Over the course of the recent presidential campaign, we saw how each candidate tried to ingratiate himself with various voting groups. And while NASCAR dads and Latinos were a big focus this year, we continue to witness each major election year the efforts that the parties make to court the black vote.
It's less a wooing than a predictable arrangement, as office-seekers vie for the endorsement of one African-American organization or another by snuggling up to the heads of these groups.
A system of artificial leadership is thus perpetuated at the expense of the collective of black Americans, many of whom occupy the bottom rungs of America's socioeconomic ladder.
Rather than propping up a few individuals as leaders, a better plan may be to instill self-determination and cultural grounding in all black Americans. [...]
| Read the rest of Aaron Counts and Larry Evans' Seattle Times guest column "'Be light to ourselves': Black America must look inward for solutions"
posted in articles on November 22, 2004 6:53 AM | t (1)
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