To Pat Buchanan

Pat Buchanan needs a primer on racism and colonialism. He needs to understand the impact those policies had and continue to have on the lives of people who were excluded from full participation in this country through the Jim Crow laws of segregation. And let us not forget that much of the world was oppressed by colonialism and then neo-colonialism. "Was white racism really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stores, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said -- that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery?" Of course racism was at the heart of most of that, Pat. Read Franz Fanon's "Wretched of the Earth" and then tell me who is to blame for many of the inequities in our country and indeed the world. Fanon, a noted Dr. of Psychiatry, is still considered to be the Father of the Algerian revolution against France. His book will help you understand why there is so much black on black crime as well. It is important to know your history. Not to dwell on it, but rather to learn from it and understand how it impacts our lives today. But I agree that people of color can't stand idly by expecting someone to do our work for us. No. We can't continue to make excuses. Instead, we must inspire,help educate, be entrepreneurs and become more responsible and demanding parents. And we must reach across and bridge the racial and economic divide and encourage others of all persuasions to do the same. We must take our own destiny into our own hands and continue to be agents of change. Someone once said during the Civil Rights struggles of the 50's and 60's, "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." Out of those demands came the freedom we have today, but also the continued struggles.