The New Black Victim Mentality

By Dr. Hakeem L. Spencer

There is a silent and urgently serious problem that can only be found in a subset of this Nation's "African American" society. This is a decades old problem that has existed within the Black community since the early 1800's.

 

As an ethnic group, Black people have had to become experts of integration and appeasement; to be unsuccessful with these skills could cost a man, woman, boy or girl their lives. From that time until now in the 21st century, many of America's Black community members are continually exposed to a remarkable amount of negative peer pressure from sources found in everyday life. 
Until the negative sources of this peer pressure have been definitively named and the targeted behaviors are addressed, the effects of entire communities being exposed to this type of ethnic peer pressure will continue to demand the attention of not only those citizens within the United States, but of civilized Nations around the world, for ages to come.  

This short volume by Dr. Hakeem L. Spencer serves the purpose of a much needed "first" step towards identifying the main causes for the ethnic peer pressure that exists in today's African American communities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 54 Degrees Publishing
• Release date: Dec 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393817130

Dr. Hakeem L. Spencer

A lifelong student of humanities, Hakeem Leonidas Spencer dedicates much of his time examining, discussing and writing about the various aspects of American sociology, history, philosophy, religion and Black / African American studies.

Book preview

Preface

I first want to say, Thank You for purchasing this book. I believe that being informed is the first step towards a lasting and positive change. Secondly, I want to remind you that as a society, we are more connected than we may actually know.

I realize that not everyone who reads this book is part of a Christian faith group or even a frequent church attendee and that is ok because this book is not just for Christians; Christians already have a book, its called the Holy Bible. While you will find biblical references throughout these pages, this is not a book of or primarily about theology, it is a book about our American society.

Having said that and with the hope of setting the tone for what follows, I will introduce you to the direction of my book in this next paragraph:

There are far too many obscenely bigoted and covertly racist people who go to church and claim the name of Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Sadly a significant number of these types of people can be found in a subset of this Nation’s African American society and many of these people have leadership roles in local and federal government positions as well as in our community schools and churches.

Within the Black community its members are exposed to a remarkable amount of peer pressure from sources found in everyday life. Broadcast television and radio commercial advertisers struggle to find any vacant physical locations in these cities  to erect more billboards and signs in order to fill the urban landscape with their product and lifestyle offerings that are designed to coerce those who live in these areas into believing that, in order to be accepted within their community, they need to

believe

the advertising and

purchase or accept

whatever it is the advertisers are selling. Blatant and ethnically targeted advertising is apparent and encouraged. These practices are apparently becoming not only accepted but absolutely expected by those whom are its intended targets. Two situations now exist as a result of these practices: the unintended consequences of negative stereotyping and the reinforcement of class distinction in America.

The simple everyday staples of life such as food and clothing become ethnic targets for advertising campaigns. Cigarette and alcoholic beverage suppliers as well as recreational and medicinal drug suppliers are well represented to African American neighborhoods. Community and religious group leaders who silently accept this manner of sensory pressure as normal are also responsible for fostering continued ethnic peer pressure in these neighborhoods and households.

Sadly for many of those individuals who are born, raised, educated and die without venturing outside of their neighborhoods and their surrounding Black communities, this narrow and demanded Afrocentric focus of their attention is all many of them will ever know about life and miserably, this will be all that many others of them will actually ever expect out of life.

While there was a time in American society that outside sources could be summoned through intervention, education and mediation programs designed to help the various blissfully ignorant groups found within America’s Black communities, those days appear to be gone. In public schools education, Civics classes (as well as, Home Economics classes) have not been taught in public schools for decades. The Social of Social Studies classes has been hijacked by heavily biased political agendas.

The push back against the advertising and selling of physically and psychologically harmful products and lifestyle choices that at one time had been seen and experienced in social and religious groups within these Black communities, has simply and indifferently been replaced with larger than life monetary advertising targets on the backs of every man - woman - boy and girl in America’s urban Black neighborhoods. Advertisers - print media - legacy radio and television networks - social media outlets along with religious and government organizations are directly responsible for creating or fostering all of this. The only help and subsequent hope for change for those who are negatively affected by these practices will have to come in a form of push back from

within

the Black communities of America. Individuals, corporations and grass roots organizations fail to see any

profitable

motivation

that would persuade them to affect any changes in these areas of their business habits as they relate to the overall quality of life in America.

It is obvious to me that these things I have mentioned should not exist but sadly, it is indeed an everyday reality that many are faced with. The purveyors of these goods and lifestyle choices use the excuse

...we wouldn’t advertise if the people didn’t want it; the people created the market for it.

I counter this by saying

If you didn’t advertise and push your agenda to the people, the market for what you are advertising wouldn’t exist.

It is my hope and desire that after reading this volume you will have become aware of how certain mindsets and social practices are now accepted and even expected in some of our Nation’s African American communities. It is also my desire for you to have many long standing questions finally addressed and answered.

Dr. Hakeem L. Spencer

Philly City Hall.jpg

Chapter 1

Don’t Hate The Player Hate The Game

There is a popular colloquialism I learned growing up in Philadelphia. It is a decades old saying that has existed in many African American neighborhoods long before the Hollywood movie industry popularized it to the point of making it become a cross ethnic saying, used by those individuals whose sole focus is making money either above or below the table. Lawfully for some or illegally for others, the saying for many people is just a joke while for others it represents their collective lifestyle's mantra.

The saying: '

Don't hate the player - Hate the game

' had become something of a disclaimer for those ne'er-do-wells roaming about in our society either before, during or after committing some form of larceny. I was raised in the housing projects of Philadelphia, ask me how I know this.

Four years before his death in 1911, the esteemed Educator and Author, Booker T. Washington wrote:

There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public.

His words of warning bring to mind several individuals in modern history, some are males and some are females who make it their practice to do this. There are even some who are members of the N.A.A.C.P. and the Congressional