’s one we all have to address.
Comment by doc | March 16, 2005
Currently reading the Mis-Education of the Negro Awesome book!!! If you want to find
out why Atlanta is not working, read the book. This should be read every year
to check if any progress has been made.
Comment by Ken | March 16, 2005
I dunno know. These same complaints could have been lodged against NYC 125 years ago (Tammany Hall, anyone?).
Different time, location and race but corruption is color-blind. And history isn’t a great teacher.
Politicians like to hear “yes, sir” and not “but, what about the consequences?”
Comment by EG | March 16, 2005
I live in Sheridan, Wyoming right now - as white as a white town can get. And while crime rates aren’t insane, the entire state of Wyoming really throws in the face the idea that only black cities/towns have major dysfunction issues. For example, Sheridan’s business community is essentialy run by a cartel of millionaires who refuse to let any business they don’t “prefer” into town. It keeps the poor even poorer, while the rich get richer. There are similar stories all over rural America. The difference is, black folks aren’t stakeholders, even if they DO run the government, they don’t own the banks or have the clout of running the businesses - that also have an affect on the community. We’re not talking about all black cities here, but actual places where ineffective leadership - no doubt reigns because people get greedy - but black folks get a far worse rap because of the fact that people are already questioning what they’re doing.
I’d argue it means they need to work harder and do less underhanded stuff. But, to ignore that we’re not stakeholders enough in communities - rather than always thinking that having black faces in government changes things..I believe is a major problem that our communities face.
Comment by Ron | March 17, 2005
Here’s a quote I found:
“Power may corrupt some, but is it more accurate to say that power attracts the corruptible?”
The issue we see in Atlanta, Washington, DC and other ‘black-hopolises’ is the joining of power and corruption, be it political, financial, religious or social power.
Few people question MLK’s concern for the poor and the disenfranchised and there’s little doubt about Jesse Jackson’s and Al Sharpton’s real concerns.
This blog has posted power issues found in some black and white churches.
The light-dark skin tone divide continues to plague Black America.
Where there is power of any kind, there are those who thirst to grab and abuse it.
Comment by EG | March 18, 2005