The Mourners' Bench

What is the solution to the problems in the Black community? What has happened to Black men? Why are some succeeding while many Black people are failing?

These are some of the questions and issues I have attempted address in this blog. Like many others before me, I have offered suggestions, but my proposed solutions go ignored. They are dismissed as the words of someone who doesn’t know what he is talking about. Meanwhile, I have family and friends that will call me from hundreds of miles away and spend hours on the phone getting my advice on how to fix their computer technical issues. They would say, when computers aren’t working, and there are questions on how to find something on the internet, Eric is the person to call for a solution. On the other hand, if it relates to politics and social issues, “Eric doesn’t know what the heck he is talking about.”

Let me share a secret. The same God given talents of paying close attention to detail, thinking “outside the box,” and problem solving used to fix computer problems, are the same talents used in my everyday decision making process. My ability to look at a problem, examine the given parameters, and calculating a probable and logical solution quickly is a major part of how I earn my livelihood. Unlike poverty pimps and politicians, I have no vested interest in keeping a segment of the population in need. My solutions are offered for the sole purpose of addressing issues, and solving problems. Like others in the past, I am learning that sometimes the best solutions are dismissed in favor of continuing down the same ol’ path, even when that path of least resistance is a dead end.

For example, on May 17, 2004, Bill Cosby addressed the NAACP to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education. In his famous "Pound Cake Speech", Dr. Cosby addressed many of the problems in the Black community.

The lack of education, crime, and out of wedlock childbirth…

Ladies and gentlemen, these people set -- they opened the doors, they gave us the right, and today, ladies and gentlemen, in our cities and public schools we have 50% drop out. In our own neighborhood, we have men in prison. No longer is a person embarrassed because they’re pregnant without a husband. No longer is a boy considered an embarrassment if he tries to run away from being the father of the unmarried child.

The lack of importance of education and parenting…

And these people are not parenting. They’re buying things for the kid -- $500 sneakers -- for what? They won’t buy or spend $250 on Hooked on Phonics.

The unwillingness to speak English…

I can’t even talk the way these people talk. “Why you ain’t where you is go, ra.” I don’t know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t land a plane with, “Why you ain’t…” You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.

And the making of excuses for criminal activity…

Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: “The cops shouldn’t have shot him.” What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand? I wanted a piece of pound cake just as bad as anybody else. And I looked at it and I had no money.

He even offered a solution…

When you go to the church, look at the stained glass things of Jesus. Look at them. Is Jesus smiling? Not in one picture. So, tell your friends. Let’s try to do something. Let’s try to make Jesus smile. Let’s start parenting.

Despite personal and professional accomplishments and efforts to address a multitude of problems, instead of attacking the source of the problems, many people find it necessary to shoot the messenger. It seems that no matter the quality of the advice, if the solution requires effort, and demands personal responsibility it is the messenger that becomes the problem.

As the years go by, many will still wonder why some problems never get fixed. Maybe a 100 years from now, an historian will realize that with politics and social issues, “Maybe Bill Cosby and Eric did know what the heck they were talking about.”

Great minds think alike:

Bravo to Bill Cosby, by Thomas Sowell

In defense of Bill Cosby, by Star Parker

Bill Cosby Was (Mostly) Right, by Stan Guthrie

I received the following response from Sen. Bill Frist. It's a form letter, but it took too long to be an auto-generated response. I feel fairly confident that someone on his staff read my comments. Will it make a difference? I don't know, but I take pride in being part of the not so silent majority.

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding comprehensive immigration reform. It is an honor to serve you as the Majority Leader of the United States Senate and a privilege to respond to your concerns.

Today there are 10 to 12 million undocumented aliens living in the United States, and many Americans believe that our immigration policies are in need of serious review. As a nation of immigrants who honor the rule of law, I believe we must make it a priority to secure our borders as a part of any effort to reform our immigration policies.

In order to address this issue I have introduced S. 2454, the Securing America's™ Border Act, a billion-dollar down payment that focuses on border security and interior law enforcement and will enable the Senate to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. My proposal will add resources to border protection, give our immigration-enforcement officials new legal tools, invest in physical barriers and electronic surveillance equipment at the borders and make it easier for employers to ensure that they hire only citizens and legal residents. We need to make these investments because maintaining a secure border ranks among the most fundamental missions of any sovereign nation

While our country needs security at our borders in order to slow the flow of illegal immigration and enhance our national security, we still need to do more. A majority of the people who enter America illegally, after all, come here to work. Among other things, the full Senate will need to address ways we can balance security interests with our economy's labor needs. In the long term, our government needs to work on policies that encourage democracy and prosperity abroad which will also address our immigration crisis by reducing the number of people who feel that coming to the United States is their only option.

Let me be clear, I do not support amnesty, but I do understand the labor challenges facing our nation, and, as Majority Leader, I will continue to work with my colleagues to address this critical problem in the 109th Congress. On the basis of sound immigration policy, we can protect our borders, and continue to welcome legal immigrants, and in doing both we will improve the lives of all Americans.

Sincerely,


William H. Frist, M.D.
Majority Leader
United States Senate

Dear President Bush,

I am writing to express my extreme displeasure with the US Congress and the Republican Party concerning the issue of Illegal Immigration, and Amnesty for Illegal Aliens. On behalf of millions of native born, and naturalized citizens of the United States of American that were too busy working, paying taxes, and providing for our family to make our position worthy of media coverage, please accept my apology. We were too busy doing the jobs that illegal aliens won’t do.

The coverage of the millions of law breaking illegal aliens that openly protest without fear of consequence illustrates the magnitude of the problem, and the importance of addressing this issue immediately. Recent attempts to give legal status to people who have broken the law to steal the precious gift of US citizenship is an absolute disgrace. Those responsible should be completely ashamed. Although we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. As such, we should not reward criminals who are willing to overtly disregard our laws, and expect them to magically become law-abiding citizen at the stroke of the Presidents pen.

Imagine if millions of undocumented and illegal pharmaceutical dealers protested the laws against illegal drugs. Would the US Congress reward them by making cocaine and marijuana legal? I should hope not. Just as it is totally inappropriate to break and enter into someone’s home and then expect them to invite you to stay for dinner, it is also inappropriate to reward those who break and enter into this country without permission.

I strongly urge you to support legislation that requires all illegal aliens in this country who want be become US citizens to admit guilt, return to their country of origin, and make arrangement to enter the correct way. Those who fail to leave voluntarily, should be charged with a felony, and never be granted US citizenship under any circumstance. This is the only acceptable resolution to this problem, and I strongly urge you to have the courage to do what needs to be done. Myself, and millions of law-abiding, citizen and voters will be monitoring your actions.

Sincerely,

Eric

On La Shawn Barber's Corner, she has addressed the topic of Black Marriage in reference to the article Marriage Is for White People.

She give two major reasons - fatherless homes and the lack of shame of illegitimacy. I would add as a contributing factor the governmental financial support that eliminates the need of an intact family. Although Uncle Sam may be a good Suga' Daddy, he is a poor replacement for all that a real man can provide.

As a husband, a father, a protector, and a provider, I totally agree the La Shawn. I couldn't have said it better myself. God designed it so a man and a woman are required to make a child. As a man, I strongly encourage all men to accept, embrace, and treasure your God given responsibility. Future generations are depending on you.

In a discussion on another blog, the topic of a vendetta was mentioned. Below is my response. I have added to my FAQs for future reference. ABOUT THE HOST gives some information about me. Greater details concerning my political points of view will be added soon.

Why you have this embedded vendetta against the Democrats, who seem to be your target?
I have a vendetta, but I don’t limit myself to Democrats. My vendetta is against those who copy sample ballots because they are unable to make informed decisions for themselves. My vendetta is against those who pimp the poor for their votes. My vendetta is against those who seek votes from felons, illegal aliens, and others who should be permitted to vote because the informed populace would never vote for them. My vendetta is against those who would jeopardize the safety and security of me, and my family for their personal political gain. If you say I have a vendetta against Democrats, then I say “if the shoe fits let the Democrats wear it.”

Here are some of my additional comments related to the Republican party.

So I guess the Republicans--who you cannot seem to dig up or "find" any negativity about--have a squeaky clean record....surveillence, wire tapping, misleading the public...I guess we will only see what we "want" to see because of something called perspective?
There are a number of issues in which I disagree with the present Administration. I have written my elected officials many times to voice my displeasure. If you feel that wire tapping and conducting surveillance on TERRORIST is a crime, write your elected officials and demand articles of impeachment. Demand that they cut the funding for all surveillance. I bet they won’t do it because they know that it would mean the end of their political career. To talk against the Administration is cheap, but not even Hillary is man enough to take action.

As you may tell, I really enjoy responding to questions concerning my political positions. Being able to provide intelligent answers to questions really helps to promote thought on various issues. Now, if only I could find a way to make a living doing it. Oh well, maybe one day.

Local businessman gets held up, criminal gets shot, and criminal dies. There is no need for a long trial, no taxpayer expense of a prison sentence, no multiple appeals, no plea bargain and absolutely no possibility of a repeat offender. Best of all, there is no dead businessman. For the people of Baltimore, there is one less criminal on the streets to rob or kill another day.

Case closed, right? No, not if the Baltimore Sun is reporting the story. According to Junkyardblog.net in Flipped Morality Tale at the Baltimore Sun, this is how they presented the story.

Police identified a gas station owner yesterday as the person who fatally shot a 22-year-old Baltimore man during a botched robbery Friday in the Village of Cross Keys shopping center in North Baltimore.

To make things worse, in earlier versions of the story they included the victims name and home address. What type of creditable news organization identifies the victim of a crime? Do they also publish the names and addresses of rape victims? I should hope not.

The ol'school mainstream media will soon no longer exist. For decades, they have used their biased reporting to influence policy and to shape public opinion. No longer do they maintain a monopoly on the dissemination of information. Their bias is recognized, and as a result their subscription levels are at an all time low. My hope is that the Baltimore "Yellow" Sun and rest of the fish wrapper media see a swift and painful death.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS... LONG LIVE THE NEW MEDIA!!!

Recently, I was reflecting on some of the lessons learn in my youth. Lessons such as the value of hard work, honest, commitment, and loyalty were learned the hard way. Unfortunately, due to babies having babies, out of wedlock childbirths, fatherless homes, and the lack of a good moral foundation, except for in some rare occasions, parents just don’t teach these values and lessons anymore.

My very first job was as an entrepreneur. I started my business not out a desire to work, but out of necessity. I was twelve years old at the time. It was the end of my 7th grade year, and after 180 days of providing my classmates with much needed comic relief as the class clown, my English teacher rewarded me with a little surprise. I could either fail English and repeating the 7th grade, or attending summer school. The choice was easy. Rather than repeat an entire year of school, "Alex, I'll take English Class in Summer School for $100, please." However, I had one problem. My parents weren't paying for it.

Unlike the parents of today that would blame the teacher, use money they couldn't afford to spend, or wouldn't care if young Eric didn't go to school in the first place, my parents understood the value in teaching life’s lessons. So whether I wanted to or not, I was going to summer school, and I was paying for it myself.

At twelve years old, there were a number of things I was able to do, however only a few that someone would be willing to pay me to do. One of these things was pushing a lawnmower. So that is what I did. I spent summer in 90-degree heat pushing a lawnmower, bagging and raking lawns the size of a football field for about $5.00 a cut. Furthermore, to earn the privilege of using our family lawnmower, I had to first cut our lawn, and buy the gas to do it.

Among the life lessons learned over that summer:

1. The importance of doing a job (7th Grade English) right the first time.
2. The value of a dollar.
3. The importance of an education.
4. The financial impact of poor judgment.
5. The importance of hard work.

At the end of the summer, I finish summer school with a grade in the upper 90s, and I had enough money left to buy my very first digital watch. (Note: Digital watches were the latest craze, and all of the "cool" kids had them. It was kind of like iPods and cell phones of today.) Although I continued to do yard for many summers to come, I never again had to attend summer school to be promoted to the next grade.

One of my core values is freedom, and the right to defend it. Slavery in this country would not have lasted long if the means to defend freedom was available. The following was posted to a newsgroup that I read. It reminded me of the actions that some have taken in this country.

To the subjects of Washington DC, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Maryland, and California please learn from the lessons of history or you too will be added to this list.

Food for thought............................
In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.
From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend
themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1911, Turkey established gun control.
From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend
themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938.
From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews and others, who were unable to
defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935.
From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend
themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
From 1964 to 1981,100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend
themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970.
From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves,
were rounded up and exterminated.
Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
From 1975 to 1977, one million "educated" people, unable to defend
themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century
because of gun control: 56 million.
It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced
by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms. The firearms were
destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars.
The first year results are now in:
Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent
Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent
(yes, 44 percent!)
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up
300 percent.
(Note that, while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the
criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!)
While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in
armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in
the past 12 months, since the criminals now are guaranteed that their
prey is unarmed.
There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of
the ELDERLY.
Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has
decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in "successfully ridding Australian society of guns."
The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.
You will not see this data on the American evening news or hear our
president, governors or other politicians disseminating this
information.
Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes,
gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens.
Take note my fellow Americans, before it is too late!
The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind
them of this history lesson.
With guns, we are citizens. Without them, we are subjects.
If you value your freedom, Please spread this anti-gun control message

Update: Now for the rest of the story. I found a version of the above that was credited to Paul Harvey. He should get credit where credit is due.

In Defenseless Decision, Why were guns taken from law-abiding citizens in New Orleans? John Lott, Jr. addresses one of the seldom reported issues that effected Hurricane Katrina survivors. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, calling 911 or the police was not an option. In a near SHTF (Stuff Hits The Fan) scenario, the New Orleans' police superintendent Eddie Compass announced "No one will be able to be armed. Guns will be taken. Only law enforcement will be allowed to have guns." Law abiding citizens who used firearms to protect their families were illegally disarmed, but New Orleans police officers who were allowed to keep their firearms, were caught on tape looting Walmart.

Mr. Lott sites the following examples...

One city resident, John Carolan, was taking care of many family members, including his three-year-old granddaughter, when three men came to his house asking about his generator, threatening him with a machete. Carolan showed them his gun and they left. Another resident, Finis Shelnutt, recounts a similar story that the gangs left him alone after seeing “I have a very large gun.”

Mr. Lott also gives an example of someone who had an awakening, and learned a valuable lesson from their experience.

One mother saw the need for a gun after she and her two children (ages 9 and 12) saw someone killed in New Orleans after the hurricane. The mother said: “I was a card-carrying, anti-gun liberal — not anymore.”

Sometimes it takes an emergency to teach us a lesson about personal responsibility. It is you, not the government that is ultimately responsible for the safety and security of your family. The preparations you take today could protect your family during the Katrina's of the future. During an emergency, law enforcement may do a good job, but I wouldn't be willing to bet my life on it.

Well, after a little time to reflect, reevaluate, and regroup it is now time to get back to the task at hand. During my time away, I had the opportunity to put things into perspective. Without fully realizing it, I had allowed myself to become overly consumed the various news and topics of the day. As a result, the time needed to enjoy my life, liberty and to pursue my happiness began to suffer.

In all of my planning and preparation for this site, one detail I failed to consider is the need for moderation and finding a balance with family, friends, and other activities which have priority. Therefore, I will be limiting myself on the frequency of updates to this site. I enjoy doing this blog, but there are things that are more important than expanding the finite, or preaching to the choir. It is my hope that as the quantity of my post decreases, the quality will increase exponentially.

Thanks for you patience. The best is yet to come.