Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 October 1997 — Page 15

The Muncie Times, October 16,1997 • Page 15

BOOK REVIEW

An unassuming colored guy speaks His Mind About America

Ken Hamblin has been called brash, outrageous, angry, and a scourge. He calls black people who live off of welfare and refuse to work “black trash.” He calls black women on welfare who are having illegitimate babies “brood mares.” He derides the “back-to-Africa” movement, so popular among those who call themselves African-Ameri-cans, because it is insulting to American values and traditions. He calls ghettos “reservations” and “dark towns.” And he has called some politicians who have made attempts to ease the plight of the black poor “egg-sucking dog liberals.” Despite what others say of him, Hamblin does not consider himself to be a right-wing extremist at all, but, in his own

words, “the Black Avenger” and “an American hero.” He says that he is living proof that a black man can make something of himself in America— a reality, he notes, too few of his own race seem to believe. In his controversial and thoughtful book, PICK A BETTER COUNTRY: An Unassuming Colored Guy Speaks His Mind About America (Touchstone Books/A Simon & Schuster Trade Paperback; November 3,1997; $12.00) Hamblin lets loose on his view of the American Dream and why so many poor black Americans only have themselves to blame for not living it. It is Hamblin’s fervent behef that it’s time for blacks to stop believing that they can’t get ahead in this country be-

cause of some racist conspiracy by whites. They aren’t getting ahead, Hamblin argues, because they simply don’t want to. According to Hamblin, the disgruntled blacks, and what he calls “their booster club of white liberals,” have used every excuse possible, none more so than racism, to justify the malaise of poor blacks. It is the liberals, Hamblin contends, who suck the promise out of blacks with their social programs designed to further the myth that blacks still feel rage for the centuries-old persecution of American Negroes— regardless of evidence to the contrary. And this myth, which Hamblin has termed the “Myth of the Hobbled Black,” is at the core of every disadvantaged

black, serving as the basis for their own failure or strife. For Hamblin, and the growing black middle-class, there is plenty of evidence to believe that America works for everyone. No longer victims, black Americans can share the wealth of opportunities America has to offer if they embrace traditional values, work hard, and own up to their own individual responsibilities. Raised on welfare himself in Brooklyn, New York, Hamblin knows the harsh reahties of poverty and he knows firsthand the challenges and obstacles of growing up black in America. From army paratrooper to photographer to filmmaker and now one of the nation’s most popular social commentators, he knew from a very early age

that he would never use poverty as an excuse for not being a success. And he stuck to it. PICK A BETTER COUNTRY is Hamblin’s celebration of what is right with America. Funny, engaging, and most certainly controversial, even those who disagree with Hamblin’s views would be hard-pressed to accept his challenge and few can argue with his desire to see all Americans stand up and be proud of their country. Ken Hamblin has been called many

things, but perhaps the moniker that rings most true in his heart is

patriot. . ,

III

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