The Kingdom Come

In Indianapolis, near where I live every summer the city hosts an event called The Indiana Black Expo (IBE). Typically, the event experiences some sort of violence but in the summer of 2010 there was a mass shooting where 9 people were injured (source). But it was the response to this situation that highlights the real trouble.

Tanya Bell, president and CEO of the IBE said a task force was being formed to examine "the root causes of youth violence" (source). Here is where there seems to be a very huge blind spot in much of the black community. When you have groups that focus on race; such as calling an event "Black Expo" or having "Black History Month", "Black Miss America", "Negro College Fund" and such then it should be clear that is seeding and perpetuating a root of bitterness (Hebrews 12:14-15) and resentment.

The resentment is coming from both sides; white and black. The injustices in history cannot be denied but to perpetuate the divide and resentment is not helping matters. I understand that some within the black community feel they need to highlight their identity, such as other ethnic groups do but it should be insulting that all black people are lumped together. This lumping together of all blacks is exactly the type of treatment Americans, black and white fought to end. It harkens back to the so-called one-drop rule wherein under such premises as the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 a person was legally classified as black if it could be shown that they had even "one-drop" of African blood. This is the reason I find it so appalling that Barack Obama is considered, by both white and black people, to be America's first black president. Obama is only half black. Here again, we unwittingly buy into that racist concept of the one-drop rule.

Returning to the IBE issue and its effort to find the root of the youth violence. Although it is partly simply the fact that it is youth; young people of any race like to be a bit rebellious, the more specific cause is most likely due to the fact that many "leaders" within the black community continue to pick at the scab of injustice. This breeds resentment and a sense of entitlement among the youth. What is worse, is that while older persons may have had specific experiences of racism in their lives, black youth often feel imagined racism. Black youth didn't experience segregation yet they often tap into the older generations stories and project that onto themselves and onto fellow Americans (white or black).

The most profound and most leadership example the IBE could do is to publicly renounce the very title of their organization, citing this desire not to be a root of resentment and bitterness. I'm not certain what new title they could choose, but something that doesn't highlight race. [Could you imagine an organization/event called "The White Expo"? Such a thing would never be tolerated and certainly not validated by local, state or federal government as is the IBE]

Another example of breeding resentment and bitterness was displayed by the Shirley Sherrod issue, a Department of Agriculture director speaking to the NAACP (another race-based organization). A video of Sherrod was released that made it look like she denied assistance to a white farmer simply because he is white. Sherrod was forced to resign but a few days later the full video was released and the context of her comments became clear. Sherrod was, ultimately relating that though she first held some prejudices toward the white farmer, she eventually realized the issue wasn't so much black vs white, but a poor vs rich issue. [which is STILL a class warfare mentality] (source)

The White House then apologized to Sherrod and she has been offered a new position. (source) But does the full context of the video really change the issue? Imagine if this were a white Ag director that said something like, "A black farmer came seeking a loan and I at first thought he was like other black people, simply looking for a hand out but after thinking about it I realized it wasn't really about him being black at all". Would that fuller context be accepted? Is it anymore acceptable to have a public official having this sort of mindset in the first place? I don't care if they ultimately see that their own racism is wrong. How in the world did such a person get into such a high office?

So, it is frustrating that while the "leaders" within the black community have been preaching equality, once they seem to have obtained it they have been working these many years to re-segregate the black community. Let us put off this root of resentment and bitterness and instead, "follow peace with all men", no longer breeding resentment in our youth, as if we had been teaching them by our actions to have a chip on their shoulders. We are Americans first before we are white or black or any other race. I urge the black "leaders" to work to dismantle all organizations based on or named after race and eventually get to the point where I can write articles where I no longer refer to them as "black leaders" and instead, simply as "leaders". Who will take up the challenge?