The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson
Tuesday, May 22, 2001

First of all, how is it that all these black people are "on call" for a riot? Most people have jobs and work during the day. The majority of people are not lazily waiting around for an excuse to destroy property. Yet a sizable segment of the black community is unemployed - by choice - and looking for the opportunity to start a problem. Of course many of their "leaders" condone this sort of outrageous action.

According to the Associated Press, the "Reverend" Damon Lynch III, co-chairman of the mayor’s new race-relations panel in Cincinnati, promised "civil disobedience if there is no indictment or if [Stephen] Roach [the officer who shot the black teen-ager] is indicted only on misdemeanor charges.” Lynch’s attempts to pervert the judicial system through threats is typical of black leaders. Lynch also said that "the faith community has been too quiet” on this issue, implying that religious people will participate in these mobs!

Do we see this kind of sanction of mob action in the white community? No, because most whites view such action as ridiculous. Most whites have jobs and obligations and don’t have time to hurt people and destroy property. And whites wouldn’t stand for their leaders calling for mob activity over an incident such as this.

My second main observation is that I noticed how brainwashed blacks have become. Let us indulge in some intellectual honesty as I pose the following question: Does anyone really believe that police officers live for the purpose of killing and otherwise terrorizing blacks? Please. It sounds absurd to even say this. Yet this is the mentality of the average black today.

Blacks have been convinced by their so-called leaders that white officers are against them. If that’s true, then why do statistics show that a black cop is twice as likely to shoot a black suspect than is a white cop?

My final observation is a confirmation of what I already knew - that the average black mind has become shackled to the whims of black leaders, who are some of the most despicably corrupt people in our society today. Black leaders, for years, have kept blacks angry by purporting that white America is against them. They have kept them dependent by saying that blacks cannot make it on their own - that they need welfare, affirmative action, and other programs.

When a person becomes angry and demoralized like this, they surrender their independence. Resentment clouds the objectivity, weakens the spirit and prevents a person from thinking for themselves. Black leaders, by keeping blacks angry, have been able to control and keep them down for their own personal gain.

If they really wanted blacks to prosper, these leaders would show by example how they themselves have attained their success and wealth. People such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would demonstrate how to utilize talents to become successful. After all, these men didn’t let whites get in their way of attaining power and wealth.

For the last dozen years, B.O.N.D. has been promoting an agenda of forgiveness as the only means by which our communities - particularly the black community - will turn around. If blacks could drop their anger they would naturally be guided to success - regardless of racism.

Our mission is to bring men back to their families to lead them on the path of love, forgiveness, and prosperity. Now is the time for blacks to heed this call, before they destroy themselves and the society with them.

The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is the founder and president of B.O.N.D., the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Rebuilding the Family By Rebuilding the Man." He is also the author of the widely acclaimed book "From Rage to Responsibility." For more information, please visit bondinfo.org or call 1-800-411-BOND (2663). E-mail: bond@bondinfo.org. Phone: (323) 782-1980. Mailing address: B.O.N.D., P.O. Box 35090, Los Angeles, CA 90035-0090. Reprinted with permission from B.O.N.D.; this commentary originally appeared on SpinTimes.com.

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