The new Black voice

Many African-Americans are tired of being told how to think about themselves and being taken for granted by the Democrats, the Left and liberals.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal Rod Paige, the US Secretary of Education, says "The NAACP betrays black Americans".

"I have a message for the NAACP's Julian Bond and Kweisi Mfume, who have accused black conservatives of being the "puppets" of white people, unable to think for ourselves: You do not own, and you are not the arbiters of, African-American authenticity."

Mr. Paige goes on to slam the NAACP for "their hateful and untruthful rhetoric about Republicans and President Bush" and for opposing the No Child Left Behind Act which he says "is giving parents whose children are trapped in underperforming schools not only hope, but options, such as free tutoring or transfer to a better public school."

Mr. Paige is not the only high profile African-American to start voicing a different opinion, or singing a different tune if you like, than many black leaders.

Bill Cosby "went off on another tirade against the black community Thursday, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere."

Which makes the NAACP's stance against the No Child Left Behind Act, stand out.

Cosby went on to say "...those who commit crimes and wind up behind bars "are not political prisoners."

He went further and chastised blacks for squandering opportunities.

"You've got to stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're (earning) minimum wage," Cosby said. "You should have thought more of yourself when you were in high school, when you had an opportunity."

Juliette Ochieng, a retired Air Force reservist and black conservative Republican, posting in her blog Baldilocks, speaks out against the Left's and Liberals description of blacks as "special people" with "special needs".

Yes, we "special" people--with "special" needs--require special handling: special education and special employment. You can't expect black people to live up to the standards of "normal" people. Like paraplegics or the blind or the deaf or those afflicted with Down's syndrome, singular accommodations must be made for the great handicap of being born with black skin. To liberals/leftists, black people are a crippled class that can never be made whole just as long as they can never be made not-black. What's this notion called?

And if anyone tries to treat us as full, competent adults, the liberals/leftists will scream in righteous anger and protest about the unfairness of it all. And if some of us 'handicapped' verbally express the desire to be treated like full, competent adults and act in a manner that demonstrates that desire, we are deemed as traitors by those who share the same racial makeup, but buy into the 'handicap' philosophy. Yes, we are "traitors," because if some of us refuse to take advantage of the special needs offered and succeed anyway, the vast majority of America will begin to think that we don't really require the "handicap slot."

The vast majority of Americans will begin to think that we're not really inferior after all. (Optimistically speaking, I believe that the vast majority think this anyway.)

The times they are a changing.
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