05 Feb 2024 Black History Month: As Black Americans Push Back on Progressivism, Their Future Looks Brighter

An increasing number of black Americans are questioning progressive leaders and their policies that have often done more harm than good.

As America grapples with issues such as widespread crime, a crisis on the southern border, racist DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies and confusion on issues of gender and sexuality, Americans across all demographics are questioning where America went wrong.

And so, even as ambassadors with the Project 21 black leadership network recognize the achievements of black Americans during Black History Month, they are not just looking backwards but are also filled with optimism about the future.

Melanie Collette

Project 21 Ambassador Melanie Collette says:

Conservative-minded blacks have long understood that left-leaning policies often fail to serve the best interests of our communities. This stark reality becomes even more apparent when we consider the direct impact of left-wing immigration policies on our neighborhoods. The consequences are pervasive, impossible to ignore and affect us on many levels.

As we celebrate Black History Month, it heartens me to witness a changing landscape where more black Americans are recognizing the value of policies that support entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to family and a commitment to individual responsibility. This shift marks a turning point, where policymakers can no longer treat black voters as a monolith but must acknowledge us as individuals with unique values and concerns deserving of respect and consideration.

Black communities have suffered decades of steady decline, with most not benefiting from the advancement promised by the Great Society. Throughout that decline, blacks have nonetheless been dependable supporters of liberal lawmakers and the policies they’ve promoted. This support has been so strong and consistent that black Americans are often taken for granted, despite the fact that progressive policies are full of promises but woefully short in productive results.

But that support is waning. Black Americans are abandoning those failed leaders and policies and looking elsewhere.

In light of this sea change in black America, progressive leaders could reappropriate a quote from the movie “Tora! Tora! Tora!” In the movie, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto says after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor: “I fear that all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

Project 21 Ambassador Diante Johnson, who also serves as founder and president of the Black Conservative Federation, says:

Black men do not like the idea that their children are being taught that you don’t have to be a boy or girl, that you can decide your gender. Black men do not like their sons being taught that. And so, they’re waking up. Black families don’t want their children learning about the LGBT community in fourth grade.

I tell people all the time that I am a conservative because conservative principles are the only principles that will bring us out of poverty, break us out of an education lock, improve our communities and ensure us access to the American Dream.

Emery McClendon

Project 21 Ambassador Emery McClendon says:

As we celebrate Black History Month, we must wonder what the black community has really accomplished since the Civil Rights era. There have been attempts by many in the black community to use Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) polices to set the standard for moving forward. These policies fall short because they are based on equity rather than equality and personal merit.

In order to make progress, and to secure a place in the upwardly mobile business and technology world, we need skills and a good education, not a lowering of standards. Blacks are falling behind because leaders in their communities are focused on the wrong goals.

Mike Hill

Project 21 Ambassador Mike Hill says:

As Black History Month has devolved into Black Grievances Month, it has lost its appeal for many Americans.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson originally envisioned Black History Month as a tool to educate black Americans about the achievements and contributions of their ancestors.

Instead, the legacy media uses Black History Month to focus solely on how poorly blacks have been treated in the past, with little praise for outstanding black achievements in the fields of science, agriculture and military service. In particular, DEI has ruined the desire to set aside a month to educate America about black achievements.

DawnMarie Alexander Boursiquot

Project 21 Ambassador DawnMarie Alexander Boursiquot says:

It is appalling to see Black History Month morph from a celebration of black achievement to a month vilifying white Americans with a hyper-focus on racism and past victimization. This is not the legacy Carter G. Woodson envisioned when he labored to create a space that brought attention to the contributions of our black American ancestors.

This should be a time when Americans come together and celebrate a shared history wrought with all the drama, tragedy, love and triumph of a TV miniseries; it is the story of American history. Ronald Reagan’s Black History Month proclamation stated: “Understanding the history of black Americans is a key to understanding the strength of our nation.”

Our society has launched into a cycle of oppression in which some black Americans seek to oppress, vilify, humiliate and degrade white Americans because of the color of their skin. “Whiteness” has become the N-word for white Americans in this country, and it is wrong.

Have we as a people learned nothing from the tragedy of what racism did to this country? It is time that we move forward and change the narrative that is daily shoved down our throat: that black Americans are marginalized and victimized, and that racism is lurking around every corner seeking to destroy us.

Donna Jackson

Project 21 Director of Membership Development Donna Jackson says:

Black History Month is needed more today than ever before. We need to refocus the American people on blacks who believed in excellence and merits, unlike the Claudine Gays and other so-called DEI and social justice warriors of today.

Booker T. Washington didn’t believe higher education was racist. He founded the Tuskegee Institute, which reflected the best of the educational systems of his day. Washington championed self-reliance and economic independence for blacks. He believed that success was a result of owning property, building industries, developing economic opportunities and developing intellectual and moral character. And he taught and practiced this in his life.

During Black History Month, we shouldn’t waste time on radical leftists of the past and present, but focus instead on the proven ideas and institutions that can enable all of us to achieve the American Dream.

Christopher Arps

Project 21 Ambassador Christopher Arps says:

Black History Month should be a time for reflection and a celebration of the achievements and contributions of African Americans to this great nation.

In too many instances, it has become a month of citing past grievances and revisionist history.

As they do with almost everything they touch, leftists have turned something that’s potentially useful into just another vehicle for left-wing propaganda and proselytizing.