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This is not a rebuttal to but rather a reflection inspired by his earnest concern. What I have to say is debatable and even negative, but it is my “truth”, the personal opinion and theories that I have formed over 60 years of observing a struggle that recycles itself decade after decade as the same laments come and go, and the same calls for reforms echo each other, and the same strategies are swallowed up in the black hole of frustration. Obviously, a lot of present black problems stem from the past. We all know how our ancestors were sold into bondage and brought to this country against their will. If they survived the brutal middle passage, upon their arrival they were in even more trouble because they were strangers in a strange land. Plantation life was not the natural environment of these uprooted Africans stripped of their identities, but they adapted, as over the centuries with the infusion of white blood into their veins, they became a hybrid breed with a unique culture that emerged from straddling the slave quarters and the master’s house. Today the African American ethos is both positive and negative. Spontaneous, creative and inventive, we are a visually-oriented people more outstanding in the fields of entertainment and athletics, than the arts and sciences, - appreciative of all these pursuits both as spectators and participants. We are loud and demonstrative as well as quiet and brooding, stylish and flamboyant as well as simplistic and prim, a deeply religious people who celebrate our faith by making a joyful noise unto the lord, silently trusting in his will. As eloquent black spokesmen like to point out, “we’ve made great strides against tremendous odds” but, as I regret to add, somewhere along the way, an element of us lagged behind and the ghetto evolved into a latter-day plantation where the welfare system replaced the slave masters by shackling its recipients to a system that stripped them of their independence. Similarly, the family unit among the under-classes reverted to the matriarchies of slavery days, becoming wombs for fatherless young males growing into prowling bucks eager to mate with nubile young wenches. Enter the “baby mama” syndrome and its “babies-having-babies” subset, a plague where the offspring of these casual couplings face a future of becoming either the victims or victimizers of street violence as the dead-end cycle of their aimless lives is replicated and passed down from generation to generation. On the flip side, among the upwardly-mobile African Americans who escaped the ghetto through ambition, education, and good parenting, inroads have been made when it comes to emulating the model for success that represents status in the dominant society. Yet assimilation did not overwhelm and the black mystique has remained in tact as those who embody it, retained their swagger and grace, - the cool hipness that is admired and envied by members of the greater society, even as they install their glass ceilings. Not to be denied, the African DNA also persisted, morphing into the present where in the realm of concrete jungles, platinum is the new ivory, rappers the new griots, tattoos the new body paint, street gangs the new tribes, and Ebonics, the dialect that comes natural to the cadence and tongue of African descendants, the new Swahili. Unfortunately, all classes of Black Americans are definitely too focused on what they want, instead of what they need. Materialism has become as detrimental to them as racism, bringing with it the burden of debt and bad credit. Sadly, the desire for expensive acquisitions is not coupled with a great deal of business acumen. Too often black entrepreneurs think small, and fall short when it comes to being good administrators, or displaying prudence in financial matters, or promptness in delivering the goods. Aside from murder, even black crimes are petty, be they white collar ones or street muggings. High finance is not our strong suit. At the core of our being we are a spiritual people, more in tune with the ebb and flow of nature than with manufactured constraints. Education should be our salvation but public schools have been abandoned by those who can afford private institutions. Without conscientious parents willing to participate in the learning process, these human warehouses will continue to turn out the ignorant, undisciplined, potential menaces to society that drag the whole black race down. So Blacks are in limbo, the inhabitants of a country where, because institutionalized racism is alive and well, they are still subjected to discrimination. We have a common bond, but the common bond is weakened by our diversity. We see things through the prism of our own experiences and the black experience is as varied as our skin color - which just may be a factor in how we experience our blackness. Since we are not monolithic, and are lacking a collective consciousness, we cannot unite because we have conflicting agendas and an absence of cohesive leadership. In short, we are a ubiquitous conglomerate that has been around for 400 years, and have yet to maintain traction. Why?? I ponder the question as to whether it’s because Western civilization is not our matrix. For Blacks, America is a “pseudo promise land” where their viability is not a concern of the white powers-that-be, or the brown masses that thwart us with their numbers and willingness to do common labor, or the yellow tide that swamps us with their technical skills and convenience stores. We are on our own, immersed in our consumerism, bartering our measly currency for the goods and services of others. Some of us through ability and luck will enjoy a modest degree of success, treading water in the mainstream while others will flounder in poverty or waste away in the collateral damage of criminal injustice. And the beat goes on, pounded by the omnipresent System. In conclusion, I submit that there are no clear-cut solutions to the fragmentation of the Black community because it is a multifaceted problem. Each of us will have to strive to make things better by setting an example within our immediate sphere, and - pray that the cream will rise to the top and then congeal into a new and improved entity. Of course there is always the possibility of a miracle, and maybe that is where our hope for the future lies – in the hands of the younger generation who will roll up their sleeves - and pull up their pants, and prove me wrong. IMHO "Cynique"

I think the answer is what can you create from this carnage? Nearly everything you wrote can be said the same for "white" media, newspapers, etc. Is it worse for us; yes. But that trend is nothing new. However, entrepreneurism is greatest during the downturn not the boon. Things have changed and will continue to do so. How do you foster a new economy now that the cheese has (and continues to) move?

Troy said I feel the same way about us dropping the ball somewhere thinking the job was over, enjoying a few new "freedoms". I don't think it's just about pointing the fingers. I think it's about acknowledging what has happened and all focusing on picking the ball back up and pressing on differently. We have to be the change that we wish to see and little changes can and will make a great difference. More than anything, we need to start with love, unity, and loyalty. We have adopted the "We four and no more" type of mentality. We need to be more concerned with the collective and not only concerned with those under our roofs. If more of us had this type of mentality, we would really be well on our way. Also, I don't think many of us will disagree with the fact that many things in this world take money. However, there are many children that could use our intelligence, wisdom, and love and guess what? We could use theirs, too. Just being willing to donate time and energy to be a positive influence in these children's lives could help to do wonders. It is not easy for them. It is commonplace for them to be dealing with all kinds of problems that children just should not have to deal with and many of us as adults never take this into consideration as we express disgust for the way they are and the things that they do. Things are so different today.The children of today are like "nobody's children" when it was not so long ago that they were "everyone's children Not to say that things were ever perfect or that they will ever be perfect, but I think that most of us can remember a time when there was more love and more reaching out.