Let me be the first to tell you what many people know but are reluctant to say: The Civil Rights movement has gone off the track and no one seems to care.
For discussion purposes, let's consider the movement to have begun with Brown v. Board of Education, which would place in the early fifties. Brown was followed by the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, etc. up to and including Affirmative Action. During that period, the plight of the American negro improved considerably. Of course, the plight of most Americans improved considerably during this time, so it may be difficult to determine which improvement is due to the movement and which is a result of the risng tide of American progress. Let's try to break it down.
First, we must admit the the civil rights movement was intended to improve the condition of the American negro. We know that various other groups either jumped aboard or were dragged on board to provide some sort of balance (American Indians, Hispanics, etc.). So we now have tagged everyone with some group label. We went thru several phases of identification. First, we were forbidden to make note of anyone's ethnicity lest that note facilitate discrimination. Then we were required to note ethnicity so we could prove that you discriminated. We eventually settled on voluntary identification.
Having some sort of i.d., we can now plot the plight of each and every group. From the plethora of government statistics, we can make an educated guess as to how each group is performing. We know, for example, that after WWII, American negros lagged behind American whites in many respects (education, income, etc.) We now know that, after 50+ years of civil rights movement, that American negros are lagging behind American Whites, Puerto Ricans, Asians (including, individually and collectively, Japanese, Chinese, Philipinos, Koreans and Vietnamese). Most recently, American Negros have appeared to be lagging behind East European immigrants, Asian Indians, Middle-Eastern Moslems not to mention the Mexicans who (Fox is right) will take jobs that American negros will not take and who will support their families.
For decades, the "leaders" of the civil rights industry have made a very good living blaming others for their problems. I put the word leaders in quotation marks because these people do not lead anything. They thrash about, find fault and collect big salaries. As noted above, they do not seem to care that their efforts do not provide any benefit for their followers. But, someone must say out loud what everyone sees. The American negros are being used by the so-called leaders just as their ancestors were used by slave-owners. The only difference is that they do not beat them.
Why are we allowing this to happen? Everyone has their own reasons. Other minorities are happy to see negros standing still. It is easier to pass them. Too many sympathizers do nothing because they have come to realize that civil rights is all about name-calling. Do a little name-calling and you can go home feeling that you are a civil rights worker. Sincere civil rights supporters have are tired of waiting for the negros to help themselves. Reasons but not answers.
Perhaps if we call upon the Knight of the Mirrors, we can all see ourselves as we really are. This is a frightening tought, but let's give it a try.
See our analysis of Blazing Saddles.
