" Financial Indepence will not solve our Economic Enslavement!" 

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Accepting our Economic Enslavement will not be easy to comprehend especially for those of our race who have achieved their individual financial independence or success. It is very confusing that we can have the freedom to achieve financial independence, actually achieve it but still be economically enslaved. This is simply because economic enslavement has to do with the larger group that you affiliate with. As a matter of fact, there is a growing belief that Americans are economically enslaved because the majority of wealth is controlled by 10% of all Americans.

For us as African Americans, those with financial independence experience economic enslavement the same way that many who have achieved fame and fortune experienced racism. It wasn't until someone famous was pulled over in a white suburb and treated like a common criminal that they realized that all the money in the world would not allow them to escape their ‘blackness'. It wasn't until they were face down on the ground in handcuffs with guns pointed at them that they woke up to the reality of race in America.

Economic Enslavement has nothing to do with your individual financial state as well. It has to do solely with the metrics of how we measure key economic indicators as a race. These indicators reveal our ability to impact the economics of our race. We must look at how much we produce; how much wealth we have; our ability to create jobs or how many jobs are we creating year by year; how much capital we have access too for business and community development; and how long does our dollar circulate within our race are many examples of key measurements.

 Unfortunately, we are lacking incredibly in all the key metric measures of economics as a race and have been since we achieved our freedom in this country. The truth is that if these measures were in the area of health, then we would have long considered them to be an epidemic. For instance, if we measured our ability to create jobs like we measure new cases of HIV in our community then we would say that our lack of job creation has hit ‘epidemic levels' and there would be a huge outcry.

We have marched and fought for health, racism, education and for fair employment but somehow we have avoided the devastation that we have and continue to suffer as a result of the impact of our economic enslavement. Currently, the national unemployment rate is around 9% but is at 15 - 16 % in our community. We quietly accept it because it has always been that way. It's time for a change.

The irony of the matter is that many of us believe that the solution to our economic enslavement is our lack of support of black business. We believe that supporting black owned business will end our economic enslavement. Supporting black business is necessary but I am here to tell you that it is only one step in a very long process. We must begin to learn the process and not just focus on a small step in it.

To help magnify this point and to begin moving our minds to a new perspective, let's return to my example in Volume 2 of the black owned McDonalds. If we put a black owned McDonalds in our community, I am sure that we all agree that the majority of time we will support that business and it should succeed. Now, we have a successful black owned business in the community. Now, I ask you, what did the race gain from supporting this black business? We would have created 40 jobs. We would have someone who has financial success and give back to the community. We have a role model.

Now, what else do we gain? What race economic indicators are we impacting? Have we impacted how long our dollars that are spent at this McDonalds circulate amongst our race. Will this business owner even live in this community? What if the owner were white? Wouldn't blacks still work there in there community? Don't get me wrong, I know that there is value in having someone black own the franchise, but we must also realize that in terms of race economics it has very little impact if any.  

Quick note: Take any strip of businesses in our community and make them all black owned, how many jobs do you create? Answer, very few because we are already working in most of these businesses in our community. Who else wants to work there for those wages?

The reality is that from an economic perspective that this is a white economic enterprise being run and operated by a black owner. The majority of the money spent will go to McDonald's corporation and all of its vendors that serve it. The major point that I am seeking to make is that we don't make the buns that those hamburgers go on. We don't raise the cows that make the hamburgers and provide the dairy for the cheese or milkshakes. We aren't supplying the cheese, mayonnaise, mustard or ketchup. We don't supply the napkins or bags that the meals go in. We don't make the equipment that cooks the food or supply the parts to the OEM (original equipment maker) that make the equipment. We don't supply the detergent to wash the restaurant and make it clean.

All we want to talk about is who owns the franchise and whether blacks will support that owner. I am saying loudly in my blog that the time has come to change our mindset and shift our attention away from just owning storefronts to having businesses that supply what's going on inside of the storefront. We must become manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to larger operations. We must move into greater markets and serve all of America if we truly want to end our economic enslavement.

Now, that black owned businesses will have equipment in it that is made by black business, products in it that were produced by our race and supplies that it got from black suppliers. More importantly though, the white business in our community will also have products and equipment made and produced by blacks. Still, even more important than all of this is when white businesses in white communities will have black owned products and equipment and supplies from black owned business.

Then, we are starting to end our enslavement and are finally becoming economically free.

Rich Mind

For those new to the blog, please read my other posts by searching under 'buy black'.  All comments welcome and appreciated. Let's learn and grow together.