The possibility of American society falling under the ideological control of right wing politicians and thinkers, entrenched in a pseudo fascist political nightmare in our life time is a frightening concept that keeps me awake at night. What concerns me most is that the middle class black community is not only following along in this insane madness but in many instances, seems to be leading the charge head long into this reactionary nightmare. The lack of any meaningful effective progressive black leadership really does not bother me as much as the lack of any sort of progressive black institutions in America. It i’s not a failure of leadership per say as it is more a failure or a lack or nation building. The lack of any type of institutional base of support is so damaging to the black community. The lack of effective and timely analysis of current situations and/or trends in Black American Society, as well as the larger American Society, leads too confused and ineffectual action by different black groups and organizations. This is a waste of valuable resources and time by groups and organizations that can ill afford to engage in such strategic blunders. It also leaves the black community vulnerable to a strong element of anti intellectual thought and analysis.
Some people make the point that the black churches were more progressive and activistic in the fifties and sixties than today. I don't know if that is true, remember King'’s "A“ Letter from a Birmingham Jail"” was actually his critique against black ministers trying to discourage their members from participating in the civil rights struggles going on in Alabama at the time.
What black folks were questioning about black churches in the sixties, why can't black church'’s build and maintain daycare centers, why want they build and or support black credit unions and other financial institutions, why not gather more support for black colleges and universities, etc. are the same issues and questions that black people ask about their churches today and will, more than likely, be the same questions being asked twenty to thirty years from now. Although to be sure there are some black churchs engage in these activities but not enough churchs and by extension not enough church members.
In terms of what is going on for many of Americans, including Black Americans, what has happened is that 9/11 scared the hell out of everyone. This attack generated a level of fear that was so great that for many Americans, both black and white, the choice between greater security at the cost of a loss of personal freedoms is not really a choice.
The problem is that these new security measures really have not made us any safer and the true breakdowns that got in the way to the detection of the 9/11 plot have never been addressed in any meaningful or systematic way. For further research on this topic, if you donÂ’t really feel like going through the entire 9/11 report just insert "“Colleen Rowley" or “Agent Colleen Rowley" into any search engine. She was the Minnesota FBI agent who wrote a 13-page memo to the head of the FBI that showed how the bureaucracy of the FBI stopped or hindered investigations into the terrorism defendant Zacarias Moussaoui which could have led to direct links to the 9/11 hijackers. Reading her memo is interesting reading and is also a little scary. The steps taken since the commission'’s conclusion, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, have accomplished little except to make a confusing situation even more chaotic and unwieldily. Witness the federal response to the flooding in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.
Let me digress unto a side issue just for a moment. Listening to black talk radio and engaging in conversations with my black brothers and sisters, I am amazed at the level of conspiracy theory that seems to be festering throughout the black middle class community. From Bush knew that the attack was going to happen to the government blew up the levees in New Orleans to Masons/Illuminate/Trilateral commission run/control everything and other such nonsense is such a gross misreading or understanding of reality or life as to be almost psychotic. Black people in this country, I believe, are most in contact and most understanding about the realities of the world and understanding how society operates on an almost unconscious level. We are victims of institutionalized racism and oppression but at least we were able to perceive and, to a degree, understand how it operated but now it’s like all that knowledge has been replaced by sheer and utter madness. The trouble with a belief in conspiracy theories about problems and issues in society is that it always leads to the conclusion that there is no possible course of action to take to improve situations. Secret organizations control everything so then the only thing left to do is to run and hide. Maybe go underground, like the protagonist in Ellison’s “The Invisible Man,” just live secretly off the grid and somehow think you are getting over on the man. But you know what maybe that's be the point. When you don’t want to do anything, when you’re not about social or political change or action you need to have justification for your lack of movement. Conspiracy theories are just the thing. Hell you can pretend that you’re smarter than anyone else while burying your head in the sand. After all nothing can be done, right?
Oh wait a minute now I understand. Black talk radio makes perfect sense. It’s for those people who didn't plan to do anything in the first place. Nothing can be done because we can’t fight the all-encompassing conspiracy. So these listeners don’t have to waste time trying to change things, because they know the secrets and since they know they’re not going to waste their time attempting to change things for the better. Now I understand.
