As a Practical Pan-African Nationalist, I believe in promoting positive relationships between Continental Africans and Afro-Diasporians (descendants of enslaved Africans, to include so-called "African-Americans.". Thus I will be bold...yet...respectful in my response to Fay Venegas's article. I will point out where he is correct, and where he is wrong. 

Generally speaking, Mr. Venegas in his article Could African-Americans Learn From Africans? In last week’s issue of The African Executive is ONLY correct on TWO accounts: the so-called Black "intellegencia" being stuck in the 60's and 70's (but not all of them) and the fact that "African-Americans" give too much power to racism. However, he is wrong on numerous accounts. He does NOT seem to know the difference between individual success and collective ethnic success. He definitely does not realize that Obama became president not because of individual success, but because of multi-cultural effort success, with a majority population that is NOT Black/African-American! He provides no proof that "all" the reasons for failure of African-Americans is their fault. He does not seem to know the difference between mis-directed energy and laziness. 

Where Fay Venegas is correct

Many leaders of the African-American "intellegencia" are indeed stuck in the 60s and 70s. They have not properly looked at the "Practical Nationalism" that most other non-Black groups in this country practice (putting their needs ahead of America's wants). Fey Venegas also is correct that we give racism too much credit for holding us back. However, he does not know that the mental enslavement of chattel slavery is often passed down for years after the physical effect is gone.  

As human beings, we are all vulnerable to mental conditioning, no matter how much of a rugged individualist we think we are! Consider 400 years of mental slave conditioning, having most of our major Black leaders killed in front of us, and our youth only considered "successful" if they are a rugged individualist, athlete, entertainer, or a hater of self and his/her own people...and you would have no problem understanding why Black folk may miss opportunities to raise themselves up. So I agree that we MUST do better.  

The Obama Drama 

Let's face some facts that some of us are in denial of. Black folk who talk about African-Americans getting a fair proportion of the socio-economic ownership of this country that was built upon the blood of our ancestors will NEVER get elected in a country this anti-Black/African, unless Blacks are numerically the majority!  

Obama was smart enough to only talk about race when sorely pressed to do so! Thus, Whites generally have no evidence to accuse him of being "stuck in the 60's,” or being a "reverse racist." Yes, Obama is smart, but no one man has EVER been "good enough" to be president of the United States. ALL of them knew the right people who positioned them toward this end. Becoming president is based more on if the right people like you than some super-human self-made man myth. 

Politically moderate, and politically liberal Whites in this race-obsessed country feel much more comfortable electing a Black man who has WHITE family members, than someone perceived by them as being "too Black," or "stuck in the civil rights era." Many Whites fear that the evil their ancestors did (and some are still doing) concerning race, will be revisited upon them. Blacks with White family members and best friends are less likely to facilitate this revisiting!  

The myth exposed 

An African American at Work

Black folk have only had full citizenship rights in the country for 40 years...less than half a century. Hundreds of years prior to that, "White affirmative Action" existed. As a matter of fact, even the hated Irish and Scottish were allowed to move to "the land of opportunity," call us Black folk "nigger," and participate in all the evils of slavery along with their Anglo-English contemporaries. Those who read the government paperwork on affirmative action know that it is not an "entitlement program." It was a fair consideration ensuring qualified Black folk were given a fair chance at jobs, contracts and college admission, among other factors. Like every man-made law however, it was not perfect. When we look at the colonial laws of the 16 and 1700s till the GI Bill (and entitlement program for military veterans) we will see that in most cases, even today...non-Blacks are ENTITLED to preferential treatment. 

The many White bosses I had growing up, serving in the navy, and other professions revealed to me the "it's who you know" rules of corporate America. If people were properly rewarded for their hard work, there wouldn't be so many disgruntled, unsuccessful people of all skin tones in America who paid their dues and were pushed to the side. 

Some people older than I may remember the federal grants that many Vietnamese Boat people got to come to the U.S. -keep in mind that many of these grants allowed these guys to buy good "middle class" homes! How many Black folk ...immigrant or otherwise...got them enough free money to buy a house? 

Some of us remember that the U.S. admits to making a new life for German scientist of Natzi Germany. These same racist bastards received the equivalent of 40 acres and mule we did not get! Not only did they pump more racist ideas about eugenetics into our society, bankrolled the foundation for the human genome project, and other atrocities...they got all this from American taxpayers of all races... at the expense of our parents and grandparents still living under American apartheid at the time. The 2-3 century head start in this "land of opportunity" was an opportunity denied to African-Americans. 

Finally, concerning this myth of opportunity, America, like other G-8 nations, created "opportunity" by economic extortion...often with military enforcement, of colonized nations! If you paid attention to how sweatshop labor created cheap goods in this country to make mega corporations...and that most of these mega corporations reside in Western nations like the U.S. you'd question EVERY idea you had about "the land of opportunity." America's 200 year ill-treatment of Haiti is a perfect example. I already know this...as stated, I grew up here. Ten years of just looking at the end result instead of the root causes means that Mr. Venegas does not know very much about U.S. based "opportunity." 

Laziness or Misdirected Energy 

The "lazy" comment is used by White racists to explain every problem in the Black community. However, what Venegas and these racists fail to admit that mis-directed energy is usually the problem...and that people generally work as hard as they perceive it necessary to reach a goal. When Vicente Fox, Mexico's president, made a similar comment about African-Americans, he failed to mention the fact that after working for free in America for over 200 years as enslaved people, 60 plus years as near slaves, none of us want to work illegally in sweat shops for near slave conditions and wages below the poverty mark! If that makes us lazy, then show me any person of ANY skin tone who isn't! 

I mentioned earlier that much of the intellegencia thinks a White face is needed for our progress (the opposite of a Practical Nationalist/Practical Pan-Africanist). Therefore, they put most of their energy in the "inclusion process" (trying to force non-Blacks to accept us into their institutions, and being fought against tooth and nail throughout the whole process) instead of reserving half of that work ethic for institution building. For example, when Black folk have to compete with all other peoples for jobs and opportunities owned and controlled buy non-Black people, we will always face resentment, backlash, and pushback from the ones who economically and politically own these opportunities. The end result is that less of us can find jobs, get a "fair shake" and get contracts for projects from White-owned government entities. What does this mean?...MIS-DIRECTED ENERGY! Not laziness. The African-American Intellegencia needs to focus on a holistic approach to success. You can accuse the Black "intellegencia" in the U.S. of misdirecting their work ethic...but never insult us or them by claiming laziness! 

A final example of misdirected energy deals with the criminal element of our society (though Whites are not immune to committing criminal acts). While being tutored in an engineering economics class one day, I was surprised to find out that my tutor was a former "hustler on the streets". After finding out he could apply his brain power and work ethic to legal pursuits and still be successful, that's exactly what he did! He was not lazy, when he was doing those illegal things, his work ethics just not moral and misdirected. 

We all know there are crooks of all colors, including Black sell-outs, who benefit from racism and making the "White man" appear god-like in power. There are many more people...the Alan keys, Jessie Lee Peterson's, and the Armstrong Williams's of our race...who profit from racism by placing all the blame on African-Americans. Mr. Venegas, if you are sincere in your convictions, then you'd do well to go deeper than the surface, instead of appearing like the latter men mentioned above. 

By Samuel Burnham