While the various government entities in the State of Michigan are busily wiping out all mentioning of affirmative action after the passage of Proposal 2 last November, similar to California’s Prop. 209, a new national report states that a Black male in his late 20's, without a high school diploma, is more likely to be in jail than to be working. Articulating one of the worst crises in the history of Black America, the comprehensive report, "Black Males Left Behind," by Prof. Ronald Mincy of Columbia University, also cites that the high school drop out rate for Black males is 40% and that young African American men are now over 50% unemployed. Even the US Congress Joint Economic Committee has produced an "Economic Fact Sheet" stating that nearly 40 percent of ALL Black men were not working in 2006.

So how does white America ignore such alarming realities and pass laws “gutting” affirmative action in such states as California, Washington and Michigan? The latest conclusion of various studies is that white people have an automatic preference for their own race (what's new?) and don't want anything to happen that might hurt or hinder their own kind. One-study shows that 80 % of whites display a subconscious preference for whites over Blacks, and in a nation where whites are in control, this results in unfair affirmative action for whites.

Many whites now believe that the nation should be colorblind because we have solved the racial problems and that Blacks are no longer inferior. After all, we have a Black man as a leading candidate for US President, Black stars win the Oscar and African Americans dominate the big money in baseball, football, basketball, tennis and golf. Football spring training, as an example, typically features Black Oakland Raiders receiver Randy Moss receiving $9.5 million while Black San Francisco Forty-Niner defensive end Bryant Young receives $7.9 million. Ignoring the plight of the masses of Black people, these salaries make it sound like African Americans have "reached the promised land!"

This may be why many whites and other ethnic groups just don't believe or respect the dire statistics that place African Americans at the bottom of everything, such as San Francisco being the worst city in California for African Americans in the areas of economics, health, housing, education and criminal justice. No, no...not San Francisco? Would you believe that the one Black man appointed at the State level that is making a difference for Blacks has his appointment confirmation opposed by Senate President Pro-Tem Don Perata, D-Oak? Newly appointed Public Utilities Commissioner Timothy Simon, who as Governor Schwarzenegger's Secretary of Appointments put 80 highly strategic Black State appointments in place, declared before 15 Black Oakland leaders coming together in his support, that "he doesn't know why or what the hell is going on?" For a progressive Black man in America, it is a matter of race or politics, sometimes both.

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