Thirty Six to One (Blacks are Asleep at the Wheel)

No, it's not a lopsided sports score. It's not odds in Las Vegas. It's the number of people shot on Father's Day weekend in Chicago. Seven were killed and 12 were wounded Sunday night. At least three were killed by police. This is significant because this upcoming week is also the start of the George Zimmerman trial, the man accused of murdering Trayvon Martin. Now I don't know how many of those people shot were Black or how many of the shooters were Black because those statistics aren't available yet. However, knowing history as I do, I can assume that a good number of them were. The point I'm making is this, Why as Black people are we not as outraged when that many of us are killed on a given weekend as we are with the one person killed by George Zimmerman? Don't misunderstand, what he did to Martin was wrong, and we should be outraged; however, we should not take the casual killing of Black people by Black people as being just yesterday's news. I say we are asleep at the wheel because as Black people we have a lot to be concerned about. Unemployment among Black people is twice the national average. Blacks lost most of their wealth during the real estate crisis, our neighborhoods are not recovering like those in other areas,and even though there is a Black President, we have less representation in Washington, not to mention the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by reversing Section 4. It seems the Supreme Court is more concerned with gay marriage than the voting rights of Black people. We are rapidly moving forward to the past. As the older Blacks struggle, our young people can't seem to see past rap music and the culture depicted on BET. Guess what? other groups are pushing their political agendas while we stand still. Look around. The gays are now a political force. The Mexicans (who now outnumber Blacks in America have an agenda. Washington isn't pushing immigration because they want to. They see Mexicans as a voting block to be courted and they know they can make a difference. Mexicans also have the jobs that Blacks used to have. Forget about what Paula Dean is saying because we're all being called the n word by someone, some place, sometime. As I watched the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington, I can't help but think that as we struggle for jobs, equal employment, voting rights, and other legislation for the benefit of Black people, we must must also learn to tame the enemy within. Believe me, this is what will ultimately destroy us.