Letter to Alva James Johnson

January 12, 2008

Alvah James-Johnson

The Sun-Sentinel

200 East Las Olas Boulevard

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301

RE: “A target rich environment” – some comments on your column today on the Obama candidacy and its effect on the African-American community

Ms. James-Johnson,

Arguably, it would be audacious of me to hope that someone would be familiar with what the original Dr. J. said about hope, admittedly in an entirely different context, always being “triumphant over experience”.

You say “…Obama’s candidacy has exposed how pessimistic African-Americans have become the past 40 years”.

Would not the past 40 years coincide with the passage of several major Civil Rights bills? We soon will celebrate the 43^rd anniversary of the War on Poverty. Are you telling me that it was begun without an “exit strategy”? We are 37 years into Government enforced “goals – not quotas” Affirmative Action”. Are you telling me that it too is a failure?

Are you telling me that all the economic programs that the United States government has sponsored since War was declared to help poor folk, disproportionately African-American, were doomed because they were incapable of working or because not enough money was spent on them?

It is well to note that two wars were fought in the 1960s. One of them ended. There is a stark monument to it in Washington. It has 58,197 names on it. The other one is still being fought. There is no end to its victims.

You bemoan the fact “too many black men are in prison”. A quick answer, perhaps too facile, would be to send more White men to prison. Perhaps some Yellow men should go inside also.

“Too many black families [are] living below the poverty line” suggests that perhaps a newly inaugurated President Obama would issue an executive order addressing that issue. One quick answer would be to lower the poverty line. A few million families who were below it would soon be above it. Would we not have a more contented black society knowing that their President had lifted them out of poverty on his first day in office?

When you do your homework on the legendary Dr. J you may wish to ponder another one of his adages. Maybe it’s an aphorism. I get confused.

“How sad of all the things that men endure how few

laws or kings can cause or cure.”

Two more points:

#1 – The Davis-Bacon Act was the most racist Federal law passed in the 20^th century. An overwhelmingly Democratic Congress with the help of a few Republican Senators quickly passed it. An enthusiastic President signed it into law. Thus was the economic fate of millions of African-Americans settled.

Senator Obama is most vocal in his support of the law. Either he is ignorant of its history or he is in thralldom to some labor unions.

Either way, it does not bode well for those victims of our educational system that you say hasn’t “figured out how to close the education gap between black and white children”.

I can’t get any answers; perhaps you can.

#2 – Your last paragraph, in its entirety, reads

“No matter the outcome of the election, Obama’s

contagious optimism should inspire us to aim higher.

We’re obligated to do at least that much for

generations yet unborn.”

I added the emphasis because I can’t figure out the following facts.

We have had 35 years of unlimited abortion in this country. African-Americans make up about 11% of the population. African-American women have about 1/3^rd of the abortions performed annually. The math is appallingly genocidal. Why isn’t Senator Obama talking about this? Why isn’t the African-American community taking about this?

How many African-American Senators, how many African-American house painters, how many African-American teachers, how many African-American good people have been flushed down the abortionist’s abattoir septic system without a peep about genocide?

Maybe he’ll tell you. Maybe you’ll tell me.