As an American who happens to be black, I wish to share my concerns regarding Black History Month.

Racism, like every other sin, will exist until Jesus returns.  However, there is not enough racism to stop anyone from achieving his American dream.  Denying this truth is a despicable self-serving political tactic of Democrats.  Democrats have insidiously discouraged blacks for decades, deceiving them into believing that America is a hellhole of racism.  Therefore, voting for Democrats is blacks' only hope of keeping evil white racist America at bay.

Irrefutably, America is the greatest land of opportunity on the planet for all who choose to pursue their dreams, regardless of skin color or sex.  Right personal choices produce positive results.

Democrats and fake news media do not view Black History Month as an opportunity to celebrate black achievements.  Instead, they exploit the holiday with old racial injustices experienced by few blacks alive today.  Their evil purpose is to make young blacks who have never experienced an ounce of racism hate our country, hate whites, and continue voting for Democrats to save them.

This great Democrat deception continues to devastate black communities.  Cities like Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and Baltimore, controlled by Democrats for decades, are plagued with high black poverty and addictive government dependency, high black school dropouts, high black fatherless households, high black incarceration, and high black-on-black homicides.

Democrats are outraged whenever anyone suggests that blacks take responsibility for their success or failure.  According to Democrats and their media buddies, all black failure is the result of "white privilege."

Blacks who achieved extraordinary success by making right choices and taking personal responsibility are despised by Democrats.  Blacks like Dr. Ben Carson and Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas who achieved success the old-fashioned way, by earning it, are excoriated, called Uncle Tom traitors to their race.

My dream is for black history to be taught in a more balanced way.  Teach the injustices endured by blacks.  But also teach about the courageous whites and blacks who worked together to right America's wrongs.  Blacks are only 12% of the population.  Therefore, blacks could not have achieved freedom and success without help from good white people.  And yet, Democrats and fake news media despicably want you to believe that all black progress was made in spite of white America's 24/7 efforts to stop blacks.  I know blacks who absurdly believe that the black vote won Obama the presidency because most whites would never vote for a black man.

Democrats and fake news say that if you are black and do not hate your country and harbor resentment against white America, there is something seriously wrong with you.  You're suffering from Stockholm syndrome. 

Black History Month should be about showcasing exceptional blacks, inspiring black youths to take personal responsibility and be all they can be.

Joe Ford is one such black role model.  Joe Ford was a black pioneer in the field of graphic design and advertising.  He was the first black art director hired at W.B. Doner, a prestigious Baltimore advertising agency.  Joe may have been the first black art director at an ad agency in the country.  Joe's story is remarkable and inspiring, from street thug to advertising art director.

I first met Joe in the 1970s, when I was hired part-time at Joe Canale Signs in Baltimore while I was a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art.  Joe Canale was the Italian business owner with the personality of Fezziwig in Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Joe Ford worked at Canale signs as a sign-painter.  He was also a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art.  I was the naïve kid from Pumphrey, a black suburban community.  Immediately, Joe Ford became my older Baltimore city streetwise brother.

Joe was raised by his grandmother in a rough area of east Baltimore.  As a teen, Joe spent a year in jail.  Lindy Jordan, a black teacher at Carver High School, mentored and taught Joe the trade of sign-painting.

Joe became laser-focused on becoming a professional graphic designer.  Joe worked his way through the Maryland Institute College of Art, paying for the expensive tuition, books, and art supplies.  Joe drove a school bus while earning his master's degree.

In the 1970s, Joe was not the most artistically gifted in our small group of black artists.  However, Joe was by far the most laser-focused on his goal.  Most in our group of black artists believed Democrats' lie that whites would try to block them from success at every turn.  Joe ignored this lie.

Joe said he simply pursued his dream and would deal with racist opposition when it arrived.  It never did.  Joe did experience the bigotry of lower expectations from his sympathetic white female professors.

At W.B. Doner Advertising Agency, Joe Ford handled multi-million-dollar ad campaigns.  He later became a professor at Morgan State University and the Maryland Institute College of Art.  Joe Ford's transformation from a street thug to focusing on his dreams opened the door for many blacks to follow in the path he cleared in the field of graphic design and advertising.

Joe Ford, a black role model and pioneer.  Happy Black History Month.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American
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