Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

Meeting the challenge

A new focus for community action has been emerging among prominent African Americans. Until recently, the sole concern has been racial discrimination, but now broader issues are gaining attention.

A comment by the Rev. Al Sharpton on his radio program exemplifies the shift: “While we were out fighting for civil rights, they went ahead and burned a hole in the ozone layer.” The implication is that blacks cannot ignore the other issues that threaten the quality of life on the planet.

There has been an obsession among black leaders with the plight of those who have failed to benefit from the opportunities of the past 40 years. The consequence of this was a tendency to characterize blacks as victims. However, with the growing prominence of blacks in the business and professional world, such a blanket characterization became increasingly unrealistic.

It is impossible to view Gov. Deval Patrick or Sen. Barack Obama as victims. They are both prominent political leaders with national celebrity. Their success does not depend solely on the support of African Americans. The political issues that concern them affect everyone, regardless of race.

Other black leaders can no longer avoid the obvious. There is fierce competition for success in America, and the ability of so many African Americans to move ahead indicates that racial barriers are not impenetrable. The best strategy for black leaders is to prepare the young to succeed in the nation’s very competitive environment.

Unfortunately, despite the growing awareness of other issues, black leaders still focus on alleged acts of racial discrimination, no matter how questionable. A good example is the Duke University rape case. While there is no question that exotic dancers should not be subject to rape with impunity, it was unwise for prominent blacks to risk their reputations on the veracity of a woman who would put herself at risk as a sexual performer.

The result was predictable. It appears that the dancer lied, the students were wrongfully prosecuted, and the black community was embarrassed. But even worse, the event was an enormous distraction and the racial oppression rhetoric reinforced the notion for blacks on the margin that they are victims of a racist society.

Let a white police officer shoot a black citizen and there will be an enormous uproar. Protestors usually will not even wait to determine whether the officer’s use of firearms was justified. Yet every day, residents of black urban communities shoot one another with hardly an appropriate response from national leaders.

The balance has shifted. While bigots are still offensive and can inflict great harm on blacks, the more dangerous menace is what blacks do to themselves. To borrow a line from Walt Kelly’s famous comic strip “Pogo,” “We have met the enemy, and it is us.”

This anger and hostility in the black community was not always present. Those who lived in Roxbury as teenagers 50 or 60 years ago remember a time when there was great community spirit. Of course there were personal disagreements, but they never ended in homicides. Despite the racial barriers to success, many residents of that era found a way to succeed.

It is time to revive that spirit and focus attention on ways to succeed. Let the lawyers go after those who unlawfully discriminate. Black Boston can reemerge as a great center of academic achievement and success in affairs of the world with the help of those who know the way.

“We need to spend more time with those who want to win.”