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T„r- A/It » nrt/MLt Page c Monday, November 4 Randall Robinson of TransAfrica once articulated the historical truism that "political power unaccompanied by eco nomic power is meaningless." Our capi talist system provides an excellent ex ample of this for it nurtures a perma nent and powerful correlation between the solvency of a group's economic re sources and its ability to pursue its self- interests. Robinson's observation be comes even more poignant when we consider that African Americans, con spicuously display over $325 billion in annual income but remain ignorant of the fact that they have less than one-half of one percent of this nation's wealth. That Blacks comprise no less than 13% of the population but represent only 1% of all elected officials reveals the rela tive powerlessness of the African Ameri can community in political arenas. That this 1% reflects a steady increase directly corresponding to the rate of increase in Black male incarceration adds even more credibility to this argument as we study politics as the pursuit of the self- interests of individual communities. However, to intelligently assess this information we must make a quantum leap in thinking up to a more critical macro analysis of the relationship be tween politics and economics and as cend the morass of cyclical popular is sues, party politics and "Black firsts." Does it really make a difference if the CIA is caught doing its job or if a hand gun is produced every 20 seconds, if you elect a republican, democrat, libertarian, Beyond Politics larry d. crawford special to the maroon independent or neo-marxist. How war ranted is our celebration when some Black is the first to enter the front door of this or that big house when your agenda continues to be willfully dis missed at the decision-making table? Such understanding requires a broad historical apprecia tion that penetrates the racist nature of Western capitalism's political economy. What is most im portant for Blacks to understand is how European culture, of which the U.S. is the most prominent manifestation, con sistently operates in the political context to economically dis advantage Blacks re- gardless of the in tent of liberal whites, the rising tide ac companying economic upswings or the many distractions from trite internal conflicts in the European community. One must be able to discern how steps are systematically taken to re-establish inequality when the European commu nity perceives any threat to their ex treme economic hegemony. Such steps range from lynching and burning Black business districts (regard less of the number of bought and/or elected Black officials) to dismantling affirmative action and again disabling federal enforcement of "civilized" laws . Bearing this in mind, the key to any good qualitative analysis of political economy is an understanding that a va riety of tactics should not, by default, be seen as a difference in strategy or out come. Differences often simply demon strate changes in form, not content. The question may be whether or not Blacks desire to stay political eunuchs by remaining historically ignorant. The answer to that may lie in determining if the system or the individuals who cilitate that system are the ultim problem. In other words, is the curr loss of power and privilege amc members of the Black communit function of voting for the wrong per or party, or is it the system that natur, takes its economic frustrations out the largest, most visible and least c scious "minority" group? Some say that the statement of a pi lem without offering solutions is i sponsible. In this case, however, it mi be more appropriate to argue the would be a waste of time to disc mainstream, tautological solutions ii understood the problem's true ori and nature. Functional solutions req knowing who you answer to and t ing in the emasculating fear of opj sion for the empowering struggle of determination. For those needing direction tov independent thinking Franklin's Color Line, Wilson's The Falsified of Afrikan Consciousness, Munfc Race and Reparations and Anders Black Labor, White Wealth shoul required studies, especially for tl who believe their vote equally ben every "colorless" one of us. But as 1 was fond of saying, "nothing pains s people more than having to think.' Larry Crawford is Associate Profest Sociology at Morehouse College. H ceived his Bachelor's Degree from Ala, State University and is ABD at the versity of Chicago. He is married to Linda Llyod-Crau Associate Professor of English at Morel and they are the proud parents of a dc ter. What is most important for Blacks to understan is how European culture, of which the U.S. is th most prominent manifestation, consistently oj erates in the political context to economically di advantage Blacks regardless of the intent of lil eral whites...