Our lies are more harmful and damaging to our children than the lash of the whip was to our forefathers.

Black adults must stop lying to Black children.  It is destructive to their lives and to our communities.  I am not just talking about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.  We have got to stop telling the lie to our children, that based on our present trajectory, "that everything is going to be alright."  It is not!  

We tell our children that we made it through slavery, therefore they will make it through these modern, tough times.  One does not guarantee the other.  We tell our children that a cavalry-like force will "ride in" to save us and them.  The cavalry is not coming.  And we tell our children that an afterlife will be better for them than their present life.  That is what old slaves told new, young slaves. People of other ethnicities don't tell their children to wait for another life to progress.

We must tell our children the truth, which is that two or three generations of Black people before them failed them!  We failed our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and our race. Many of us were getting our "party on", our "drugs and alcohol on", our "sports on", our "downtown job" on, our "expensive cars and fancy clothes on", our "celebrity crib (house)'" on, and our "bountiful sex on" when we should have been building a better world for our children. In fact, most of us pretended to be "free."

We must stop lying to our children.  Our lies are more harmful and damaging to our children than the lash of the whip was to our forefathers.  We must set our children free with the truth.  Below are thirteen lies that we tell our children and thirteen truths that we don't tell:

Thirteen Lies We Tell Black Children

1) Black parents and adults can protect you in the world.

2)Go to school, get a good education and you will get a good job and live a happy life.

3)Do not commit a crime and you won't have to deal with the police.

4) Get a good job, save your money and you will be economically successful.

5) Others are responsible for your health.

6) Take pride in your house and community and the housing values will go up.

7) If things are not going well in your community, it's the parent's and adult's fault.

8) There is a job for everyone who wants one in America.

9) The media just reports the news, they don't "make" the news.

10) Your reward will come after this life, not during this life.

11) If you do not vote, you are responsible for your plight.

12) In America, all people are equal.

13) Segregation of the races and slavery is over.

Thirteen Truths We Don't Tell Black Children

1) You must be self-reliant and depend on yourself and your family.

2) Expect and prepare to have contact with police.

3) Listen to and respect your parents and other concerned adults in your life.

4) Create a job for yourself and for others in your community.

5) Be responsible for your health, and you have a better chance for a good outcome.

6) Learn to succeed in life in spite of your education in schools.

7) Value your culture and your racial history.

8) Young men must respect young women and vice versa.

9) Elders and seniors in the family and community must be revered.

10) Become financially literate and understand how money works.

11) Help promote, rebuild and invest in Black families and communities.

12) Young Black men and women must always give maximum effort!

13) Believe in a greater, higher power or universal source beyond you.

By Phillip Jackson

Executive Director of The Black Star Project.