Sublime, I agree with the premise of your post. It is a shame that more African-Americans cannot see how the black leadership and the "victim mentality" that they, along with the Dems propagate is probably the single biggest hindrance to their people.
Until they start to take more personal responsibility, their communities will continue to lag behind the rest of the country. It is a cold hard fact, that no one can institute a change in culture besides oneself.
I don't claim to be an expert on this subject, but anecdotally it seems that in the black community, far to often, education is ridiculed and looked down upon. Violence is appreciated as the correct way to settle disputes. The police are the enemy and cannot be trusted. Speaking with a more traditional style of English is ridiculed as well.
I believe that the black leadership in the US is much of the problem, because they tend to promote "state sponsored" ways to remedy the problems. The Democrats use the black vote for their own gain, but rarely do they actually do anything other than try to promise more money to the black community through social programs. But, money doesn't fix anything. As we all know, competition and personal responsibility will ultimately be the way that they are able to improve upon their situation.
I am slightly optimistic, that today, with the help of the new media, that more and more black people will start to question their leadership and will reassess why they continue to vote Democratic. One day, they will hopefully come to the conclusion, that although throughout history, there have been racial barriers to their success, that these barriers are much fewer and further between today.
I think that the first effort should be to try to instill a bigger sense of family values into the males. With 80% out of wedlock birthrates, any improvement will be very difficult. That, IMO, is the single largest problem that they are facing currently.
