Thursday, April 12, 2007

"Black People Don't Read"

This came from an email I received:

"PLEASE, READ AND TAKE HEED TO THIS WHITE WOMANS OPINION OF US!!!
BLACK PEOPLE, PLEASE, READ & HEED. POIGNANT.

The sad thing about this article is that the essence of it is true. The truth hurts. I just hope this sets more Black people in motion towards making real progress. Chris Rock, a Black comedian, even joked that Blacks don't read.

Please Note:

For those of you who heard it, this ibs the article Dee Lee was reading this morning on a New York radio station. For those of you who didn't hear it, this is very deep. This is a heavy piece and a Caucasian wrote it.

Dee Lee, CFP
Harvard Financial Educators

Dee Lee

THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES We can continue to reap profits from the Blacks without the effort of physical slavery Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED, and SELFISHNESS.

Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said, "The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book." We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their
fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along), but few read consistently, if at all.

GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%).

Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it. Being primarily a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing.

They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business. Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU, And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives them "Status" or that they have achieved their Dream.

They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities.

With the help of BET, and the rest of their black media that often broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even jeered them, saying he doesn't want their money, and look at how the fools spend more with him than ever before!). They'll continue to show off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits from our businesses that we market to them.

SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, Dubois said that there was an innate division in their culture. A "Talented Tenth" he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are segments of their culture that has achieved some "form" of success.

However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn't read that the "Talented Tenth" was then responsible to aid The Non-Talented Ninety Percent in achieving a better life. Instead, that segment has created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we have. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of their goal Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community.

They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels, and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best
speakers, not to the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness?

They steadfastly refuse to see that TOGETHER EACH ACHIEVES MORE (TEAM)

They do not understand that they are no better than each other because of what they own, as a matter of fact, most of those Buppies are but one or two pay checks away from poverty. All of which is under the control of our pens in our offices and our rooms.

Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to re ad, continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are "helping" their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other than hold lavish conventions in our hotels. By the way, don't worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, 'THEY DON'T READ!!!!

(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on! After Reading it..) Share this on your blogs...."

------------------------------------------------------

After reading this - here's what jumps out for me:

"They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities."

We talk about unity...coming together to collaborate - we talk about making and want to see change happen. But then personal ego's and agendas get in the way and often times we don't follow it through. Holding ourselves back! We just keep talking... lets look closely at what she's saying:

"They will never achieve what we have."

"Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way"

I don't see this as an attack more than it's a message aimed directly at us - to force us to look at and understand -- that in many ways we are still slaves. There is much power in our numbers and in our dollars. We must begin thinking differently.

Share this on your blogs.... peace, Alicia

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Im a black south african and the first time I came across this was at university 2yrs ago. I thought it was funny and sad. It just seems to me that black people see themselves through the eyes of the white man, we are black because they have given us that colour , how about looking at your skin and if you get any traces of blackness let me know.We have been enslaved to a point where a simple comment about our blackness sets out an explosion from the "black" community.Can we stop living for white people , we say they cant dance too but do they care? no. How about we start creating whats normal, intelligent, exotic or big for ourselves instead of allowing whites to tell us what it is. Think for yourselves ,stop trying to fit in , craft your own

Tony said...

Dawn, Thanks so much for your words. They spoke to my soul and my inner child and spirit responds in love and best black wishes.

Many Regards,

Tony Wilson

Robert said...

The Dee Lee who wrote that article was actually a Black radio jock:

The sad thing about this article is that the essence of it is true. The truth hurts. I just hope this sets more black people in motion toward making real progress," the e-mail bemoans before admonishing the receiver to "help prove them wrong! Read and pass on."
Beneath that is a photograph of a white woman, Dee Lee, a certified financial planner, who, the e-mail tells us, reads these words on an unidentified New York radio station: "They are still our slaves. We can continue to reap profits from the blacks without the effort of physical slavery. Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves. Ignorance, greed and selfishness."

The e-mail continues with the rest of the words it says Dee Lee read, and they are no less insulting. There is one problem with the provocative e-mail: mistaken identity. There is another Dee Lee. He looks like the brown doll. This Dee Lee is a black comedian and host of Dee Lee Reality Radio.

go to http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20070128/ai_n17159175

Anonymous said...

I can't do anything but agree with the Jock or the woman, black people don't read. I've worked in a library where the population was all black, with the exception of a few white or latinos...Trust me, black folks don't read, the books at the library branches I worked at could be auctioned at pristine MINT prices......they weren't read nor taken out at all. I had to force people to read them and they probably took them and didn't read them becuase I'd read them and ask about it and nothing would come out their mouths........sad to say, but fuck it..........ya'll do n't read

Anonymous said...

I used to work at a predominantly black neighborhood library and I can attest that not too many black folks read, all the books in there were pristine clean. I'm a rican and I don't think I'm a racist becuase I don't feel that any race is better than the other, but black folks tend to thrive on selfishness, greed AND ignorance. I've had to school a couple of people as though they were their own children when telling about the immediate world around them. I do think that they tend to seperate themselves becuase of what happened in the Slavery times, but look at those who've gone on to bigger and better thing!!! they get laughed at or snickered at for "acting white" .

I don't think being successful makes you white, even though it IS embedded in your head since childhood, but damn, blacks act as though they can't question authority except the ones who are on their same level(police officers, who are working class like themselves)

they have a black President(technically African, but American nevertheless) so I hope that they start rethinking about their actionc, becuase they no longer have a "MAN" to complain about

WG said...

It does not matter who wrote this, it is true. Several Blacks will not read or get involved with what's happening around them. Through my travel in the
Air Force, I've seen many black neighborhoods go to waste. Then after the damage has been done, Blacks wants to complain. But who are they complaining to? Yes, they make their complaints to other Blacks who are not interested in making any changes. So let us do better and "Make A Change."

Anonymous said...

I am a Nigerian & i have heard this being said over & over again, but decided to google it up, to check the authenticity of the statement...it is pathetic & thought provoking, but sadly true.
In Nigeria, we got our vices, but we are predomonantly a strong & very intelligent people,with an innate desire to acheive more & do better. Nevertheless, this article still covers us, we all need as black people to arise & take our place. we have survived, Slavery, Colonialism, Drugs etc, education & books are nothing in comparism to this stuff......White supremacy is a whole lot of Bulwark, & here i am believing the Kru Klux Klan era was far behind us, & it is,if we would just stop giving this people power over us..WE age better, we got better skin, better texture of hair, we got history & culture, we are survivors...Come on people!!!!

ChristianExecutive said...

I am an African American male and I would love to know the identity of the writer because she is right on target; speaks absolute truth.

Did a causcacian woman write the initial email or did Dee Lee (Black radio jock) write it. Which one?

Whoever it is, does anyone have a suggestion as to how to contact this individual? She possesses powerful knowledge that I would love to tap into for a current project.

Todd (toddschweich@yahoo.com)

ChristianExecutive said...

Sorry to say, Hispanics that reside in the United States suffer from the same mental bondage as African Americans.

Anonymous said...

I think that the email/article describes human behavior in general. If you substitute black with white in the article it would still ring true if a white person was reading it.

I'm a black South African and I have the same views about other white communities. It's going to take a long time before we see each other as equals in this world; especially black people. We feel so inferior to the rest of the people of this world. Look at how many black women straighten their hair to look 'beautiful'; what's wrong with their natural hair?

TruthIsFreedom said...

THIS 'LETTER' IS A HOAX. It was never written by Dee Lee (of Harvard), written to her or read by her on any radio station. http://www.deelee.net/

Essence contributor Dr. Minor in an Essence.com blog (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.essence.com%2Fprofiles%2Fblogs%2Fthey-are-still-our-slaves-dee-1&h=002dd2dd8b65cb5c4fa24d726b68e862) even apologizes to Dee Lee at the very bottom of the blog page for being targeted unfairly as the author of the article.

Despite whether you agree with the subject matter or not, the fact remains that the letter is a hoax and we (well SOME of us anyway) are the victims of another internet/chain email hoax. Ironically, the black people that continue to read, respond and circulate the 'letter' DON'T read enough to do a simple internet search to uncover the truth behind the 'letter'.

It was supposedly read aloud on a New York City DJ's show (his name is Dee Lee http://www.thedeeleeshow.com/home.html) BUT even Mr. Lee hasn't confirmed he wrote/read it. A little bit of research goes a long way...

D.Watts said...

this is not true, Blacks do read, it may not be what you want them to read but we do. We as black people are slowly making a change and we will come together and be superior. PLEASE do not count this race out because if it wasn't for us this country would most likely not even have a toilet to use the bathroom in because a black man made it.

Anonymous said...

My teachers have been reading this to me my classmatesand other classes but the sad part is that the article is true it puts African Amercans as one it may not be all but it is more than most. Now ive been hearing alot of people say,"If you want to hide something from a black person put it in a book."

Hannah Faye said...

It doesn't matter who wrote it...it is true. If a white person wrote it, it was obviously meant to be condescending. If a black person wrote it, it was meant to let us know about ourselves in a "reverse-psychology" type way to encourage us to pick up a book. People fail to realize over and over that part of the reason why many people, not just blacks, in general don't read is because they may be suffering from some kind of reading disability...such as dyslexia. I worked with kids in the Indianapolis Public School district who had this disability. I just published a book that is dedicated to this cause entitled "A Rapper's College." I am hoping it reaches millions of lives and challenges us to really look into the reason why African-Americans are not reading. Please check it out at www.arapperscollege.weebly.com.

Urban Aspirations said...

OK.
I do understand some of us might have dyslexia, but come on, as a people, not only do we not read, we also don't care. Which is probably the more underlying root of it all.
If you don't care, why should you read anything more than the sports pages or the inside of a c.d. jacket? The responsibility of the evolution of the black community falls upon the so called black elite. Those that came out of these dire communities and know just how hard it is to move forward. Most of the black elite have become no more than a posturing, posing group of African Americans who are more than happy to broadcast their ambitions and accomplishments to one-another, rather than to actually reach back and and pull their neighbor forward. (Maybe because they are no longer neighbors for now living in the suburbs, and the reach back is just to long, due to the fact that they might pull a muscle or something, yeah that must be it.) It's an "I got mine now you get yours" mentality
The very power structure that most blacks fought against, they have now joined. I feel that most successful blacks are more talented than they are truly progressive. I sense that they are too scared to reach back and pull up the ranks, in fear that they might loose all of what they have accomplished, like the Dean, "Dr. Bledsoe" in Ralph Elisions "invisible Man" when he exclaimed, "'I'll have every Negro in the country hanging from tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am." And more than likely that is the same posture of most of the so called successful black professional that we have among us today. "Scared".
The black elite are probably
more racist than white people are by now; fearful to be associated with their less accomplished brethren. Most of this click are no more than glorified slaves letting fear of association shackle their minds from being truly progressive in the communities in which they come from.
Without unity, any culture will eventually realize it's demise. I feel that we are already there, and have been for quite some time.
Now to those of you that do, and have reached back ( and I do know you are out there) I commend you; applaud you. Great job. I also know that you probably did not receive a great deal of help from your own kind. I founded and operate a performance art network, and I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I receive much more support, monitory and informative, from white people than I do blacks in powerful positions that could actually help our organization's cause.
Most blacks don't even want to return phone calls nor reply to emails to convey that they can not help you.
I like white people because they are at least savvy enough to give you a polite no and might even suggest a resource or two. I feel if you do not respect a persons time well enough to inform them that you can not help them, then you have absolutely no business with an office, phone, fax machine nor a computer. In my experience with the blacks that I have encountered, they are more interested in presenting what I call, another performance of "Black Business Theater", than doing actual "Business"
And this is coming from "another disappointed black man."
P.S.
I am also a janitor that has built a modestly successful performing arts network in the inner-city in which I also live. I had no prior experience in this area, and very little help from my so-called own kind.
You don't think it's because I'm a janitor... do you? "Naaaa!"

Komuhangi said...

Lets not get all worked up about this. I've read so many books of many types.And I am African. If I did not have other things to do I would enjoy a book everyday. In all races there are 2 groups of people: those who read and those who don't. I'm sure there are many non-blacks that do not read, not just because they cannot but because they don't want to.
We have lives to live, lets live them and forget about what others think about us.
Komuhangi (Munyankore, Ugandan woman)