The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

A double standard is not a remedy for concerted results. Sometimes working hard striving simply doesn’t cut it when experience matters-crunch time. I want black leaders who are 110% competent in a field leading! Certainly strides in the right direction must be regarded and chronicled but I am uneasy with the notion that abrupt black empowerment suffices all concerns, if those blacks could be noted as possessing (for sake of arguing) 88% of a field’s fluency of proficiency at the time of advancement. There is a difference, a distinction between a state of entitlement and a state of deserving. Not that one must be stubbornly rigid on the idea of a long march to accomplishment…but every fresh young face won’t evolve into the paragon of one’s chosen profession. To think “we deserve a chance” is not incorrect, BUT, BUT… thinking we are entitled beyond a doubt…leads to a dulling of ambition. Affirmative action is a MEANS to an end, to many ends, but not the solution to black success.

Frankly, I wouldn’t care one way or the other. I still have to do the job, and once the job is done, I’ve gained more experience to do the next job and stretch even further.