Click Here For Remembering To Color Inside The Lines
TownHall.com: Conservative Columnists: Suzanne Fields: "Ellis Close acknowledges the paradoxes of being black, but seeks to inspire in a new way, looking ahead at black potential rather than nurturing grievances over slavery and the oppression of the past. He articulates what he calls hard truths: 'Complain all you like about the raw deal you have gotten in life, but don't expect those complaints to get you anywhere. ... America likes winners.' Or this: 'Recognize that being true to yourself is not the same as being true to a stupid stereotype.'
He excoriates young and old, but especially well-educated middle class blacks who affect the 'acting black' anti-intellectual street swagger of the streets, which takes it cues from the behavior of thugs. That creates a damaging and false self-perception.
He profiles successful black men who open themselves up 'to unprecedented possibilities.' One is a grand master of chess. Another is the first black to head a Fortune 500 company. Still another runs a boarding school for blacks that offers traditional academics and traditional values, where you can't fall back on victim rationalizations. Hard work and reading good books work.
Is he articulating an actual switch in black attitudes? Not likely. The black leadership continues to emphasize what America can do for blacks rather than what blacks can do for themselves - or for their country. That's too bad, because white America has turned its back on its racist past and cheers black success. Black History Month, which could inspire white as well as black, has come to emphasize separateness, difference and prejudice, cultivating resentment of the past, rather than pride in progress toward the ideal we all can share. You don't have to be a 4-year-old to get the wrong message. "
He excoriates young and old, but especially well-educated middle class blacks who affect the 'acting black' anti-intellectual street swagger of the streets, which takes it cues from the behavior of thugs. That creates a damaging and false self-perception.
He profiles successful black men who open themselves up 'to unprecedented possibilities.' One is a grand master of chess. Another is the first black to head a Fortune 500 company. Still another runs a boarding school for blacks that offers traditional academics and traditional values, where you can't fall back on victim rationalizations. Hard work and reading good books work.
Is he articulating an actual switch in black attitudes? Not likely. The black leadership continues to emphasize what America can do for blacks rather than what blacks can do for themselves - or for their country. That's too bad, because white America has turned its back on its racist past and cheers black success. Black History Month, which could inspire white as well as black, has come to emphasize separateness, difference and prejudice, cultivating resentment of the past, rather than pride in progress toward the ideal we all can share. You don't have to be a 4-year-old to get the wrong message. "
posted by Robert at 8:39 AM
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