The State of Africa America: I. The Band Plays On And The Choir Keeps On Singing

“As for the man without experience who listens not, he affects nothing whatsoever. He sees knowledge in ignorance, profit in loss; he commits all kinds of error, always accordingly choosing the contrary of what is praiseworthy. He lives on that which is mortal, in this fashion. His food is evil words, whereat he is filled with astonishment. That which the great know to be mortal he lives upon every day, flying from that which would be profitable to him, because of the multitude of errors which present themselves before him every day.”-Ptah-Hotep-

In the vast majority of American urban communities it is not uncommon to find a church on every other block. In some of these communities, one will find variegated clusters of churches occupying all four corners of an intersection. Denominations can vary from traditional Baptist and Methodist to the non-traditional and multi-faceted charismatic.

On Sunday morning, African Americans dressed in their finest and most colorful attire traverse the avenues and byways of their respective cities in a mass migration to their houses of worship. Once inside, they engage in the tradition of worship, song, praise and in some cases, dance. For most of the individuals participating in these religious ceremonies, this will be the extent of their “community” service each week.

Contrast that to the reality found within the urban communities that these houses of worship are supposed to serve. In 2004, there were around one million (reported) violent crimes committed in urban areas. Included in these statistics are murder, rape, armed robbery, and assault. Over seventy-percent of all households with children in these communities are one parent household; the vast majority of which are female. One can argue that based upon the above statistics Urban American qualifies as a third world entity.The above reality plays out every day in urban areas. It plays out against the backdrop of a fervent religiosity and overt piety that is in direct contrast to the message associated with the various denominations and theologies represented within these houses of worship; that message being one of loving thy neighbor.All God Centered belief systems teach that man’s primary duty to God is to help the human family to rise and transform spiritually.

Quite simply, one's duty to God is to feed those that are hungry, heal those that are sick, teach those that are ignorant, and mentor those that need counseling. Instead we find what I term “Religious Entertainment Centers” engaging in a translucent demagoguery of tradition, empty rhetoric, and song while the community deteriorates around them. While the African American church is missing in action, the band plays on and the choir keeps on singing.

In the city of Charlotte, NC. where I reside, there is a old boy network-white southern conservative politician named Bill James. Mr. James, who currently sits on the Board of County Commissioners of Mecklenburg County recently created a firestorm of controversy and debate regarding comments he made stating "urban blacks live in a moral sewer," in regards to the African-American citizens of urban Charlotte. In this writer's opinion Mr. James simply told the truth.

However, what he and other like-minded individuals fail to address in there constant diatribes bemoaning the condition of Urban America is that the moral sewer that exists in Urban America was not created by African Americans. It was created through a system of oppression starting with the enslavements of Africans and was subsequently ensconced (if you will) by the disenfranchisement of African Americans from the end of the civil war to the mid 1960's. It was exacerbated by a welfare system that was anti-family, and until the welfare reform act, "rewarded" generations of poor and under-educated (mostly) single African-American mothers for not seeking employment and/or educational opportunities.

Borrowing from a biblical analogy one can say that what slavery, socio-economic disenfranchisement, and welfare did was give fish to a large segment of African-Americans for so long that these individuals lost the ability to fish for self. In that respect, if one can't fish-or perceives that they can't fish in the American Sea of opportunity, then one will secure fish by any means necessary. Consequently, what we're experiencing in urban America with regards to out of wedlock births, crime, violence, and drugs is a direct result of policies that created and then perpetuated a system that devastated the familial social structure of a large segment of the African-American community and replaced it with one where dysfunction and mayhem are cultural icons.

Being of African American ascendency, I know that we do not like anyone, especially a white conservative such as Bill James, talking about black folk's "dirty laundry" in public. However, Bill James the messenger should not be the main topic of discussion within African American intelligentsia . Lambasting Bill James for what he said is simply majoring in minors and red herrings. What should be of utmost importance is if what he said is the truth, what are African Americans going to do about it? The answer is simple. We can come together as a community to implement solutions to the social and cultural dysfunction that is endemic within the urban centers of America.

How can that be accomplished? A good start would be to hold African American leaders, especially the clergy, accountable for the communities that they serve. All God-Centered religions including Christianity, teaches us that we must take care and uplift the poor amongst us. What is sad is that the largest and most economically viable African-American churches in America exist within or near communities that are economically, educationally, and socially disenfranchised. Simply put, African-American Pastors have failed their communities. It's a given fact that in the finest African American church tradition, Pastors will hoop, holler, and spit sermons to their congregation each and every Sunday. However ignoring the needs of the community Monday through Friday does nothing to bring the message of spiritual and social redemption to those that really need to embrace it. African Americans understand that there will always be a segment of American society that will base their opinions and actions towards us from a hate-filled perspective. But that is no excuse for ignoring the problems in our communities. We certainly have the intellectual capacity, education, and economic power to do so. So what is preventing us from Rising and Transforming?