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SUBSCRIBER EDITORIAL
Greetings my fel
low African Amer
icans, or is it Black
Americans, or Col
ored, or Negroes. I
guess by now you
get my point. We
seem to have an
identity crisis. We’re
the only group of people 1 know of that
changes their name every ten years to suit
the needs of a few so called Black
Leaders. Readers, there’s more to a peo
ple than “what’s in a name.” By the
way, why is it that Blacks have Leaders?
Who are the leaders for the Hispanics,
Asians, Whites or Jews? Can’t name
one, can you? Why do we need one, bet
ter yet, so many?
Today, we as a people (I speak of a
group formally known as Blacks) are fac
ing a serious crisis and no one seems to
have the courage to stand up and address
the real issues facing our people. Well,
in this article, I shall identify the problem
for you. Not only that, you will hear the
solution as well.
The problem, the one that really can
make a difference, the one that’s ig
nored, the one that no one will address,
the one that can change our entire ex
istence in America; The problem is US.
That’s right, us. Don’t be surprised, you
know as well as I do. But the so-called
Leaders of today will not address these
issues. Why? Because no one wants to
hear criticism of themselves. Worst of
all, for those who don’t give a damn
about anything, it gives them an oppor
tunity to blame someone else for our
problems.
Let’s review the facts. We really are
not worried about the KKK attacking us
on the streets of America. We are not too
concerned about the Whites raping our
daughters, breaking into our homes or
being the victim of a car jacking,
although, you’ll watch out for that
Brother standing on the corner. As a
people, we have a higher percentage of
the prison population, illiteracy, il
legitimate and teenage pregnancy and
unemployment. There is definitely a
reason for this - and most of it is our
fault! We do more damage to each other
in America than any other race has in 20
years. Yet, we always try to blame so
meone else, especially white people.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no special
love for Whites, but it’s time we place
most of the blame where it belongs.
Preachers, Leaders, or whatever you
call yourselves, start telling it like it is.
We don’t need more welfare. Instead, we
need to be more self aware and I don’t
mean by changing our name. We have
to clean up our own neighborhoods, kick
out the drug dealers and start teaching
the importance of an education. No out
siders can do this better than we. Let’s
take responsibility for what we do. If we
do this alone, we can really make a dif
ference in our social system. However,
until we do, we will continue to kill, steal
and destroy our own people. The (Lead
ership) will continue to moan and groan
about an unjust judicial system and pre
judiced employment market. I tell you
the truth, criminals need to be in prison,
illiterates need education and delinquents
need parents who give a damn.
Derrick Grayson
Athens Academy Invites You
Preschool Open House • Ages 3-5
Wednesday, November 9, 1994, 9:30 A.M.
RSVP - 549-9225
ZEBRA VOL. 2 ISSUE 10
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