Blackonomics

Look Back and See the Future (Part Two)
By James Clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - An excellent example of the impact our history has on the way we are today, especially economically, can be found in an article titled, The Reluctant Entrepreneurs, by Joel Kotkin, author of the book, Tribes.

The feature discusses several reasons for Blacks not going into business and being surpassed in this area by other ethnic groups.  Among other reasons, the history of African Americans was cited.  The article quotes Robert Hill, a Black Historian at the University of California at Los Angeles, who traced the lack of entrepreneurial tradition to African origin and the brutality of the American system of slavery.  "Africa", Hill explained, "is more a communitarian society, where notions of private property have never been so entrenched as in Europe or North America.  The culture of capitalism is just not part of our African heritage."

The piece goes on to say, "...certainly slavery and its progeny, the sharecropper system, did nothing to foster confidence, independence, or a capitalist inclination among African Americans.  Before slavery and after, white landowners believed the proper way to treat the Black was, in the words of one slave owner, 'to create in him a habit of perfect dependence...' And it was a system that proved to be enormously successful and enduring."

The article continued, “we are a race of people who for generations, both before and after Emancipation, were denied freedom of movement, education, and even a rudimentary familiarity with the free market, not to mention credit, legal status, or safety from lynch mobs.  That we, as descendants, have not taken naturally to entrepreneurship should hardly come as a big surprise.”

The fact still remains that despite their poorest of circumstances, some Black people engaged in entrepreneurship even before the Emancipation, and did well at it.  According to John Sibley Butler, in his outstanding work, Entrepreneurship and Self-Help Among Black Americans, “They (Black entrepreneurs) became the merchant class in northern cities, and it was through their enterprises that Black income in the last third of the nineteenth century grew faster than that of whites.”

The INC. article cited the economic protestations of Booker T. Washington, who established the National Negro Business League, exhorting Blacks to "uplift" themselves by striking out on their own.  It celebrated the "new" ministers like Adam Clayton Powell, who urged aspiring congregants to go into business on a larger scale.

While early Black businesses had to rely solely on the Black consumer market, such is not the case today.  However, if we do not move collectively through the economic maze, making our monetary clout felt in the widest of circles and obtaining the reciprocity we deserve as a massive consumer army, our businesses will not achieve the growth they need to prosper in this economy.  Moreover, African Americans will have abdicated our responsibility to carry forth the legacy passed on to us by our fathers and mothers.

We must never forget our history and the reasons for our attitudes on economics, business ownership, and mutual support.  We must also realize that if we are going to make it in this country, we had better get down to business NOW!  I think our ancestors would be proud.

Economic empowerment is a constant struggle, and if we do not view it as a struggle, we will never achieve the goals to which we aspire.  No one is going to "give" us anything.  If they do, it will not be without encumbrances.   The economic power we seek is within us all, and examples for us to follow are everywhere.  We simply need more cooperation within our own ranks.

In seeking that economic power, remember what Frederick Douglass said:  "...This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.  Power concedes nothing without demand.  It never did and it never will.  Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found the exact amounts of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them...The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."

I say: If we rise up, as Marcus Garvey exhorted us, resolving to cooperate with one another and do for ourselves, our economic manifesto would be clear.  Our struggle will be easier, and the powers we face will concede to our demands.  However, if African Americans choose individuality over collectivism, yes a few of us will "make it", but we will go down in history as a paradoxical people; a people who, with all of our wealth and knowledge, acquiesced and continued in economic oppression.   And the blame will rest squarely upon our shoulders.

Let our past be the light that guides us to a brighter economic future.

July 2, 2017

Is There No Decency?
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - During the 2016 campaign, our 45^th President once promised that he would be “so Presidential that it will be boring.”  If only.  Instead, he has managed to irk even his Republican allies by wallowing in the muck of name-calling, yet again, belittling a woman for her looks.  Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski, 45 tweeted, was still “bleeding from her facelift” when he saw her during the New Year’s holiday.  He also disparaged Brzezinski’s intelligence and poked fun at her co-host Joe Scarborough.  Dozens of Republicans, including leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), have scolded the President on his language in the June 29 tweets.  Some have used terms like “civility” and “decency” to distance themselves from his comments.

It is easy to scold this president on the indecent ways he speaks to, and of, women.  It is easy to shake one’s head at his juvenile tweets.  Certainly, our President has the temperament of an unruly 8 year old (and that is unkind to 8 year olds).  But we can spend so much time wondering about this President’s temperament that we can forget about his abhorrent policy initiatives that are far more dangerous than his mindless tweets.

At the same time that 45 is attacking cable news hosts, the Senate is supposed to be considering a health care plan that “repeals” the Affordable Care Act.  There is no civility or decency in advocating for a health care plan that would leave more than 22 million people uninsured.  There is nothing civil or decent in the President suggesting that Obamacare be repealed, even if there is no replacement for it.  So while many hours of television time will be spent excoriating 45 for his silly tweets about the Morning Joe team, far more should be spent dealing with health care, with employment creation, and with prison reform.

All eyes are on the president and his poison pen.  I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.  We should be equally concerned about other policy actions that are happening even as 45 is clowning on the public stage.   He wakes up in the morning to send out mindless tweets, but his minions, who are neither tweeting nor clowning, are working to roll back our civil and voting rights.

Are decent Republicans an endangered species?  Certainly, some Republicans will step up when 45 crosses the line on civility with his unhinged tweets.  Too many others, though, are silent, not only in the face of misogynistic tweets, but also in the face of inhumane public policy.  Because they have placed partisanship over common humanity, they have been silent in the face of draconian public policy, especially around health care.  Those who have stood up, such as Nevada Senator Dean Heller, have attracted the ire of the big-money alt-Trump regime, those deep-pocketed PAC funders who have attempted to bully Heller into supporting Trumpcare.  Indeed, those Republicans who have bucked the 45 machine have found themselves unfairly attacked.  Attacks on Republicans like Heller and Collins are ways to intimidate others into silence.

While 45 is tweeting insanity, immigrants who are honorably discharged veterans are being deported.  The joined the Armed Services, and served our country, both because they are patriots, but also because they were promised citizenship in return for their service.  Is there no decency?  While 45 is doing his best imitation of a schoolyard bully, school administrators from both red and blue states are looking at the ways Trumpcare would affect poor children and pushing back on the horrible legislation.  Both Democratic and Republican governors are appalled at the ways Medicaid cuts will hurt their constituents, but 45 is too busy tweeting on posturing to deal with his natural allies in the states.

Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and Founder of Economic Education. Her podcast, “It’s Personal with Dr. J” is available on iTunes. Her latest book “Are We Better Off: Race, Obama and public policy is available via amazon.com

July 2, 2017

Gone, But Not Forgotten
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The only time I can remember TIME moving as slowly as it has during the past six months was when I was eight and had to wait an entire year between Christmases.  True or not, it feels like the Trump Administration has slowed the progress of time and assigned each day an additional 36 hours.  One wonders how long it’ll take to lumber through his term in office.

I surmise that my lack of restful sleeping, and similar reports from others, has something to do with the current occupant of the Oval Office.  It's my opinion, but shared by many, that the discord and anxiety in our current socio-political structure directly relates to the incompetence of that occupant.  We're plagued with the question, "What are the long-term consequences to the nation because of this mistake in the White House?”

When at my limit, I retreat to the security of my memories.  My only solace is the memories of the eight years of leadership by President Barack Obama and the Obama family.  I, like unnumbered others, miss the Obamas and nostalgically wonder where their judgment and demeanor have gone.  Most of us recognize that our national leadership is in drastic need of an injection of the Obama character.

When the Obamas left us, they both expressed the need for much needed sleep and spending "quality time" with family.  They also said that they wanted to do "some normal stuff."  I doubt that anything they do will be considered "normal," but God Bless them with the peace and tranquility to regain a measure of normalcy.

Many are sad that the Obamas had to leave us, but we're realists and understand the political game.  What we can't reconcile is waking each morning with the ominous questions, "What did he do last night?  What crisis of his making will we have to face today?"  Those questions are a far cry from the surety that most of us had upon waking in the Obama Era.

We became used to the phrase "No drama Obama!"  Whether spoken with positive or negative intent, we were comforted by understanding that, whatever the crisis, President Obama was versed on the subject and would take a thoughtful and measured approach to its resolution.  The last thing to be expected from President Obama was a knee-jerk reaction to any event.  We were comfortable with the "Nuclear Football" in his possession.

More often than not, on networks other than Fox, we hear opinions alleging Trump's emotional instability.  We're deluged with reports of his rants in the White House and are audience to his "disturbed" Tweets against adversaries - both real and imagined.  Rather than comfort, we're in denial about who now controls that "Football."

In the past few months, the Obamas have traveled to the British Virgin Islands, French Polynesia and Italy among other destinations.  The world is still consumed with interest in their activities; yet, they remain connected to the imperatives of the nation.  With a successor who is Hell-bent on destroying his legacy, President Obama has spoken out in the interests of common citizens and the consequences of an ill-conceived health plan - Trumpcare.  To the joy of many, Michelle Obama delivered a recorded tribute to Chance the Rapper on the occasion of his receiving the 2017 BET Humanitarian Award.  Those acts exemplify the "state of normal" concern for the Obamas.

I was blessed to visit the White House many times while they were there, but I have no desire to return!  I've had an invitation, but I turned it down to preserve the memory of a White House as positive as it was when the Obamas lived there.  No future visit to the White House could ever match the Obama years there.

(Dr.  E. Faye Williams is President of the National Congress of Black Women. www.nationalcongressbw.org.)

June 27, 2017

$3 Million Settlement Paid in Cop Killing of Philando Castile
By Frederick H. Lowe

Special to the Trice Edney New Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com