Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 25, 1994 TAG: 9401250211
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We've lost a lot of our character as a group of people," said Reginald Shareef, as part of the Roanoke NAACP's annual Martin Luther King Day service.
"This keeps us from making a reality of Martin Luther King's dream."
Not that Shareef, 42, is letting whites off the hook for years of oppression, demoralization and exploitation. He concedes that age-old hurt has damaged the psyches of blacks.
But he said that blacks must channel their energy into fixing what is wrong in their community, not perpetuating the problems.
Echoing many prominent blacks, Shareef said that blacks must return to the values they cherished before the civil rights movement, such as solid family ties, a strong work ethic, the importance of education and the notion of divine destiny.
For those who think taking responsibility for the pathologies in the black community is feeding into negative stereotypes of blacks, Shareef reminded the audience that it is even more detrimental if whites do not see blacks playing an active role in turning themselves around.
"White America knows about our problems," he said.
"But by not addressing these issues, the idea that we are the white man's burden is being strengthened more and more."
For instance, blacks should tackle issues such as teen pregnancy, the soaring murder rate among black men, alcohol and drug abuse, and the high incidence of AIDS in their communities, he said.
"We really run the risk of being a nonfactor in the next 20 to 25 years," he said.
To reverse this path toward self-destruction, blacks must regain control, he said.
Quoting Pogo, a cartoon character, he said, "We have seen the enemy, and he is us."
by CNB