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.May 10, 2000
Focus
Page 7
TllC Debt: What America Owes to Blacks
RANDALL
ROBINSON
«vr«>6a or Otiliw CiiiO Tut 5 P » « i »
Bv Randall Robinson
The Dutton Book; January 2000
In this powerful and controversial
book, Randall Robinson, one o f our
m ost d istin g u ish e d A frican
American political leaders, makes
a case for the enorm ous debt
America owes to A fricans and
A frican A m e ric a n s fo r the
incalculable damage blacks have
suffered and continue to suffer as a
result o f nearly two hundred and
fifty y ears o f sla v e ry and
segregation.
Well over a century after the end o f
slavery, black Americans are still
poorer, less educated, and earning
less than their white counterparts.
Statistics reveal that they lag behind
whites in nearly every area o f
m ainstream A m erican life. In
Robinson’s view, this great divide
» cannot be bridged, or our racial
problems solved, until two things
happen: A m erica m ust accept
responsibility for the grievous
wrong that has been committed
THE
DEBT
W HAT
A M E R IC A
OW ES
TO
BLA CK S
ag ain st A fricans and A frican
Americans, and take steps to redress
that wrong; and black Americans
need to arm themselves with a more
comprehensive awareness o f their
a n c ie n t h isto ry and fu lle r
re c o g n itio n o f th e ir o n g oing
contribution to our nation o f the
world.
Drawing from historical research
as well as personal experience,
R obinson show s that only by
reclaiming their lost past and proud
heritage can blacks begin to lay the
foundation fora viable future. And
white Americans can begin making
reparations for slavery and the
world.
Drawing from historical research
as well as personal experience,
R o binson show s th at only
reclaiming their lost past and proud
heritage can blacks begin to lay the
foundation for a viable future. And
white Americans can begin making
reparations for slavery and the
cen tu ry for de ju re racial
discrimination that followed with
monetary restitution, educational
programs, and the kinds of equal
opportunities that will ensure the
social and economic success o f all
its citizens.
A book that is both unflinching in
its indictment o f past wrongs and an
impassioned call to our nation to
educate all Americans black and
white alike - about the history of
Africa and its people, The DehtleW
us, in no uncertain terms, what white
America owes blacks and what
blacks owe themselves.
SPIKJT M O U N T A IN CASINO W ÉLCO M fS
RAY CHARLES
W orkin’ on the Chain Gang: shaking o ff
the Dead Hand of History
Book Review by Jay Thiemeycr
By Walter Mosley
The Library of Contemporary
Thought; 2000
Walter Moseley, author o f the Easy
Rawlins series, here addresses the
barbarity ofthe American Machine,
and argues fora way out from under
the ‘dead hand o f history.’ The
things that he decries are well-
known to us, they are the common
places o f our daily lives, but as with
any good sermon, his recitation
carries us and compels us. We
cannot continue to overlook what is
within our abilities to change. “The
lack o f moral responsibility and
leadership in the world is appalling.”
What keeps us from taking over the
responsibility ourselves? “W e’ve
been drugged and chained (by
money, the ‘super drug’) and made
into property,” explains Moseley.
The corporations regard us as
com m odities and we accept it.
M oseley’s essay has the simple
purpose o f trying to get us to see
around the brightness meant to blind
us to the choices. “Pursuit o f the
profit margin,” he says, “is just that
- m arginalization.” A footnote
reads: “The introduction o f private
prisons comes dangerously close to
the reinstitution o f slavery.. .When
you add the selling o f prison labor
Workin’ on the Chain Gang
Shaking Off the Dead Hand of History
to private business you have pushed
America to a consciousness that
predates the Civil War. The bleak
reality o f the new millennium
requires a change in consciousness,
a new pair o f glasses, to see our
choices and seize them.” The bleak
reality o f the new m illennium
requires a change in consciousness,
a new pair o f glasses, to see our
choices and seize them. “The goals
o f revolution are realized by
personal enlightenment. Don’tbuy
someone else’s list; don’t clip one
from the newspaper...W hat you
need is missing from the World.”
Not original, Moseley grants, but
a terrible reality which calls for
action. “The number o f people it
takes to make change is actually
quite small.” The reader could be,
should be, one.
MAY 30, 2000
7 :0 0 P.M.
Doors open at 6 p.m.
Ticket prices arc $25 and $35 and are
available at the S p irit M ountain box office,
all bred Meyer Fastixx locations
or by calling 1-800-992-11XX.
JP IM T
M O U N TA IN
CASINO
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