A civil rights activist born in the 1930s has left an audience speechless after explaining why it is he believes reparations will not fix any real problems facing black Americans.
Bob Woodson, author and founder of the Woodson Center, a non-profit research organisation supporting neighbourhood-based initiatives, appeared on the Dr. Phil show last month where he claimed, contrary to the popular narrative, the real crisis facing America is not racial, but moral and spiritual.
“We’ve got to look beyond saying that every solution has to have a winner and a loser. That blacks can only benefit if whites lose,” the 86-year-old said.
“We have to be defined by more than just victims of oppression. When whites were at their worst, blacks were at their best. When we were denied access to hotels, we built our own. We have to communicate to our people the history of how they achieved in the face of oppression,” he said.
“But if we continue to sit back and say all of the challenges that we face – out of wedlock births, the violence – that somehow the control of that is in the hands of White America, and therefore, until white people change there’s nothing that we can do – this sets up a terrible situation for this nation.
“The big crisis facing America is not racial. It is the moral and spiritual freefall that is consuming our children.”
Woodson went on to say that young people have lost a sense of personal responsibility and no longer value their own lives. If this is not addressed, he said, “they will take their own life or take someone else’s,” as they have been in devastating numbers.
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