One of the unspoken truths about a person that has a poverty mindset is that in the end, it is all about them. When a person feels that they have been short-changed by somebody or something, what the person looks for in retribution usually far surpasses the debt that is owed. The poverty mindset is also not exclusive to any particular racial group or economic status. Unfortunately, it is this same mindset that has plagued our community for a very long time.
There is no doubt that a true scan of American history will reveal that this country has short-changed us. At the same time, we must also acknowledge two points: #1. The world will NEVER be perfect for anybody, and #2. America has come a very long way since slavery. Today, many of us enjoy just about the same privileges as most whites in this country. For the privileges that may still elude us, we are making strides towards that goal everyday.
A study conducted last year entitled: “Pathways for Change: Philanthropy among African-American, Latinos and Asian Americans in the New York Metropolitan Region†, by Felinda Mottino and Eugene D. Miller shows how charitable giving amongst blacks in the state of New York has drastically increased over the years. Overall, this is good news; however, if you take a closer look at the report, you will find that much of that giving went towards causes right here in the United States.
What I find very troubling about this trend is that while we find it very easy (and trendy, if I might add) to don the title of African-American, we tend to prioritize our needs over the African people themselves. Black college campuses all over the south teach things like “the importance of having an African consciousness” and “how the white man stole us from our native land”. However, when it comes to raising issues like how a good percentage of the hunger that plagues African is not caused by White people, but corrupt African governments, we tend to be very silent. We enjoy recanting the stories of how we (black people) were kings, princes, queens, etc. in our rich past, but today we overlook the paupers that still exist in that continent. When we do mention them, it is used to shake the “white guilt” tree for more handouts that ends up as a trickle to those that need it the most.
The report pointed out specifically that a good percentage of our charitable giving went to educational needs right here in the United States. If I had to choose to give money to an American citizen that needed financial assistance for college versus a person that was dying of hunger, or freeing an individual out of a child slave ring, my money would not go to the American. When I read stories like this student who raised roughly $100,000 for college just by getting online and finding scholarships (to be fair, this may be an extreme case, but it is not an invalid by a long shot because it shows personal determination), I find it very hard to come to the insulting conclusion that the needs of Black Americans outweigh the life threatening needs of our bothers and sisters in Africa. When you look at how many first generation Africans can come to this country with nothing (in many cases, family is left behind), work several jobs to save up for college (or to start a business), graduate, and continue to excel from that point on, we as Black Americans have no excuse whatsoever. Mind you, many of these Africans have either seen family members killed or tortured, or have been tortured themselves.
I recently came across a webpage that gives a harsh picture of the child slave trade that is currently going on in Africa. Here are the words of a young participant and eyewitness:
Our day began at 5 a.m. Carrying heavy tools on our heads, we had to walk six kilometres through mud and stones in bare feet to reach the fields. By the time we reached them we were soaked through and exhausted. Once we arrived the overseer showed us the area we each had to plant before the day’s end. We were afraid of what he would do to us if we could not finish the work. This threat and the threat of being denied food if we could not finish in time forced us to work quickly. The work was hard, and bending all day gave us back pains. If we were ill and couldn’t work we were afraid that we would be tortured to death. One day I witnessed two of my colleagues being tortured for trying to escape. They became seriously ill and died. (more…)
–The words of a trafficked child as reported by Anti-Slavery International
Thankfully there are some initiatives within the Black community that addresses some of these issues; however, we still need to realize that collection plate of our charitable giving needs to tilt more towards the people that really need it the most and not to our own smaller needs.
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