Blacks are being tricked into protesting the wrong thing – and so are we.

I remember when American blacks were protesting for the right to vote, to join labor unions and to have decent schools. The rest of the country had some sympathy, and blacks made progress. Now blacks have been goaded into protesting to lynch someone who clearly acted in self-defense, and the rest of the country thinks that blacks are mindless animals who worship violence and crudity. It’s a trap.

Why do you think that, without exception, every case of racial “injustice” that Al Sharpton has championed has been an outright fraud? Because blacks protesting a clear wrong would not turn the rest of the nation against them. Why do you think that Al Sharpton gets the support of the big corporations, and CNN etc. gives him so much press time? Because he is useful to the rich and powerful.

Suppose that blacks were protesting an immigration policy that had stolen their jobs and crushed their communities? Suppose that they were protesting the giving of trillions of dollars in bailouts to wealthy bankers, while the real economy was starved of investment? Suppose they were protesting corporate-managed trade agreements that ship our jobs and our industries overseas? Why, the rest of the country might say, hey, me too. And for Mark Zuckerberg and the other masters of the universe, that would never do.

It’s easy to be repulsed by what we see on TV, but remember: this is a setup. Remember also that CNN etc. doesn’t show news, it shows a script that has been approved in corporate headquarters. There are likely many American blacks who think that Al Sharpton is a buffoon, and who have better things to do than get angry about a thug who got shot after assaulting a police officer. But CNN etc. won’t give them air time. It’s not in the script.

We are right to be repulsed by much of modern black so-called ‘culture’, but if we assume that the problem is simply blacks per se then we are falling into the same trap that all those blacks demanding "justice for Trayvon" have. Outside the gold-plated affirmative action bubble that the Obamas live in, most blacks understand perfectly well what out-of-control Third-World Immigration has done to them.

Yes, we can and should keep our standards, and bad behavior should not be excused, but we should also remember to reach out. American blacks who work for a living have the same basic interests as American citizens of all colors who work for a living. I don’t know how we can bypass their bought-and-paid-for so-called “leadership”, and get blacks to make common cause with the rest of us on those issues where our interests coincide, but it won’t happen if we don’t try.

See a previous letter from the same reader.