The question was asked "what was going on in American society."

Does this article reflect what is happening?

F. Leon

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Atlanta Tribune

Editor's Note - August 1999

Marched Out, Set Back and Fed Up.

By Rick Sherrell, editor

One might ask, "What the hell is going on in America?" It seems as if we
are moving backwards instead of forward in terms of race relations. All of
the progress that has been made over the past half century is being
undermined by a vocal group of conservatives. And Black people too, are
acting differently when it comes to interactions with the majority.

I think it's because everyone is fed up. Blacks and Whites alike are fed
up over the same issues, but for different reasons - everyone's fed up
nonetheless. They're fed up with integration. Maybe Black folks are fed up
because they are beginning to realize that the integration that so many
Blacks fought and died for in this country has been a one-way street.

Integration has meant that we can live in their neighborhoods. It
hasn'tmeant that they'll choose to live in ours. It has meant that we can
attend their schools. They're not attending ours. Integration has meant
that we have permission to work in their businesses. They seldom care to
work in ours. It has meant that we can shop at their finest retailers and
dine at their finest restaurants. But you won't find them flocking to
ours. It has meant that our businesses can do business with theirs. But if
they don't want to do business with us, our ability to flourish in a free
market economy is stifled.

Integration has simply meant that if we learn to walk like the majority,
talk like the majority, act like the majority, think like the majority,
understand the majority, enjoy being with the majority and in general
become as much like the majority as possible then we are deemed
acceptable. As it's been implemented, integration does not mean that the
majority should also understand or respect us, our culture or our
differences. Integration has meant that we must blend into their society.
It's had nothing to do with them blending into ours. It does not require
that they meet us halfway. It requires that our culture be assimilated
into theirs - resulting in the loss of our uniqueness and identity.

That implementation has very little to do with equality and Black folks
may just be fed up. Conservative right wing, White folks may be fed up
too.  They're fed up with pretending they wanted it in the first place.
Let's remember who we had to fight to achieve integration in the first
place.

America is fed up with affirmative action. A Black businessperson going to
any local, state or federal government affirmative action program for
business is there for just that - business. Their objective is to take
advantage of the opportunity to grow their business, become more
successful and live the "American dream." But to do so they must fill out
yards of paperwork, jump through a multitude of hoops and negotiate a maze
of bureaucracy - all to prove their ethnicity.

Often, in the end, they get no business. The affirmative action
administrator could have told them along the way that this would be the
case. They could have told them that we don't use your kind of service
very often or that we have no more contracts to give out - or that this is
all just an exercise.  But that administrator often - not always, but
often - has a different objective. Their objective is to get you certified
and on their list of certified vendors so they have impressive numbers to
show.

It has nothing to do with doing business with you, making you more
successful or helping you live the dream. It has to do with showing their
boss and the levels of bureaucracy above them the "impressive" numbers
they've been able to compile. Black business people that have experienced
this are fed up with being a statistic. Some of those White people are fed
up with having to show the numbers. Let's remember who it was we had to
fight against to achieve integration in the first place.

I'm not advocating that the races stop trying to get along together or
that affirmative action be done away with, but what I am advocating is
moving the discussion to a different arena. Mainstream America will allow
us to blend into their society, but only on their terms. That might have
been okay in the past, but now we're beginning to find those terms
unacceptable.

Integrating America on those terms has not gained us the respect we need to
become equal players in the game, which means it's simply time to redefine
the terms.

It seems that mainstream America is willing to support affirmative action
as long as it doesn't mean giving up their competitive advantages. Whether
those advantages were fairly gained or not is irrelevant to the argument
as far as they're concerned. Perhaps we should then be shifting the
discussion to how we can build our own competitive advantages - just in
case affirmative action and equal opportunity should be cast aside.
Perhaps we should focus much more of our discussion on building our own
economic foundation, revitalizing our own neighborhoods, strengthening our
own educational resources, and building understanding and respect for our
unique culture through our own unique achievements, just in case the
concept of leveling the playing field is totally replaced by a more
conservative "survival of the fittest" philosophy.

A winning football team always has an alternate play - and this is the big
game An army, expecting a victory, always has more than one strategy - and
don't fool yourself - this is a war.

PEACE.
Rick Sherrell, editor