I think we as blacks sort of lost our way along the ride. You go back to the reconstruction era up to the Great depression, black upward mobility was at it's highest. This is not to say it was perfect, jim crow laws had been instituted, institutional racism was prevailant, and there was no black representation politically. With that said, we created many of our own towns with our own businesses, we created black hospitals, banks, schools, etc. Blacks looked after each other via social groups and social aid clubs. Prior to government assistance, black people would joint the social aid clubs and fraternal orders, their dues would contribute and be used for burial expenses, medical care, and unemployment benefits.
While the black public schools were subpar, there were some great privately funded schools in black communities. Black business owners, black farmers all contributed to the upward mobility of blacks. What happened? I dont really know. With the jim crow thing and the government restricting blacks from really taking part in the free market, it caused us to get left behind. And when we finally kicked down the doors, I think a lot of us got lost trying to be a part of white society. We wanted so badly to work for white man, we didnt strive to work for ourselves and build real wealth. The government also placed many road blocks in the way of blacks truly getting a foot hold into the larger economy. For example, in the 50's and 60's, white farmers were given large bank loans to expand their industry, while black farmers where prohibited from being able to get those govt subsidized loans. This squeezed the black farmer out of business. In school, we are told to become doctors or lawyers, but what about businessmen?
We'll be ok though. We just need to get back to taking care of our own and building our own.
