By Vanessa The “Afro-Conservative”

I’ve learned over time that the relationship between Blacks and the “government” is not as simplistic as pundits would like to make it seem.  On the one hand some liberals believe that Blacks cannot survive without government, while some conservatives believe that government need not play an active role, under any circumstances except that which is delineated in the Constitution. Both extreme positions invariably dismiss key times in history when Blacks utilized government in order to subsist, and times in history when Blacks were able to subsist without the help of bureaucracies.

During slavery, despite collective sharing between Blacks families, these families still had to rely on the slave owner for goods and resources.  Republicans understood the interdependent dynamics between the slave and slave owners.  Republicans also acknowledged how difficult it would be for Blacks if they just emancipated Blacks without any formal support systems, what we know today as “safety nets.” On March 3, 1865 the Freedman’s Bureau bill was passed primarily by Republicans in Congress and was signed by Abraham Lincoln in order to provide food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare, and employment to newly freed Blacks. After vetoing a bill to increase the federal power of the Freedman’s bureau, Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s Democratic successor later disbanded the bureau.

After a mere 7 years of support from the Freedman’s bureau (1865-1872), Blacks began to develop informal mutual aid networks.  These mutual aid networks helped the two-parent (mother-father) survive by providing spiritual, physical, and emotional support during a very tumultuous time for Blacks.  It’s no secret that during the Great Depression, whatever White America felt, it was magnified for Black America.  Moreover, many “New Deal” initiatives, although lauded by those on the left, did very little to curtail the economic travails of Blacks.

Therefore, the Black Church was a powerful force that provided services for Blacks which included credit unions, sunday schools, job training, and various other services meant to elevate the spiritual, social, and economic standing of Blacks.

Government didn’t begin taking an active roll in the Black Community again until the 1960s.  So, needless to say for over 88+ years, Blacks were on their own.  According to the Department of Labor statistics between 1890 and 1940, Black males had slightly higher labor force participation as compared with Whites Males.  Moreover, during the time between Reconstruction and the 1960s, many Blacks began to reap the benefits of free enterprise.  For example, Greenwood, in Tusla Oklahoma, was one of the areas we know today as the “Black Wall Street.” Greenwood was home to many Black multimillionaires until the Race Riot (where Whites came in and burned down the homes and businesses of the thriving Blacks).  Even after the race riots, proving the resiliency of Blacks- Blacks still rebuilt the town and it became economically prosperous once more–until desegregation caused Blacks to stop shopping at Black owned businesses and opened the door for Blacks to fraternize White owned businesses.

Before the Black church comprised of race-hustlers, political opportunists, and prosperity pimps, the Black church enforced principles that included family cohesiveness, education, and economic stability.  Once government began to take an active roll in the lives of Blacks, the power of the Black Church in regards to setting mores (values) diminished.  Instead, a new sense of “entitlement” was unfortunately embraced.  This new formal aid network, otherwise known as “government social programs” began to dismiss the importance of the two parent (mother and father) family structure.  High illegitimacy rates which contributed to the many other social pathologies we see in the Black community are a direct result of “government programs” usurping the roll of the family, community, and Black church.

As Conservatives of all walks, we must first understand the history between the dynamics of Black people and government.  We must also acknowledge the times when government was beneficial to blacks (e.g. Freedman’s bureau) and times when  programs and initiatives were to the demise of the Black community (War on Poverty).  Currently, almost 70 percent of Black children (almost 90 percent) in the inner city are headed by single mothers.  Social scientists of all political persuasions acknowledge that these trends didn’t begin until after Liberals began to infiltrate the Black constituency.

The objective no longer remains to criticize liberals but to counteract their paternalistic policies by drafting policies and proposals that call for a re-emergence of mutual aid networks (Church, non-profits) to help with problems associated with poverty, job-readiness, drug abuse, marriage, and economic literacy that plagues the Black community.