This is the finale of the series republished from a previous platform. The original series may have been in 4 parts.
Note also LBJ’s admission that the racist hostility in White America was primarily targeting Black Americans. He readily admits to Congress and the nation that after 100 years of being the center of a bullseye of national White hostility, from both public and private sectors of society, Black Americans have been significantly wounded as a population of people. Ironically, today there are White Americans who point to chronic conditions in Black America and blame personal decision-making as the key culprit without understanding the systemic forces that crippled those communities and continued to cause conditions that compel a series of daily dilemmas which have no positive outcomes.
Let’s also note the fact that MLK was alive and active in leading the Negro Revolution before … and after … the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Most Americans aren’t aware that this was yet another ineffective law, among a series of ineffective CRAs passed by Congress, dating back to the first in 1866.
Public policy changes did not translate into systemic changes of chronic conditions in Black communities. For example, MLK wrote about how the historic Supreme Court ruling in the 1954 Brown v Board case was nullified by the same Court in 1958 when it upheld Alabama’s Pupil Placement Law. Yet, today, teachers, scholars, politicians and journalists continue to point to 1954 as a watershed moment in desegregating schools, even as data show that schools today remain as segregated as they were when King was alive. How many Black children have been denied a quality education due to inept policies and systemic racism in the education sector? How many more will be in the next generation?
Despite all the rhetoric today about “saving democracy” from hostile forces seeking to acquire political power by any means necessary, few politicians are talking about the fact that all of America’s most vulnerable children are ubiquitously served by the worst quality schools in the world’s richest nation. This is not a new condition. It is how the public school system for Black children was established after the Civil War. Killing the dreams of Black children is how public education was initially designed. King fought to disrupt that policy and practice.
Yet, today, racial segregation and systemically poor-quality education for poor children of color is an ongoing crisis operating in plain sight. Saving Black children was the number one priority of the Negro Revolution, which professed three demands. Sadly, all three have been summarily denied, diminished and dismissed. And those who are considered the least in our society are still treated the worst.
In 1963, two months before King would deliver his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, he stood before 25,000 in Detroit’s Cobo Hall and delivered a scathing critique of America’s segregationist society. King described segregation as a “cancer in the body politic,” while LBJ would later ascribe the systemic condition due to a “racist virus” afflicting White America. Whether a cancer or virus, this disease is still with us. And the generational illness has metastasized into generational amnesia.
Sadly, too many of today’s generations of White Americans, including those in positions of power and influence who were young adults when King was alive, still lack awareness of the three demands of the Negro Revolution:
- End segregation in schools
- End discrimination in housing
- End discrimination in banking and access to capital
Today, none of these demands are reflected in national narratives, public policies or even in the ongoing protests and efforts for racial equity. Rather, the focus remains stuck on the importance of voting rights, which of course, is extremely important today … just as it was in King’s era. Voting is, of course, a vital means through which to achieve an end goal, but not the end goal itself.
We seem to have lost the central message in sounding an alarm to get out the vote. In so doing, we have succeeded in electing representatives whose messages span a spectrum of interests and issues yet still miss the point that was hammered home throughout the rise of the Negro Revolution. King ensured the messaging that would drive voters to the polls remained focused:
- End segregation in schools
- End discrimination in housing
- End discrimination in banking and access to capital
The result of American amnesia: Today, schools remain as segregated as in King’s day. White Americans own more than 90% of the nation’s wealth, represent 80% of all employer firms, 80% of teachers, politicians and journalists, and own more than 80% of the total housing stock in the nation. The homeownership gap between Black and White Americans, which was 26% in 1960 … is today more than 30%. Banks continue to receive federal fines in the millions every year; and since the Great Recession, banks have been fined $243 billion for ongoing discriminatory behavior. This is happening today. But what happened to the demands of the Negro Revolution? Did they die with King?
It was these three demands that catapulted JFK over Richard Nixon in the 1960 election, lifted by Black voters to victory by a mere 1%. But eight years later, JFK (’63), Medger Evers (’63), Malcolm X (’65), Dr. King (’68) and Bobby Kennedy (’68) would all be dead. These leaders joined a chorus of other courageous voices opposing segregationist policies and practices that protected white supremacy, whose lives were also cut short by a viciously violent backlash from White America that celebrated the election of Nixon by a landslide in 1968.
To add insult to injury, Governor George Wallace, traveled to Detroit in the fall of 1968 and stood in the same venue where King denounced segregation a handful of years prior and shouted, “segregation today, tomorrow and forever!” More than 11,000 White attendees roared their approval with a thundering applause.
Today, the pastor who leads King’s church in Atlanta is now a sitting Senator, due to the efforts of Black voters. But his voice, much like King’s, falls on deaf ears across a majority of White America. Still, none of the members of Congress on either side of the aisle give voice to the solid consistent message of the Negro Revolution.
No one in Congress, the White House, or any state legislature reminds America today of the three demands made by the non-violent warrior King, who sacrificed his life battling segregationist policies and practices that protect white supremacy. On MLK Day, the nation will remember King’s “dream” while ignoring his reality. King didn’t start his iconic speech with his dream. He began by describing the “shameful” chronic condition of Black America.
Amid all the protests in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in the spring of 2020, and the shocking violent insurrection attempt on January 6, 2021, Americans have apparently forgotten what triggered the rise of the Negro Revolution. We seem to have forgotten that police brutality, assaults on voting rights, and the viciousness of white supremacy (both in the streets and the halls of political power) were ever-present throughout King’s life. Today’s generation is not experiencing anything new. But to many who don’t know their history, it may feel like a new crisis, or at least the ratcheting up of racial discord due to the anxieties of some White Americans who fear the change they see on the horizon. But, of course, America has been here before. The scenes we are witnessing aren’t unique to our generation. Today’s generation have simply forgotten the message of the Negro Revolution and the legacy of the woke warrior, King.
Unfortunately, if generations of White American children continue to be denied truthful accurate knowledge and a contextual understanding of the ugly history that was passed down from their parents and grandparents, they will also grow to be adults who lack knowledge and understanding of the society they inherited. And since none of us can teach what we don’t know, future generations will inherit the ignorance of generations living today.
Without the truth, today’s generations of White Americans will remain virtually powerless to change the nation’s chronic conditions rooted in segregation and white supremacy, regardless of the explosions of protests across the country from those who are adversely impacted by the “racist” conditions of a society governed by biased laws, systems, policies and practices.
Unless disrupted by truth, each generation of White Americans will pass to future generations a broad ignorance of the society they inherited with little capacity to discern, much less change, the current societal conditions from which they benefit, but did not create.
In 1964, Dr. King implored an audience of 4,000 White attendees during speech in San Diego to remain awake and be attentive to the revolution taking place across America. Using the mythical story of Rumpelstiltskin, who famously slept much of his life away, MLK expressed his deep distress with a majority of White America that was sleepwalking and unable to hear the cries of constant protests of aggrieved peoples throughout the country. The tragedy MLK pointed to is ingrained in the inertia of ignorance, which requires injections of truth to disrupt the cycle passed down to each generation.
The work of Common Ground Conversations on Race in America (CGC) is to introduce truth, which wields the power of transformation. My wife and I energize audiences by informing, equipping and empowering them through paradigm-shifting knowledge and understanding, which leads to productive dialogue and actionable steps.
Over the past two years, CGC clientele has grown from churches, school districts and library systems to national nonprofits, municipal government and police departments. Through word of mouth, our clients have spread positive affirmation of their extraordinary experiences and introduced others who have done the same.
If your company, institution, organization or group is interested in a uniquely unforgettable experience for MLK Day or Black History Month, contact me today and schedule a booking. To learn more about CGC facilitation trainings, please visit commongroundconversations.com and fill out the request form.
The final entry in its entirety. May have been broken up in parts from a previous media release.
Note the admission by a president of the United States in 1965 that there is a “racist virus” that infects the country. Was that true? If so, when did that condition change?
Note also LBJ’s admission that the racist hostility in White America was primarily targeting Black Americans. He readily admits to Congress and the nation that after 100 years of being the center of a bullseye of national White hostility, from both public and private sectors of society, Black Americans have been significantly wounded as a population of people. Ironically, today there are White Americans who point to chronic conditions in Black America and blame personal decision-making as the key culprit without understanding the systemic forces that crippled those communities and continued to cause conditions that compel a series of daily dilemmas which have no positive outcomes.
Let’s also note the fact that MLK was alive and active in leading the Negro Revolution before … and after … the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Most Americans aren’t aware that this was yet another ineffective law, among a series of ineffective CRAs passed by Congress, dating back to the first in 1866.
Public policy changes did not translate into systemic changes of chronic conditions in Black communities. For example, MLK wrote about how the historic Supreme Court ruling in the 1954 Brown v Board case was nullified by the same Court in 1958 when it upheld Alabama’s Pupil Placement Law. Yet, today, teachers, scholars, politicians and journalists continue to point to 1954 as a watershed moment in desegregating schools, even as data show that schools today remain as segregated as they were when King was alive. How many Black children have been denied a quality education due to inept policies and systemic racism in the education sector? How many more will be in the next generation?
Despite all the rhetoric today about “saving democracy” from hostile forces seeking to acquire political power by any means necessary, few politicians are talking about the fact that all of America’s most vulnerable children are ubiquitously served by the worst quality schools in the world’s richest nation. This is not a new condition. It is how the public school system for Black children was established after the Civil War. Killing the dreams of Black children is how public education was initially designed. King fought to disrupt that policy and practice.
Yet, today, racial segregation and systemically poor-quality education for poor children of color is an ongoing crisis operating in plain sight. Saving Black children was the number one priority of the Negro Revolution, which professed three demands. Sadly, all three have been summarily denied, diminished and dismissed. And those who are considered the least in our society are still treated the worst.
In 1963, two months before King would deliver his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, he stood before 25,000 in Detroit’s Cobo Hall and delivered a scathing critique of America’s segregationist society. King described segregation as a “cancer in the body politic,” while LBJ would later ascribe the systemic condition due to a “racist virus” afflicting White America. Whether a cancer or virus, this disease is still with us. And the generational illness has metastasized into generational amnesia.
Sadly, too many of today’s generations of White Americans, including those in positions of power and influence who were young adults when King was alive, still lack awareness of the three demands of the Negro Revolution:
- End segregation in schools
- End discrimination in housing
- End discrimination in banking and access to capital
Today, none of these demands are reflected in national narratives, public policies or even in the ongoing protests and efforts for racial equity. Rather, the focus remains stuck on the importance of voting rights, which of course, is extremely important today … just as it was in King’s era. Voting is, of course, a vital means through which to achieve an end goal, but not the end goal itself.
We seem to have lost the central message in sounding an alarm to get out the vote. In so doing, we have succeeded in electing representatives whose messages span a spectrum of interests and issues yet still miss the point that was hammered home throughout the rise of the Negro Revolution. King ensured the messaging that would drive voters to the polls remained focused:
- End segregation in schools
- End discrimination in housing
- End discrimination in banking and access to capital
The result of American amnesia: Today, schools remain as segregated as in King’s day. White Americans own more than 90% of the nation’s wealth, represent 80% of all employer firms, 80% of teachers, politicians and journalists, and own more than 80% of the total housing stock in the nation. The homeownership gap between Black and White Americans, which was 26% in 1960 … is today more than 30%. Banks continue to receive federal fines in the millions every year; and since the Great Recession, banks have been fined $243 billion for ongoing discriminatory behavior. This is happening today. But what happened to the demands of the Negro Revolution? Did they die with King?
It was these three demands that catapulted JFK over Richard Nixon in the 1960 election, lifted by Black voters to victory by a mere 1%. But eight years later, JFK (’63), Medger Evers (’63), Malcolm X (’65), Dr. King (’68) and Bobby Kennedy (’68) would all be dead. These leaders joined a chorus of other courageous voices opposing segregationist policies and practices that protected white supremacy, whose lives were also cut short by a viciously violent backlash from White America that celebrated the election of Nixon by a landslide in 1968.
To add insult to injury, Governor George Wallace, traveled to Detroit in the fall of 1968 and stood in the same venue where King denounced segregation a handful of years prior and shouted, “segregation today, tomorrow and forever!” More than 11,000 White attendees roared their approval with a thundering applause.
Today, the pastor who leads King’s church in Atlanta is now a sitting Senator, due to the efforts of Black voters. But his voice, much like King’s, falls on deaf ears across a majority of White America. Still, none of the members of Congress on either side of the aisle give voice to the solid consistent message of the Negro Revolution.
No one in Congress, the White House, or any state legislature reminds America today of the three demands made by the non-violent warrior King, who sacrificed his life battling segregationist policies and practices that protect white supremacy. On MLK Day, the nation will remember King’s “dream” while ignoring his reality. King didn’t start his iconic speech with his dream. He began by describing the “shameful” chronic condition of Black America.
Amid all the protests in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in the spring of 2020, and the shocking violent insurrection attempt on January 6, 2021, Americans have apparently forgotten what triggered the rise of the Negro Revolution. We seem to have forgotten that police brutality, assaults on voting rights, and the viciousness of white supremacy (both in the streets and the halls of political power) were ever-present throughout King’s life. Today’s generation is not experiencing anything new. But to many who don’t know their history, it may feel like a new crisis, or at least the ratcheting up of racial discord due to the anxieties of some White Americans who fear the change they see on the horizon. But, of course, America has been here before. The scenes we are witnessing aren’t unique to our generation. Today’s generation have simply forgotten the message of the Negro Revolution and the legacy of the woke warrior, King.
Unfortunately, if generations of White American children continue to be denied truthful accurate knowledge and a contextual understanding of the ugly history that was passed down from their parents and grandparents, they will also grow to be adults who lack knowledge and understanding of the society they inherited. And since none of us can teach what we don’t know, future generations will inherit the ignorance of generations living today.
Without the truth, today’s generations of White Americans will remain virtually powerless to change the nation’s chronic conditions rooted in segregation and white supremacy, regardless of the explosions of protests across the country from those who are adversely impacted by the “racist” conditions of a society governed by biased laws, systems, policies and practices.
Unless disrupted by truth, each generation of White Americans will pass to future generations a broad ignorance of the society they inherited with little capacity to discern, much less change, the current societal conditions from which they benefit, but did not create.
In 1964, Dr. King implored an audience of 4,000 White attendees during speech in San Diego to remain awake and be attentive to the revolution taking place across America. Using the mythical story of Rumpelstiltskin, who famously slept much of his life away, MLK expressed his deep distress with a majority of White America that was sleepwalking and unable to hear the cries of constant protests of aggrieved peoples throughout the country. The tragedy MLK pointed to is ingrained in the inertia of ignorance, which requires injections of truth to disrupt the cycle passed down to each generation.
The work of Common Ground Conversations on Race in America (CGC) is to introduce truth, which wields the power of transformation. My wife and I energize audiences by informing, equipping and empowering them through paradigm-shifting knowledge and understanding, which leads to productive dialogue and actionable steps.
Over the past two years, CGC clientele has grown from churches, school districts and library systems to national nonprofits, municipal government and police departments. Through word of mouth, our clients have spread positive affirmation of their extraordinary experiences and introduced others who have done the same.
If your company, institution, organization or group is interested in a uniquely unforgettable experience for MLK Day or Black History Month, contact me today and schedule a booking. To learn more about CGC facilitation trainings, please visit commongroundconversations.com and fill out the request form.