Black Success: 'It's Always About Character'

Black activist Gloria Jackson, granddaughter of Booker T. Washington, recently addressed a forum on Capitol Hill, where she commented that social programs have not done much to help the poor in America's black communities.

To the contrary, she suggests many urban problems have remained largely unchanged, while liberal politicians tout the continued need for social programs in order to manipulate the black community to its own political advantage.

"One of the things that I think happens within our community is that for the Democratic Party to continue to win, they have to have the black vote," Jackson asserts. "So what they do is, they continue to tell us that in order for us to be successful we have to have social programs. But what they do doesn't benefit us. If you look at the inner cities -- and this is just a layperson looking at the results now of 40 years of dependency - we see inner cities that are languishing."

The activist and head of the Booker T. Washington Speakers Network says in the past, the black community advanced largely by stressing character, hard work, and excellence. However, for the last several years, many so-called black leaders have collaborated with the liberal agenda, which has fostered an atmosphere of entitlement and dependency. But she contends that, as long as blacks think social programs are necessary for disadvantaged blacks to succeed, "then the Democrats, by using our 'leaders,' are able to control us -- to control our vote.

Jackson notes that her famous grandfather promoted the idea that the black community's advancement involved personal responsibility and "always begins from within." He taught that "personal transformation starts from within, that it's always about character, and that each of us should become a leader in his or own right," she says.

Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education (www.urbancure.org)

© 2005, Agape Press, Used with permission