This is the second part of How Music Killed Racism. Previously I wrote about how music helped erase racial barriers and gave America's young people common ground on which we could come together. By the late 1960's and early 70's race relations had improved greatly...I admit that they weren't perfect, but they never will be. There are people on both sides of the racial divide that will harbor old animosities- especially when they have something to gain.
The Civil Rights Movement was also instrumental in bridging the racial gap. Whites that weren't aware of issues that faced blacks were moved by the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King who called for integration and brotherhood. Lamentably, he was murdered in 1968 and the movement was usurped by radicals. Also, around this time the government became involved in attempting to legislate racial harmony. I remember when the geniuses in the Massachusetts Legislature came up with forced busing. Although their intentions may have been good, the results were disastrous- they set racial progress back decades.
People such as Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson as well as groups like the Black Panthers did more to exacerbate the problem than to fix it. I have contended for years that Jackson was responsible for Dr. King's death in a coup to take over the Civil Rights Movement. Jackson's step-brother was in the leadership of one of Chicago's violent gangs and I believe that he was the one that murdered Dr King. When something like that happens, I look for who had the most to gain. James Earl Ray, a racist to be sure, had nothing to gain from MLK's death. On the other hand, Jackson rose to national prominence as a result. That's just my opinion, for what it's worth.
Another beneficiary of the racism industry was the Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton was an obscure figure before the Civil Rights Movement became radicalized and upon Dr King's death, like any good pimp, saw an opportunity for fame and fortune. What catapulted Sharpton into national headlines was the infamous Tawana Brawley case. For anyone too young to remember, Tawana Brawley was a young black woman (a teenager, in fact) who stayed out all night and to avoid punishment, she concocted a story about getting kidnapped and sexually assaulted by four white men (one a police officer who committed suicide not long after and a local prosecutor). It was completely false, but Rev Al saw an opportunity to get on TV and he ran with it. He organized protests and appeared on TV constantly. The fact that it was all a lie didn't matter at all. The girl had written KKK and Nigger on herself and the black community was understandably outraged. This, unfortunately, has become emblematic of how an entire race of very good and decent people are being exploited for personal gain.
I went to college in the early 90's. I was in my mid-forties with a wife and four kids trying to provide them with a better life. I witnessed professors (mostly white) attempting to radicalize black students. The university I attended was in Michigan and many of the black students were the children of executives from large corporations in Detroit. They dressed nicely and drove new cars and talked incessantly about "white privilege," parroting what the prof's said. There was something ironic and yet disingenuous about listening to this drivel from young people who, had they been told the truth, could have been friends. But, there isn't much to be gained from the truth.
Currently, race relations has become a million dollar industry. The reasonable integrationist policies of MLK have given way to the rantings of groups like Black Lives Matter. I've written before that they have done more damage to racial harmony than the KKK. They and their ilk are supported by the president whose claim to fame was being black. Before becoming president he was an unheard of politician and community organizer from Chicago. If America is as racist as the race-baiters claim, how did he become president. There is a vicious circle in politics: power gets money and money gets more power. That's what the race game is all about now- money and power.
All of the gains in race relations from the 50's to the present would seem to be in jeopardy, if one were to listen to the radicals. Yet somehow despite them, we still are able to get along. I live in "the racist South"where people of every color seem to have been able to overcome the rantings and established amicable relationships on our own. I don't know any racists, but I know a lot of people of both colors who are very concerned with how those in charge are exploiting us. Divide and conquer. If they can keep us fighting, we won't question their motives, at least that's what they think. I can't speak for anyone else, but I intend to keep my friends of every color, race and creed close and the race pimps as far away as possible.
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