From: glovercj@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american
Subject: Re: The Black Man's Burden.
Date: 8 Jan 93 16:13:21 GMT
Organization: Drexel University

In article <1993Jan7.234230.25202@cs.wm.edu> sunny@me.cs.wm.edu (John S. Egbo)
writes:
>I think that it is time that the Africans and the Africans in Diaspora
>reading Soc.Culture.African and Soc.Culture.African.American sink some
>teeth into THE issue connecting all Black people.  What is the Black
>Man's Burden?
>    "His [the African's] chances of effective resistance have been
>     steadily dwindling with the increasing perfectibility in the 
>     killing power of modern armament.  Gunpowder broke the 
>     effectiveness of his resistance to slave trade although he
>     continued to struggle. He has ...
>
>     ... He cannot successfully oppose members of his own race
>     free from these impediments, employed by his white adversaries,
>     and trained in all the diabolical devices of scientific massacre.
>     And although ...

Hmmm, now we're talking business. The Black Man's Burden is one that seems
endless, but I think it can be broken down into a couple sectors: Political,
Social, Cultural, and Economic. Let's define and go through each of these.

Political: The black man, or as I prefer to say,African-American, since black
is a color and I'm not colored, has no real political power. Why? The AfAm can
not control his own destiny through politics. He is the "minority" in
governmental decisions. He holds very few offices in the places where it
counts(ie. White House, Senate, Congress, etc.) He has the right to vote but
does not use the right to vote effectively, because he is unable to pull in the
same direction as the other African-Americans. He is politically unable to
affect anything. The Black Man's Burden political effects his position in terms
of everyone else.

Social: African-Americans have taken on social habits that are not their own.
In America, individuals are often out for self, capitalistic, and live by the
premise the ends justify the means because it's all about competition. Africans
in the beginning respected collective social atmospheres, and colloborative
efforts. Unfortunately, the black man is burdened with social after social
problem. For instance, Black Men not being able to get well paying jobs, but
their women can, because they are respected more. Therefore, the woman has a
better job than the man and the usual Man dominant roles are reversed. We are
social being, but our social outlets have been cut off and revamped. No social
means to drink alcohol or smoke or watch TV. And everyone has to realize all
these things are destructive. In fact, the best way that African-Americans have
been denied everything is to put it where most of us won't find it,... in a
BOOK.

Cultural: We know not our culture. We have been stripped of our roots and any
connections thereof. We have been stripped of our language. Stripped of our
knowledge of self and who we are. That is truly a burden. A man that has no
history has no future. We live again in a culture that again identifies the
worth of a man not by who he is, but by how much money he has or what he
possseses. This truly culture shock. We have no real cultural of our own. I
mean, we do have rap, a little jazz, but what else? Look at the Koreans here in
America, they have their own language, circle of people, networks, holidays,
religious ceremonies, and customs. What do we as African-American have? More
bricks for the burden.

Economic: Unfortunately, Money is the key to American society. A common myth is
that the black community does not have money, but in fact it does, a lot of it,
so much in fact that America would fall apart if Black people decided to stop
spending money. But most significant is the problem that the money does not
stay in the community. The Black dollar turns over, which means moves through
members of that community strictly, less than 1.5 times, but in the Jewish
community it turns over 7 times. They have more business and therefore a better
economic situation.  Take this example and understand how money is a
controlling factor. Take two individuals that want to close an account from the
same bank. Individual A has an account with $1000 in it, individual B has an
account with $10,000. Who do you think the bank would beg to keep the money in
the bank? Money is the way things get done in America. If you have no money or
don't control masses of money you're stuck. With money you can get an
education, w/o you are left with lacking public schools, no college education,
and therefore no power to do anything. That is the Black Man's Burden.

I think to best sum it all up is the fact the problem is not one problem but
oogles(I always wondered if that was a word) of stuff that add up to a
collective mess.
 
  
                        Chad J Glover
           glovercj@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu      
       Drexel University Software Testing Lab
   If a man hasn't found something he will die for, he
                        isn't fit to live. --MLK
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american,soc.culture.asian.american