I'M FUMING!!!

[Rain Man]

THIS IS A VERY GOOD DISCUSSION!

N4L, while I did not see the Rev. Peterson's appearance on PI, I half agree with what he is saying. I do agree that blacks should stop whining and looking for handouts (read: relying on the government). Blacks should put more of their focus on the Lord. I truly believe the Lord has us in the oppresive condition we are in for this reason: When the blessing He anoints us with comes down IN SPITE OF our oppressive conditions, we will know the true source of such, and thus not need to rely on the government for handouts or need to whine. I fully disagree with the statement that Blacks are lazy. If we gave this country 150+ years of free labor under torturous conditions, added to that oppressive supplements such as the Willie Lynch letter, the Dred Scott verdict, Jim Crow, poll taxes, etc., to "keep us down", then IMHO we are anything BUT lazy. BTW, the Spike Lee movie you are referring to was called Drop SQUAD, not Drop Zone, which featured Wesley Snipes and was about parachuting vigilantes or somethin' like that.

Discogoddess, your rebuttal to N4L was so good (HOW GOOD WAS IT???!!!), that I can only sum it up in just one word: TOUCHE!!

DStyle, I hear what you are saying about how these so-called "Uncle Tom" conservatives are using their positions to further oppress the Black community, but keep this in mind. IMHO it is unfair and in this day and age rather foolish to assume that Black leaders will have Black America's best interests in mind, particularly if they never planned to from day one. Most of us despise Clarence Thomas for using Affirmative Action and creative buzzwords as "high-tech lynching" to become a Supreme Court justice, then upon getting the job, helping to end affirmative action. Surprised? I'm not; to me he was a very manipulative man who knew how to play his cards right from the getgo.

In short, I think we should evaluate our leaders (Black, white, whatever) not based on whether or not they support our race, but if they can support EVERYONE as a whole without oppressing a certain group (including women, the handicapped, and the underclass). Sometimes we get so hung up on race we fail to see our leaders wholistically.

Rain Man