>If I go to a financial advisor, I would hope my skin color is
>the last issue they're trying to deal with.

I made that example to target the whole "we must fix our own house first" mentality that's related to this whole discussion.

There are many issues that face black people but they don't all have racially-centered solutions. Financial empowerment was just an example of such an issue.


>It seems like some black folks are afraid to guard issues that
>deal with being BLACK (don't add), as if theres some need for
>'others' input. If an Eskimo community is discussing issues
>pertaining to their traditions, philosophies and other
>cultural beliefs...where does my 2cent fit in?
>

But we're not talking about traditions, philosophies, and other personal beliefs. As chillsm00th said, the issue is others coming in and delineating our problems for us and prescribing solutions.

If the problem is how we see and treat each other as black people, then that should primarily be a black discussion. But if it's other issues that impact the rest of society, though to a diffrent degree, I don't think we should throw it on our backs as OUR problem.

Consumerism is an issue for all Americans... yet we accept ourselves being portrayed as the poster child and chastize each other over it as if it's our individual burden. The rest of society walks away, wiping their hands of their complicity and judges us on our ability to solve "our problems". But we're not going to solve most of "our problems" (illegitimacy, criminality, etc) without fundamentally changing American culture so the rest of American society should participate.