Project 21: New Visions

Some black women are not very concerned about the fact that 72 percent of black babies born in 2008 were born out of wedlock. These women take an analytical approach to relationships and don't always see a valid reason to marry the father of their children. They don't see the logic in committing to a relationship with someone who may not be an equal partner, and who is probably not the leading economic provider in a family. This somewhat perplexing assessment motivated me to think about the overall role that blacks play in the national economy. There's no dispute that, ...
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There is a lot of discussion of the black community's problems: poverty, crime, high incarceration rates and high unemployment. But there isn't much discussion of "trust." An absence of focus on the trust deficit in the black community obscures an unfortunate cause of many of those other topics of concern. In its simplest form, trust is faith. Trust is faith that you will not be deceived. Trust is faith that you will not lose hard-earned possessions through deceitful acts. Trust is faith that you will not be left high and dry by a business partner. The most awful feeling in ...
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There is a rising belief that Mexico is becoming a new drug war-era Columbia, and that our federal government should deploy the military along our southern border right now. Experts believe conditions exist inside Mexico that mirror those found in Columbia prior to and during the reign of Pablo Escobar's infamous Medellin drug cartel. In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations last September, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — our nation's highest-ranking diplomat — didn't mince words. She said: "It's looking more and more like Colombia looked 20 years ago, where the narco-traffickers controlled certain parts of the ...
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What was that big Obama speech all about? Officially, it was the State of the Union Address — the annual report, constitutionally-mandated, from the President to Congress. Back in the day, it wasn't a big thing. Many such reports were simply letters from the President. Over time, however, they have grown in prestige and pomp. And they have also become less of "giv[ing] to the Congress information of the state of the union" and more of "recommend[ing] to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." In other words, it becomes a pageant for a President's further ...
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As the thermometer dips lower and snow begins to pile up, the need for cheap and efficient power for heat and light is essential. But the Obama Administration's war on fossil fuels makes the guarantee of a comfortable winter increasingly bleak for the nation's poorest citizens. Millions of Americans are unemployed, and countless others are suffering from the ailing national economy. Obama Administration policies limiting the availability and raising the price of energy derived from fossil fuels stretch family budgets and the resources of charities past their limits. From the moratorium on off-shore oil exploration to restrictions on coal mining ...
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It's sad enough that the editors at the New York Times believe it is a "theatrical production of unusual pomposity" for the new Republican congressional leadership to require "that every bill cite its basis in the Constitution" and that they ordered that the Constitution be aloud in the House chamber. It may only be me, but I'd be willing to bet these Times editors would be running down the hallways, arms a-flailin' and citing a pure constructionist position on the First Amendment guarantee of a free press if the new Congress required government oversight of the content of their sorry ...
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Our nation's capital exemplifies what America can become, but not in a good way. Results from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey finds abysmally high percentages of single-parent households in underprivileged neighborhoods. As the District of Columbia is a special federal enclave under congressional control, it presents a perfect opportunity for the newly-elected conservative majority in the U.S. House of Representatives to provide leadership. According to the government data, 74 percent of households east of the Anacostia River — among the poorest in Washington — have only one parent. Only nine percent of those are headed by men. In similar neighborhoods ...
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Stories of redemption are common. Drug addicts kick their habits to rejoin civil society; corrupt investors become charitable. But rarely is there a story of someone overcoming their demons in which people not only want to watch, but want to cheer. Michael Vick's path to redemption could be such an occasion. From becoming the first black number-one overall quarterback pick in NFL draft history to starting for the Atlanta Falcons, Vick then descended to national pariah after being sentenced to 23 months in jail in 2007 for his role in a dogfighting operation involving illegal gambling and Vick's participation in ...
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There Is No Free Barbeque by Greg Collins Since when is barbeque a threat to civil rights? An Alexandria, Virginia attorney seems to think it is. Ed Ablard filed a lawsuit to halt the opening of a barbeque restaurant in the Washington, D.C. suburb where he lives and works. Ablard is claiming contaminants from the restaurant's smoker will violate civil rights. As civil rights activists risked life and limb in marches and sit-ins decades ago, could they possibly have considered that their struggle for equality would be invoked in 2010 as a means of blocking award-winning barbeque? Ablard, it's sorry ...
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The Stickshift Economy by David Schifrin I recently taught a friend how to drive a car with a manual transmission. As I was when I learned, my friend was eager, ambitious and just a little too cocky — like President Obama when he's handling the economy. Stick-shift lessons often start the same way. This time was no exception. My overly confident friend floored the gas and completely let up on the clutch. The car redlined and shot forward. Panicking, he slammed on the breaks. The car stalled. To practice hills, we moved from the parking lot where we started to ...
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OMG Parents by Lisa Fritsch (bio) Parents are now blaming the Internet for their lack of control over their children. Previous generations never had cell phones and computers, but kids were scamming their parents and bullying their classmates long before Google and Facebook existed. The consequences, in fact, were more serious then since what went down took place in real time and space — not cyberspace. Today's bully isn't the big buster Billy who shows up with a posse of five on the playground to intimidate little Timmy with a firm shoulder shove or book-dumping. Cyber Billy opens an online ...
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  It is readily acknowledged that black Americans have catching up to do when it comes to income and wealth. Many people say this predicament is related to racism and discrimination.  Please, let's be objective enough to look at other factors. For some, the knee-jerk reaction is to promote creating new black-owned, black-run businesses — any businesses, it seems. Income and wealth inequality, it is said, diminishes as black entrepreneurship increases. That's true, but there's more to it. While opening a business is hopeful, it isn't the complete solution.  Everyone knows that hope is no strategy. There must be a ...
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How's That Post-Racial America Working Out for You? by Kevin Martin (bio) American voters elected a black president. Three women now serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Gay marriage is legal in several states. Despite evidence of widespread tolerance in America, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights received almost 7,000 complaints over the past fiscal year — an increase of 11 percent. What happened to that harmonious, post-racial America that liberals promised? Russlynn Ali, the current head of the OCR, suggests the increase is because people now have more faith that the government will listen to their ...
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Give Conservatism a Chance by Jimmie L. Hollis (bio) In his book It's OK to Leave the Plantation, C. Mason Weaver said the next logical step for the civil rights movement is the rise of a black conservative movement. Weaver, a black conservative, former congressional candidate and public speaker, says that hysteria, angst, crime, family breakdown and many other ills facing America today are prophetic of the progressive agenda. It was not Weaver's opinion that black conservatives could solve all these problems overnight, but at least black conservatives could be counted upon not to perpetuate the failed progressive ideas and ...
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Government isn't good at creating sustainable jobs. It can create a sensible environment of tax rates, regulations and property rights protections that encourage private sector entrepreneurs to take risks with their capital, expand inventory and create lasting job opportunities. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration and the liberal majority in Congress over the past few years have instead prolonged a lagging economy and engineered a business environment strongly discouraging private sector investment. In fact, the White House and the outgoing Congress seem more interested in increasing the size of the federal government and the number of federal employees than revitalizing the economy ...
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It may be too little and too late, but Kanye West is finally apologizing for calling George W. Bush a racist. Nonetheless, his realization could be a lesson for us all. After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, celebrities offered their support to the affected areas with their "A Concert for Hurricane Relief" relief telethon — giving all Americans an easy way to contribute. This was a program intended to foster solidarity, but the Grammy Award-winning rapper instead used the multi-network simulcast to attack the President. Taking his segment co-host — comedic actor Mike Myers — completely by surprise, West matter-of-factly ...
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With his knee-jerk criticism of those attending Glenn Beck's recent "Restoring Honor" rally, NAACP president Ben Jealous showed what his once-venerable group has become — a progressive front masquerading as a civil rights organization. In an interview with Eyeblast.tv, Jealous — who was demonstrating with Al Sharpton at a location not far from Beck's event at the Lincoln Memorial — said, "I have a feeling if somebody stood up and read Dr. King's speech to that crowd, they would not get applause." Jealous' remark insinuates that the predominately-white crowd would not cheer for Dr. King's message because he was black ...
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Is Black Support for Obama Racist? by Jerome Hudson (bio) With poverty at an all-time high, daunting black unemployment levels and Obamacare threatening black babies, black support for Barack Obama remains surprisingly strong. Why? Blacks are not uniformly as radical as Obama. So why do 91 percent of blacks still support him1 when only 79 percent of his Democrat constituency2 does? It's a black thang. Again, why? Some say Obama's support comes from "black solidarity" — that birds of a feather flock together. That is racist in itself. After all, imagine if white voters similarly lined up in "racial solidarity." ...
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My Challenge to the Race Hustlers by Mychal Massie (bio) At a recent press conference sponsored by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Walter Fauntroy blasted Glenn Beck's August 28 "Restoring Honor" rally by saying that when one refers to the Ku Klux Klan and the tea party movement, "you have to use [the terms] interchangeably." He continued, "conservatives of this country have declared war on that civil rights movement of the '60s that brought together a coalition of conscience of people of every race, creed and color for a march on jobs and freedom." First of all, Fauntroy should ...
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There Must Be a Flaw by B.B. Robinson, Ph.D. (bio) Bishop Eddie Long stands accused. Long, the leader of Atlanta's 25,000-member New Birth Baptist Church, is accused of using his position in the church and gifts financed by it to seduce young men into homosexual encounters. Upon hearing the allegations, two thoughts come to mind: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone; There must be a flaw. In our media-dominated society — in which that media seems to fixate on materialism, sexual gratification and a general disdain for morality — temptation is abundant. Given this rise in ...
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