We are aware that it has become commonplace to pinpoint and describe the ills of our urban ghettos. The social, political and economic problems are s… - Charles V. Hamilton

Exposing the corrupters is not a matter of giving aid and comfort to racists; it is a necessary requirement for purging the struggle of charlatans and a means of protecting the legitimacy of that struggle from its detractors. Drug dealers, con artists, and sycophants of whatever color are not legitimate political leaders, notwithstanding the number of people they influence. This is not a new story. It is, however, one with which a in the United States has to come to terms. Race alone is not sufficient. Standards of excellence and commitment are also required. This is an internal, intra-communal challenge which, if not met, will only lead to the weakening of the struggle and further confusion.

When white terrorists bomb a black church and kill five black children, that is an act of individual racism, widely deplored by most segments of the society. But when in that same city——five hundred black babies die each year because of the lack of proper food, shelter and medical facilities, and thousands more are destroyed and maimed physically, emotionally and intellectually because of conditions of poverty and discrimination in the black community, that is a function of institutional racism. When a black family moves into a home in a white neighborhood and is stoned, burned or routed out, they are victims of an overt act of individual racism which many people will condemn—at least in words. But it is institutional racism that keeps black people locked in dilapidated slum tenements, subject to the daily prey of exploitative slumlords, merchants, loan sharks and discriminatory real estate agents. The society either pretends it does not know of this latter situation, or is in fact incapable of doing anything meaningful about it.

This is why the society does nothing meaningful about institutional racism: because the black community has been the creation of, and dominated by, a combination of oppressive forces and special interests in the white community. The groups which have access to the necessary resources and the ability to effect change benefit politically and economically from the continued subordinate status of the black community. This is not to say that every single white American consciously oppresses black people. He does not need to. Institutional racism has been maintained deliberately by the power structure and through indifference, inertia and lack courage on the part of white masses as well as petty officials. Whenever black demands for change become loud and strong, indifference is replaced by active opposition based on fear and self-interest. The line between purposeful suppression and indifference blurs. One way or another, most whites participate in economic colonialism.