Income means nothing without Wealth - Dr Boyce Watkins

Today, I will speak about the fact that income, being the thing that we are taught to chase as children, is temporary. However, wealth is permanent.

African Americans are not taught to go after wealth. We are instead taught to chase income until we grow old and die. This isn't healthy.

Here are just a few ways that the capitalist system brainwashes black people into chasing income over wealth:

1) The public school system educates us on how to get jobs and not make investments. Children are rewarded for sitting down and being quiet, not for being creative and bold. We are also falsely led to believe that going to college and taking on $200,000 in student loans is the pathway to success. This only pushes millions of black people further into debt, since most black college graduates eventually default on their student loans.

2) Media teaches a heavily materialistic, shallow culture that focuses on shiny objects, lots of cash and ridiculous and childish symbols of gluttonous excess. Rappers unfortunately, are pushed into this trap by record labels, who use them as puppets to encourage perpetual economic immaturity among black people as the black man is presented to the world as a simple-minded, undisciplined buffoon.

3) Family culture raises us to believe that income from a paycheck is the most important thing a person can accomplish. When we talk about money in many of our households, the conversation is simply "If you want money, you need to get a job." Nobody says, "If you want money, you need to start a business." Conversations about ownership of stocks and real estate aren't typically part of the household conversation, which is heavily influenced by the conversations happening in media and the school system.

4) Black people are raised to believe that integration is a symbol of success. The closer you are to white people, the more successful you are. This means that when white organizations give you awards and job titles, you are as proud as a peacock, yelling "Look mama! I made it!" All of this celebritory behavior typically occurs without any consideration for the ethical lines that had to be crossed in order to achieve this so-called "success."

As a result of wanting to be closer to whites, we spend more time building white-owned institutions than we spend building black ones. We crave job titles, college degrees and income over ownership, skills and true wealth. Then, as millions of us watch the alarming statistics stating that black wealth is moving backward, we end up confused, saying "With all this progress in our community, how could this be happening?"

5) Many of our families feed the capitalist machine by discouraging our loved ones from taking the risk of investing or starting a business. When a loved one says "I got a new job!" they are heavily congratulated. When they say, "I started a new business!" they are often ridiculed and not supported. This ruins #blackownedbusinesses and feeds our children to the white supremacist capitalist systems of America.

This is an excerpt to my forthcoming book, "The 10 commandments of Black Economic Power." You can learn more about this topic and about Black Wealth by visiting http://BoyceWatkins.com