Black Capitalists: Why African Americans Ought to Embrace the Only Moral System

Don't Celebrate Failure, Learn From It

Malcolm X said, “You show me a capitalist, I’ll show you a bloodsucker.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. remarked, "So, today capitalism has out-lived its usefulness."These statements fail to illustrate the beauty that is manifested by such a political, social and economic system. Instead of displaying that capitalism is the only system that has and can advance human life, Mr. el-Shabazz chose to reference it as brutality and Dr. King disregarded it completely. But where does this rhetoric originate? It is drawn from the musty ideals of collectivism and altruism. So, there must be Blacks who although never fully stated their allegiance to capitalism, at least through action have represented it. Madam C.J. Walker, John H. Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Farrah Gray all have generated substantial fortunes. By way of productiveness and smart work all have achieved the financial rewards which go with being entrepreneurs. They also happened to be the first self-made American female millionaire, first African American to appear on the Forbes 400 list, the first billionaire athlete, and the youngest Black to earn a million dollars without inheriting it or being an athlete or entertainer at the age of 14, respectively. These figures display the fact that capitalism redeems the Black race from tyranny and oppression and allows anyone to attain wealth and prosperity.

Freedom for Thought

What is it about Blacks that makes the word capitalism seem dangerous or even contemptuous? Why do Negroes tend to hover toward socialism and even communism? At least that is what is purported through rap when artists like Dwayne “Lil’ Wayne” Carter verbalize in rap songs that he is the “hip hop socialist” and jump around in a music video with a T-shirt with “COMMUNIST” written across it. The irony of it all is that Carter has amassed riches well over $100 million. A communist or socialist could never have earned this kind of money if he actually practiced in full either of these collectivistic institutions. And Carter and others know it. Only capitalism promotes freedom for thought and the ability for someone who has clearly benefitted from this system to say or show otherwise. Through the 1930’s and 1940’s in a time when the intellectual climate was extremely Left-leaning and advocated for communism, Blacks found capitalism to be hostile. Prominent actors and writers like Paul Robeson and Richard Wright respectively, made works that questioned or denounced the capitalist system. Traces of such ideals remain today as Blacks gravitate toward collectivist principles. Black politicians and neighborhood leaders promulgate notions such as brotherhood, and that “we’re all God’s children.” This thinking only hinders the progress of Blacks and leads them to the mentality that others of their own skin color are their primary concern, not themselves.

Former President Obama, during his tenure was not a complete socialist, but his Affordable Care Act and other policies and statements would point to the fact that he is the leader of a mixed economy headed toward disaster for which he is partly responsible. The controls and coercion run rampant within the American system of capitalism and force. In one regard, the nation flourishes with the business and industry that capitalism affords. On the other hand, compulsion throttles innovation and prevents the able man from fully transforming the earth into his own vision.

Self-reliance

Higher incarceration rates due to drugs being illegal on the streets, higher unemployment figures, and lower life expectancy loom large over African Americans. While racial counterparts pursue higher education and loans from banks to own homes or initiate enterprises, Blacks find meager job prospects and seek government assistance through social programs like Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They struggle to find happiness in all of this as they produce nothing and reap the aid from others. Their downfall rests on the fact that they choose welfare over their own self-reliance. But if Michael Jordan had let himself, when faced with the adversity of being cut from the varsity basketball team, go down the path of feeling sorry for himself and not working to gain his ends, then he would have never evolved to become the phenomenon that he is.

Madam C.J. walker turned a negative into a positive by experiencing hair loss of her own and scalp disorder. She learned the trade of hair care products and created an innovative way of advertising and selling cosmetic creams. Did she just sit back and wait for checks to arrive at her doorstep? No. She educated herself on the business and carved out a place for her to grow and win. That is what the opponents of capitalism most fear. Their concern is not that an individual achieves but that it is moral to keep them from doing so. They wish to restrain Black people from garnering wealth for themselves and only want to see them rely on the backs of others, by force. And just because it is voted on and passed does not make legislation to uphold welfare programs virtuous. It’s quite the contrary. Such laws prohibit potential bankers, dentists, and grocers from totally realizing what they might be. If Farrah Gray had stated that he was too young and too uneducated to start and run a million dollar company, then his dreams would have been dashed from the very beginning. Instead of organizing a group of eager and like-minded individuals through his Urban Neighborhood Economic Enterprise Club (UNEEC), Gray would have continued to live in the squalid conditions of his upbringing. What these social services do is stifle the incentive for these folks to excel in a given field and make something of themselves.

The Only Moral Social System

When John H. Johnson accepted a loan from his mother for $500 to start his publication he was met with opposition stating that it would be too difficult for a Black man to run a magazine. He steamed forward under the strength of his mother’s support and his own resolve. Had he said that it’s not worth it to venture out on something that had never been done before, he would have degraded his own integrity and self-worth.

What is truly amazing is the fact that even accomplished Blacks like Walker, Johnson, Jordan and Gray never explicitly acknowledged the system which made them millionaires and a billionaire, in Jordan’s case. Nothing but the system of justice and getting what you deserve could have given these individuals their affluence. And that is what African Americans ought to realize today. Capitalism provides the opportunity for people of color to craft their own place in the world. By presenting the possibility of extending life expectancy and raising the quality of life, Blacks are enabled to develop skills, learn trades, and become educated in the ways of industry. Rather than scurrying away from it, Blacks ought to accept the fact that their own well-being is tied to living under the system that demands that you work for your keep and trade with others when it is in your own self-interest. It is imperative that Blacks employ their rationality and go for the only moral social system.