Black Leadership Analysis

Analysis: Dr. Claud Anderson

Orange Meme Separatist

Dr. Claud Anderson is a black empowerment leader that focuses on economic development. Currently, he is head of the Harvest Institute, a black think tank, focusing on reparations to descents of slaves owned by natives. His primary goals are to force the government to give monetary reparations to black people that will lead to black people having capital to build black-owned businesses and vertical supply chains.

The problem:

The plight of black people was caused by systematic economic disenfranchisement as explained by Dr. Anderson. Whites perpetrated the disenfranchisement, but all races had a hand in it. The government is currently on a path to have black people “Locked and Boxed” as a permanent obsolete worker class.  The government is now moving power into the hands of companies through privatization. The redistribution of authority to the private sector will remove the federal government as an institution strong enough for black people to appeal to receive rights. His research showed that blacks had to build a vertically integrated economy by the year 2013, or there would never be enough capital in the black community for us to be competitive.

The economic disenfranchisement began in the 1600’s. Maryland was the first state to make a Black Exclusion Edict in 1665. The Black Exclusion Edict codified the treatment of blacks as second-class citizens and made it illegal for blacks to participate in the economy. Slave Codes of 1705 further codified the system. The Slave Codes made aiding black people in any way punishable by death. The final nail in the coffin was Meritorious Manumission. Meritorious Manumission formalized a system to reward blacks for subverting slave rebellion and organization.

Native Americans were instrumental to the institution of slavery. After the French-Indian war, the treaty of 1750 allowed Indians to own slaves. After this, Indians became leaders in capturing fugitive slaves. The Five Civilized Tribes were prolific slaveholders and some of the fiercest Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. Also, Indians were the only group of people to have slaves after the Civil War. A second treaty was signed to allow for the freeing of the slaves and their inclusion in reparations.

The Civil War was fought to extract wealth from the South and put it in the North. Slavery was not the primary issue in The Civil War. Lincoln did not even make slavery an issue until two years into the war. The strategy was to cause confusion in the South and attack the labor pool. The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t free anyone. It only applied to places that had already succeeded from the Union and left enslaved people in the Union under bondage.  

After the Civil War, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery unless a preceded by a criminal conviction. The South set out to reestablish a system of forced labor and stay within the constitution. White people created farmer alliances that vertically integrated the supply chain of tobacco and cotton. The Farmer Alliance was a co-op of white farmers that controlled access to a distributor and a factory. Black farmers were not allowed to join and had no place to sell their crop. The South then passed a law that said a black man must have a steady stream of employment. Since a black man could not start his farm, he had to work on a white man’s farm. They made work on the farm contingent on signing a year long contract. If a black person had not signed a contract with a white farmer, he would be in violation of Idle Worker Laws. The lack of a work contract would land him a conviction and forced labor on a southern chain gang.

Blacks that moved to the North did not fare any better. The government increased quotas allowing immigrants in from Southern and Eastern Europe to reduce the relative number of black people in the North. Unions were formed to exclude black people, and laws were passed to force companies to hire from the unions. Blacks were then relegated to the ghettos because that was the only place in town black people could afford to live.

In the economic sphere, the Civil Rights movement resulted in Affirmative Action. Dr. Anderson wrote many of the original Affirmative Action laws as part of the Carter Administration. Since inception Affirmative Action has grown to include more people. Currently, white women get 70% of the Affirmative Action jobs and Hispanics get 20% of the Affirmative Action jobs. Black receive around 1% of the benefit from Affirmative Action. Dr. Anderson hopes the speedy end of Affirmative Action. The influx of immigrants has also caused the relative pay between whites and blacks to stay at 54%. Jobs can be given to immigrants to fill AA quotas, and the disenfranchisement of blacks will continue.

Continued immigration from Latin America and Asia deludes the voting power of black people. Currently, Hispanics outnumber black people nationally.  Black people are also beginning to move out of predominantly black neighborhoods. The exodus of blacks from predominantly black neighborhoods reduces the number of places with a majority black population and dilutes the power of black people in local elections. Black people are no longer a political force.

Is the state of Black America Improving?

The percent of national wealth owned by black people in 1860 was 0.5%. In 1960 the number went up to 1.5%. Currently, we still have less than 2% of national wealth. We are not doing any better as a group.

The lack of wealth in the black community is not the result of any inferiority on the part black people. In 1860 98% of the black population was illiterate by 1900 only 40% were illiterate. The rapid growth of literacy in the black community is one of the greatest achievements in education history. At this moment black women are the most educated demographic in America. However, this does not translate into wealth or even income due to discrimination in the marketplace.

What is the solution?

Dr. Anderson has a two part solution. First is to infuse black America with wealth through reparations. The second is to create black businesses in a vertically integrated supply structure.

Because black people were the only ones that endured slavery black people have an exclusive claim to reparations from the Federal Government. The first order of business is to secure reparation promised in Indian treaties. Treaties trump even federal law and most of the treaties explicitly state a portion of the reparations are due to black people that descend from the tribe’s slaves. If those court cases are victorious, a precedent can be set to demand reparations from America as a whole.

The reparations will not be given to black people individually. A National Black Bank will be established to provide business grants and educational grants. Black people will wholly own the businesses or schools. Reparations will allow our Historically Black Colleges and Universities to independent and not subsidized by the government or white institutions.

These new institutions will be vertically integrated to create and entire supply chain controlled by black people. Black people must determine industries in which we are the primary consumer. If we are the main customers, we must begin to build black businesses and only buy from our producers. The money can then be used to integrate up the chain. Dr. Anderson began his work on this objective in the fish industry.

The plan in practice

Africa Town was an initiative started by Dr. Claud Anderson to build a black business district in inner city Detroit. He was in charge of the feasibility study to determine if Africa Town would be economically viable. According to an article in the Washington Times, a city council member said that she was “ extremely taken aback” that the study Mr. Anderson delivered appeared to be “a cut-and-paste” from his book and included no information on costs, construction, and investment possibilities. The bottom line is, she said, “There is no plan. There is no land. There is no money.”

The proposal to the city council stipulated that the $40 million dollars used to create Africa Town a district of only black-owned businesses. The measure passed and then was vetoed by Mayor Kilpatrick. The city council then overrode the veto with a 7-2 vote. Many immigrant groups banded together in protest and threatened legal action. The council realized they had made themselves vulnerable to many lawsuits. The council eventually dropped the measure.

Dr. Anderson attempted to establish a vertically integrated fish producer. If the venture were successful, he would have controlled the fish farms, distribution, sales, and restaurants. He was able to establish the Waterland Fish Factory in Hurlock, Md in the mid-2000’s. Fish City Restaurant, a fast-food chain, was also created around that time. An internet search for “Fish City Dr. Claud Anderson” and “Waterland Fish Factory” pulled up only one relevant result. The on the article on the subject explained how the roof on the Waterland Fish Factory caved in killing many fish. The roof had been damaged for a long time before the collapse. The company is no longer in business.

What he has right

Dr. Anderson does have a more advanced, orange meme view of racism. He says in one of his talks, “Racism is not the ability to get along with someone of a different race. Racism is systematically disenfranchisement from the economic system”. Systematic disenfranchisement is a point missed by many people and some leaders. A person’s ability to get along with a diverse group of individuals has no effect on systemic injustice.  

Black business will be a crucial part of black empowerment. There is extensive documentation of systematic disenfranchisement of black workers and black professionals. Black business will allow black people to nurture and train their employees. We can also provide a fair and even playing field for our workers to get promoted. Black business will also serve as a haven to protect black people from racism and discrimination on the job.

What he has wrong

Black business is critical to empowerment, but they will take many generations to build. According to Dr. Anderson himself, black people have less than 2% of the nation’s wealth. Most black businesses go under in less than two years due to lack of capital according to Dr. Anderson himself. He also states that most black businesses have less than two employees.

Dr. Anderson says that black money must bounce 10 to 12 times in the black community. However, he does not take into account there are very few black businesses to bounce that money. The average salary for a black person is around $39,000. Also, most black people live in the major metropolitan areas where the cost of living is very high.  That means most of the money is going to pay rent and utilities. The amount of disposable income is almost non-existent. A white person has an easier time “bouncing” his money because all the businesses in his community in which his people own most of the businesses including his mortgage company. If the white man buys low-cost goods at Walmart, he is bouncing his money in his community. A black man does the same thing to his detriment.

Many people compare black people to various immigrants that come to the country. The immigrant and black comparison are not a fair because many immigrants come to the USA with money and business experience from their countries of origin. The entrepreneurial immigrants start an economy, and the poor immigrants join. There are a few anecdotal stories of immigrants that start with nothing and become wealthy. But these stories are few and far between.   

He also has an unfair indictment of black political leadership as being inept. He says that black people are the only group of people that try to represent everyone. He forgets that black people are only 10% of the population, and a person needs 50% of the vote to win elections. You can’t have an initiative that only help black people because only 10% of the population will support the effort. That is how Affirmative Action got diluted, and other “disenfranchised” groups got included. That is something that will never change. A black politician knows this and builds a coalition accordingly.

Dr. Anderson believes black people living in communities in which they are the majority population will aid in giving black people more political power. He says to the only vote in elections in which you are the majority population. Again at 10% of the population, we will have to huddle into a few large cities. The concentration of the black population will give us power to a city government, but it will not help in state and federal elections. At this point, state elections are the most crucial. The state can override city initiatives and, as we have seen with Obamacare, can stop federal efforts in their state. It will be virtually impossible to get all black people to move into a few cities much less one state. We will always need to build coalitions for any election.

The Africa Town initiative shows how not building a coalition will destroy a project. In “Negro Leadership has failed black people” he claims the black politicians did not fully support him. However, the city council overrode their beloved mayor’s veto. A coalition of non-black immigrants with lawyers stopped the initiative. It is also difficult to believe Anderson’s hateful speech on his radio show “Powernomics” did not help to motivate the immigrant groups.

The fish and leather markets are two areas black people can become economically independent according to Dr. Anderson. Black people provide the bulk of customers in these industries according to Dr. Anderson’s research.  A small capital investment can be used to start a business in one of these sectors. Ideally, they can be an avenue for empowerment.

Unfortunately, in a mature capitalist economy the labor intensive, low capital industries have been outsourced to foreign countries. The difficulty in sustaining a viable business in one of these industries was what Anderson discovered with his fish business. Foreign competitors with an inferior product flood the market with cheap goods and reduce profit margins. His business could not last in spite of producing healthier, fresher fish.

The Foreign competition also hurt skilled worker jobs. Dr. Anderson implores blacks to choose trade school over college. In trade school, a person can make money instead of spending money while they are learning.  Even if a person cannot get a job in a factory they can do skilled work under a sole proprietorship. Trade school is good in theory, but with fewer products manufactured in the USA skilled worker jobs will never employ a lot of people. There is currently a shortage of jobs. However, it will not be sufficient to employ a large percentage of blacks. Even in the market for freelance work, black people will face the same discrimination they face in the corporate marketplace.

Where he fits on the Spiral

He chiefly focuses on economic development making him “goal-centric” or orange meme. I would obviously consider him a separatist and not an integrationist. He also views the racial problem regarding racial competition for resources. Orange value meme individuals see race issues as a subset of economic issues

Some may classify him as “ego-centric” or red value meme. However, I would not agree because for Dr. Anderson wants to reverse integration to make black people more economically viable. Because the disintegration is to aid in the goal of economic empowerment.

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The page above is a personal blog that is not an official Spiral Dynamics Blog. The work of Clare Graves and Don Beck is the basis for this article. For more information on Spiral Dynamics, please go to the website below.
http://www.spiraldynamics.net/dr-don-beck.html

Many people will say that their life is so busy there is no way to take 15 -30 minutes daily for meditation. Fortunately, meditation can be incorporated into any activity using full awareness. So a person can go about their normal day and only change the way they do things. I will give examples of how to incorporate specific meditation methods into your day.

Walking Meditation

Walking meditation is a very common form of meditation. It involves walking with all your attention placed on the awareness on your feet. When you step, feel the weight transfer from the balls of your feet to your heels. Feel the sensation of your pants moving across your legs as you walk. Also, take in the sights and sounds around you. I tend to focus on birds. I will listen to their songs and see how many different types of birds I can spot. If a thought about the past and future arises, bring your attention back to the present moment.

Most people set aside time to do a walking meditation outside, but it can be done inside. Walking from one meeting to the next can be a walking meditation. Walking from the couch to the refrigerator can be a walking meditation. In fact having several one or two-minute walking meditation sessions in a day can have a profound effect.

Driving Meditation

While driving is an excellent time to be aware. It will reduce the possibility of being in an accident and getting lost. To turn driving into a meditation turn the radio off and focus only on the sensations created by the car. Take time to feel the wheel in your hands. Listen to the sound of the engine. Notice all the cars on the road. Feel the bumps in the road vibrate up from the tires. If other people are in the car with you explain what you are doing so, they can stay quiet. Remember if a stray thought arises, let it go gently and return to being acutely aware while driving.

Remember a person does not have to turn their entire car trip into meditation. You can designate a 15 to 30 minute period after leaving work or your home. If one does this, the designated part of their commute to meditation, they will have a better separation between work and home. Many people carry their work problems home and their home problems to work. The bleeding of work and home problems leads to round the clock suffering. If a person can compartmentalize home and work both will serve as a sanctuary. A person will be more focused on home when at home and work when at work. Both your work life and home life will improve.

Cleaning Meditation

Most people hate to clean, but you have to do it.  If you are going to clean, clean with full awareness. Feel all the sensations while cleaning, the water going through the sponge, smell the soap or cleaner, really see the grease dissolve. Again when thoughts come up that do not pertain to cleaning, gently let them go. Totally focus all attention on the task at hand.

I find it is common that people use dishwashing as meditation. If you have a family, usually the dishwashing happens at the end of the day. Most of the family is winding down, and the person doing the dishes is left alone in the kitchen. Washing the dishes, pots, and pans from dinner will usually take 30 minutes. This activity is almost tailor made for meditation.

Conclusion

These exercises will train you to recognize and control your thoughts. This ability will become refined enough for a person do know and control thoughts throughout the day. Capacity to control thoughts will allow a person to reduce the detrimental behavior. Being able to stop negative thoughts will also reduce your stress level. In general meditating will improve your overall quality of life.

Another realization is that you are not in control of your thoughts. No matter how hard you try thoughts will come up and you will choose to disengage them. Therefore, you are bigger than your mind, and your thoughts are not an integral part of you.

After reading this, I hope that you see how easy your life can include meditation. Attempting to add just one of these activities into your day could have a tremendously positive affect. After a few weeks of doing this, you will see a few thoughts repeatedly recur and interrupt your meditation. Most of those thoughts will be negative. There will be another article on this website about shadow work. Shadow work teaches a person how to process these thoughts.

Most of you found this blog after scouring the internet for advice on how to meditate. You have probably studied dozens of methods. It is important to remember that not every method works for everyone. Also, the meditation method only will quiet the mind and allow for deep meditation.  This blog post will help you to sift through the information and concentrate on developing the method that works for you.

When deciding on a meditation method a person must determine their primary avenue for viewing the world. I have determined there are three types of people visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. These three types of people will find specific meditation methods more useful than others. A visual person will have an easier time visualizing during meditation. An auditory person will have an easy time using a chant or mantra. A kinesthetic person will need body scanning or prayer beads to aid in meditation.

To determine what type of person you are, think back to a found or unpleasant memory. When you recall this memory what stands out to you the most, the looks on people’s faces and scenery, the words spoken and music playing, or how you felt emotionally and energetically.  If the faces and scenery stand out most, you are visual. If the words and music stand out the most, you are auditory. If the emotions and energy stand out the most, you are kinesthetic.

A person can also just sit back and notice what is around them. Notice if sites excite you more than sounds. Does the wind against your skin give you chills? If you are close to traffic, do you hear the engine before you see the cars? Do your surroundings fill you with emotion? Do you feel like you need to do something?

Body scans are good for anyone of any faith and are chiefly a kinesthetic method of meditation. A body scan is when a person focuses her attention on one part of the body and move up or down focusing on the sensation of each part of the body. When I do this method, I start at the top of my head and feel all the sensations around my head then move to the neck, chest, stomach, legs, and finally feet. This method works great for a person that chiefly operates from feelings.

If you determine you are primarily visual you will want to do a meditation that involves visualization. The most traditional type of visualization will require a mandala. A mandala is a picture that represents an energy center called a chakra. Mandalas come from Hindu and Yogic tradition. They do not represent a deity, but they are not part of the Judeo-Christian faith. When stray thoughts come up, bring your attention back to the mandala.

If you are a Christian and want to do visualization you can use a religious painting. Before beginning meditation look at a religious painting that is dear to you. After you have committed to memory all the different aspects of the painting, close your eyes and recreate the painting in your mind with vivid detail. The mental recreation of the painting will have the same effect as a mandala. If stray thoughts come up, refocus your attention back to your mental painting.

If you are Atheist and visual, you can choose a painting or photo that calms you down. Take this photo, study and memorize it and recreate it in your mind. When your mind wanders, bring the attention back to your painting or photograph.  

If you are auditory, you can use a chant or mantra. A chant is a short phrase, or single syllable said out loud. A mantra is a short phrase, or single syllable said silently in your head. The most traditional are “Om Mani Padme Hum”. The phrase is a mantra, so old no one knows the origin. Standard one-syllable mantras or “Om” or “Ram”. Both are significant mantras in the Hindu / Yogic tradition.

If you are auditory and Christian, you can use any Bible verse that is less than six syllables. If you prefer a one syllable mantra use “G-d.” An Atheist can use “Love” or “Peace” as a Mantra. Always bring your attention back to the mantra or chant when your mind wonders.

The final method will be the use of prayer beads also known as malas. The use of a mala will be useful for people the fidget or frequently move when attempting to meditate. Follow the mantra or chant advice above but add a mala. Move one bead after saying the mantra once. Feel the bead pass through your fingers. Be diligent in making sure only one bead moves at one time. Do this until you completely cycle through the beads and begin again. A traditional Yogic mala will have 108 beads. There is a Hindu myth that explains why a mala has 108 beads, but I will not get into that here. A rosary will serve the same purpose for a Christian. There are also Muslim prayer beads that have 99 beads broken into 33 bead sections. I use the Muslim beads. The cycling of the mala will cause the thoughts, feelings, and actions to unify. The movement of the beads will calm the mind.

Once the mind is quiet, meditation will begin. Once the mind is calm, stop doing your mantra or visualization. Just sit and let your mind relax. Thoughts will still come up. You will not engage them as you did at the beginning of your sit. The thoughts will begin to come and float by your awareness. These are the states that you will enjoy, and they will motivate you to continue to meditate. Remember meditation is not the method, it is the state the method induces.  Do not be afraid to modify your method or completely change your method. Once you find a method that works, stick with it, continue to cultivate that method.

One thing to not worry about is your body positioning. Many people recommend lotus position. Lotus position is the traditional cross-legged position that you see in all the Buddha statues. This position works if you are used to being in the lotus position and it is comfortable. Lotus position will make most people’s legs fall asleep. The most common meditation position for westerners is to sit in a straight back chair. Make sure your back is straight, feet flat on the floor, and your hands are open with your first finger and thumb touching. The seated position allows for the best circulation of blood and highest amount of comfort. Have your palms face upward to receive energy, have your palms face down for grounding.

In closing, I will add one more piece of advice. Do not worry about how long you meditate. It takes some people 5 minutes to get in a meditative state others 30 minutes. If you give up after 20 minutes, shrug it off and try again tomorrow. Stop judging yourself! You do not have to be good at everything. There will be sits in which you never get into a meditative state there will be some in which you are in a meditative state for a full hour. Have a time goal as just a general guideline or to keep you from giving up too early. Remember your meditation time is the time that you listen to G-d. Just sit and let states come and go.

Most of the information for this post is coming from Tavis Smiley’s book Death of a King. Reading the book, I saw numerous Spiral Dynamics applications.

The book started in 1967. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act had come into existence. He was officially the most prominent black leader in the USA. He had an audience with POTUS Johnson. He was in charge of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was currently touring the country speaking on behalf of Civil Rights.

At this point, Black America, which had been primarily Blue meme before the Civil Rights movement,  began to split into two factions. One mainly in rural areas and the urban ghettos saw an insignificant change in their day to day lives. Men like Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, and Malcolm X began to grab the attention of these people. They wanted revolutionary change by any means necessary. I am classifying them as the new Red Meme. Then you had a middle class, highly educated, and politically knowledgeable black people that see a window of opportunity.  The middle-class black people are the new Orange Meme class.

The book starts with a speech given at 1967 in which Dr. King comes out firmly against the Vietnam War. King’s opposition to the Vietnam War put him at odds with his most powerful ally the POTUS. He also continues to advocate for nonviolence this puts him at odds with the younger and more radical elements of the civil rights movement. Dr. King had been a public figure for more than 15 years at this point. A new generation of leaders was beginning to crop up. Also, the people that he mentored through the movement wanted to get their power, position, and recognition.

I model Dr. King as moving from Orange to Green when he takes a stance against Vietnam. If he were in Orange meme, he would be “goal-centric”. The best thing for his movement would have been to be neutral or in support for the war. If King was neutral or in support of the war, King could keep Johnson on his side, and he could get more legislation through Congress. By coming out against the war, he will have increased surveillance from the government. Also, his moderate white allies will begin to distance themselves from him. He has nothing to gain by being against the war.

On the other hand in the Green Meme coming out against the war makes perfect sense. In the Green Meme black empowerment expands to include all oppressed people. In 1967, Dr. King’s language moved away from Negro problems to the problems of the poor worldwide. He understands that the same mindset terrorizes the people of Vietnam and Mississippi. He sees these issues as interdependent.

The Red Meme: H. Rap Brown and SNCC

“Black folk built America, and if America don’t come around, we’re going to burn America down”.-   H Rap Brown

The quote above sums up the philosophy of SNCC’s new chairman H. Rap Brown. Named “Rap” because of his charisma and ability to rhyme on command, he has been elected to replace Stokely Carmichael. SNCC at this point was on the verge of merging with the Black Panther Party. Brown was elected Minister of Defense of the joint organization in 1968.

I will use the rally in Cambridge, Maryland to illustrate what can happen to the black empowerment movement in the unhealthy red meme. Rap Brown comes on a wows the crowd. The opening quote is from the speech. The other famous quote was about the recent race riots in Detroit and Newark. “This ain’t no riot, brother. This is a rebellion, and we got 400 years of reason to tear this town apart.” The crowd goes crazy with cheers. He leads the crowd down Race St chanting black power slogans. The police open fire on the crowd and Brown is shot in the head but lives. The crowd disperses. Four hours later the Pine St Elementary School is burned down. The charge of inciting a riot is given to Brown receives the charge of inciting a riot.

Death of a King details King’s speech at the National Conference for New Politics, organized by his good friend and colleague Dr. Benjamin Spock. The Conference was a disaster for King. As soon as he leaves his car and walks to the podium, he hears chants and sees signs of “Down with Nonviolence” and “Kill whitey.” During King’s speech, numerous audience members heckle him. One onlooker described Dr. King as “afraid, worried, and tired”.

At the same time, this happened a group of 300 delegates demands that H. Rap Brown be allowed to enter and speak at the Conference. Originally, the purpose was to solidify white and black leftist around a possible presidential bid by Dr. Spock. Allowing Brown to speak would alienate all the white members. Spock being white himself had no reason to allow Brown to speak. The delegates occupy Hyde Park Methodist Church and threaten to burn it down. Cooler heads prevail, and the delegates leave peacefully without Brown speaking.

H.Rap Brown goes on to fight for Civil Rights, but legal trouble plagued Brown. A list of crimes ranging from gun possession to assault haunts Brown for the next 30 years. The charges culminate to his 2000 conviction in the death of a Fulton County, police officer. He is currently serving a life sentence.

The followers of Brown are Red Meme. SNCC had become a radical leftist organization at this point. They were openly talking about self-defense and organized rebellion against the power structure. The group will grow more militant over the years and join the Black Panther Party. The increased militancy led to increased scrutiny from the government.

Graves talked at length about how Green is taken advantage of by Red. However, he did not talk much about Red’s view and treatment of Green. Red view’s Green as weak and without a center. To some extent, this is the correct assessment. If Red feels stronger, Red will overpower Green.  The booing of King off the stage was an example of Red dominance over Green.

Graves got most of his information on the interaction between Red and Green from failed social programs in Chicago in the 1970’s, when Graves was conducting the majority of his research. One of these initiatives was called the Grassroot Independent Voter of Illinois.  A street gang started the organization under false pretenses and used the grant money for criminal operations. The Grassroot Independent Voter of Illinois was a unique phenomenon. The Green Meme component was composed of sympathetic white people that had political power. Red could not dominate these Green Meme individuals because they could bring down the long arm of the law. The Red Meme individuals, in this case, just outsmarted the Green Meme System to get the grant. Red had to show a nominal level of respect for the power of the Green Meme in that situation.

However, if the Red Meme and Green Meme individuals have an equal amount of power the Red Meme will simply dominate and run rough-shot over Green Meme.  Dr. King got booed off the stage as a result of Red Meme dominance. To this day, people that exalt Brown and other leaders in the Red Meme shun Dr. King as too accommodating.

Dr. King had no reason to believe he would be well received at that Conference. King should have known most of the black people at this conference would be from the radical left. As a Green Meme individual, he feels the need to make an effort to reach as many people as possible. Unfortunately, his efforts were unappreciated.

The Blue Meme: Thurgood Marshall and NAACP

Thurgood Marshall was a staunch critic of Dr. Martin Luther King. Marshall felt King never had a fully comprehensive plan. Also, he did not agree with King, a man with a Ph.D., going to jail frequently. Marshall said, “ The SCLC creates a case that the NAACP has to spend money to fight.” When a demonstration results in hundreds of people getting arrested it generates copious amount of legal work. The NAACP picked up many of these cases pro-bono.

It is important to look at Thurgood Marshall’s strategy to desegregate public schools. Everyone remembers the landmark decision that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board in 1954. However, many forget that was the final achievement of numerous cases starting with Murray v. U of Maryland in 1935.  The strategy was to use the 14th amendment’s equality clause to win cases on the state and appellate level to force schools to desegregate.  A low-level court could not overturn a Supreme Court decision directly. So cases were chosen that would not directly challenge Plessy vs. Ferguson.  Once proof existed on a massive scale that Negro and White facilities were not equal, and documentation existed in the courts, there will be enough precedence to argue against Plessy v. Ferguson.

The use of the current legal system against itself is a blue meme empowerment strategy. Marshall picked cases that had an over-qualified plaintiff that was an exemplary citizen that wanted to attend a University from the years of 1935 to 1954. The plaintiff exemplary status forces the judge and jury to concede that the only issue with admittance was race. Once the plaintiff proves they are capability and that the Negro facilities are not equal, they have to award for the defendant.

Dr. King’s civil disobedience was an orange meme strategy, break the law to garner public sympathy and force the legislature to act. When the SCLC cases came to the NAACP, by their very nature, they were unwinnable. The defendant was disobedient to the law. The NAACP could only make a plea, and get reduced sentences. The SCLC cases were a drain on NAACP finances, and there was no clear path to victory, at least at the beginning. The passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights bills proved the strategy.

Many would argue Thurgood Marshall was Orange Meme due to his constitutional philosophy.  His most famous quote is: “The government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and major social transformations to attain the system of constitutional government and its respect for the freedoms and individual rights, we hold as fundamental today”. The quote shows, to some, that he was willing to bend and break rules to get the best results for his people. The philosophy of bending rules would conclude that Thurgood Marshall was Orange Meme. However, these comments came after he was appointed Supreme Court Justice. As a Supreme Court Justice, he is allowed to interpret the constitution in whatever why he sees best. He is still ultimately a Blue Meme operator.

The Orange Meme: Jesse Jackson and Operation Breadbasket

Operation Breadbasket was a department of Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1962. The goal was to systematically determine which local businesses were not hiring black people and organize boycotts to force the business to change its practices. The initiative began in Atlanta. The system was successful, and the SCLC decided to expand the project to Chicago.  A brash seminary student named Jesse Jackson led the Chicago operations.

Jesse Jackson was referred to as a “natural born leader” by Andrew Young. The SCLC had a difficult time expanding to the North. Black Americans in the North gravitated to a more radical speaking style. Dr. King never drew large crowds in the North because people felt he was too accommodating. Jackson was twelve years younger than King and able to relate to the mentality of northern black people. He was able to speak frankly on the issues without being violent. He was the perfect northern spokesman for the SCLC.

The Chicago Operation Breadbasket was the most successful when compared to the OB’s of other cities. Jackson began by targeting five businesses in the dairy industry. Three immediately agreed to hire more black people and the other two capitulated after the boycott. Then OB targeted Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and various grocery stores. Operation Breadbaskets work resulted in 2,000 new jobs and 15 million in income in a little over one year.

SCLC decided to headquarter Operation Breadbasket in Chicago in 1967. Jackson became the leader of the operation and pushed the SCLC to concentrate on this department. Jackson was incredibly ambitious, and this caused the issue with many other SCLC members, including Dr. King. Before Dr. King left for his fatal visit to Memphis, he scolded Jackson for only being concerned with his department and not the good of the organization as a whole. Dr. King extends an invitation for Jackson to come to Memphis as a way to patch the relationship and show good will.

The conflict between Dr. King and Jackson began over the future direction of the SCLC. Dr. King began to move toward building a coalition of disenfranchised and oppressed people all over the world. Jackson and most of the SCLC members wanted to focus on improving black people’s lives here in the United States.

Dr. King’s criticism of the Vietnam War is one of the best illustrations of the conflict over the future of the civil rights movement. By criticizing the war, King would make an enemy out of President Johnson. Johnson had shown sympathy for the movement and signed two civil rights bills. If Johnson and the Democratic party turn their collective backs on the movement, then black people could collectively get left out in the cold. In addition to criticism being a bad political move, it could also cause retaliation from the government in the form of police scrutiny. The last ten years has brought more recognizable progress for the struggle of black people than any other time in history. No reason to rock the boat, especially before an election year. The last and greatest concern was how mainstream America viewed the civil rights movement. If mainstream America sees the movement as un-American, it would only cause more problems when attempting to press for initiatives.

This type of issue is common between Orange and Green Meme individuals. Green Meme wants to live up to a particular ideal no matter what the consequences. Orange wants to be pragmatic and work to realize a specific goal. In a Civil Rights organization, you see the scenario above. It is important to remember that both men have the best interest of black people at heart. Both approaches have positive and negative aspects.

Conclusion

The goal of the article is to show how different value memes create conflict with each other. Hopefully, the reader can better understand which meme best describes his value system. You can then understand the value system of those who disagree with your ideas and methods. No longer will the reader simply write off people as Uncle Toms or classify them as angry and unrealistic. Understand you both are fighting the same war using different methods.

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The page above is a personal blog that is not an official Spiral Dynamics Blog. The work of Clare Graves and Don Beck is the basis for this article. For more information on Spiral Dynamics, please go to the website below.
http://www.spiraldynamics.net/dr-don-beck.html