In Response to Black in America: It's a Beautiful Thing!

Letter to the Editor

I would like to offer the following response to the comments made by Charly McCracken regarding CNN's July series titled Black in America: It's a Beautiful Thing!

In her opening comments, Ms. McCracken writes that "No amount of reports, statistics [,] or opinions can change the results [. . .] revealed" in the series. On this point I humbly beg to differ. As a scholar of Africana literatures and cultures throughout the Black Diaspora I know that these "reports" are extremely useful in pinpointing the specific institutionalized entities that comprise a racialized network that certainly does thwart the efforts of millions of African Americans in their attempt to realize their dreams.

Ms. McCracken goes on to ask whether or not African Americans could or should "blame the systems of this country" or "this society," then answering "[w]e probably could" and "[p]robably not," respectively. However, the questions she poses are an example of a miscalculated approach to the circumstances of being black in America, in that a learned person would know that "blam[ing]" any institution or societal body is purposeless, therefore, the questions themselves are erroneous. The proper question to ask is: "What can be done to improve the individual lives of African Americans?"

The first thing African Americans can do, have done, and are currently doing is recognizing that, Black America is not the predominant group responsible for the conditions in which we live. In doing so, Ms. McCracken should also recognize that we only responsible for our reactions to the problems we face. For example, we do not live in a Jim Crow environment where our only redress is to "walk in the will of God" as Ms. McCracken's response suggest we do. God is not responsible for the institutions of man and falling on our knees in prayer is not the answer, but rather one of many systems of support.

The answer is encompassed in knowledge: knowledge of the enemy, which is not the white man, but rather the policies of this country and its institutions that lean to the far right. Knowledge is King and when we are educated about the schema, we can thwart it. This is not accomplished by blaming ourselves, blaming our neighbors who don't look like us, or even blaming the institutional policies that inhibit our individuals or group progress. Our goals can be reached by being intelligent, resourceful, educated, and dedicated to our goals as people in a nation that has historically worked against us and garner support from our God.

Ms. McCracken seems to believe that "All is right with the world!" She couldn't be more wrong, particularly when it comes to the specific subjects raised in her comments, such as single parenthood, HIV/AIDS contraction, our individual religious choices, or the fact that American educational institutions on both the secondary and post-secondary levels must follow the U.S. Constitution's requirement to keep separate the ideologies and practices of church and State.

Ms. McCracken seems to believe that God alone is the answer to African Americans' ills and that by "walking in his will" all wrongs done to African Americans will be righted. Not only is this ridiculous, but is also goes against her King James Bible, which reads: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Mathew 22:21).

The problems of this world were not established by God but man; and therefore, only man can be blamed for them, particularly when it comes to racism. It is obvious that Ms. McCracken accesses a single source for her critique of the black community of which she is a part: the King James' version of the Bible. Because she is closed-minded to formal education, which she has obviously not been privileged to pursue and in which she has no experience, Ms. McCracken is unaware of the history of America, racism, racial melancholia, or social sciences in general. I suggest that before she makes such blanket statements for the world to read that she upgrade her knowledge base to include a well-rounded understanding of HIV/AIDS, single motherhood, and public education systems. In this way Ms. McCracken might not be as judgmental or hypocritical in her assumptions.

After all, she became a single mother at age 17 and that one child has given birth to seven children by several different men, none of which are being raised by Ms. McCracken's daughter or Ms. McCracken. Finally, to say that African Americans are suffering because they are not Christians as Ms. McCracken claims to be is not only disrespectful to all of the actual Christians in America who are black, but also puts the both the blame and responsibility of racism on God's shoulders when clearly the problem is made and delivered by man. To learn more, she can begin with more study, less judgment, and a closer look at the woman in the mirror.

I thank you for your time and consideration and hope that this response will also be posted if only in your effort to offer another side to Ms. McCracken's one-sided response to what it means to be Black in America.

Ellesia A. Blaque, M.A.
Africana Literature and Studies
Doctoral Candidate
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan

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