As my own spiritual and political worldview has matured (hopefully) over the years, there remains one question, above all others I’ve encountered, which is so perplexing to me that, at times anyway, I find myself wanting to hurl myself headlong into the nearest brick wall.

The question is this:

Why is it that blacks, among the myriad of ethnicities that comprise America, are the only ones who require, or, are perceived as requiring, other individuals or organizations to speak for and “lead” them?

Perhaps you’ve ruminated over this yourself. After all, I don’t claim exclusivity on this question simply because I’m black. You see, unlike the NAACP, I make no pretense to be the “Keeper of All Things Colored”.

Thought is universal, or, so I thought (no pun intended). So, it would not surprise me to discover that there are countless others, irrespective of race, who have been, and are,  just as curious as I, if not more so, in examining this subject.

Think about it.

Here we are, some 50 years removed from the of the Civil Rights Movement, when “freedom” for blacks was finally attained, primarily through such legislative measures as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and yet, today, there are still those who insist, almost instinctively, on calling upon the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to garner insight into what an entire race of individuals is (supposedly) thinking on a particular issue.

Which leads me to yet another and, perhaps, even more important question:

Why are blacks generally viewed by others as a monolithic group, as opposed to individuals who can think for themselves, and why is this tolerated?

Now, as much as I would like to hold people like Sharpton and Jackson accountable that this question is still relevant all these years later, in reality, it is not they alone who are at fault. They’ve had help.

That in 2012 these two civil rights charletons who, under the guise of “reverend”, are still able to influence the “group-think” mentality of blacks, is something for which blacks have only themselves to blame. As so-called “leaders” within the black community, the Jacksons and Sharptons of the world would be rendered completely impotent were it not for the willful and, all-too-often, uninformed cooperation of those who blindly follow them like sheep being led to the slaughter.

And for what? To what end is such loyalty warranted or deserved?

One would think that diversity of thought, and the free expression thereof, would be welcomed and encouraged among blacks. Why? Because, contrary to what is consistently force-fed us, primarily by the mainstream media, blacks are, believe it or not, inherently distinct beings possessing inherently distinct perspectives. But, alas, the free-thought “welcome mat” is not extended to all blacks. Instead, what is encouraged is the liberal, astigmatic ethos of government reliance and dependency, and that to the immediate and permanent ostracizing of anyone who dares to break ranks.

Trust me. I speak from experience.

As one who considers himself to be somewhat politically astute, one thing I’ve learned, to my great disappointment, is that not all blacks are, in fact, black. In other words, there’s black and then there’s really black. Ideologically speaking, think of it as being tantamount to the difference between “purple” and “magenta”.

You see, even though my skin tone is black, my parents and siblings are black, I grew up in the “black church”, and even my car is black, my so-called “blackness resumé” is still lacking. The reason I’m not really black is simply because I refuse to embrace the liberal philosophy of the 96 percent of blacks who support the Democrat party. Hence, the incessant labeling by black liberals of “magentas” like me with derogatory terms such as – say it with me – “Uncle Tom”, “sellout” and “rich white Republican”, even though I really am black (though, not really, I suppose.)

Even during the 1960s, when blacks were being discriminated against at every turn, there was at least the option of entering a business establishment, such as a restaurant or store, through the back door in order to be served. Today, however, not even the back door is available to black conservatives. You either tow the liberal line or you’re out. Period. No soup for you! And for no other reason than that we choose to exercise our innate, God-given right to develop a social and political construct which is diametrically opposed to that of the humanist minions within the Democrat party.

A case in point is that of Dr. Benjamin Carson, world-renowned Johns-Hopkins University neurosurgeon – and Christian – who, subsequent to being invited to deliver the 2012 commencement address at Emory University in Atlanta, was singled-out in a letter of protest signed by 500 faculty, students and alumni, simply because he is in opposition to the theory of Darwinian evolution. To which Dr. Carson responded, and brilliantly, I might add, as follows:

“I do wish that more contemporary liberals would be a bit more, well, liberal when it comes to tolerating dissent from the orthodoxies of their faith. Or else I wish they would abandon the pretense of being liberals in the old-fashioned sense and declare their faith to be the equivalent of a religion from which various forms of dissent are simply not to be tolerated.”

Amen, Dr. Carson! I feel you, my brother!

One of my favorite verses in all of the Bible is Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ set us free.”

The desire to be free is not a racial thing. It is not tied to one’s ethnicity, gender or socio-economic demographic. It is something that is hard-wired within each and every one of us by our Creator. However, to know what freedom is, is to also know what freedom is not.

Please hear me on this.

Do not commit the intellectual error of construing the absence of a physical ball-and-chain to mean that you are free. Slavery is not merely of a physical nature; it is most often a captivity of the mind. Blacks need to understand that our ancestors did not make the sacrifices they made to emancipate us from one form of slavery only to be held in bondage by another. A primary reason why so many slaves were beaten to within an inch of their life is not because they tried to escape physically, but in their mind they already had.

Ponder that for a moment.

That so many blacks today – 96 percent, mind you – are inclined to continue plowing the fields of the “ideological plantation” of the Democrat party, and with absolutely nothing to show for it, is an even more egregious offense than the forced servitude of their ancestors, because to do so is a choice.

The only difference between today and the plantations of 150 years ago is that today the overseer is black like you.

The runaway slave and abolitionist, Harriett Tubman, most noted for efforting the Underground Railroad, once said, “I freed hundreds of slaves. I could have freed hundreds more had they known they were slaves.”

The thing about sheep is that they at least have a built-in excuse for blindly following the one leading them.

You, on the other hand, do not.

DBH