OPINION:
If February is Black History Month — 30 days during which we are supposed to honor the achievements and contributions of Black Americans — why do we spend it continuing to participate in negative depictions of African Americans, wasting valuable time and opportunity to improve our quality of life?
I don’t see us “rising” as a people (a much-loved marketing phrase). Instead, I see a slippery slope into irrelevance. We are so desperate to be socially accepted that we have compromised all levels of integrity and decency. What’s equally disturbing is that African American officials are orchestrating these compromises at the local and federal levels.
Our disapproval of politicians’ efforts to “resettle” illegal immigrants in traditionally Black neighborhoods is being ignored in many cities. This is heartbreaking because it means our votes don’t really matter to Democratic politicians, who couldn’t care less that African Americans living in public housing will be forced out to house illegal immigrants.
We have people in the judicial system whose interpretation of laws has contributed to the expansion of senseless crime and irreparable damage to people and businesses. Companies are fleeing urban areas and taking their jobs with them, reversing economic progress. We are bombarded by images of drug use, obesity, criminality and gender confusion, as well as by advertisements glorifying transgenderism and minimizing its risks.
The many health care disparities between Whites and Blacks continues to worsen, as do economic indicators across the board and criminal participation by youths, some as young as 10.
Our educators at colleges and universities have demonstrated incompetence by embracing diversity, equity and inclusion concepts that return our education to the Jim Crow era and reverse all the civil rights progress that has been made. People seem to have forgotten that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sacrificed himself so they could have opportunities.
Here’s what we should have been celebrating last month: African American millionaires and billionaires announcing investment funds to create businesses, including medical clinics to rehabilitate drug users, job training programs to get youth on the right path and volunteer mentoring entities to improve students’ academic achievements.
Well, maybe next year.
GREG RALEIGH
Washington
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