It’s time for black Americans to take the next step to unleash the shackles of racial victimization and group mentality and truly assimilate as individuals into American society. The United States has been blacks’ worst nightmare, but it is also their best hope.

Slavery was eliminated after the Civil War, but blacks faced another hundred years of segregation, discrimination and racism. They responded appropriately during this time by coming together through the development of cultural bonds and black organizations (e.g. NAACP). Because of the efforts and sacrifice of leaders like Martin Luther King and the black organizations, institutional discrimination was removed through the civil rights acts that were first initiated in the 1960s.

Despite the legislation and court decisions that opened the doors for blacks, Democrat politicians and self-appointed civil rights leaders have held them back from taking the next step to full assimilation in American society. While having good intentions, they kept blacks polarized in a separate black society that continued to preach victim mentality and government solutions. Most blacks followed dutifully.

Fortunately, many did not and they were able to reach great heights in business, industry, science, arts, sports and politics. Many also brought themselves out of poverty and are part of a growing middle class. They achieved success by fully assimilating themselves into American society and making their way through the doors of opportunity that are now available to all. In doing this, they also had to break away from a separate black society where they were led to believe that they were permanent victims of racism, solely dependant on government funding, programs (e.g. affirmative action, diversity training) and lawsuits to survive.

The enlightenment shown by the black successes has demonstrated a model by which other blacks can prosper in society. The model first recognizes that victimization thinking only hinders the chances of moving forward and that existing racism is a hurdle to overcome – not a closed door that can’t be unlocked. Secondly, pursuit of the American dream can only be accomplished within the American society and that American society is not a “white society”. Other races and ethnicities have successfully jumped into the melting pot to assimilate into, and enhance, American society. This assimilation has also been the key to knocking over many of the racism hurdles that they faced when first immigrating to this country.

Racism stems from seeing only the differences in another person. It is natural to think that someone is not like you when you see their different skin color and maybe associate them with negative stereotypes. A racist attitude melts away when a person gets to know someone of another race and realizes that skin color is really the only real difference between them. How many people do you know who have close relationships with other races and continue to exhibit a racist view? When individuals of differing races come together in close relationships such as neighbors, friends, work colleagues, students, families, organization members and teammates, they can observe first-hand the similarities among them. That is why assimilation, via these relationships, is the key to overcoming much of the remaining racism and moving more blacks forward in American society.

While the idea is simple, it will be difficult to achieve and the burden of making it happen will require the dismantling of some black organizations and artifacts of black separatism. Some of these were important and beneficial during the civil rights struggle, but they have outlasted their usefulness. Continuing to have them around will only hinder this new era of black assimilation. The following need to be ended, dismantled or phased-out: