Uncle Toms Blabbin'

"Everything white people don't like about black people, black people really don't like about black people... . It's like a civil war going on with black people, and it's two sides - there's black people and there's n****'s, and n****'s have got to go...". - Chris Rock

Jessie Jackson stated that Barak Obama "speaks down to Black people" during a hot-mic moment caught on a recent Fox News telecast.. Later, it was revealed that Mr. Jackson had used the N-word to describe Mr. Obama. Jessie Jackson's career only exists as long as at the perceived threat of racial dis-harmony exists.

Political researcher Laird Wilcox states; "There is an anti-racism industry entrenched in the United States that has attracted bullying, moralizing fanatics, whose identity and livelihood depend upon growth and expansion of their particular kind of victimization". There is a great deal of money to be made in the general public's perception of fear, hate and discrimination. The Anti Defamation League (ADL) has annual expenditures that exceed $30,000,000.00 and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has controlled assets of over $136,000,000.00 and a yearly intake of nearly $40,000,000.00. All of this money and resources are needed in a country which SPLC spokesman Mark Potok stated , in an Associated Press article; "We are talking about a tiny number of Americans who are members of hate groups - I mean infinitesimal".

Mr. Jackson's problem doesn't seem to be with Barak Obama or Bill Cosby. Mr. Jackson's seems to have a bigger problem with his brand of victimization becoming outdated. And thus his seat at the political table becoming non-existent. The comments by Mr. Obama (and earlier by Mr. Cosby) are nothing new or revolutionary. Many outspoken blacks - from Sojourner Truth to Booker T. Washington to South Africa's Steven Biko - have advocated the idea of self-reliance and personal responsibility. "Militant" Black organizations like The Black Panthers and The Nation of Islam also preach this message.

I'm often called "Uncle Tom" for being from the "personal responsibility" school of thought. Here are more examples of "Uncle Toms".

Malcolm X ; "The white man is too intelligent to let someone else come in and gain control of the economy of his community. But you will let anyone come in and take control of the economy of your community, control the housing, control the jobs, control the business... . No, you're out of your mind."
"The future belongs to those who prepare for it today."
Frederick Douglas ; "People might not get all they work for in this world, but they most certainly work for all they get."
Booker T Washington ; "Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work."
"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."
"Friction between the races will pass away in proportion as the Black man - by reason of his skill, intelligence and character - can produce something that the white man wants or respects in the commercial world."
Marcus Garvey ; "The greatest stumbling block in the way of progress in the race has invariably come from within the race itself."
"The monkey wrench of destruction ,as thrown into the cog of Negro Progress, is not thrown so much by the outsider - as by the very fellow who is in our fold, and who should be the first to grease the wheel of progress rather than seeking to impede."
W.E.B. Dubois ; "A little less complaint and a little more dogged work and manly striving, would do us more credit than a thousand civil rights bills."

Political activist and social commentator Dennis Kuhmo put it this way; "...the greatest power you will ever have is within yourself. It's not a question of affirmative action but personal action."

A better job is done on this topic by;
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/cosby.

The race card has become as worn out as the ace of spades in an old deck of cards that has been played too often and shuffled too much -both for too long. The card has lost it's sheen, lost it's rigidity and therefore lost it's value. It is not only time to get a new card, it is time to get a whole new deck and an entirely different game.
The next time someone calls me a self-hater, sell-out or Uncle Tom - I'll take comfort in the philosophical company I keep.