The Missed Fork in the Road
Sorry for the light blogging; I`ve been a bit under the weather, and have been having computer troubles.
I was going to write a lengthy piece on Booker T. Washington, his views, and the battle he eventually lost with W.E.B. Dubois and the NAACP. I thought that this would be fitting for Martin Luther King Day, since MLK came more from the NAACP camp than the Washington camp, and I believe that ultimately did a great disservice to the black community.
Washington believed that financial success would lead to ultimate acceptance of African Americans (just as it did for every immigrant group which came to America) and he advocated hard work and righteous living. The Leftist Dubois and his compatriots at the NAACP (which was founded as a rebuttal to Washington`s policies) sought advancement through political power. Theirs was the easy path, and they were the more successful because of it. Who wouldn`t choose political power over sweat and toil?
The fact that such a group would look to politics and law to advance their status was illustrative of the times; the Twentieth Century was the era of big government and imperial legalism, and the idea of using the government to make advances in the interest of ``fairness`` would never have been considered at any other time.
The triumph of the views of the NAACP over the Washington camp reached fruition with the King movement, and his subsequent assassination elevated those views to unchallengeable by giving the cause a martyr. The African American community has been held in bondage to government largess, the professional civil rights leadership class, and the Democratic Party ever since. The black family has collapsed, crime has run rampant, out of wedlock pregnancy and drug abuse have become commonplace. These are all ``benefits`` of the welfare state.
Even those who adhered to Washington`s philosophy, who worked hard and made themselves successful, are never free from the taint of Duboisism. They can never point to their success in an unqualified manner, because they know that someone will say they were given this success by the programs and policies, by the helping hand of civil rights laws. They always feel second class, because those policies taint their accomplishments. Furthermore, the more successful they are, the more their own community despises them. Consider the ``House Slave`` accusations against Condoleeza Rice; Dr. Rice clearly deserves to be where she is, but the policies of racial discrimination FOR blacks has made her an object of suspicion. Since all upward mobility is viewed through the prism of politics it appears to other blacks (and many whites) that Dr. Rice was advanced through affirmative action (and probably with the assistance of strong legs)and not because of her accomplishments.
This is a self-reinforcing cycle of failure. Anyone who succeeds is suspect, and those who fail are rewarded with government money and assistance programs. That is why a black student who does too well is accused of not being sufficiently black. Who wants to face that kind of thing? Who is strong enough to not care what is being said about you at school? As a result, the talented black students quit aiming for higher things, and settle for being in the heirarchy of the civil rights class. This is abominable.
What have we lost on account of this? How many medical breakthroughs, how many solutions to problems have we lost because people of talent were told not to succeed?
When Booker T. Washington lost his battle, the entire Nation lost. The triumph of the NAACP enslaved the African American community to statism, poverty, and second class citizenship far more effectively than Jim Crowe. While Martin Luther King and his supporters had high ideals and genuinly wished to improve things, the net result of their efforts was to reinforce a destructive view of things, one which had opposite results from those Dr. King intended. It has been an American Tragedy.
It`s never too late for a new beginning. The initiative must come from the black community itself; they must rediscover their roots, learn about men like Washington, Carver, etc. who believed in the value of the individual, not in the power of the State. There are encouraging signs that this may be starting to occur.
So, enjoy your day off of work (if you get one-I don`t :() and bear in mind that there are two sides to every coin. MLK accomplished much good, but his legacy has not born such good fruit. It really is too bad that more people hadn`t listened to Booker T. Washington.
I was going to write a lengthy piece on Booker T. Washington, his views, and the battle he eventually lost with W.E.B. Dubois and the NAACP. I thought that this would be fitting for Martin Luther King Day, since MLK came more from the NAACP camp than the Washington camp, and I believe that ultimately did a great disservice to the black community.
Washington believed that financial success would lead to ultimate acceptance of African Americans (just as it did for every immigrant group which came to America) and he advocated hard work and righteous living. The Leftist Dubois and his compatriots at the NAACP (which was founded as a rebuttal to Washington`s policies) sought advancement through political power. Theirs was the easy path, and they were the more successful because of it. Who wouldn`t choose political power over sweat and toil?
The fact that such a group would look to politics and law to advance their status was illustrative of the times; the Twentieth Century was the era of big government and imperial legalism, and the idea of using the government to make advances in the interest of ``fairness`` would never have been considered at any other time.
The triumph of the views of the NAACP over the Washington camp reached fruition with the King movement, and his subsequent assassination elevated those views to unchallengeable by giving the cause a martyr. The African American community has been held in bondage to government largess, the professional civil rights leadership class, and the Democratic Party ever since. The black family has collapsed, crime has run rampant, out of wedlock pregnancy and drug abuse have become commonplace. These are all ``benefits`` of the welfare state.
Even those who adhered to Washington`s philosophy, who worked hard and made themselves successful, are never free from the taint of Duboisism. They can never point to their success in an unqualified manner, because they know that someone will say they were given this success by the programs and policies, by the helping hand of civil rights laws. They always feel second class, because those policies taint their accomplishments. Furthermore, the more successful they are, the more their own community despises them. Consider the ``House Slave`` accusations against Condoleeza Rice; Dr. Rice clearly deserves to be where she is, but the policies of racial discrimination FOR blacks has made her an object of suspicion. Since all upward mobility is viewed through the prism of politics it appears to other blacks (and many whites) that Dr. Rice was advanced through affirmative action (and probably with the assistance of strong legs)and not because of her accomplishments.
This is a self-reinforcing cycle of failure. Anyone who succeeds is suspect, and those who fail are rewarded with government money and assistance programs. That is why a black student who does too well is accused of not being sufficiently black. Who wants to face that kind of thing? Who is strong enough to not care what is being said about you at school? As a result, the talented black students quit aiming for higher things, and settle for being in the heirarchy of the civil rights class. This is abominable.
What have we lost on account of this? How many medical breakthroughs, how many solutions to problems have we lost because people of talent were told not to succeed?
When Booker T. Washington lost his battle, the entire Nation lost. The triumph of the NAACP enslaved the African American community to statism, poverty, and second class citizenship far more effectively than Jim Crowe. While Martin Luther King and his supporters had high ideals and genuinly wished to improve things, the net result of their efforts was to reinforce a destructive view of things, one which had opposite results from those Dr. King intended. It has been an American Tragedy.
It`s never too late for a new beginning. The initiative must come from the black community itself; they must rediscover their roots, learn about men like Washington, Carver, etc. who believed in the value of the individual, not in the power of the State. There are encouraging signs that this may be starting to occur.
So, enjoy your day off of work (if you get one-I don`t :() and bear in mind that there are two sides to every coin. MLK accomplished much good, but his legacy has not born such good fruit. It really is too bad that more people hadn`t listened to Booker T. Washington.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 4:48 AM
2 Comments:
Tim,
This is such good stuff. I remember the name Booker T Washington from school but he was never given the place of honor that MLK was and basically was treated like footnote.
There are a few people in the black "community" pushing Washington's agenda or at least giving lip service to it. Shelby Steel comes to mind and even Bill Cosby lately. But as with Condi Rice these folks are disparaged as sell outs. It is so sad.
Tim - this is a wonderful piece - thanks again for teaching me so much about history. It is a shame that of all the great black leaders that MLK is the one who gets the national holiday and now a big memorial down on the mall - -surely that's overdoing it.
Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well -- hope you are up and at 'em really soon, although for a guy who WAS going to write a column about Booker T. Washington you sure did a mighty good impression of actually writing an excellent one.
And George Washington doesn't even get a day devoted to him - we just have President's day -- which presumably includes such luminaries as Millard Fillmore and even Bubba.
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