Ever since the end of the civil rights era, a new form of activism has been added to the ever increasing list of ways people can make money off of those that are less fortunate in our society, and this particular brand is known as “race pimping”. Race pimping is essentially taking advantage of a minority by feeding them a constant stream of propaganda with the main goal being to convince them that they are a victim of society and they are entitled to more. Race pimping has been made popular among the black community by political pundits such as Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Louis Farrakhan, just to name a few.
These people have completely disgraced the legitimacy of the civil rights movement and the hard work and dedication that true civil rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers put forth in this country.
Almost every time we turn on the news or pick up a copy of The New York Times, there is a story about one of these race pimps attempting to turn an issue that has nothing to do with race into an issue of a black person’s civil rights being violated, and if there is no story to spin, they will completely fabricate one to further their own agenda. One has to only flip over to MSNBC and check out Al Sharpton’s show “PoliticsNation” to see the spewing of propaganda that stirs the boiling pot of racial tension in our country today.
If these pundits truly believed in their cause, even if they are incorrect, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I mean, there are activists of every race that fight for different racial issues. But there is something deeper in the game of race pimping. The name itself describes the underlying problem… these race pimps are after money. They are literally “pimping” out the black community for a profit. A great example is the Ferguson issue, where a black kid was shot by a white police officer. Regardless of how you feel about the issue, you don’t have to look very far before you see Jesse Jackson with a megaphone in a crowd of protestors trying to convince them that they are all victims of police brutality. There was a particular instance where he got a crowd excited, then proceeded to ask for donations to his church (which would really have been donations to him), and was booed out of the crowd. Soon after, we get the audio from a speech given by Luis Farrakhan where he encourages the audience to “tear this G** damn country up” in response to the non-indictment of Officer Darren Wilson. These types of things are examples of race pimps taking advantage of already sad situations and using them for profit.
There are also situations in which race pimps create racial issues out of thin air, such as the case in Nashville, North Carolina with the always interesting president of the NC NAACP, Dr. Rev. William Barber. In this instance, there were a few students at Nash Central High School that posted a picture on Instagram over thanksgiving break that depicted them in Ku Klux Klan outfits. The students received a lot of threats and had to be escorted to their classes by police officers. So the picture was taken outside of school, therefore, it is not the schools responsibility (one would think) and the superintendent of the school system made that very clear. But in typical William Barber fashion, he called a meeting in the area on behalf of the NAACP and demanded that everyone in attendance write a letter to the school board encouraging the school to suspend the students. The school informed them that since it did not take place on school property, no action could be taken, but this is a classic example of taking an issue that had little to no impact on society, and attempting to turn it into a huge attack on the black community in an effort to stir up racial tension so that Barber can line his fat pockets.
Race pimps like Barber know that without racism, they won’t make money. If black and white people actually got along, they wouldn’t be able to exploit their own race for profit. That is why the race pimps of today consistently create racism in every community possible. That is why the NAACP will lead marches to the general assembly now that session has started. That is why the NAACP will spew a radical message to the “Moral Monday” protest group that the Republican policies are harmful to the black community… because they want money.
We have come a long way in this country when it comes to racism and prejudice. The race pimps of our time will continue to divide our nation and create racial strife where there is none and it’s really a sad situation. Their agenda will only harm the black community when so many of us just want to live in harmony and go about our lives.