American Blacks Are Two Different Races

Commentary

By Richard E. Noble

I was reading a columnist in one of our larger Florida newspapers the other day. The columnist was commenting on a "study" she had read. The study had to do with the American black population and their attitudes towards one another.
The columnist said that in this study it was pointed out that American blacks now think of themselves as coming from two different "races".
Supposedly, the black community is so divided that they have branched off into two different races. These two races are divided into Cosby Negroes and Ghetto Negroes.
Cosby Negroes, as you may have guessed, are represented in the successful and better off black populations. The “other race” of Negroes populate the Ghettos and slums and are poor.
First of all, I would like to see this study. It is very difficult for me to believe that any legitimate "study" would ever say such a thing. That a columnist would say such things is more than understandable.
But let us say just for the sake of hyperbole that such a study has taken place and that this is a legitimate finding - the finding being that American black people now consider that they are comprised of two different races.
No my friends, you are not of two different races.
You have simply been overexposed to the very prominent human quantity called "elitism".
Elitism has been around for a very long time. It may be as old as human existence - maybe even as old as animal existence.
Elitism is not something new to the black community. One could get a good lesson in black elitism by reading even a brief history of the founding of the country of Liberia.
Liberia which was brought about by a tribe of white American goo-goos (good government advocates) who "set up" Liberia as a resettlement home for escaped American Negro slaves.
These new independent ex-American slaves immediately turned Liberia into a Southern style plantation with themselves in the leadership role and the native area black population as the slaves.
Elitism is the very natural notion of some animals that they are a step above other animals even those of their own type.
I had a cat who definitely thought herself above her kind. I originally named her Fluffy but after seeing her as she stooped to tolerate the other cats in our household, I re-named her Princess.
Horses are always being described in elitist terms - the thoroughbred who knows instinctively that he should be first in any race.
Most people think of human elitism as a quality belonging only to the wealthy. But this is not true. Of course it is very prominent within the class of the wealthy but I have met elitist living under bridges. Many elitist types end up very successful but other of this type can often be found behind prison walls.
I met this one fellow who had gone to prison for stealing automobiles, but he had an entirely different evaluation. He never stole anything he told me. He simply borrowed the autos. It was his convinced opinion that if there should be those who were riding from one place to another, he saw no reason why he should be excluded from that class. Any reasoning that excluded him from riding was bigotry and discrimination.
Consequently if he was walking someplace and there was a vehicle parked there along side the road, he would simply start the vehicle by one ingenious method or another and drive to his destination. He would return to his point of origin via another available vehicle.
I told him that he had been put in prison justifiably. He asked me to explain. I told him that I saw no difference between his actions and an individual who felt the same way as he did with regards to money and banks.
For example, banks are filled with money that no one is using. You could use some of that money. So you figure out an ingenious way to slip into the bank undetected and you take all the money you want. You don't keep the money, just as you didn't keep the car you "borrowed". You give the money to other people - in exchange for things that you want, of course. But what is wrong with spending money, you say. People spend money all the time. Some folks even consider spending money a good thing. Therefore, by your way of thinking, robbing a bank is a good thing to do and not a crime.
My ex-convict friend looked at me curiously and then with a rather strange grin said; You know I never looked at bank robbing in that light.
My conclusion is that elitism is not indigenous to a particular class or breed of creature. And a secondary conclusion is that elitism is not subject or deterred by reason or logic. It is instinctive and appears full-blown in all varieties of animals.
Clearly, judging by this new discovery within the black culture, Negroes have not been discriminated or overlooked by this particular natural antisocial phenomenon.

Richard E. Noble is a Freelance Writer. He has authored two books: "A Summer with Charlie" which is currently listed on Amazon.com and "Hobo-ing America" which should be listed on Amazon in the not too distant future. Most recently he completed his first novel "Honor They Father and They Mother" which will be published soon.