(ThyBlackMan.com) More than a century ago, W.E.B. DuBois posited “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” If anything, DuBois appears to have understated the length of time that “the color line” would haunt this nation. It is difficult to argue that this cancer expired during the twentieth century’s closing.
Despite what many people believe, history never precisely replicates itself; however, there are moments when it proves to be eerily similar. For most people, the alluded to similarities are a sufficient catalyst for feelings of déjà vu.
After witnessing the failed “Unite the Right 2018” protest, I began to ponder what does it mean that a significant portion of those fighting against those forces of evil seeking to turn the clock back on equality was “white.” If one is not careful, they will join the forces of those that consider it reasonable to draw unwarranted and unnecessary connections regarding what a significant presence of “whites” in the battle against “racism” really means. Those not 
grounded in a serious understanding of American racial dynamics are likely to make a common mistake of believing that the appearance of “whites” in the struggle for racial equality is a sign that this nation is finally entering a post-racial era.
I am confident that a sizable portion of black activists will be disappointed to hear that the participation of whites in struggles for racial equality is not new; in fact, they are a staple of the American political economy. The historical record indicates that there have always been “whites” who have resisted the rise of tyranny for a host of reasons that include moral principles to a desire to avoid the wrath of God.
There is little room to argue against the assertion that the principal weakness of movements for racial equality is the tendency of participants not to define what is meant by never defined goals such as freedom, justice, and equality. The previous terms are ambiguous enough for conflicting definitions to emerge among well-meaning activists.
The dangers of not defining terms, strategies, and most importantly goals are displayed by the Civil Rights Movements steep decline in the wake of President Lyndon Baines Johnson signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. highlights this danger in the following quote.
[W]ith Selma and the Voting Rights Act one phase of development in the civil rights revolution came to an end. A new phase opened, but few observers realized it or were prepared for its implications. For the vast majority of white Americans, the past decade — the first phase — had been a struggle to treat the Negro with a degree of decency, not of equality. White America was ready to demand that the Negro should be spared the lash of brutality and coarse degradation, but it had never been truly committed to helping him out of poverty, exploitation or all forms of discrimination. The outraged white citizen had been sincere when he snatched the whips from the Southern sheriffs and forbade them more cruelties. But when this was to a degree accomplished, the emotions that had momentarily inflamed him melted away.
When Negroes looked for the second phase, the realization of equality, they found that many of their white allies had quietly disappeared. Negroes felt cheated…while many whites felt that the negroes had gained so much it was virtually impudent and greedy to ask for more so soon.
Although difficult to discern in the midst of heated political protests, it will soon become apparent to contemporary activists that their failure to define goals will prove to be the Achilles Heel of the Left.
White Leftists never consider that the achievement of every item on their largely undefined list of goals would neither bring an end to racism nor satisfy black needs for politico-economic empowerment. Blacks are measuring success by the securing of a reparations package that would bring them to the same starting point that privileged whites stand, while well-meaning whites tend to believe that the removal of historical obstructions to black progress is sufficient. Politically astute blacks realize that the disappearance of racism is not synonymous with the appearance of a level playing field as it leaves black poverty, poor schools, and political powerlessness untouched. The alluded to cavernous blind spot guarantees a continuation of “color line” conflict throughout the new millennium.
Black and white leftists’ unstated conflict regarding movement goals places the fight for racial equality in a tenuous position. Dr. King remarked that,
The outraged white citizen had been sincere when he snatched the whips from the Southern sheriffs and forbade them more cruelties.
However, the forbidding of unconscionable race-based cruelties is not synonymous with the securing of racial equality. According to Dr. King,
When Negroes looked for the second phase, the realization of equality, they found that many of their white allies had quietly disappeared.
The inability of black and white leftists’ to discuss and then agree on goals remains a dangerous powder keg situated in the midst of the Leftist camp. All Leftists, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, dance around it, yet none dare to bring up important questions such as:
- What do blacks want from America?
- How much politico-economic power are whites, especially those on the Left, willing to give up?
- Do whites think that the nation owes the descendants of enslaved Africans anything tangible?
One thing is for sure, the absence of unbridled brutality that Dr. King alluded to will never be synonymous with racial equality. The above lesson is one that neither contemporary white activists nor their predecessors learned; yet, it is one that black activists have been afraid of stating in public. Hence, it is only a matter of time before this latest rise of Leftists’ disintegrates in the midst of a perverse misunderstanding of American racial matters and what “winning” actually means. Trust me when I say that the clock is ticking and it is only a matter of time before the alluded to powder keg explodes and causes cavernous divisions within a relatively fragile Leftists movement.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock!!!!!!
Staff Writer; Dr. James Thomas Jones III
Official website; http://www.ManhoodRaceCulture.com
One may also connect with this brother via Twitter; DrJamestJones.
