Based upon recent history, the question posed in the title of this editorial may appear to many as absurd. After all, the America has just elected its first Black leader - President, Barack H. Obama.

At present Black film actors, Black situation comedies, Blacks in White situation comedies and Black celebrities abound on television, as well as a host of Black journalists, morning shows hosts, news people, weather forecasters and political pundits.

Lest we forget to mention that we've had a Black head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two Black Secretaries of State, a Black U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, a Black Attorney General, and a Black space shuttle commander who is scheduled to become the next head of NASA.

Therefore, with such abundance of Black representation in the upper echelons of our society, how can such crowning achievements be regarded as a failing? Well it all comes down to viewpoint and interpretation.

However, before we can approach this subject, we must first define the new racial landscape of America. And most of all, how things start to go wrong for Black America starting with - choices: this time by the president elect, Barack H. Obama.

A Perfect Example

In 2004 twenty New Haven Connecticut firemen (19 White and 1 Hispanic) filed a reverse discrimination lawsuit against the city, after they all passed the departmental promotion tests with flying colors - the city tossed out the test results.

The city's reasoning for discharging the test results: since none of the Black Minority candidates passed the test, they might sue the city for having an 'insufficiently diverse' fire force. This suit was immediately flagged by the press as a long-term problem in the making for the Obama administration.

The Justice Department sought to relieve the pressure of the potentially explosive issue, by recommending the case be remanded to the U.S. District Court for further fact-finding, with specific reference as to whether the city's explanation for throwing out the tests results was a 'pretext' for - racial discrimination - against the White firefighters.

Conservative and equal rights groups came down on the filing almost before the ink was dry on the legal brief. They argued that if the Justice Department's position was adopted by the high court, the ruling would reopen the Pandora's Box of - Racial Preference Quotas.

The criticality of the situation was immediately understood by all political forces involved. Such a legal turmoil could have a major impact on the choice of the next Supreme Court nominee. And the one most were thinking of was U.S. Appeals Court judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor, whose political bent swings Liberal Left, was one of three judges on the Appeals Court panel which upheld New Haven's position. Sotomayor, a Hispanic, was known to be on Obama's short list to replace retiring Supreme Court Judge, David Souter, and the implications could become politically electric should Obama choose her - Which is exactly what he did on May 27, 2009.

Sotomayor has been sternly criticized by fellow Hispanic, Jose Cabranes, a Clinton judicial appointee. He argued that the opinion she and her two court colleagues issued was misleading - because it made no mention of the 'weighty' constitutional issues at stake.

Added to which a remark made during a speech she gave at the University of Berkeley on October 26, 2001, in the minds of many questioned her ability to judge fairly without resort to - racial empathy:

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

The New Haven case's political sensitivity was brought nearer to the boiling point when Attorney General, Eric Holder, issued a fiery comment that the United States was still - "a nation of cowards on racial matters."

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the Firefighter's Case, and their decision is expected in January of 2010. The Obama administration will then have to decide how to handle this case, with the inherent potential to stir up old controversies over "racial quotas." This was a major platform issue that presidential candidate Obama had made patently clear he wanted to get beyond.

But contrary to what those who back Sotomayor would like the public to believe, the New Haven case is not her only instance of questionable legal decisions - there is more:

Sotomayor on the 2nd Amendment:

The recent landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller appeared to put an end to decades of arguments regarding the meaning of the Second Amendment. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the interpretation favored by gun control advocates (such as President Obama), noting that Second Amendment protection of the right of citizens to own firearms for private use is an individual right that - predates the Constitution, with its authority tied directly to the natural right of self-defense.

However, six months after Heller Sotomayor issued an opinion in Maloney v. Cuomo stating: "The protections of the Second Amendment do not apply to the states, and that if your city or state wants to ban all guns, then they have the right to disarm you."

Sotomayor's rendered opinion was in direct opposition to Heller, exposing her as an anti-gun radical who believes American citizens have no right to own firearms, even for the most basic right of defending family and home.

Maloney has now been appealed to the Supreme Court, which will hear the case on June 26. If confirmed, Sotomayor would almost certainly have to recuse herself from Maloney, but her views would be involved in deciding similar cases appealed to the court.

So widespread is the fear of disarmament following Obama's election, Americans have been flooding gun shops to buy millions of dollars in firearms. And according to records to date, over 1.5 billion rounds of ammunition - since December of 2008.

This is not a healthy 'national vote of confidence' to the election of the - first Black American president.

A History of Tragic Choices

Other minority groups make the occasional bad choice, but not with such alarming consistency as the Black Community. And equally daunting is that, with the exception of Barack Obama, they have maintained the knack of pulling leadership defeat from the jaws of leadership victory.

A case in point is that of former Congressional Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), taped by the FBI accepting a bribe, and caught with $90,000 in bribe money hidden in his freezer. He immediately hides behind his blackness and his Black constituency, and incredible as it may seem - they back him.

Then we have former Congressional Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), who decides one morning that she doesn't have to go through a security check point to enter the halls of congress. And in retaliation for a security guard insisting that she does she attacks him, and then turns to her Black constituency for support - which they give.

Whenever there are instances of notoriety and legal misconduct involving White politicians - there is rarely a stir from the White community in protest. But when they involve Black politicians - all hell breaks loose within the Black Community; followed by immediate charges of - Racial Prejudice.

Of course we all remember the big brouhaha over former Washington DC Mayor, Marion Barry, videotaped during an encounter in a hotel room (where he wasn't supposed to be) smoking - crack cocaine. Frame up and entrapment he protested - soon to be followed in chorus by his Black constituency.

And it doesn't get any better at the street level, because we have the infamous Reverend Al Sharpton to deal with. Rev. Sharpton is a rabble-rouser of the worst sort.  He shows up everywhere there is an incident involving a Black person, and is one of the first to cry racial prejudice – whether the situation warrants such a claim or not.

Sharpton came to prominence with his involvement in the 1987 racially explosive Tawana Brawley case.  Seven reliable news organizations, which included two Black owned newspapers, stated their investigations revealed the young girl’s claim of gang rape at the hands of several White police officers to be - a tissue of lies. 

Nevertheless, Sharpton stuck with the original charge right up to and beyond the racially mixed Grand Jury hearings, which exonerated all of the defendants. Sharpton has never apologized for backing the false charges, and instead rode the incident to Black Community glory.

The Angry Black American

Daily media images of altercations between the police forces and Black youth, indelibly etches public perceptions of the Black Community. Low income Black youth will invariably resist arrest, particularly by White police officers, until they plastered to the ground and forcibly handcuffed. And it is this attitude that is at the core of Black America's problems: Black American youth are perpetually angry at just about - everything.

The majority of Black America is Middle Classed, hard working, family oriented and law abiding, but image-wise they are scared by the activities of that sub element I refer to as the - '30 percenters'.

This troublesome '30 percent' of the lower income Black population have been allowed to mutate into a 'tribe' within the Black Community; one that refuses to change or integrate. Instead they have developed a separate 'gangster' mode culture, highlighted by neighborhood drive-by shootings, radical dress, reactionary anti-female themed music, and general lawlessness; most of which is vented upon the larger Black Community.

This politically and monetarily lucrative 'media driven 'lifestyle' , proffered by the entertainment industry and the Neo-liberal Left, has engrained upon the public a false reflection of the Black Community at large. And the unholy alliance has created - a Frankensteinian Ghettoized Minority within a Low Income Minority.

As of the 2007 census: Blacks comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population, but 30 percent of all those arrested and 41 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.

But instead of coming under their open criticism, that community has chosen to 'circle their wagons' around them; defending their right to be as they so choose. They simply refuse to accept the inevitable: the '30 percenters' must be isolated from the American Black Societal Equation.

Black youth, however, are not totally to blame for the status quo: remember the attempt to have ghetto launguage legitimized - Ebonics?

Black adults have contributed to the dilemma. Why for instance do they endorse such radical psychological proposals as 'Black Rage' to justify violent behavior by Black youth, or support mythological racial concepts such as 'The Black Mystique'? And why have a Black Entertainment Network (BET), or maintain 'Black only' publications?

If a White group, for whatever reasons, published a 'White only' magazine, or even proposed such, they'd be shouted down as - racists.

After struggling for over a century to integrate White only institutions of higher learning, why do they now resist the integration of Black only colleges and universities? Under close examination of the relevant facts, one is forced to come to a startling conclusion.

After decades of fighting the Jim Crowe concept of Separate but Equal, the Black Community has decided that the system can indeed work - if they are the ones applying it. And it is the opinion of many that is what they are trying to achieve: a separate cultural identity within the American social framework.

Such a strategy is doomed to failure, for it is not nor ever will be acceptable to the rest of America.

Where Next for Multiracial America?

America is tired of claims of 'racial prejudice', every time something happens to a Black person. And the American public at large has become weary of footing the 'emotional bill' for cultural and economic intransigence.

The same can be said of the White Community's forced maintenance of an overly long siege of guilt for - Slavery. That bill has been paid: the nation has elected a - Black President.

In short Black America - enough already!

Your comments - The voices of our readers

I guess people just don't know you (Andy J.) about growing and going to school in Harlem section of NYC. Nice article, I do believe I will pass it on to others. Dave Martin, NF,NY Great summary.  Why black youth is emulating the prison population I will never know.  You can wear your hat anyway you want (I have seen two revolutions in my lifetime), but pull your pants up and speak the language! L. Dusseau, Long Island City, NY I love this guy! Thank you for keeping it real. To all the haters just keep up playing your "race card". I am enjoying all you liberals play this game of race while the real issue is not race, ITS IDEALOGY!!!! Patrick Reed, Charlotte N.C. I only read the crap you write because some brothers told me about your articles. What don't you like about O'bama? Have you ever lived in a black area of any city? Do you even know what it is to grow up black? Like it or not there is such a thing as the black experience.. I am a civil engineer, so I know as much about science as you do. But you don't act as though you really do. Blacks of any kind are not inferior beings just because they choose to dress a certain way or listen to their own kind of music. Wise up man, you just look black like that turncoat Sowell. Andy J, Brooklyn, New York Now I am in agreement with you. Surprising writing from a black person. I think dear sir that you are striving to tell the truth as you see it> I sincerely hope that a lot of others will get th word. The American white middle class family is on the way out. B.R, Bronx, New York To B.R. Bronx, New York... Why, "dear sir" is this "Surprising writing from a black person." That is one of the most bigoted statements I have read in a very long time.  I am not Black, but I have lived and worked all my adult life with Black people.  As with people of every race, there are intelligent and less intelligent, good and bad, etc. That Allen Duffs is Black has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he is an excellent writer who is thoughtful and intelligent. Shame on you! You need to really think about what you said.  And, to Allen Duffs, THANK YOU for this website.  It is a rare gift you have of expression and intelligent thinking. I found your website while reading the comment you made to TheDimmit's comments on our current situation with North Korea.  I very much appreciate you taking the time to present such a well thought out comment and this website. R.B, Colorado Springs, CO MANY people to this day do NOT count Bush's 2 elections as having been legitimate)  Nevertheless, I am one that DOES believe 'change' is possible and will eventually reflect America's values. We'll be taking Baby Steps until we get there, but that is the perverbial evolutionary process: Win a few, lose a few and finally getting it! The only point I don't understand is why you used the phrase, "MESSIAH DEMON". It's bad enough there are those Karl Roves who love to run with catch phrases. (I'm sure you're not one of them). N.Pressimone, Atlanta, GA.