I believe the elder’s heart is in the right place, but as he admitted publicly, he has failed.
Dr. Fraser, for those who don’t know, is a successful, educated, and committed Black man; he’s committed to helping the Black community as a collective reach the level of success, riches, and affluence that he worked so hard to achieve. His plan is basically provide the Black masses with the same motivations, supports, and opportunities that he had and took advantage of in his life. If you need more details, just Google the elder.
The problem with Dr. Fraser, and other Black Strivers is that he dosen’t seem to understand Capitalism and Black success and how it relates to Black Liberation .
First off, Capitalism is a poverty generating system, not a wealth generating system. Capitalism concentrates wealth while expanding poverty. We have more poverty in the world today because we have more capitalism today. You can’t elevate an oppressed people out of oppression using Capitalist practices because Capitalism is inherently oppressive.
Even the large White middle class was only created during the era when Socialist Reforms were implemented during the Great Depression and the Post-WWII era. Prior to that, most people in the US lived a 3rd World existence, even the Whites; and the White Elites are returning the White masses back to their 3rd World Status of wage slaves because that’s the nature of Capitalism, it needs slavery, and intensive environmental and human exploitation to survive. How the hell can such a system help the same people it enslaved?
Many rich, educated, and sucessful Black folks think that their own personal success means that Capitalism is no longer Racist, Oppressive, or Discriminatory; which is absurd. Some assert that even though it is Racist, by being better at money management, better educated, better as starting and operating businesses we can our “compete” our enemies and oppressors. But that a myth and fantasy; for many reasons I won’t go into.
Successful Blacks tell us; “I did it, so you can do it.” The reality is, there have always been “successful Blacks under White Domination, there were wealthy Black Slave traders, wealthy Black merchants selling goods and services to White enslavers, and even Black enslavers and plantation owners. Successful Black folks don’t mean shit really, they are not and have never really been a threat to the Systems and Institutions of White Domination, they have most often been allies, or assets of the systems of Oppression.
So that real statement should be; “I did it, and maybe you can as well, but I won’t change the nature and ultimate trajectory of this System we’ve made it in.”
Until our Black elites start saying; “I destroyed it, and so can you,” we will keep running this Successful Blacks holing carrots just out of the reach of the Black masses for several more generations; this shit started with Booker T. Washington’s punk ass.
So, Dr. Fraser’s plan has a fatal flaw; he fails to attack and counter Capitalism. In fact, he wants Blacks to further embrace Capitalism and “succeed” at Capitalism; which means we fail at being human. We don’t need success, we need Revolution; any plan for Black empowerment, betterment, or elevation that dosen’t have within it a viable agenda for destroying Capitalism, for dismantling the Systems and Institutions of Global White Domination, and totally redefining what success is, how it is measured, and how it is to be sustained is doomed to failure, even when it succeeds.
I have respect for, and have learned a lot from Dr. Fraser, and other Black economic program developers and organizers like Dr. Claud Anderson, Bob Law, Earl G. Graves, and even that great Marcus Garvey was a Black Capitalist; but it just will not work. When you look beyond the rhetoric and mythology of Capitalism, and see what all of the successful Capitalist nations and Races did, and are doing, we see that Africans don’t have the culture, temperament, or mentality to be true Capitalist; but our oppressors love to see us try and try again.
I wish Dr. Fraser and his ilk would see that Black Success (within this economic system) is not synonymous with Black Liberation; and Liberation should be our only focus.
I am educated, I’m poor but I’m entrepreneur, I’m also very much for entrepreneurship and education for the Black masses, but not so that we can enjoy the spoils of profit and empire, but so that be can be more effective in our opposition to Capitalism and Oppression.
Until our Great minds are Radicalized, they will only succeeded in Class Reproduction, meaning that they will be able to bring a small number of other Blacks into the ranks of the Talented Tenth/Black Strivers/Black Elites/Rich Niggas but they will have no fundamental impact on the basic power and economic relationships between Africans and our oppressor.
We have more Black of Billionaires in Africa than ever, and Africa is still being recolonized. We have more educated and wealthy Blacks in the US than ever, and we are still marching, protesting, and praying for basic human rights in the streets; our children are no safer than the children of poor illiterate sharecroppers from generations ago.
