What Black Americans Really Need

The truth is that African Americans are better off than Black people in Africa.

Many politicians and activists assert that African Americans deserve reparations for slavery. Though the truth is that African Americans are better off than Black people in Africa. Offering reparations to Blacks to atone for slavery is essentially pointless because Black Americans are not worse off due to slavery. Not only is this an exercise in futility, but it does not solve the problems afflicting Blacks that stem from culture or fatherlessness. A prominent justification for reparations is the racial income gap. Some think reparations will put Blacks on equal footing with white Americans.

A major reason for the racial income gap is the achievement gap and the latter is a function of the competence gap.

However, their analysis is misguided. A major reason for the racial income gap is the achievement gap and the latter is a function of the competence gap. Research has documented the academic progress of African Americans, though, notwithstanding these gains, on average they are still less educated than white Americans. If Black males have the lowest graduation rate in the country, then how can we expect their earnings to be on par with white men?

Economist Roland Fryer has marshaled data proving that the racial income gap is primarily explained by the achievement gap and not discrimination.

Economist Roland Fryer has marshaled data proving that the racial income gap is primarily explained by the achievement gap and not discrimination. Earlier studies have also found that academic achievement among teenagers is responsible for variations in the racial income gap.  Furthermore, economist Derek Neal (University of Chicago) suggests that the Black-white skill gap can be attributed to family patterns that deter investment in human capital. As he notes: “When parents live apart, an agency problem arises. The noncustodial parent cannot be sure that transfers intended for expenditures on children are spent entirely on the child. This monitoring problem acts as a tax on investments in children … In sum, Black-white differences in norms concerning marriage may create differences in the mapping between parental human capital and investments in children that could support persistence in Black-white skill differences among adults across generations.”

Another contributor to the racial income gap is the reluctance of Blacks to pursue majors that will result in them earning lucrative salaries. Maya Beasley in her fascinating book Opting Out: Losing the Potential of America’s Young Black Elite argues that Black students exhibit a greater preference for social activism and as a result are overwhelmingly represented in socially useful, but low-paying professions. Moreover, in an interview published by Inside Higher Ed, Beasley instructs Black students to form relationships with people outside of Black social groups: “While Black students may derive substantial value from these networks, there is also a considerable downside to their separation from the wider campus community.”

According to Beasley’s report, some Black students posit that the fear of racism precluded them from socializing with white networks. Yet such assumptions are unfounded since racism has declined in America. On the other hand, tolerance for racist rhetoric is diminishing. However, racism is not an insurmountable obstacle for people who want to succeed. Black men like Robert Church and William Scarborough achieved a lot despite the venom of racism in an earlier era.

So, Black Americans living in a less hostile environment cannot use racism as an excuse for refusing to pursue predominantly white fields or tapping into non-Black networks. Blacks must exert agency and stop thinking of themselves as an oppressed group. Contrary to what activists would want them to believe—they are not being oppressed by whites. The issue is that Western culture is indeed uniquely individualistic and individualism is a pivotal contributor to innovation.  In general, blacks are not as individualistic as white Americans, and as such, they lack the Promethean drive to conquer the world.

By placing a strong onus on compliance, Black Americans deprive themselves of opportunities for innovation and wealth creation.

To acquire stratospheric success, one must be willing to deviate from the group. Transformative ideas are often antithetical to the goals of one’s group. Therefore, by placing a strong onus on compliance, Black Americans deprive themselves of opportunities for innovation and wealth creation. For instance, a sizeable percentage of Blacks identify as conservative, however, they consistently vote for Democrats. Accordingly, some researchers have concluded that “strong support for activist government and the importance of in-group identity seems to drive this trend.”

Hence the desire to achieve in-group identity may prevent Black individuals from attaining personal goals. Considering the potential of disruptive ideas, the lack of individualism in the Black community, if properly studied, may prove to be a potent cause of the racial income gap.  In short, reparations for Black Americans is a silly idea and neither is discrimination a suitable explanation for the racial income gap. But what we cannot doubt is that black Americans need a Promethean spirit guided by individual autonomy.

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About the Author: Lipton Matthews

Lipton Matthews is a researcher, business analyst, and contributor to Merion West, The Federalist, American Thinker, Intellectual Takeout, Mises Wire, and Imaginative Conservative. He may be contacted at lo_matthews@yahoo.com or on Twitter (@matthewslipton).