Liberty's Library

Originally written February 12, 2007

The letters and manuscripts that make up the Bible speak mostly on subjects having to do with faith in God the father, the coming of the Messiah, and how His teachings should (and did) transform its listeners into a brotherhood of Christianity. Paul says in I Corinthians (1:10) that we should let no divisions be among this brotherhood. Instead we are to be joined together in the same mind and judgment. This, of course, is a preface to the shame he later brings on the Corinthian church for harboring divisions.

I watched as a church visibly split down the center isle after one of the members called the marital availability of a divorced minister candidate into question. Divorcees felt that he should be allowed to re-marry. After all, either God approved of their divorce; they felt, or would understand and forgive if they had sinned by separating and or remarrying. Others kept repeating verse after verse quoting, “God’s stance”, on multiple marriages and being divorced for any reason other than death or unfaithfulness. Like Francium and water, this loaded topic exploded and exposed a rift in the membership that had long existed under the surface. Opinions got hotter while opposition got stronger. To quote Brick Tambland, choruses of “loud noises” rang louder than any song service ever held in that building.

It is no small wonder why the Holy Spirit placed so much emphasis on unity in the scriptures. Division among His children is the single most destructive topic about which Jesus ever prayed. Our separation from Him is the reason God formulated a salvation plan that included Christ’s coming to earth. Today, it is the only cause of war, poverty, addiction, oppression and suffering around the world. You might ask how this could be true.

Poverty is the division between people and means. Addiction separates the body from its fix. Force without justice gives way to oppression. A reaction absent of a solution leads to suffering. War is often the result of quick pride without calm wisdom. While the ‘how’ of every problem might change, the ‘why’ is always some form of partition, disagreement, or error.

That little church discovered that the only way to rebuild in-roads amongst the two factions was to openly and respectfully study what the Bible had to say and discuss all possible meanings scripture could hold. The forum was not designed for the body to come together under one opinion. Rather, the membership could once again talk about what they felt and why without causing pain or breaking open even larger chasms.

The division of racism in America can only be discussed and debated in one forum. A theatre of respect, honesty, and openness must exist for any solutions to be reached. I am so thankful for Cameron’s methodology to this very intricate matter and only seek to offer constructive and complimentary discussion. I need to state that I am participating under the assumption that the discussion addresses areas of concern to the Black community. So, my response is directed to this community.

I’m convinced that the key to some if not all of these problems is encouragement. The time for buck-passing on the part of whites and apathy on the part of blacks is over. Squabbling over who’s at fault accomplishes nothing save more division. It is time to empower people with solutions and equip them with knowledge.

Just look at all of these African American firsts. www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html. These endeavors are nothing short of extraordinary and are the product of hard work and dedication. This list is yet unfinished. More can and will be done. We must push the younger generation on to greatness and add their names.

Most of all, while celebrating one’s individual heritage, we need to embrace the citizenship of our America as one people, not sub-groups of unassimilated sub-cultures. For example, Notre Dame College offers a 3-credit course in the English Major track called (EN 343) Major African-American Writers. We should be including these writers in an expanded section of American Literature. Why further separate the nation and her people’s accolades along these racial lines?

With that in mind, let’s take each item one at a time:

How to secure medical coverage – Half of this answer is that there is good news to share concerning the nation’s economy. Too many citizens are buying into the media’s message that big oil profits, a rising Dow, and other successful businesses are bad for the country. Nothing (short of global warming) could be further from the truth. So many journalists want society to believe we live in soup kitchen America and that our poor population is rising with every waking moment. This article, “Not So Poor: The luxury of American poverty - Census Bureau definitions too wide” by Robert Rector found in the National Review, dated Oct 25, 1999 challenges that horse-and-buggy thinking.

The other half of this answer is being gainfully employed. And more and more people are doing just that. According to www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy, 111,000 jobs were created in January. Since August 2003, more than 7.4 million jobs have been created – more than the EU and Japan combined. Over 500,000 jobs have been added in the past three months alone. Finally, the economy has now added jobs for 41 straight months. Productivity has had strong average annual growth of 3.1 percent, which is higher than that of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. According to the US Department of Labor, the national unemployment rate in December of 2006 was 4.6%. This was the lowest unemployment rate since the tech bubble burst in the late 90s/early 00s.

If more people have jobs, more people have insurance. There is a new message today and it is “The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.” ~ Booker T. Washington. This is good news and you can be apart of it!

After all of that, I’m wondering who is saying disparaging things about the economy and why? Perhaps, this Booker T. Washington quote applies here:

"There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the
troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public.
Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they
have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs -- partly because
they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want
the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their
jobs...There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who do not want the
patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only
an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make
themselves prominent before the public."

Now, what about those who stay chronically unemployed? After education incentives haven’t worked and unemployment has run out and the fourth baby is born…there is one very drastic solution that needs to be seriously considered. If someone can work but won’t, we must remove their ability to harm children as a consequence of laziness. Remove the children from the care of their unfit parents placing them in families who do have health and dental benefits. Cameron said it best when he said, “when millions of children are still without something so fundamental, it shames us as a people”. I can only add to that by saying that it should shame the parents more so.

Amending Public Schooling – Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954) was a powerful landmark that overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ‘separate but equal’ stamp. It, along with the Higher Education Act (1965) secured equal public schooling, which has paved the way for institutions, that 60 years ago, Black America could have only dreamed. From the US Department of Education website: “Today, there are 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universitys with more than 228,000 students enrolled. Fifty-six institutions are under private control, and 51 are public colleges and universities.” The HEA defines an HBCU as: "...any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation."

Stop issuing scholarships based on race. Highlighting or setting apart one race over another is the every definition of racism and it needs to end. Plus, by offering these scholarships, the black populous is saying, “you’re right. We are weak and can’t do this by our own merits”. I can think of no academic slap in the face harder than making a minority believe itself to be inferior all the while reinforcing the idea that it is impossible to get by without handouts. It wasn’t for real but these guys out of Boston University did something pretty remarkable in order to shed some light on this racist practice. Ever heard of the scholarship for white students?

Finally, a short note on elementary school funding. Millions and millions of dollars go into public education every year. Yet where does it go? The teachers (my wife being one) don’t know and the principals are still asking for more and more with each passing year. Here is a story about New York’s sham funding system from 2002. I’d like to know exactly where my money is going before we throw more at this problem. Perhaps we’re spending enough and we won’t really know until we find it.

Internet access for children – My best solution for this situation is putting the power of the internet in the hands of our publicly funded libraries. This would cut costs of trying to outfit everyone with a computer. According to Wikipedia under “racial demographics in America”, Today, most African Americans (over 60%) live outside the southern US and in urban areas, but are increasingly moving to the suburbs. Lets use our urban mass transit system to direct this 60%+ to the locally operated and maintained libraries to use the pre-existing internet access at a reduced rate or free. In Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, the library allows its visitors free internet access for 30 minutes. Some libraries might offer more time to its patrons. I can also see this as a great opportunity for our local churches to step up and help with the needs of the community. Take this church for example. They have a program called, “Homework Central” that is a fully functioning after-school tutoring program complete with computers with internet access and is totally funded by the weekly and special contributions. What a great ministry opportunity that is.

How to prevent the Brain Drain – The city of Toledo is suffering from this very situation. Some folks seem to like the Mayor’s suggestions. This article from the Toledo Blade newspaper shares what Mayor Finkbeiner’s survey has found.

1. Lower cost of living.
2. Cut city income and property taxes.
3. Make an effort to hire local college graduates.
4. Inform the public to take advantage of the buyers housing market.

I leave you with a very inspirational and eye-opening final word from Mr. Washington’s “Up with Slavery”:

"Think about it: We went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into
slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery
with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in
our hands...Notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, we are in a
stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and
religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other
portion of the globe."

The answer is that black America can do anything it wants to do. Just look at what it has already overcome. It can refuse payment from depression and be a people of means thus crushing poverty. Black America can be proactive in finding a solution to end suffering. It can fix and heal the collective body from the addictive entitlement mindset and emerge victorious. Young black men and women can use their wisdom to silence the war raging within and be proud.

Can they do it alone? Maybe…maybe not. But why should they have to? We are one America and it is our job to help ourselves.