THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 17, 1994 TAG: 9410130020
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Regarding ``The new black conservatives'' (Commentary, Oct. 9):
While it is true that there has always been a conservative drift within the black community, there is no evidence that a majority of us are about to throw our weight behind those who have historically worked to inhibit black progress and who in recent years have done all within their power to undo whatever progress we have made. The political right during the 1990s has attempted to roll back the civil-rights laws passed in the 1960s.
The American family needs to be strengthened, but I also know that families cannot be kept strong when there is no economic viability. It is not true that there existed a time when poor black (or white) families were strong. Nor will history validate the idea that liberalism is the cause of the breakdown of the black family. Look rather to the result of the Great Depression and the blatant discrimination which existed both before and after to find the cause of family trouble.
Finally, the growth of black business, which began in the 1920s (and struggled after the Depression), was the result of racial segregation and the fact that many white businesses would not serve blacks.
Blacks turned to the federal government in the past because state and local governments and the business community were under control of racists. The control of local government has, in many instances, been wrested from those people. However, the people who hold economic power in this society continue to exclude blacks and other minority groups. They are the backbone of the conservative movement today and it will be difficult for thinking black people to cast our lot with them.
BENJAMIN D. BERRY JR.
Virginia Beach, Oct. 10, 1994 by CNB