Instructor: Mba Mbulu Title of Course: Integration 101

Textbooks: Not To Be: Essays On Integration and The Black Studies Book: A Black Studies Guide for TeenAgers and Adults.

Class #9

Read Essay #1 and Essay#2 that follow. They are from the book Black-Smart. Think about the following issues:

(1) How are these essays relevant to a course in Integration?

(2) A definition of the term equality is given. Is equality, not integration what Black People really want?

(3) These essays are about knowing. What is the relevance of knowing your enemies and knowing where you stand to integration?

(4) Is there anything about these essays suggesting that Black People cannot trust white people?

(5) The final essay states the following: "The Jews discovered that it is not enough to pick the side you want to stand with. Even more important is that you pick the side that is willing to stand with you." Is that statement of particular importance to Black People in the United States?

Questions? Email aset@asetbooks.com and list your course title as the subject.

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"Know Your Enemies"

In order to avoid alliances which will not benefit Black People, three things should be repeated here (especially to you "black and white together" singers and "working class" "communists" and "socialists").

Number one: Racism permeates American society. Because of this, integration is out of the question (it takes two to integrate). But, equality is well within Our reach. We don't need the cooperation of anyone to get equality. We don't need to transform white society in order to get equality. We don't need to rely on Congress and the courts in order to get equality. All We need in order to get equality is Us! Us, as thinking people who plan and act with Us in mind. That's all We need. And, since equality is more desirable than integration (nations have equality), equality is what We should seek.*

Number two: The entire history of the labor-trade union movement has been characterized by racism, manipulation of African workers, and cooperation and collaboration between labor "leaders" and the capitalist class. Not one time in the history of class struggle have Black People been genuinely viewed as oppressed comrades by whites. Blacks have always been viewed as a separate group which can be used to highlight inhumane conditions, but ignored and sacrificed once the bargaining begins. Our relief has never been taken seriously because the whole system of making money and getting over (call it capitalism or anything you like) is based upon the unfair use of Black/African labor and Black/African minerals (land). What the "class strugglers" bargain over is a more equal distribution of the goodies among more white people, with selected provisions for certain brainwashed Negroes who accept the proposition that integration is a necessary first step toward revolutionary progress.

Number three: The long arm of American imperialism results in a tremendous flow of income into this country. This income not only provides the ruling classes with a high standard of living, it provides the working class (whites) with a comfortable standard of living as well. It provides the working class with a standard of living which the working class will refuse to give up. They don't want to destroy the source of their comfort, all they want is a higher degree of comfort. They don't want to destroy imperialism (despite what many of them say to the contrary-their comfort depends on imperialism), therefore they don't want to end the economic enslavement of Black People (in Africa and elsewhere). All they want is a higher standard of living, and they are willing to use and abuse Black People, Brown people, Yellow people and Martians to get it; preferably through the bargaining table, but through what they call "revolution" if all else fails.

What they call revolution cannot be equated to universal progress, Brothers and Sisters. What they call revolution is a change in who holds the privileged positions on the totem pole; it is not the destruction of the totem pole itself. Think about what that means for Black People, then determine if you want to use your energies and intelligence to elevate whites, or if you want to use those energies and intelligence to prepare Blacks for a humanitarian struggle. The choice is Ours to make, Brothers and Sisters. Each of Us should choose wisely.

Peace be with you, Brothers and Sisters, if you are willing to do what is necessary to get it.

*NOTE: We feel it is necessary to define equality, since many Black persons seem incapable of understanding terms and creating definitions which do not begin with or give special consideration to white people.

Equality is the right to control those institutions which affect Our lives and determine Our future. It is the right to determine how Our schools are run and what is taught in them. It is the right to establish a social and economic structure that fits Our views concerning production, distribution and general welfare. It is the right to be self-determining; the right to decide if We should pay taxes and, if so, how they should be spent. It is the right to establish a system of relationships which will be beneficial to Us, Black People. Equality has nothing to do with keeping up with whitey, individually or collectively. It has everything to do with Our natural rights, from the right to withdraw because of individual preferences to the right to join Our forces, claim land which is due Us, and establish a government which will justly represent Our cause at the conference table of nations. That is equality, Brothers and Sisters. Nothing less will do!

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"Know Where You Stand"

The Jews didn't know where they stood in Germany in the 1930s, Brothers and Sisters. Too many of them allowed the Germans to mislead them. Too many of them accepted ideas and information they should have rejected, and rejected ideas and information they should have accepted. As a result of this, as a result of not knowing whose side they were really on, or where they really stood, six million of them got slaughtered.

Don't make the same mistake the Jews made, Brothers and Sisters. Don't be confused about whose side you are on; KNOW WHERE YOU STAND. This is important because knowing where you stand will determine how you interpret what you read and what goes on in this country and the world.

Know where you stand in relation to white people in this country. Understand that white people have had since 1619, almost 360 years, to grant Us the liberties which any human being has by right of birth. Understand that they have not granted Us Our rights in so long a time because they never intended to grant Us those rights and still don't intend to grant Us those rights. Understand that We will get what We deserve as human beings only when We take Our destiny, Our future, into Our own hands.

Know where you stand in relation to "liberals" in this country, particularly white liberals. Understand that white people have been helping Us get what they want Us to have ever since they helped drag Us off the slave ships, but they have never been willing to help Us get what We wanted to get. The white "socialists" and "communists" of today (just like the white revolutionaries of the 1920s and 1930s, and just like the white "liberals" of the 1960s and 1970s) want Us to move in a direction that will not threaten their definition of what the world order should be. They want Us, Black People, to get involved in their white family argument, but they don't want Us to introduce Our own solutions to the problems that afflict Us because We might seek to destroy the one thing all of the "socialists" and "communists" and "liberals" want to keep alive; We might seek to destroy white supremacy, and none of the white groups are progressive enough or revolutionary enough to seek the destruction of that.

Know where you stand Brother, and you too Sister, because that knowledge will determine whether you stand or fall. It will determine whether you ask or beg. It will determine whether you lead or follow, whether you walk or crawl, and whether you laugh or cry, etc. It might even determine how long you live, or how soon you die.

And know another thing, Black People. Understand that where you stand is not your decision alone to make. The Jews thought they stood with the Germans simply because they had decided to stand with the Germans. They soon discovered, too late, too late, that the Germans had other ideas. The Jews discovered that it is not enough to pick the side you want to stand with. Even more important is that you pick the side that is willing to stand with you.

Know where you stand, Brothers and Sisters. Even if you don't understand anything else, understand where you can go for certain protection when things start getting hot. If you don't understand that, you will probably end up in the middle of a cross-fire or in the torture chamber of the enemy.

Stand with your Brothers and Sisters. Stand with the people who look just like you look and experience just what you experience. Stand with Black People.

PEACE be with you, Brothers and Sisters, if you are willing to do what is necessary to get it.

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