1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,560 What are the five biggest issues facing blacks in America? 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:07,080 Here’s my list. 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,000 Problem #5. The Victim Mentality 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,420 Nothing holds someone back more than seeing himself as a victim. 5 00:00:13,420 --> 00:00:14,420 Why? 6 00:00:14,420 --> 00:00:17,680 Because a victim is not responsible for his situation. 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:19,980 Everything is someone else’s fault. 8 00:00:19,980 --> 00:00:23,120 And the victim sees little chance of improving his life. 9 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,940 How can he get ahead if someone is holding him back? 10 00:00:25,940 --> 00:00:30,240 All this makes the victim unhappy, frustrated and angry. 11 00:00:30,249 --> 00:00:33,889 This is how too many blacks see themselves – as victims. 12 00:00:33,889 --> 00:00:39,720 So much so that their victim status becomes their primary identity and their ruling ideology. 13 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,580 I call it victimology. 14 00:00:42,580 --> 00:00:47,460 Unfortunately, many black churches preach this “victimology,” many black parents 15 00:00:47,469 --> 00:00:51,649 pass it on to their children, inner-city schools teach it to their students 16 00:00:51,649 --> 00:00:53,900 and the black media reinforce it. 17 00:00:53,900 --> 00:00:59,060 Meanwhile, the NAACP and other black grievance groups fundraise on it. 18 00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:02,180 Problem #4. Lack of Diversity 19 00:01:02,180 --> 00:01:06,200 Blacks repeatedly demand an “honest dialogue or debate about race.” 20 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,580 But how can there ever be an honest dialogue about race between blacks and whites 21 00:01:10,580 --> 00:01:14,260 when there is virtually no honest dialogue between blacks and blacks? 22 00:01:14,260 --> 00:01:15,740 It’s hypocritical. 23 00:01:15,740 --> 00:01:19,820 And if a black doesn’t think, “whites are ultimately responsible for black people’s 24 00:01:19,820 --> 00:01:24,840 problems,” they’re labeled a “sell-out,” ”Uncle Tom,” or “race-traitor.” 25 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:29,860 As long as this type of groupthink exists, race-reverends of the Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson 26 00:01:29,860 --> 00:01:34,649 type will continue to be celebrated while independent black thinkers such as Professors 27 00:01:34,649 --> 00:01:38,149 Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams will be shunned. 28 00:01:38,149 --> 00:01:42,710 The honest race dialogue and debate -- that first has to happen -- is not between blacks 29 00:01:42,710 --> 00:01:45,990 and whites but between blacks and blacks. 30 00:01:45,990 --> 00:01:50,920 We demand diversity from others, but need to practice it ourselves where it really matters 31 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,900 -- in thought, opinion, and even political affiliation. 32 00:01:54,900 --> 00:01:57,760 Problem #3. Urban Terrorism 33 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:03,620 As just about everyone knows, but too few talk about publicly, in majority black cities, 34 00:02:03,620 --> 00:02:06,280 violent black on black crime is rampant. 35 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:11,980 A Department of Justice study from 1980-2008 revealed that blacks accounted for almost 36 00:02:11,989 --> 00:02:20,469 half of the nation’s homicide victims (47.4%) and more than half of the offenders (52.4%) 37 00:02:20,469 --> 00:02:24,220 all while only being 13% of America’s population. 38 00:02:24,230 --> 00:02:28,629 The Tuskegee Institute conducted a study of all known lynchings of blacks that occurred 39 00:02:28,629 --> 00:02:32,440 between 1882-1968. 40 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:38,140 During this 86-year span, which is essentially the post-Civil War era up to the Civil Rights era, 41 00:02:38,140 --> 00:02:41,800 3,446 Blacks where reportedly lynched. 42 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,440 Presently, black-on-black murder eclipses the number of blacks lynched over the course 43 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,019 of 80 years roughly every six months. 44 00:02:50,019 --> 00:02:56,349 Unbelievably, the culpability for this disproportionate amount of mayhem actually lies with a menacing 45 00:02:56,349 --> 00:02:59,720 2-3% minority within the black populace. 46 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:01,660 I call them urban terrorists. 47 00:03:01,660 --> 00:03:07,380 And since they’re literally spawned from problem #2, the black community protects them. 48 00:03:07,380 --> 00:03:11,280 Problem #2. Proliferation of Baby Mamas 49 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,760 The disintegration of the nuclear family has led to an astronomical increase 50 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:17,800 of single-mother households. 51 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:23,180 According to the Moynihan Report, in 1965, nearly 25 percent of black children 52 00:03:23,180 --> 00:03:25,100 were born to unwed mothers. 53 00:03:25,100 --> 00:03:30,600 The report’s author Daniel Patrick Moynihan said this was a disaster in the making. 54 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:36,080 He was, of course, vilified by so-called black leaders and their progressive allies. 55 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:37,400 But he was right. 56 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:43,340 Today the out of wedlock birth rate is nearly 75 percent. and even higher in some urban areas. 57 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,720 To be clear, Baby Daddies share this responsibility with Baby Mamas. 58 00:03:47,730 --> 00:03:53,680 Yet, while Baby Daddies are blamed and rarely shown compassion, Baby Mamas are rarely blamed 59 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,660 and receive both compassion and support. 60 00:03:56,660 --> 00:04:01,500 This lopsided dynamic and the previously listed pathologies stem directly from the number 61 00:04:01,510 --> 00:04:04,270 one problem facing the black community... 62 00:04:04,270 --> 00:04:09,370 Problem #1. Unquestioning Allegiance to so-called Progressive Policies 63 00:04:09,370 --> 00:04:13,890 Unwavering loyalty to progressive, liberal policies is the primary reason 64 00:04:13,890 --> 00:04:15,780 these dire conditions persist. 65 00:04:15,780 --> 00:04:18,500 It both makes them possible and perpetuates them. 66 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:23,280 It’s no coincidence that progressivism is the common thread that binds predominately 67 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:30,220 black cities where single-parent homes, failing schools, rampant poverty and crime predominate. 68 00:04:30,230 --> 00:04:33,520 Look at cities like Detroit, Philadelphia and Baltimore. 69 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,600 They’ve been run by progressive Democrats for decades. 70 00:04:37,610 --> 00:04:41,780 If their liberal policies were at all effective, these cities should have become models of 71 00:04:41,780 --> 00:04:44,080 economic growth and prosperity. 72 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,940 Instead, they’re models of dysfunction. 73 00:04:46,940 --> 00:04:52,520 By fostering and exploiting the victim mentality, discouraging self-examination, subsidizing 74 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:57,880 baby-mamas, and making excuses for black thugs, so-called progressive policies don’t alleviate 75 00:04:57,890 --> 00:05:01,740 the problems that afflict the black community, they aggravate those problems. 76 00:05:01,740 --> 00:05:04,980 You may have noticed that racism did not make the list. 77 00:05:04,980 --> 00:05:06,100 Why not? 78 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:10,600 It’s simple: There will be no solution to the problems afflicting black America 79 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:16,400 until more blacks recognize that the issues plaguing our community are ultimately self-inflicted. 80 00:05:16,410 --> 00:05:18,700 Does racism exist? Sure. 81 00:05:18,700 --> 00:05:21,160 But there are other problems far more serious. 82 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:26,620 And waiting until there are no more racists will mean waiting, and making excuses, forever. 83 00:05:26,620 --> 00:05:30,460 I’m Taleeb Starkes for Prager University.