You wonder why this message doesn't seem to be told by today's so-called "black leaders".
Obama - nothing. BLM - nothing. On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 10:47:42 AM UTC-4, MJ wrote: > > > > *'Back When We Were Negroes' by Charles E. Richardson *Journal/Website: > The Macon Telegraph > Published Date: Sunday, July 31, 2011 > > There was a time until the early 1960s when the terms to describe those of > African decent, like me African-American or Black or Afro-American were > almost unheard of. > > I remember a distinct conversation with a friend discussing descriptive > terms for ourselves in 1963 or ’64. The term “black” was just coming into > vogue and he didn’t like it one bit. “Call me a Negro,” he said, “but don’t > call me black.” > > Now, the word “Negro” (publications used a lower case “n”) has almost > become a pejorative, so I was a little surprised when my pastor, the Rev. > Willie Reid, used it during Thursday’s revival. “Back when we were > Negroes,” he said, and listed several things that were different about > black life in America back then. > > That got me to thinking. Back when we were Negroes in the 1950s, “only 9 > percent of black families with children were headed by a single parent,” > according to “The Black Family: 40 Years of Lies” by Kay Hymowitz. “Black > children had a 52 percent chance of living with both their biological > parents until age 17. In 1959, “only 2 percent of black children were > reared in households in which the mother never married.” But now that we’re > African-Americans, according to Hymowitz, those odds of living with both > parents had “dwindled to a mere 6 percent” by the mid-1980s. And check > this, in Bibb County, more than 70 percent of the births in the > African-American community are to single mothers. > > Back when we were Negroes and still fighting in many parts of the country > for the right to vote, we couldn’t wait for the polls to open. We knew our > friends, family and acquaintances had died getting us the ballot. Dogs and > fire hoses were used to keep us away and still we came. But now that we’re > African-Americans, in a city of 47,000 registered predominately black > voters more than 30,000 didn’t show up at the polls July 19. > > Back when we were Negroes, we had names like Joshua, Aaron, Paul, Esther, > Melba, Cynthia and Ida. Now that we are African Americans, our names are > bastardized versions of alcohol from Chivas to Tequila to C(S)hardonney. > And chances the names have an unusual spelling. > > Back when we were Negroes, according to the Trust For America’s Health’s > “F as in Fat,” report, “only four states had diabetes rates above 6 > percent. ... The hypertension rates in 37 states about 20 years ago were > more than 20 percent.” > > Now that we’re African-Americans, that report shows, “every state has a > hypertension rate of more than 20 percent, with nine more than 30 percent. > Forty-three states have diabetes rates of more than 7 percent, and 32 have > rates above 8 percent. Adult obesity rates for blacks topped 40 percent in > 15 states, 35 percent in 35 states and 30 percent in 42 states and > Washington, D.C. > > Back when we were Negroes, the one-room church was the community center > that everyone used. Now that we’re African-Americans, our churches have > lavish compared to back-in-the-day churches community centers that > usually sit empty because the last thing the new church wants to do is > invite the community in. > > Back when we were Negroes, we didn’t have to be convinced that education > was the key that opened the lock of success, but now that we’re > African-Americans, more than 50 percent of our children fail to graduate > high school. In Bibb County last year, the system had a dropout rate of > 53,4 percent. > > Back when we were Negroes, the last thing a young woman wanted to look > like was a harlot and a young man a thug, but now that we’re > African-Americans, many of our young girls dress like hootchie mamas and > our young boys imitate penitentiary custom and wear their pants below the > butt line. > > If I could reverse all of the above by trading the term “African-American” > for “Negro,” what do you think I’d do? > > > *Charles E. Richardson is *The Telegraph’s > * editorial page editor. He can be reached at (478) 744-4342 or via e-mail > at [email protected] <javascript:>. *This article may be cited as: > Richardson CE. Back when we were Negroes. Macon Telegraph. July 31, 2011. > Available from: > http://www.haciendapub.com/articles/back-when-we-were-negroes-charles-e-... > <http://www.haciendapub.com/articles/back-when-we-were-negroes-charles-e-richardson> > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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