- "Young black men have become the most gullible
creatures
on the planet." That bold sentence came not from a Mississippi
Klansman.
It was written by a black newspaperman who broke ranks with silent black
leaders everywhere by publicly confronting what he calls the nation's black
"Man Crisis."
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- You probably have not heard of the proposed "Save
the Black Man Project." I became aware of the proposal just a few
days ago. It is the brainchild of Keith A. Clayborne, owner and publisher
of the Broward Times, a weekly black newspaper in my hometown of Fort
Lauderdale.
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- In his column, "Off the Vine," which appears
on the front page, Clayborne has taken on the journalism fight of his
life:
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- "Young black men have . . . bought into what
apparently
is a universal "dumbing down' syndrome where it's in style to be
stupid
-- with rap lyrics like "Where are my niggas at?' more memorable than
their ABCs. Now, give or take a few token whites, our prison system is
filled to capacity with young black men -- young men who will leave behind
a trail of fatherless babies, single mothers and the untold carnage from
the crimes they've committed.
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- "I was astonished recently when I read a study about
a city's school system where out of nearly 6,000 African-American males
in its high school, only 135 earned a B average or higher. Yet, we black
people seem paralyzed to act, to mobilize -- to be outraged! We have failed
miserably in addressing, for lack of a better description,
"self-destruction
of the black man.' Today . . . women head 70 percent of black households!
Now you tell me, how are young black boys going to learn how to be men?
Folks, what we have . . . is a national crisis -- demanding the highest
attention of civic, business and government leaders. I am proposing that
communities across the country initiate and start a "Save the Black
Man Project.' "
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- Clayborne will ask U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, who
represents
Clayborne's district, to discuss this issue with his colleagues in the
Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, and he ask will Florida's state
black caucus to address the crisis. At this stage, Clayborne has not
offered
any specific steps to take. This first round is a call for honest
talk.
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- "We need to challenge every organization in America
to come to the table with a plan for saving our young black men,"
Clayborne wrote.
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- Too many young black males are not only letting their
minds rot from intellectual inactivity, they are succumbing to street
violence
of their own invention and other kinds of criminality.
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- Recent events in the Tampa Bay area, where I live and
work, cry out for the implementation of Clayborne's proposal. On July 22,
two black 16-year-olds, one toting a shotgun, went on a 2 1/2-hour crime
rampage in Tampa. They carried out three carjackings, three attempts to
rob businesses, assaulted bystanders, seriously wounding one with a rock
to the head, and generally terrorized many people. In the end, a store
owner shot one of the boys, thus ending the madness.
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- On July 25, in St. Petersburg, gunmen fired at least
30 assault rifle rounds at a house in the part of town with a long history
of black-male-on-black-male violence. Police say the attack was to avenge
the shooting death of a 16-year-old the previous night. Innocent victims,
including several small children, were nearly shot during the assault rifle
attack.
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- In every part of the nation -- Miami, Cincinnati,
Chicago,
Newark, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta -- many black
males seem determined to self-destruct.
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- We will not gain ground by blaming whites for this sorry
state of affairs. This is a crisis of our own making, and only we can fix
it. Our collective lethargy -- our lack of rage -- is the greatest sin.
Fixing this problem should be at the top of every black person's
agenda.
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- Instead of fretting about how many black faces pop up
in network sitcoms, the NAACP, for example, should join Clayborne in
sounding
the alarm -- not quietly and politely, but loudly and passionately. We
need to stop worrying about angering this or that group, this or that big
shot. The situation is too serious for such concerns. We should dare to
be "Uncle Toms" and "sellouts" by speaking out against
this mass insanity.
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- What about the Southern Leadership Conference that was
co-founded by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? As far as I can tell,
it is doing next to nothing to address the black man crisis. In fact its
president, Martin Luther King III, was recently suspended for being a
do-nothing
leader. Wearing smart suits, he sashays around the country delivering
speeches
that do not amount to a hill of beans. He should be tackling the
anti-intellectualism
and violence among young African-American males.
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- Then we have the Rev. Al Sharpton, who apparently
believes
that a U.S. Air Force bombing range in Puerto Rico is more important than
the black male carnage in Harlem and Jersey City.
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- I am disappointed with black leadership everywhere, at
all levels. The only thing worse than their inaction is their cowardly
silence.
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- Clayborne's proposal should become reality. Education
-- real learning and respect for learning -- lies at the center of his
effort. If we want to survive as a viable race (no exaggeration), we must
halt the "dumbing down" syndrome. Being stupid must stop being
in style.
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- Here, I am reminded of something the Rev. King said a
year before his death: "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than
sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
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- Sincere ignorance. Conscientious stupidity. Besides
Clayborne,
are any black leaders listening? "Ask yourself what role you can play
in addressing this challenge," he wrote. "We're going to continue
to explore this issue in coming (issues) of the Broward Times."
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- Clayborne can count me in.
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