I'm not so sure the problem is the black leaders. It seems to me that the currently dominantly white media just doesn't understand and is a little afraid of the black issue. Phlog actually got me started on this, and starting with what he said, I think I've branched out a little from that and created my own opinion.

It's not uncommon to hear when the mainstream media talk about black culture, they start quoting Russell Simmons. If you've ever seen an interview with this guy, he's no great intellectual. He's a huckster. He knows how to sell hip-hop records and associated paraphanelia (like cell phones with hip-hop ring tones). There's no reason to promote this guy when you are trying to understand blacks in America.


If the mainstream media were to actually engage the black community instead of be afraid of them, there's no doubt in my mind that they could find legitimate black leaders that actually made sense when they spoke. Instead of the non-sense black communities have now, like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Charles Reingold (think that's his name).