This article originally appeared on Dr. Fleming’s website, www.theblackpew.com.

Here we go again.  If insanity is defined as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result, then the Civil Rights beggars have cornered the market on insanity.  

The Urban League released its 2006 State of Black America report, and yep, you guessed it! Black people are in a worst condition than the last report, and the report before that, and the report before that, and . . . well you get the picture. On every front, Black America is sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of ignorance, poverty and death. Especially black boys…I mean men. These knuckleheads actually think they said something that wasn't already known. They wax eloquent in stating the obvious. Boy, ignorance truly is bliss.

Oh, I forgot. I'm the ignorant one here. 

The NUL (as in null?) report comes on the heels of an article that outlined the deplorable and ever worsening condition of black men in America… Hey, haven't I heard that before? Some time during the early 90's?  Yeah, I thought so. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The NUL report also comes on the heels of Tavis Smiley's Covenant report, outlining the same despicable facts. And if that ain't enough for you, it comes on the heels of America's blatant contempt and disregard for black people, as seen through the eyes of a camera during Hurricane Katrina. Seems America is always getting caught on tape beating us, killing us, neglecting us. Hmmm. Maybe I should take a hint. Hush up Kanye West! Bush loves black people. 

The Urban League could have saved itself precious funds and us precious time, by simply posting a statement on its web site that reads, "Report on Black America: Same Condition, Different Day." Heck, they can even release the 2007 report at the same time by simply saying it twice. Now that's what I call progress in America!

Something's wrong here. Aren't we better educated? Don't we get to live and go where we want? Why, just yesterday I drank some water from the same fountain as a white man. I even sat on a toilet with a white guy in the next stall!  And if that doesn't take the cake, I got stopped for driving while black and the cops didn't even beat me after searching my menacing, uninsured family van. Surely I have arrived! Who would have thunk it 50 years ago? I should feel blessed. Never mind the man behind the curtain digging that pit my son just fell in.

Are we not fully American at this late date in history? How could it be that when you think of poor, diseased, decadent, and criminal, black men come to mind? What gives here?

I feel embarrassed and ashamed for not being able to take care of my wife and sons. I want to go hide under a rock (better yet, throw one) when I read their "scholarly" reports and analysis. Not because of my dire condition, but because in spite of my ever worsening lot, and though I simply do not want Americanism anymore, I'm still convinced that all I need do is vote more, march more – let the civil rights leaders beg on my behalf, and maybe one day…oh, say 400 years from now, America will do justice by me as a black boy. I'll tell ya, it will sure feel good lying in that grave with all that American freedom, justice and equality. 

But I know these N*** as don't give a damn about me. I'm only a statistic they use to line their pockets on my behalf. I'm never invited to speak at their forums and pompous sounding symposiums. When I try to tell them what I really want, it is they who silence my voice.

Thank God for Budweiser – nothing like a good ole pain killer. It's cheap and it works. Why, under the influence of the King of beers, I even fancy myself as a man, building my own nation so my boys can grow up without the foot of white supremacy on their necks. But alas, the Bud wears off and I have to look them in the eye and explain why I can't seem to provide for them even with all my college degrees…I know, More Bud! Let the good times roll baby! 

Are we not Men? Did God stop passing out brains when he got to us? I feel shortchanged by da lawd. Maybe that's the first miracle these churches on every corner should pray for: "Dear God, please give this wretched black man a brain so he can graciously accept his lot."  Maybe I will then come to church to better prepare for my inevitable early demise. Lets see… What way should I choose to make my early departure? Thank God for freedom of choice. Hey, if nothing else, we know how to make a good intro and exit. Hmmm…cancer, suicide, HIV, prison? I know! I'll follow in my fathers' footsteps and get myself murdered! Why, it's a family tradition – a right of passage. Heck, my uncle went that way, my cousin, and many of my childhood friends. If being murdered is good enough for them, then it's good enough for me. Who needs to live long and see his grandsons get the same ass kicking anyway?

Someone help me wrap my little brain around these civil rights beggars' thinking. They see the conditions worsening year after year, through Democrat and Republican administrations, liberal and conservative ideologies, thousands of black politicians, churches and other "NOT-for-profits" (there is something very familiar about that word), yet they recommend the same old tired remedy. "Please massa, we's needs mo’ help to raise r chiren. Massa you know that if-n we be better, all of America be better." Massa then throws them a crumb; they peel the lions share off the top of the crumb, and then use the rest to hire a few ladies in their NONE-profit organizations. It never dawns on their minds that just maybe the condition was planned by the very system they beg from. Or maybe they have resigned themselves to participate in my demise in this strange way. Uh oh, the Bud must be wearing off because I'm thinking too much. More beer please! 

I'm going to write a letter first thing in the morning to all these civil rights profiteers…I mean, leaders. Either you beg better on my behalf or I'm going to fire you and find someone with stronger knees and better begging skills. Heck, if I must, I will do my own begging. 

Maybe then I can feed my family, too, by begging calloused white America to help me. After all, who wants to go through the trouble of building a society of his own? A society that validates him and his children, rather than reduce them to generational begging and pleading. This sounds like a good place to quote the Declaration of Independence, but I defer.

Dr. Alonzo Fleming, Jr. can be contracted at [email protected]. For more on his perspectives visit www.theblackpew.com.

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