MLK

Each year in what is now becoming a traditon here at the C-blog, I take MLK Day to comment on the state of race relations in this country.

It is hard to put MLK on a heroes list because he had a political philosophy that clashes with libertarianism. As you read and understand his thought, MLK was more like Che Guevara. MLK was influenced by Marxism and only rejected the materialism and atheism of that philosophy. Ironically, those are about the only parts of Marxism I can get behind. But people forget that when MLK was shot in Memphis, he was there over labor issues not race relations. King was not a libertarian. He was a Christian Marxist seeing something fundamentally wrong with capitalism. Here is a quote from his last address:

...And one day we must ask the question, Why are there forty million poor people in America? And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society...

This article details more of MLK's Marxist beliefs. After the Civil Rights Act, King didn't have much else to run on. He transitioned from issues of race to issues of class. When he was killed, everyone expunged this part of his thinking and now it is not remembered. What is remembered is what he stood for in terms of race and how he accomplished it. Those are two pretty good legacies.

I definitely believe in equality before the law. Everyone should be treated equally by the government without prejudice to their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or what have you. This country has a long history of treating minorities in an atrocious manner and no group has suffered more than African descendants. From slavery to Jim Crow to the drug war of today, blacks in America have had one raw deal after another. King made a huge dent in that injustice, and he was not a politician or a political leader.

King pulled off change through speaking out and through civil disobedience. These were not original to him since you find antecedents in Gandhi and Thoreau. But few have pulled it off to such great effect. This part of his legacy endures to this day and is what fired the radicalism of the sixties and early seventies that helped end the war in Vietnam. You don't have to hold political office to change the world. In fact, it is probably a distinct disadvantage to hold political office.

What are we to make of the state of race relations today? Well, we have a black president. That is pretty good. Unfortunately he is a horrible president. This is bad. I fear that any black presidential candidate will be unfairly tarnished by Obama's legacy and won't get fair consideration. And that is the unfairness of it.

Whatever I do as a person, I am judged as an individual. Whatever a black person does, they are judged by their race. That is a heavy burden to bear. No other group has this issue. It is noted that Justice Sotomayor is a Latina, but this is quickly forgotten. Women also don't have this burden as we can see from both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. The group identity thing is not there. Only black people in America bear that burden.

This was brought home to me while talking with a black coworker a few years back. He wanted to be an entrepreneur and start his own business. His idea was to open a liquor store and maybe turn it into a chain of liquor stores. I told him this was an excellent idea, but he expressed a feeling of guilt. I asked him if he had a hang up over alcohol. He said that wasn't the issue. He said that he felt that he would be doing a disservice to his race as many of his customers would probably be black. I can tell you that I never consider how my actions may impact my race as a white guy. I just do whatever I like. But what this guy told me opened my eyes to a wider reality.

Black people in America today have received a great deal to help them advance. They are given access to equal education. They are protected by affirmative action in hiring, housing, etc. Blatant discrimination results in severe penalty both legally and socially. Yet, on all social indicators, black people are at the bottom. They are the poorest. They score poorly on academics. They have high crime levels. Pointing these things out is uncomfortable, but I deal in reality. But I reject the racist theory that there is something inherently inferior in these people. What is holding back Black America? My liquor store entrepreneur had given me the answer.

African-American culture punishes the individual. You are punished for individual achievement. If you are black and successful in America today, you will get little hatred from whites. You will get overwhelming hatred from blacks. You will be called an Uncle Tom. Your achievements will be questioned. You will be called an Oreo because you are "black on the outside and white on the inside." I know this because Obama dealt with this before getting elected POTUS. After it seemed he had a real shot at winning, he became a symbol of black pride. Suddenly, the hatred stopped.

I think this is fucked up. But this is what racial collectivism brings. You are allowed to rise but only within the confines of the collective. If you achieve, it must be by advancing the race and not yourself. Everything you do has to be judged in relation to the group. And we are mystified why black people don't achieve more. The answer is simple. Without individual achievement, there is no inspiration. The black people who do achieve meaningful things often end up turning their backs on the black community because of the hatred they received during their rise. The rising black middle class has this quality. They feel alienation and separation.

Becoming an Uncle Tom is easy. Work hard. Study. Pay your bills. Live modestly. These are "white" values. I have to laugh at this since they are also the values of hard working immigrant groups, Jews, etc. White people don't have a monopoly on these things. And there is no success without such things. Yet, if you do these things in the black community, you will be insulted, ridiculed, and what have you for playing to the Man. It is like the story of the elephant who is held in place by a simple rope staked in the ground because of conditioning. In the past, black people were not allowed to achieve because they were black. Now, black people can achieve, but they are held back by other black people who hate on them. What sick twisted irony.

I see this collective mindset breaking up today. Unfortunately, these things take time. But there are glimmers of this new future in these people:

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, astrophysicist and atheist

If the only time you think of me as a scientist is during Black History Month, then I must not be doing my job as a scientist. All I tell them is, invite me some other month and I’ll be happy to give a talk.

MORGAN FREEMAN, actor

I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.

* * *

I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.

* * *

Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.

WILL SMITH, actor, rapper, and family man

My work ethic is sickening.

* * *

There's so much negative imagery of black fatherhood. I've got tons of friends that are doing the right thing by their kids, and doing the right thing as a father - and how come that's not as newsworthy?

* * *

I try to speak my points of view about black America, and how I feel about black men and the role that black men should play in their lives with their children and in their lives with their women.

These three individuals do not deny their race nor are they imprisoned by it. They do not define themselves purely by their race. They have transcended their race. They are respected for their work and their character. They want to be recognized for what they have done and not what their race has done. They are the triumph of individualism over collectivism. We need more people like this.

We don't need more people like Jesse Jackson who said he wanted to cut Obama's nuts out when Obama suggested that black families turn off the video games and read with their kids. We don't need more people like Spike Lee who called Clarence Thomas a "handkerchief-head, chicken-and-biscuit-eating Uncle Tom." The fact is that black people can succeed and excel in America today. They just have to be prepared to be hated by their own people.

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