Black Don’t Crack

May 30, 2020

Culture is more important than politics. (David Brooks, New York Times)

It’s tough being black. So I’m glad that I’m not speaking from personal experience. But I’ve heard enough and seen enough to know that, generally speaking, black people in the U.S. have a harder time than most white, Asian, or Latino people in this country.

African Americans are dying from the Covid 19 pandemic at much higher rates than people of other ethnicities. African Americans suffer from more poverty, violence, discrimination, and despair than other groups. And as we’ve been reminded this week in Minneapolis, African American men are often on the receiving end of police brutality. Black people’s grief, frustration, and outrage are heartbreaking.

But it is also true that the African American community is the most dysfunctional of any of the major racial groups. Other Americans fear the high crime rate and violence for which some African Americans are infamous, and this week’s rioting, arson, vandalism, and looting in Minneapolis and elsewhere only confirm the antipathy that large portions of the public and the police feel toward their fellow citizens who are of African descent. Broken families, drug abuse, and poor educational performance are often blamed on the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and white supremacy, with some justification. But whether African American suffering is the result of outside abuse, or is self-inflicted, or both, it is evident that something is terribly amiss in that culture. Yes, American society overall is deeply flawed, but for whatever reasons, African Americans have it worse than everyone else.

And yet…

African American contributions to American culture have been enormous, especially in the fields of music, entertainment, and sports, but also increasingly in literature, politics, business, and the military. The resilience of this formerly enslaved population over time has been extraordinary. A few years ago a longtime black friend in Oakland informed me that, whatever their challenges, “black don’t crack” – in other words, black people will endure whatever hardships they meet, and they will ultimately survive and succeed.

I don’t believe that the solution to African American problems is primarily political or economic. True, a better economy and less income inequality would decrease the financial suffering in that community and in all communities. And political pressure to improve police training and professionalism will gradually yield some improvements in law enforcement’s interactions with black Americans. But such changes will not be enough to reduce the negative encounters with police. Rather, all of us, and especially African Americans, would benefit from building stronger families with two parent households to provide the love, financial support, and educational encouragement needed to give children a head start in life. Such a cultural shift among African Americans would be the most effective anti poverty program ever. I don’t know how to bring about such behavioral and attitudinal changes, but much could be learned from successful, self reliant, and entrepreneurial groups such as Mormons, Jews, Chinese, and Koreans. Poor and working class white people would also benefit from the same cultural lessons.

For now we have to hope that something good will come out of our current racial tensions, pandemic catastrophe, and economic disaster. These are tough times for almost all of us. I like to think that the planet is evolving, the human race is evolving, and each one of us is enduring and growing through hardship. I’m a short term pessimist and a long term optimist.

Ultimately, black creativity and American resourcefulness will prevail. And that’s a fact, Jack.