The Awakening of Black America

7/4/2011
Bruce Bialosky

On this Fourth of July there is a topic I want to confront. I thought long and hard before writing this column, even though the topic is a subject that profoundly concerns me. While my words come from the heart, I was, frankly, fearful that I would be branded a racist. Regrettably, the racial environment that now exists in America leaves anyone who is not Black open to attack regardless of one’s history of support for members of the community – just consider Al Campanis. Nevertheless, here goes – The Black community needs to throw off the yoke of their self-anointed leaders, their current crop of elected officials, and their supposed friends in the Democratic Party if they ever wish to achieve equal economic status in this country.
This conclusion became clear to me in a rather roundabout manner. In 2004, I traveled to Portland, Oregon. It was my first visit to this lovely city, and I spent three wonderful weeks there. But coming from Los Angeles, I was surprised by the relative absence of minorities: you see very few Asians and hardly any Blacks or Hispanics. If you go to the ‘Burbs, forget it – they’re as white as white can be. Here I was in hyper-liberal Portland, the city that almost single-handedly elects Democrats in statewide elections, and it did not appear to be particularly minority-friendly. I thought: How easy it is for these liberals to pass judgment on other Americans when they don’t have to face the issues that the rest of us deal with every day.

This notion hibernated in the back of my mind until I read Thomas Sowell’s recent column, “Blacks and Republicans.â€