According to many Black Americans, CNN's groundbreaking special, "Black in America", didn't really move a great deal of socially significant earth. Depending on who you speak with, the highly heralded two night, four hour blockbuster news special was either too bland on the facts, or missed them entirely. So what are America's Black citizens actually experiencing on the ground - as they see and feel it?

What was in question was the true experience of - racial reality in today's America. But it would appear that the network was far more intent on producing a program on a controversial subject, that was also politically correct and did not offend anyone. So we have to ask ourselves the obvious next question which is - why be so sensitive about throwing the punches necessary to conduct effective investigative journalism? And the obvious the only credible answer to that question is - America has it's first Black presidential candidate from a major party - namely Barack Obama.

A Tale of Two Black Women

CNN's special brought out the big 'Black Community's guns of rejection almost immediately. One of the loudest voices was that of Avis Jones- DeWeever, an editorial contributor to the Black Entertainment Network (BET) and it's sister publication, The Daily Voice (billed as "News for the Black Community"). In the BET's blog of July 31, 2008, under the title of, "Black Women Given Short Shrift By CNN", Ms. DeWeever writes:

"CNN did all of America a grave disservice with its over-simplistic, departmentalized, and obsessively-hyped documentary on the Black American experience.  Upon the umpteenth showing of the special it finally hit me--the only additional image needed to really bring it home would have been a soft-shoe dancin', white-glove wearin', big grin sportin' minstrel interlude.  At least with such a display, it would have become graphically clear that the Black America emphasized in the series was more caricature than fact-based groundbreaking analysis."

Of course, she couldn't just leave the critique at that point, but continued in the same vein:

"Take for example, the especially disappointing focus on Black women.  To hear CNN tell it, Black women would be fine, if only they would get out of the baby-making business and just get married--preferably, to a white guy.  With those bases covered, all would be right with the world ...right?  WRONG!  It's frankly insulting to insinuate that the range of the Black woman's experience in America boils down to whether or not she said, "I do.

"So what's wrong with this reprioritization of funds? Perhaps what's most disturbing is that the let them eat wedding cake solution just doesn't add up.  It's been estimated that there are three available African American women for every one available African American man who has the means to lift a family out of poverty.  You don't have to hold a Ph.D. in mathematics to understand what's wrong with that picture.   There just ain' t enough brothers to go around.  Now CNN would have Black women expand the pool beyond the Black male option.  Problem is, for most, they either lack the desire or the opportunity to do so. 
 
"Black women are in fact the demographic group that is the least likely to marry outside of their race.  In contrast, Black men are among the most likely.  In fact, research suggests that as Black men's income, education, and job prestige increases, so too do their likelihood to marry interracially.  So to suggest to the sistas in the 'hood that all they need do is wait for their Black Knight to come and rescue them and their children from a life of poverty is disingenuous at best.  Make no mistake about it, those sistas will have a long wait.  And for some, that day will never come, especially since many of the men who are best equipped to "save" them are not looking in the 'hood when they're looking for a wife.

This woman makes an incredible set of statements about Black women and marriage outside of their race. Some statistics support her contentions only as far as the doing, but not as to why they don't marry outside of their race. For example reference the following statistics:

It is widely believed that a large percentage of Black men marry White women (286,000). This is cited as the cause of low marriage rates among Black women. This however is only partially true. While Black men marry white women at twice the rate of Black women only 6.6% of married Black men have White spouses. 8.4 percent of African American men marry outside their race. It is Asian women who have the highest rates of intermarriage which is twice that of Black men. Black women are the least likely to marry outside their race with only 3.6%, and only 2.8% married to White men (For detailed statistics go to: www.blackdemographics.com)

Ms DeWeever continues with the following observations and conclusions drawn from her anger:

"It's no accident that CNN chose to highlight a never-married woman with five kids to drive their point home, when according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the typical Black woman-headed family has only 1.78 kids (well let's be generous and round it up to two).  It's no accident that the great solution put forth was Marry Your Baby Daddy Day, complete with dancing grooms, with no mention of the fact that the so-called "marriage solution" is being funded primarily from TANF dollars--money meant to help poor families survive."

"The marriage solution is no solution at all. Instead, it's just a diversion from the much more critical task of creating and implementing a truly substantive anti-poverty plan.  When the disproportionate poverty problem is adequately addressed within the Black community, the marriage issue will take care of itself."

Of course, there are others out there who are more rational and even tempered when dealing with everyday reality, and equally qualified from personal experience to speak on the Black Issue - other than Avis Jones-DeWeever. One voice in particular is that of Star Parker, a syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. Ms Parker is considered to be a qualified expert on issues of race and poverty, and her personal transformation from welfare fraud to 'conservative' crusader has been chronicled by ABC’s 20/20.

The Los Angeles California based Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education or CURE, was founded by Star Parker in 1995. Prior to her involvement in social activism, she was a single welfare mother who returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. Her personal transformation from welfare fraud to 'conservative crusader' has been chronicled by ABC’s 20/20. She has also fought for school choice; defended welfare reform, and spoke at the 1996 Republican National Convention. And it should be noted that Ms. Parker considers herself to be a - Black Conservative.

According to CURE's web site the organization was started to "jump start a national dialogue on poverty and the welfare state." The non-profit Think Tank focuses primarily on personal freedom and personal responsibility as solutions to poverty, rather than continual dependence on welfare. They prefer instead to focus on alternative approaches to the welfare state that are both faith and market based.

Needless to say, Ms. Star would most likely disagree with much of Ms. DeWeever's assessment of specific elements of the CNN special, and I would venture to guess that Ms. DeWeever would label her a sort of 'Uncle Thomasina." But an indication of Ms. Star's uniquely differing viewpoint, is eloquently expressed in an editorial published on June 30, 2008 (which unlike Ms. DeWeever, she managed to write without the use of 'Ghetto Verbiage') as follows:

"...the social chaos in inner city black communities is symptomatic of the cultural pathology gripping the nation as a whole.

Inner city black American life is a leading indicator of American culture and a product of the ascendance of materialism and relativism. Blacks have been first because they have been the most exposed and vulnerable.

When 20 percent of black babies were born to unwed mothers in the 1960s, this was sufficiently outside the national norm to be perceived as a uniquely black problem. But today, as the black rate has soared to 70 percent, the incidence of white out-of-wedlock births, now almost 1-in-3 three, exceeds the black incidence of 40 years ago.

The symptoms of social and cultural unraveling -- family breakdown, promiscuity, teen pregnancy, abortion -- are today increasingly manifested in white as well as black America."

And who does Ms. Star focus on as one of the main culprits in the demise of both Black and White teenage morals and social values? Well it would appear to be the group - Planned Parenthood, as she clearly defines how she sees their role in the rapidly unraveling of American adolescent morality and drift from age old family values:

"Let's be clear that the main goal of these abortion services is not to save lives of women whose life is in danger as result of their pregnancy. The objective is birth and population control.

"In this sense, the organization has been true to the vision of its founder -- socialist, eugenicist, and racist, Margaret Sanger. Sanger created the "Negro Project" in 1939 whose aim was to put a lid on the growth rate of the black population. She was an advocate of the use of sterilization as well as abortion to eliminate the "unfit."

I must inject here that many of the Middle of the Road Conservative individuals I have spoken with over the last few years, rightly regard this group as a base organization of the - Neo Liberal Left. And Ms. Star clearly outlines how they operate and where they gain most of their economic strength from:

"Planned Parenthood gets one-third of its budget, over $300 million, from the federal government -- from U.S. taxpayers. This is the size of the budget of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

"Sixty thousand black children in failing inner city public schools, kids largely from broken families, could get $5,000 scholarships each to go to a private school, a religious school, and learn values that could give them a chance for a successful life.

"Let's get out of the business of marketing meaninglessness and death. At least, let's stop forcing U.S. taxpayers to subsidize it."

Although I do not agree with her social viewpoint verbatim, I consider her general outlook to have evolved in the same ballpark as my own. And that ballpark is located in a neighborhood can generally be recognized by two elemental assertions: (Point One) The U.S. government needs to keep out of the lives of its citizenry and, (Point Two) There is a specific element within the Low Income Black Community that is the sponsor of virtually all of its 'overall social evolution and acceptance' problems.

A Divided Nation Within A Nation

As of the 2007 census, the Black population of the United States is estimated to be approximately 40.7 million, or 12.7 percent of the total U.S. population. Of that group, about 70 percent fall into the category of - Middle Class. They work hard, pay their bills and taxes, generally adhere to some sort of religious affiliation, and try to educate and protect their children from the morass of hedonistic excesses and moral degradation that is becoming the New America. All of which means they suffer the same social hardships and anxieties as do America's White Majority.

There is however, that remaining 30 percent which has become the media driven mis-reflection of the Black Community; mainly through the forces of the of the entertainment industry, news reporting and the political orchastration of the socially aggressive Neo-liberal Left. It is the undeclared alliance between this unholy trio that has created - a Frankensteinian Ghettoized Minority within a Low Income Minority: I refer to them as the - '30 Percenters.'

At the present time with the verifiable data available, we can garner the following facts about the "30 Percenters' and their affect on the Black Community and its youth, for they represent the overwhelming majority highlighted in the following penal statistics:

Blacks comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population, but 30 percent of all those arrested. They are also comprise 41 percent of percent of the total prison population. Nine percent of all Black adults are under some form of correctional supervision (jail, prison,probation or parole) - compared with only 2 percent for Whites. One in three Black men between the ages of 22-29 are either in jail, prison or on parole or probation. One in 20 Black men in their twenties and early thirties is in prison or jail. And 13 percent of the Black adult male population has lost the right to vote because of felony disenfranchisement laws.

What makes the '30 Percenters'" social impact so detrimental, is the guilt driven support given to them by the Low Income Black Community - bolstered by the bleeding heart White Liberal Community. But why the support?

In answer to that haunting query, I will quote what one will often hear in rebound response to this question within the Black Community itself: "They are our children..what else can we do?" It is almost as though they feel that to openly criticize or condemn this inner group, that they are in moral breach of some sort of unwritten racial code. But at the same time, they instinctively know that it is this group that is selling narcotics to their grade school offspring, while fathering countless children out of wedlock - and taking pride in the accomplishment.

They also know it is this same group that is wantonly involved in car-jacking's and convenience store robberies, killing ruthlessly as they exercise these antisocial indulgences. And they know that they are the one's who are responsible for the drive-by shootings within their neighborhoods, and the killing of hundreds of Black youth, including innocent children - who just happened to get in the way, in drug related gang warfare each year. Added to which by recklessly practicing unprotected sex, they have driven HIV infection in the American Black Community to levels that rival some African nations. But still the elders and Black Middle Class lament, "They are our children...what can we do?"

Meanwhile, the top echelon of this group makes millions of dollars producing a type of music (Hip-Hop) that by its very brutal nature and lyrics, advocates the hatred of Whites, the killing of police officers - both White and Black, and the degradation of the community's women. While at the same time, firebrand storefront preachers and rabid neighborhood activists, for political gain, defend their right to a - lifestyle of choice.

That's right, a lifestyle of choice! One that they, like with their socially corrosive music (financed by White corporate world backing), is marketed to the youth of their neighborhood as - the norm for Black People. And this corrupt social format accounts for the reason why, no matter where we go in this country, we can observe Black youth, almost always traveling in close packs, slouched over with angry expressions etched into their faces, wearing baggy prison style pants slung so low on their hips as to show their buttocks publicly. And more often than not, with their pants crotch area, by ghetto fashion choice, slung between their knees.

The '30 Percent' element regard themselves as a 'legitimate alien social species' within our society, which they consider to be a hostile White world. And to make their point they discourage Black families living within the confines of their neighborhoods (which they refer to as The Hood), from advancing themselves, or the lives of their children through education. And they do so by hurling the dangerous neighborhood accusation by way of ghetto threat of - trying to be White. Slowly, this sub group is turning Low Income Black Youth into an alien species akin to the ultra violent, Klingons, of Star Trek fame: they will kill for what they refer to as 'street-cred.' (for reference go to this website)

If one observed closely, the recent Political Correct racial battle between TV talk show host, Don Imus, and his use of the term "Nappy- headed hoes" in reference to the Black members of a biracial high school basketball team, it would not have been too difficult to come away with the mistaken impression that the "30 Percenters' would have been behind such a condemnation. But the truth of the matter is that group uses far worse racially descriptive language, including liberal usage of the "N" word in their music, their publications and their street speech as descriptive of themselves and their community - as they see it.. Therefore, one would not be surprised if they chose as a description for their lifestyle and world at large the term - Nigga World!

The Slavery Forum and the "Black Situation"

For almost 40 years, for purposes of professional work and enlightenment, I have traveled to and spent a great deal of time in more than 30 countries. In all of them I have encountered many ethnic and cultural groups that have, at some time in history, suffered under slavery. But of all of the groups, including large populations in South America and significant cultural clustering in Great Britain and Europe at large, it would appear that only within the Black Community of America are claims of continued lasting affects from a system whose last legal vestige ended with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the end of the American Civil War in 1865. The fact that 70 percent of the Black community appears to have moved on, strikes any legitimacy from such claims by a 30 percent minority.

When I saw the emotionally disturbing exodus of Black New Orleans refugees fleeing from the Katrina Disaster, I was not only appalled by spectacle, I was also ashamed and embarrassed - both as an American and a Black person. There was simply no reason for this shameful flood of welfare recipients and their hordes of children, spilling across our television screens as though someone had just aerial bombed the plantation. It appeared almost as though the television cameras had, unexpectedly, stumbled across a - 'Land and People that Time had Forgotten.'

The almost immediate response from the Neo-liberal Left was the usual charges of racism, racial genocide and the ineptitude of the Bush administration. The Bush administration part I totally agreed with, but my sympathy was for all of New Orleans residents, not just the Black population. The rest of the diatribe was the usual Neo-Liberal crap! And not too long after they had their say, in most televised news debates, as expected, when all other excuses had been exhausted, America was once again hit in the face at point blank range with - the Slavery excuse.

The apologists for the so-called 'Black Condition' (both White and Black liberal America) could come up with no better for this shameful display, than the same old lame time worn excuse of - Slavery. However, the status of the - 30 Percenters is self induced and evolved on it's own, with amore than a little help from the welfare agencies and the Liberal White quarter. And it continues to be aggressively maintained, financed and market driven from other avenues of justification of their existence; but their existence has little if anything to do with slavery. And I do not make such a statement without the evidence for substantiation. For along with many others, I was there to observe the ascent of this socially destructive subgroup within the low income Black Community.

Genesis of the 30 Percenters

After World War ll, most Black Americans, like their White counterparts, used the GI Bill to further their education to gain access to the better life promised by the New Deal.

Through the acquisition of college degrees and trade school certification, these proud low income 'ghetto warriors' marched forward into what they thought would be a Brave New World in the heart of American society. Their goal was to to achieve. And they were armed the with the full expectation of acceptance as equals, which would include access to their fair share of the American Middle Class pie. Unfortunately, they did not comprehend the deep rooted core of racial bias that existed, at all levels, within the country at the time. In the end, unaccepted by American industry and relegated to Civil Service jobs, they came back to their neighborhoods defeated and somewhat disillusioned.

With their tails between their legs and their expectations dashed, what was left of these early equal rights warriors and disciples of Racial Integration was observed by their children, who took note of the results of their parents efforts. Soon, they would be easy pickings for any new leadership candidates who came their way. And so it was that initially microscopic element of the Black Community rose to power,and - the '30 Percenters' were born.

Up from the bottom of the societal pond the '30 Percents' floated to the top (initially funded by drug trafficking) as a second wave of community influence. And it was just about this time that the White Liberal Front made its move. Having failed in the 30's and 40's to convert America's adult Blacks to Socialism, they came back with a vengeance and this time concentrated instead on the minds of the more mentally and politically malleable Black Youth.

First it was the advocation of the experimental Progressive Education system, then came Ebonics; organized as an effort to gain acceptance for the ghetto version of the English language, followed by the short-lived push for a 'Guaranteed Annual Income' . And, finally, the philosophical reworking of the stalwart Black Community Work Ethic in the late 1950's to early 1960's.

The new ethic code sold to low income youth was: because of slavery, America owes you a living: and in the minds of many, unlike with their parents before them, this mantra justified the acceptance of State Welfare - without shame. And it was from there in a rapidly downward spiraling trend, we came to here - at this point in time.

In other words, Slavery had absolutely nothing to do with the problem we as a society and nation are burdened with today. But White Liberal America had a lot to do with it - more than at present they are willing to admit to.

Now, the Neo Liberals have taken a page from post Civil War history. They have adopted the community - will breaking methods - of the Carpetbaggers who, in their power of victory and occupation, appointed unqualified freed slaves to key positions in the government of occupied southern towns they desired to economically rape. To push their extremely dangerous and radical political agenda forward, the Neo liberal crowd (led by Nancy Pelosi) are pulling out all the stops to elect as their tool, an untested, inexperienced and potentially unqualified Black President to the seat of power of the Unites States of America.

A First Step Toward Social Resolution

Although they are unwilling to acknowledge it, America's Low Income Black Communities are really in a state of siege - held hostage by the Welfare State, the Neo-Liberal left and the '30 Percenters' - who want the minds of their children for eternity. At all necessary costs, this evil acquisition, which has already started, must not be allowed to succeed.

Like it or not American society, both Black and White, has to swallow the bitter pill of reality and, politically and economically - partition the two Black Americas from each other - within the realm of social recognition. There is absolutely no way to resolve Low Income Black America's pressing issues - with urgent reference to their children, by the continued application of useless taxpayer funded federal programs directed toward the Black Community as - one single entity. They simply are not and as often is the case the medicine to affect a cure, in the beginning, is a distasteful one. So be it - let's bite the bullet and let the healing begin.

That's right, what I am proposing is a first and critical necessary step for social retrieval of the Low Income Black Community. And the social tool with which to achieve it is - Segregation!

Your comments - The voices of our readers

Nice writing. You are on my RSS reader now so I can read more from you down the road. - Alan, Boston, MA Yes I agree, the new term is economic slavery. The new serf group is: South and Central America, Eastern Europe..etc. They will have a hard time getting ahead, unless they get a college education in a science that's is needed. A lot of luck and hard work is required. The black man should have by now been a success story. I really can't figure it out, other then prejudice, what happened? - S.H., Miami, FL Apartheid or segregation, what ever. When Rhodesia was run by the Whites, there was no FAMINE, now run by BLACKS there is famine, class warfare, dieing people, people toally dissenfranchised. Anarchy prevails. In South Africa, it is the same thing. Maybe segregation is the answer, Obama is not or Pelosi either. - Dave Martin, Niagara Falls, NY I hate to admit it, but you have hit the nail on the head again.  This has been an ongoing argument in my family for years and has become more angry and divided as of late. Wew are a black family and my mom says we have to give them some support because of all they have suffered.  But I and my sister say, we got the education and worked ourselves up, why didn't they?  We love our mother and most of the generation they came up with, because if it wasnt for them my sister and I would not have made it to what we are today.  Theres just no good excuse for them the 30 percenters as you call them.  A good name by the way. - B.Miliner, Brooklyn, NY