The rancor surrounding the George Zimmerman acquittal failed to address the ignored problem of black-on-black crime. 

Read more at: The Atlanta Constitution Journal

 
The laundry list of "persistent problems;" single parenthood, teen pregnancy, the dropout rate, rising welfare dependence, crime and the misery they produce, are all the effects of and are reinforced by the very worldview that Harris-Perry and her father subscribe to. If it's fixed, Liberals have to find a way to break it. They simply don't know how to mind their own business.

 
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:  God will not hold us guiltless.  Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act."
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In an alternate reality, 54 million blacks would be alive in America today.  When adjusted for abortion, the number is 39 million.
 
The National Black Prolife Coalition says an average of 1,000 black babies are aborted every day.  Nationally, nearly one in three black pregnancies ends in abortion each year.  In New York City in 2009, 47%, or 40,798, of the city’s 87,273 abortions were performed on black women.
 
This led Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, to declare that, “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb!
 


 
Recent reports reveal the harsh reality of hope and change.  According to CBS News, while the national average is a depressing 9.1%, black unemployment stands at a dismal 16.2%.  Worse still, black teens 16 to 19 face 41% unemployment.  CBS News, noting the historical disparity between black unemployment and the national average, adds that these are “Depression-era levels.” 

The fact that most black uplift is held hostage by a confluence of cultural cancers that are constantly overlooked is part of the problem.  But black America’s enduring conflict—a hesitancy to address deep historical contradictions—is the real culprit. 


 
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As the White House lobbies to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, why not instead raise its moral ceiling? After decades of rewarding bad behavior, it is in the government’s best interest—and perhaps even its duty—to promote the morals and values that made our nation great.

The Obama administration wants Congress to raise the debt ceiling so our government can borrow more than the almost $14.3 trillion currently allowed by law.  Conservatives want any debt increase tied to spending cuts, and a recent vote shows Obama lacks the political capital to ram through an increase as he might have in the past.

But an increase in borrowing authority is no solution to our nation’s woes.

How will a little bump curtail unfunded entitlement liabilities some estimate to cost more than $100 trillion?

Instead of raising the ceiling for more debt to support policies rewarding unwed motherhood, broken families and failing government-run schools, we must instead raise America's moral ceiling to promote the institution of marriage, hard work and quality education.

In the long run, reinvigorating these virtues could effectively cut spending by lessening the need for government entitlements now certain to bankrupt our government.

Conventional wisdom suggests a precipitous moral decline in America since the 1960s.  Consequently, no subgroup has been affected more than the black family.  The notion of family has changed.  Marriage no longer seems to hold the same appeal and divorce rates have skyrocketed.  Two-parent homes and academic performances suffer chronically, while crime and illegitimacy flourish.  But the liberal elite apparently considers all this a series of social non sequiturs.




 
Envision for a moment that Channel 5 was a multibillion dollar Media and Entertainment Corporation named “White Entertainment Television” (W.E.T.) – and that it ran advertisements championing the message of “White Star Power.”

Or, picture a Congressional White Caucus in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate whose political agenda centered solely on the advancement of “white America.”

Imagine “Historically White Colleges and Universities,” or the “National Association for the Advancement of White People” (both organizations receiving federal grants).

Or more pointedly, think about the political and cultural fallout that would ensue if prominent academic, religious and political leaders, business executives and entertainment moguls, etc. met at George Washington University to discuss the “White Agenda” and when the President was going to take said “agenda” more seriously?

Now of course these scenarios are all hypothetical but what if they were all-of-a-sudden the reality of today, in 2010? There would certainly be social conflicts and disorder everywhere.

Meanwhile – in totally unrelated news – Tavis Smiley’s “Black Agenda Summit” was held at Chicago State University recently. The conference featured a panel of distinguished guests such as Minister Louis Farrakhan, Georgetown Professor Michael Eric Dyson, Jesse Jackson and Princeton University professor Cornel West, to name a few.

Although the controversial event was overshadowed by coverage of the healthcare reform debate, Smiley said he was still “motivated to host this panel because of the reluctance of Black leaders to hold President Obama accountable for problems that specifically or disproportionately affect Blacks.”

Really?

The reason why blacks continue to statistically produce unemployment numbers that are twice as high – and academic success rates that are almost twice as low – as our white counterparts is because for more than fifty years blacks in America have sold out and bought into the notion that because of America’s racist past the system is forever rigged. There are meritless perceptions amongst the black community that “most blacks are poor,” “there is a racist at the heart of all whites,” and that because of these things, regardless of class or opportunity, “no black American should be held to mainstream, (white) standards of morality or academic achievement.”

Farrakhan, West, Dyson, Jesse Jackson and Tavis Smiley are just a few of the members in an unnamable league of so-called “black leaders” that are not willing to hold any meaningful dialogue on what the real threats to achievement and excellence in the black community actually are.

And even with the best intentions in mind, and the most media coverage possible, the motivation needed to “uplift” and “advance” “Black America” has, and always will, begin with blacks in America – not self-serving politicians and emotive policies.

But unfortunately, America is constantly reminded by today’s “black leaders” (who are ironically a disproportionately influential and affluent contingent) that blacks cannot possibly be expected to succeed in the face of such obvious systemic inadequacies.

Excuse me, but I beg to differ!

There are numerous factors to take into account when considering the general and specific shortfalls in the “black community.” Among them are the following few:

  1. Since 1940, rates of divorce and non-marriage have soared among black adults, and, as a result, the percentage of black children born to unmarried mothers has risen from 17 percent to 70 percent.
  2. Father absence has risen greatly in the last four decades. Between 1960 and 2006, the number of children living in single-mother families went from 8 percent to 23.3 percent – and 34 percent of children currently live absent their biological father.
  3. Father absence clearly contributes to family poverty. In 2003, 39.3 percent of single-mother families lived in poverty, but only 8.8 percent of father-present families lived in poverty.
  4. The Pew Research Center has concluded that 7.32 million American adults were in prison, on parole or on probation in 2007, a tripling over the last 25 years. That makes, on average, 1 in every 31 American adults in prison, on parole or on probation. For Blacks, the numbers are a depressing 1 in 11.
  5. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, blacks make up 12% of the population (36 million), but 35% of the abortions in America. (All statistics coming from www.fatherhood.org)
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see the elephant in the room – there is a clear lack of a real dialogue on the choices that blacks have made in regards to self improvement and empowerment in the last several decades.

And until questions are asked, relevant to the real ailments in the “black community,” no President or panel will be able to lift the plight of an afflicted minority.