Black and White Values

Founding members of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense

I recently came across this pledge for Black children in 1968 initiated by the Black Panther Party;

Black Child's Pledge

I pledge allegiance to my Black People.
I pledge to develop my mind and body to the greatest extent possible.
I will learn all that I can in order to give my best to my People in their struggle for liberation.
I will keep myself physically fit, building a strong body free from drugs and other substances which weaken me and make me less capable of protecting myself, my family and my Black brothers and sisters.
I will unselfishly share my knowledge and understanding with them in order to bring about change more quickly.
I will discipline myself to direct my energies thoughtfully and constructively rather than wasting them in idle hatred.
I will train myself never to hurt or allow others to harm my Black brothers and sisters for I recognize that we need every Black Man, Woman, and Child to be physically, mentally and psychologically strong.
These principles I pledge to practice daily and to teach them to others in order to unite my People.

The Black Panther, October 26, 1968
by Shirley Williams

A Pew Poll conducted in conjunction with National Public Radio shows that only 53% of Black people believe there is one Black race.  This is not talking about skin color, but of values.  37% of the Black folk poled said that Black people no longer share the same values across lines, this 37% is said to have an educational level of a high school diploma or less.  A larger pool of 39%, which represents "lower income" doesn't believe we share the same values.  Juan Williams himself is quoted as saying that the 53% of Blacks that feel there is still one race "have more in common with whites than Blacks, since most of them are more educated or make $100,000.00 per year or more.

Are the children that have grown up living by the Black Child's Pledge created by the Black Panther Party the 53%?

Were the values expressed in the Black Child's Pledge white values?

What is really going on????

Comments

[Lisa]

I read this poll. I don't know if I think this is propaganda, or a poll taken as a result of propaganda. . . I also ask that if this is true, what does this mean for "us"? - If indeed "we" are losing "our" village, then what?

[Victor Amenta]

@ Alisha,I am at a loss on that. I think the concept of "getting money" instead of making or creating money has taken hold of some of our people. I don't know if I truely believe polls fully as I know they are skewed for a particular answer, but as you have said there is a disconnect. Do you wonder if what the Black Panthers taught is now worthless to some of our people?

[Heber Brown, III]

Thank you for sharing the pledge! I will share it with the youth groups that I have access to in hopes that they will adopt it. As far as the "what's going on?" question, I won't pretend as if I have the answer. Some books have helped point the way toward an answer for me though - namely: The Mis-Education of the Negro (Woodson), Black Power (Ture), SBA: The Reawakaening of the African Mind (Hilliard),and Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery (Akbar) among many many others.

[[Victor Amenta]]

@ Heber, Thanks for checking in, it will be great to share with our children today and make it an oath to live by.

[Lisa]

Okay, dude. . . I've tagged you. I'm curious, okay? Anyway, go to my blog and read the post "I've been tagged" for details about what you have to do. :)

[Francis L. Holland]

If you asked me if there was one Black "race," I would have to say no, because I don't believe that "race" exists at all. If you ask Blacks if Barack Obama is a "magic negro", 50% will say no simply because they don't believe in "magic" of any kind.

Are Blacks a unitary political force, bound and united by the color of our skin? Wouldn't we obviously be lying if we all said that we were?

Ninety percent of us vote for the same candidate in a presidential election while whites are split right down the middle on the question of what party should control the presidency. This means that, in terms of voting patterns, Blacks are FAR MORE UNITED than whites are in terms of our political beliefs and our sense of what policies most benefit Blacks, and our agreement to vote in favor of those policies while voting AGAINST policies that do not benefit us.

So, this poll really is being used as propaganda, to prove a disunity that we all know does NOT exist in practice.

Maybe this poll shows that many, many Blacks agree with me: "race" doesn't exist at all, so phenomena that occur in the world cannot be due to "race," just like we agree that Santa Claus does not exist, so we cannot attribute sociological phenomena to the action of Santa Claus.

What does exist is systemic denigration, subjugation and exploitation based on skin color, as well as political organization of sociological groups that are defined by skin color, ethnic group and culture. But none of that has a wit to do with "race," and maybe that's why those polled were unwilling to attribute political and sociological phenomena to a fanciful factor that we all know doesn't exist.