The real problems in black community

Having lived through the Vietnam demonstrations of the late 1960s and survived the horrors of the war itself, from 1970-1972, I can see a kind of parallel between then and now. But with one big exception — the demonstrations of the 1960s were against young men dying in a foreign country with no real objective and mired down in the nasty world of politics. The demonstrations happening around the country recently have nothing to do with “real justice” but the pronunciation that “we are victims” which in itself is a miscarriage of justice. 

There are about 43 million blacks in this country, about 13 percent of the population. According to the latest statistics, in 2013, there were 123 blacks killed by police, which is quite a small number compared to 43 million — yet according to the likes of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Eric Holder, President Obama and a number of members of the Black Congressional Caucus, police are hunting down black young men and shooting them on the street like dogs!

The percentage of blacks in prison is overwhelming compared to the rest of the prison populations and the reason is simple, blacks create more violent crime than whites, Latinos or Asians, even though they are only 13 percent of the population.

There are two obvious reasons as to why this is happening, but the likes of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Eric Holder, President Obama and members of the Black Congressional Caucus do not want to face the facts or do anything to correct the problem. For to do that would eliminate the fabrication that “we are victims.” 

Prior to “The War on Poverty” in the mid-1960s and with all the Jim Crow laws in the south, the crime rate among blacks was minuscule, and so was the out-of-wedlock births, and why? Because the black family unit was still in place and the social fabric of community, family and church were still intact.

In the mid-1960s, “welfare” was introduced into the black community with the greatest of intentions, to take blacks out of poverty and allow them a path on the road to “middle class” with some economic help and incentives. In some cases this approach did succeed and a number of young men and women were able to climb out of poverty and move up the economic scale. 

This upward momentum just wasn’t limited to the black community but the largest emphasis was placed on blacks because of the civil-rights laws then being introduced across the country, and thanks in part to people like Dr. Martin Luther King. But along with the introduction of the “War on Poverty” came the introduction of hard-core drugs, such as “black tar heroin” into the black community. This invasion of “pure heroin” came from across the sea 9,000 miles away in a place called the Golden Triangle — Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Young men of all colors who were fighting in a strange land were now being introduced to the pleasures of heroin, and soon addiction was taking hold among the troops. The bulk of this addiction fell on the black troops, for these were young men who came out of the ghetto and on the lower economic scale and heroin offered an escape from reality and the horror of war.

Prior to the Vietnam War, drug addiction in the black community was about the same as for any community. But with the advent of cheap heroin being brought into the country and flooded out on the streets in the black community, the social fabric of the community began an accelerated decline.

Today, seven out of 10 black children are born out of wedlock and most giving birth are children themselves, which locks them into poverty. Black on black crime is rampant in the black community, as witnessed on the streets in the south side of Chicago. As many as 41 blacks killed in a week in that city and nary a cry about the situation or how to correct the problem except give more money, as if money itself is the solution. But the likes of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Eric Holder, President Obama and members of the Black Congressional Caucus paint a picture of oppression of blacks, especially at the hands of white police officers.

Until we address the real issues of an open border and the drug cartels that have been allowed to flourish and bring in tons of narcotics into this country, all segments of society will suffer. But the black community will suffer the most.

Until the likes of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Eric Holder, President Obama and members of the Black Congressional Caucus take positive action to eliminate drugs from the communities and restore a sense of moral values back into the society of the black community, they will continue to have the burning and looting of businesses in the black community all in the name of “injustice.” 

Garvey is a resident of Kalispell.