Dissent in Black America: Need Not Apply

Shame on XM Radio. More specifically, shame on the station "The Power." Casey Lartigue is a friend who was briefly hosting a show on the satellite radio station, offering a breath of fresh air for what I consider to be a rather stale and disappointing forum- Black America and its ongoing allergy to accepting responsibility for it's own failings.

Please do not get me wrong. This is not to take away from the institutional problems that have occurred in the past. However, I strongly believe that there is no good in dwelling on the past, particularly when it prevents any positive growth. I would extend this line of thinking into everyday problems we have within ourselves, our families, you name it.

Casey was fired on June 25th because he rubbed the wrong people the wrong way. Read his story in the Washington Post here.

Check out his blog here for further information regarding the so-called Memorandum 46.

Finally, here's the comment I posted on Casey's blog once I discovered what happened.

Fascinating read. I am ashamed to say I was not aware of what happened to your show on "The Power" until I happened upon this post. This is a setback, no matter how you slice it.

Sounds like you were hired by XM to falsely advertise its willingness to consider diverse thoughts that question the status quo.

As you rightly point out, Opie & Anthony are free to exercise their, um, different viewpoints, so long as the ratings they pull in can justify them.

It's tough to say how much can be inferred from this episode- but I'm content to settle for (at least) this: Mouthpieces of the black community are not ready for their wakeup call.

If you step back from this, this is all very ironic. Memorandum 46, if believed, is a conspiracy to contain individual thought. Isn't that exactly what your silence has brought about?

I hope the article in the Post alerts many others to what is going on. This is a general dilemma facing all of America, transcending the matter of race:

The Individual is under attack by group think and bullyism. I wish you the best of luck in your struggle to wake up a community of victims bearing self-inflicted wounds.

If you are so sure of what you believe, why be concerned with dissension that challenges your way of thinking? Everyone is so keen on healthy debate until it breaks skin.

Come on, Joe Madison. Be a man and face a challenge without cowering behind your easy answers.