President Biden has pledged to “help narrow the racial wealth gap and reinvest in communities that have been left behind by failed policies.” He used the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre in Greenwood, a thriving African American community ravaged by a racist mob in 1921, as the occasion to promise more federal contracts for minority-owned companies and address discrimination in home appraisals for black families.
The Tulsa mob murdered more than 300 Black men, women and children over a two-day period, May 31 to June 1, forcing thousands to flee for their lives while watching their homes and businesses burn to the ground. No one was ever held responsible for the devastation.
But Biden’s Tulsa appearance and speech continue a narrative favored by Democrats that reinforces the wrong belief that Blacks can do nothing without government. Of course, if government were their savior, would it not have solved all the problems Democrats continually talk about but do little to fix?
Democrats want to keep reminding us how bad race relations have been historically and how bad they are now, but even Democrats must admit we’ve made significant progress. I offer just a few statements from accomplished African Americans who faced crippling discrimination and racism in their day but still became successful. These motivational words point us in the direction we need to go and could move many from a dependence on government to lives of self-sufficiency.
If Ken Burns were presenting these statements as one of his great documentaries, it might start with a picture followed by these quotes: