Speech concerning black people and economic stability, ca. 1970 (Doc 1 of 4)

People who talk about destroying the economic system that has created his own highly privileged status. But I also suspect that he is right about how far we will have to be prepared to go if we are ever going to be free. We had better face the situation and get ourselves ready to take care of business, whether it is the kind of business he represents, or the kind of humanistic, non-capitalistic business that represents commerce in human relationships, not in dollars and cents. However, taking care of business does not have to mean more violence. [crossed out:] and it is difficult to see how further racial schism could be significantly promoted by black people when so many whites are already working so hard at doing just that. The banker I have quoted is typical of millions of less powerful whites who have been deceived or who have deceived themselves into believing that racial schism and violence is a way of life for black people. If they would pause and look at themselves honestly in the mirror for but a few minutes perhaps they would

The question then takes us back to where we as black people want to go. Knowing the odds stacked against us. We have to reach out to our brother and sister who have not reached the economical level that many of us in this room today have. As Cross said in his book on black capitalism, "The painfully apparent features of the ghetto economy are its economic weakness, a low level of productivity, and the poverty level of its consumers." #5 What we must do, I believe is connect

#5 Dr. Kenneth Clark description of our neighborhood, the ghetto, as a "social, educational, political and economic colony" is especially important for us to remember.

positive programming with the various groupings of black people who are striving towards the same goal. For instance in Alabama the SWAFCA program is currently engaged in developing land programs and collectively farming the land. Black people now own substancial acreage and are producing needed food & fiber for other black people. Yet little recognition of this worthwhile program has come from the black businessmen of the North, Midwest or western cities who are developing their own economic

programs to promote black business. These plans, like that presently underwritten by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in the South, operations which put black people into a healthy and productive relationship with our environment, must receive national support. Furthermore, we ought to strive toward further collectivization of our economic thrust, so that we do not get caught up in the degrading practice of some of us obtaining all the wealth while our brothers and sisters are still hungry. It is cruel and criminal to have out-moded capitalism thrust upon us, either dressed in black or under its new, presumably less offensive name, minority entreupenuership. Capitalism has not solved white people's problems. If it had, physicists would not be driving taxi cabs today. What we need is something more properly described as "Community Socialism", enabling a larger share of us to get our hands on the dollars that pass through - and all too often out of our community. That means that if an economic enterprise does business in our community, we have to stop being consumers but must become owners as well. As much as I despise racketeering, prostitution and the numbers, is these are to be tolerated by the white controlled law enforcement agencies that rule this country then we must control them too. It is too much to keep us from even making a dishonest dollar in our own community.