We are the 50 year olds–plus or minus a few years–who must rise above our upbringing (if your early life was a negative one.)
We’re the generation that made a choice not to live in the affirmative action “black halls” on college campuses. I chose the open lottery system like most students. Why is this simple choice important? Because we decided we would not be told who and where to be, and how to act. For those who took a different path but still achieved and have skin in the game of life the task is still the same.
We are the ones who are not cowards. We weren’t afraid of a challenge and an unknown future. Barack Obama, Jehmu Greene, Tara Dowdell, Mark Lamont Hill and similar thinking Blacks chose to stay in the past rather than reach for an unknown future based on the American promise of opportunity. They are the cowards who remained victims, and sell victimology to others.
The Civil Rights generation is dying out. It’s the natural order of things. Thank them for their courage and move on. They, like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Sheila Jackson Lee, Maxine Waters et al., are the grandparents who passed on the destructive habits to our children instead of nurturing a future of empowerment and achievement. They fought for the American dream and denied it to their progeny. The reasons–psychological, cultural, economic or otherwise–don’t matter to me. The end result is where we are.
I (We) will become the grandparents and therein lies our duty to nurture and counter the bad habits the Civil Rights generation fostered in our generation. We must counter those who did not make a brave choice in our generation.
The methods are yours to decide. How far you reach is undetermined. The question is do you accept the challenge and the important nature of this mission. In the end you will help save the black community; and, in part, America.