Family,
Despite the fact that this information came to me in an email forward, I feel that it is incredibly important to share an article I received in my email today. The information below is a small writing from Dee Lee, a Caucasian woman, who shared and expressed her view of Black People/African Americans. The information below is an observation read on the radio by DJ Dee Lee, a black radio personality. I previously stated that this was stated on the air by a Caucasian woman and that was in error, and I should have researched the information a little bit more before posting. My apologizes to Ms. Dee Lee.
Be warned that this is a very broad generalization, and that this is not my personal opinion. I just decided to share because, I believe that there is some truth in what she is saying. Take a read and tell me what you think. Is it true? Do black people only think of themselves? Do we avoid reading?
THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES We can continue to reap profits from the Blacks without the effort of physical slavery Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED, and SELFISHNESS.
Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said, ‘The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book.’ We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along), but few read consistently, if at all.
GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%).
Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it. Being primarily a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing. They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business. Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU, And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives them ‘Status’ or that they have achieved their Dream.
They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities. With the help of BET, and the rest of their black media that often broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even jeered them, saying he doesn’t want their money, and look at how the fools spend more with him than ever before!). They’ll continue to show off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits from our businesses that we market to them.
SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, Dubois said that there was an innate division in their culture. A ‘Talented Tenth’ he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are segments of their culture that has achieved some ‘form’ of success. However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn’t read that the ‘Talented Tenth’ was then responsible to aid The Non-Talented Ninety Percent in achieving a better life. Instead, that segment has created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we have. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get tog ether, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of their goal Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community.
They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels, and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best speakers, not to the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness? They steadfastly refuse to see that TOGETHER EACH ACHIEVES MORE (TEAM) They do not understand that they are no better than each other because of what they own, as a matter of fact, most of those Buppies are but one or two pay checks away from poverty. All of which is under the control of our pens in our offices and our rooms.
Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to read, continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are ‘helping’ their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other than hold lavish conventions in our hotels. By the way, don’t worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, ‘THEY DON’T READ!!!!
I will share my personal opinion shortly, but I wanted to get this up quickly so that we could all read it and gain our own perspectives on the issue.
Love and Peace,
Justin
this is so sad but very much true; instead of us uniting we are steady dividing and pulling each other down. Our race is the only race that does this and what can you do about it? yeah one person can make a difference but one person can not change an entire race and that is exactly what it takes.. An entire race to finally take a stand and say that they are tired of what they’re doing and are ready for a change. But you didn’t hear that from me because BLACKS DON’T READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the article about black people revealed prejudice in its purest form. However, she just said outwardly what some of us were thinking inwardlyl. We as a race of Black people are descendants of Kings and Queens! Were have we gone wrong? Some of us possess no moral values, no respect for one another and are destroying one another through violence. This shouldn’t be.
I’ve read this before…a few times and my first instinct was to roll my eyes while agreeing with the overall message. However I am starting to change my outlook on things and I believe that gross over generalizations don’t help anything. It gives off an “I’m better and more couth than you” vibe. Instead, people should try to be more encouraging and uplifting. How about we drop the “black people don’t read and they are fools for it” and come up with something else that encourages people who generally don’t read, to pick up a book or magazine.
Insults don’t go very far, but encouragement does.
Just my two dollars.
DJ – I agree with you wholeheartedly. We should all encourage our neighbors to read more. I think the one of the biggest problems is that we, as black people, aren’t expressing the importance and benefits of reading, at a young age.
Shelly – I remember growing up and remember my parents and teachers constantly pointing out just how important reading is. Today, things are very different. Today’s generation is a very visual and they have tons of distraction. I have seen teenagers flip through a magazine in 10 minutes and they have looked at every picture, but didn’t take 3 more minutes to even read the feature article. With an attention span of less than 3 minutes it is so difficult to get through to them. I say these things, because I don’t think we should solely blame ourselves. We are descendants of kings and queens but the problem is we don’t embrace that truth, even when it’s most important. The generation gaps influence our youth, the institution of family has deteriorated and our culture has evolved and reading, unfortunately, isn’t a big part of that. I feel like there is a responsibility that has been orphaned by some parents and communities and that’s why it is so difficult to turn this problem around.
I know that this article was about black people in general, but when I look for solutions, I often look at young people because I believe that is where change will occur if any. It is very difficult to get adults to change their habits unless they want to. Children and teenagers/young adults are still at the age of influence, so if change is going to happen, it will likely happen there.
Well I am obviously going off on a tangent, but thank you all for your insight. I wish there was a better medium to discuss these things. I’ll see what I can do.
A prayer for the Black Community!
Jesus Christ,
You are the creator of life and all people.
My Lord, my prayer is that my people will repent and turn back to you, the God we cried out to not more than 40 years ago to deliver us from an oppressive and segregated nation. You have been faithful to bring us out and have granted us freedom from that oppression. Now lord I pray you deliver my people from the invisible oppression that exist in our minds, our hearts, our homes, and our communities. We have been delivered from the bondage of slavery, the bondage of segregation, only to be bound through economic and social slavery. Lord, I pray you reveal the roots that have sown this on the black community so that we can take it captive and once again be free the way you intended your people to be free ! truley free in you. Amen
My dear brothers and sisters:
It hurts me that someone could write such a vicious article but, the truth is this is the advantage we give them! We have be delivered from two different forms of bondage from the caucasian community only to be delievered into a new more invisible form that is not easily seen but, Thank God someone wrote this article! Now we can see what bondage they try to keep us enslaved to! Let’s repent and seek they God all of our ancestors cried out to! Let’s ask him to be the Lord of our people again! and we will see the rising of a people like never before!
I feel as if this article is very untrue. For one, they are stereotyping all blacks in this whole article. All blacks are not the same. Some of us, like myself do read and enjoy reading. I feel as though this article was very racist in some points also, but at the same time, it did speak the truth about some things. Yes, we do spend our money on things that we really don’t need and some of us are living off of each pay check we recieve, but at the same time, some of us are actually trying to come up from the bottom and make something out of ourselves. Some of us are saving our money for things like college. I also agree with the ones who said that to change this opinion on blacks is left up to the younger generation. We are still able to be influenced by some things but we can’t do it on our on. We need the support of our parents and our teachers who sometimes insult us on our intelligence. Also, articles like this hinder our encouragement to do better. We don’t’ need the media to be tearing us down. We need the media to be uplifting us. That’s the only way we will want to strive to be better instead of proving the message in this article right.
this is crazy..i told my friends about this and they had nothing much to say because it is sad but yet so true….
If anyone knows that black people don’t read, it’s a black writer. It amazes me everyday as a writer that most people only acknowledge the forms of media that deteriorate the mind while allowing the mind stimulating avenues of media to perish due to the lack of subscriptions, interest and purchases. Bring the written word back to the forefront and let it live in infamy!
Much love and God Bless,
Rev. Rontavis Shamar Walker
http://www.Rshamar.com
I was first exposed to this, very offendsive, letter in school. A BLACK student wanted me to give my thoughts on it. Sadly, I was to flabergasted by the very racial, very IGNORANT, very untrue statements that were being made, I was speechless. As I glanced at some of the comments I began to feel sick to my stomach. Obviously, black people do read or my classmates and I would not have came across it. Also, YOU would not have read this.
OBAMA…OBAMA…O-B-A-M-A!!!! ’08
Thanks!!!!!
I do not feel that this message is at all crazy to the least. It has in fact become very true over recent years. As an educator I have witnessed first hand a classroom of 27 students who will not read instructions and sometimes refuse to write down notes or answers to a daily quiz when given. We cannot even give a proper education because the black children do not want it. That’s not to say all black children do not want an education but the students I have come in contact with are simply not motivated before they enter my classroom to involve themselves in meaningful conversations with previous teachers, parents, nor the communities they live in. This is a paradox that is plaguing our black communities abroad. “If momma did not receive a high school diploma then why should I, we live just fine…” is the attitude many of them have. Not wanting a better life for themselves because they do not understand or know that education is the key to success. This letter should be a wake up call to all blacks rather than seeing it in it’s negative. As I tell my students, “Prove them wrong, because you are not an ignorant being and mistakes a made in order to shape you not break you.”
I so sensitively want to give back to my community. And in efforts to do so I have chosen to teach not only as a profession but as a lifestyle. My students are encouraged to think critically and solve problems on a daily basis by reading, analyzing, critiquing, and writing down their thoughts in the process of forming a conclusion. In addition, I am a Career Tech Teacher hoping to move our students forward in the direction of their dreams.
“Wake up America and Start a Chain of Change for the Better of all Mankind”
To add, I always share with my students in my Financial Literacy class and others a situation I encountered during college with contracts. I received a phone call that I won a free gym membership and that all I had to do was come in and sign up. Without reading the contract over before signing I later owed $795.00 for a years membership that I never used because I failed to read the fine print. From that experience any time I am faced with a black and white document I make it my number one priority to read everything before doing anything.
“Wake up America and Start a Chain of Change for the Better of all Mankindâ€
wow this is very disterbing but true i try tell people when they talk to me and i hear them say something like o well we just cant get a break and I find myself sounding like my grandma if you want a break then you need to break that book open and read it. And here i am 29 years old in oct rembering when i started to take that statement seriously 4 years a go I was so afraid of trying to succeed for the thought of some one telling me that it’s not worth it when something did not turn out how i expected it to. that I got tired and poened my first book rich dad poor dad and it has been on ever since.and I have now opened my own salon been doing well and even going to school for massage therapy just to get in to the feel of daring to go back to school I told my self in 2000 after graduating high school i was never going back to school i hated it so much that i did not want to walk past one. and if your intersted in knowing why email me. But anyway I am loving school and cant wait to study something else but when i finish massage therapy school I will be in school for marketing people I hate to hear people say i cant, it wont happen or i dont know how one day im going to write a small book that when ever people says something discouraging im going to thow a book at them not litteraly like my grandma did but you get the point. I rember my aunts saying to their mom why do you keep thowing books at them kids and she would say may be one day it will hit them in the head and the words would sink in some how and some how it did and just to say their were less books being thrown and now shes 84 years old and she still throws books even to the neibhors she’ll scream out loud and say GO READ A BOOK. So hear my Book to you now GO READ A BOOK !!! THANK FOR READING? Robin Davis
This article is great. It expresses someone’s opinion, and as a democratic state, we are all granted the right to free speech (verbally, literarily, or via other means). Unfortunately, an opinion is just that. This is awe-inspiring way to generalize and stereotype many African American/Blacks. What was more awe-inspiring is that many of you all have allowed someone to tell you that this is the reality of the situation and side with this opinion. I am extremely saddened that you all feed into this notion that blacks are undereducated(if at all), unsuccessful, uninspired, lazy, avaricious, and not interested in making a decent life for themselves.
The portion of this article that suggest certain Blacks look down on other Blacks is simply not true. We are not a segregated community. We all come from a long line of united people. It took unity to bring about change in this country (USA), it took unity to allow blacks to vote, it took unity to allow blacks to go to schools hand in hand with non-black children, and it took unity to elect a Black man leader of the free world. So this notion that Blacks are not unified and certain blacks look down on other not so well to do Blacks is simply a generalization, that is certainly FALSE.
The section of this article that address the notion that Blacks are ignorant and don’t read is too false. Perhaps if he/she would have said something along the lines of “Blacks don’t read books penned by White Authors” then maybe that would have been more believable. All across the nation there are book clubs geared to only BLACK MEMBERS. Throughout the country there are also many black owned book stores with a predominance of black customers.
It would not surprise me that the person who wrote this is from some Podunk, Iowa town where they have not been exposed to the richness of the black culture. A Black culture that includes Leaders, Readers, Teachers, Politicians, Brokers, Attorneys, Judges, Mentors, Doctors, Engineers, among other successful figureheads.
Hey I am 16 my mom was the one that originally told me about this article. My first reaction was anger and I wanted to find out where this person lived and I wanted to hurt them, but then I thought about all the kids at my high school who say they don’t like reading. They won’t even read a book that effects their grade is saddens me that we, as young people, have become so dumb. We look up to people who didn’t finish high school, don’t read, talk about sex, talk about having money. We don’t look up to people that have a respect to do something more to go to college, to reach a goal in life, to be better than our parents were. You don’t’ find many kids who look up to people like that and it’s a shame. Not even our own community or government believes in us. For my education has been decreased because of money problems that our community and state government put in to play. What is happening to my school will affect me for life I will not be going to a good college like I want but as a person who reads and as a person who believe in herself, my friends, and the kids at my school. I believe that change can happen when you put words to action. When you take the first step you began a process that if you work hard and continue to step you will come to a change and you will better your life and future lives.
We all are slaves of our society, in rights we are equal, so it’s about you how to play with your cards. SELFISHNESS, GREED, IGNORANCE… It’s personal. So if you black pals get through this lame critics you will be above this things.
This article is an attention getter, eye catching for real, but I must question the general message. First of all, where is the information coming from? The writer of the article does not offer proof or statistics that support the idea that “blacks don’t read.” Not only blacks, but most younger people in America do not read, regardless of ethnic background. So, does white people in United States read more than any other race or ethnic group? Not so true. It has been argued that Germans and South Koreans are the most voracious readers of the world. I can only find one true in this article: Black people behave different than other ethnic groups. This is common sense, every ethnic group behave different from each other. This is not a matter of what race reads the most, it is a matter of a nation that does not place value on reading anymore, and this include all races, not only blacks. See, our main vehicle of communication is verbal; we place value on the word of people. We no longer deems necessary writing and reading as a way of communication, although it would help all individuals greatly, from all races. When I say we, I mean all Americans (blacks, white, Hispanic, Asians, Natives, etc.).
So, in view that the writer cannot support the idea that “blacks don’t read,” we must conclude that this article is biased and does not offer any constructive suggestion to make America a better place. Instead of focusing on an ethnic group specifically, the writer should have focused on America’s education problem; we don’t even rank on the top 20s any more when it comes to education quality. Now, this is not a problem of race; this is a problem of priority, and the political agenda is to be blamed for it.
I agree with some of Juan’s analysis: some points the writer made were not backed up with good arguments; however, you are making the same mistake as the writer if you dismiss all her assertions based on the bad ones. The only truth she presented, (as I see it) with good statistical support, is that black people are very materialistic. This fact is very true, even not just for Americans, but for people of African decent in general. We are a very consumer centric race that often live beyond our means. If we are to progress, we need to start producing and taking great pride in our products. Not buying Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, and Mercedes in-order to feel like you made it.
I completely DISAGREE. This is a piece of ignorant BS. Anybody reading this garbage should know that it is false. I am sure that all of us know someone who doesn’t like to read and who might be a bit excessive and lavish in their personal appetites. But I am also sure that all of us know people who are successful college educated or business professional that are very productive and active within their families and their communities. All of the people in my social circle are successful, educated African Americans men and women who are making a difference.
What we don’t need to do is to take a microscopic portion of our people who are uneducated and paint a broad picture of that group as being the majority of African American. We also need to quit apologizing for and making excuses for our ignorant brothers and sisters as ALL RACES, ALL NATIONALITIES, and ALL CULTURES have a percentage of people who are ignorant including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian American and White Americans. There are no groups who are exempted. Other groups do not have to justify, rationalize, or apologize for those in their ranks that are ignorant and neither should we. African Americans need to quit being wimps and quit letting others determine our cultural values and our cultural rights and wrongs. Stand up for yourselves and extol your virtues and stop buying into the media and Hollywood’s stereotypical portrayals of our culture as an inferior subculture. Be Black, Be Proud!
This does not only speak to Black people. Most people are selfish and self seeking. What I wish to see more in the Black community however, is more loving, supportive family units (with more fathers present) and a drive to succeed, despite not having the benefit of a level playing feild.
The comments on this page are proof that black people do read, but proof that we do not question and verify facts. We are slaves, because we take the first thing we hear and run with it without question. In 2013, black women exceeded all college enrollment of any demographic. In 2009, college enrollment by black people increased by 89% and the number continues to climb. As for greed, I that many of us spend money to try to impress the neighborhood, but that is not an exclusively black fact. Have you taken a trip through suburbia? Have you ever wondered why the house all look as similar? It is because they have the same pissing contest as any other race. America is a consumer economy, and blacks do not make up enough of the population, or enough of the wealth, to keep that economy afloat; hence the drop in consumer buying during the recession. Finally selfishness, blacks are family oriented, and the term family oriented means extended family and close friends. That is why we have family reunions that included everyone from Momma to our long lost cousin three times removed. Many blacks that obtained wealth lost it, because if they got a nice new house so did Momma, Daddy, sister, brother, and that friend that has been their through thick and thin. Our downfall is not failure to read, but a failure to think about what we have read.
P.S. I would like us to stop generalizing that we were all descendants of kings and queens. Some of us may have been, but not all of us. Some of us were African slaves and sold by African slave masters (the kings and queens). Once again something that you just have to think about, all of us could not have come from kings and queens, because then who would we rule.