The Black Problem in America

by Frederick Hoehn,copyright 2015, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1

There have been many cases, recently, of allegations against the police of use of excessive force against blacks.  There have been protests.  There have been riots.  

A recent riot in Baltimore is said to have done 16 million dollars worth of damage, including the destruction and looting of a CVS drugstore.  Later, someone said the damage was more like 40 million dollars.  

I'm not against peaceful protests, if no one's breaking the law.  But if people start throwing bricks or rocks or glass bottles, then that's a criminal offense.

If people start destroying vehicles and private property, they should be arrested.  

Back in about 1906, in the San Francisco earthquake, it was publicly announced that "Looters will be shot."  

As a result, I understand that there wasn't much looting.  

I think we ought to go back to that policy.  

The City of Baltimore has charged six officers with crimes.  We'll have to see how that turns out.  

The protesters are saying that black rights were violated.  They are claiming discrimination against blacks.  

They have signs that say, "Black lives matter."

I don't disagree with that.  I believe that black lives matter.  

Wasn't it a black man, George Washington Carver, who gave us peanut butter?  But that was after he first asked God, "Lord, what is a peanut, and what can be done with it?"

And God showed him like a hundred uses for peanuts.  So that man was a God-fearing man.  

But many of the protesters are not God-fearing people.  

I can tell you this for sure, God is very much against people trying to make their point by engaging in criminal behavior, and those who do so are not only putting themselves on the wrong side of the law, but also, on the wrong side of God, who Himself, will bring judgments against those criminals.  

In his book, God says, "Obey every ordinance of man."  God wants us to obey the laws of the land.  

"The powers that be are ordained by God," the Bible says.  

There was a recent case of a black man who was fatally shot by a Policeman.  I believe the dead man was Mr. Brown.  

People said, "Police brutality."  But if you look at the case, that black man intended serious bodily harm against the Policeman, and probably intended to kill the Cop.  

I believe the young black man was overtaken with pride.  I believe his indignation against the cop was unjustified.  

The youth had probably never been taught that, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov 16:18)

God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hos 4:6)

What you don't know can hurt you.  What you don't know can get you killed.  

When I was a boy, my Dad got up and went to work early.  In the interval before the children had to leave for school, my Mother and us children would sit at the table and read from the Bible.

I don't think they did that in Mr. Brown's family, because if they had, Mr. Brown would probably still be alive.  

The number one success book in the World is the Holy Bible.  A knowledge of the Bible will give you a great advantage.  Lack of that knowledge will put you at a disadvantage.  

Another scripture says, "Anger rests in the bosom of fools."  

We must keep our anger in check.  And especially in dealings with the police, we had better not be displaying anger towards them.  

"He doesn't carry the sword in vain," the Bible says, referring to the authorities.  Of course, these days, the Police have guns and not swords.  

Another thing a Bible upbringing provides is the work ethic.  The Bible teaches that we should be diligent in business.  I believe that scripture applies not just to businessmen.  

If you're a carpenter, be diligent at your carpentry.  If you're a plumber, be diligent at your plumbing.  If you're a farmer, be diligent at your farming.  

Smith Wigglesworth was diligent at his plumbing, and the Lord promoted him to a full-time ministry.    

And some of these trades can be learned by apprenticeship.  

Some trades can be learned by reading books.  The public libraries have lots of books on vocational skills.    

Some trades are taught in community college, or in vocational school.  

Underprivileged students can sometimes qualify for scholarships that will pay their way through the classes being taught.  

Some vocations require a four-year college degree.  

The Manager recently decided to change the lock on the front door of the building where I'm living.  The locksmith company's bill was $150.00  Not too bad for about an hour and a half of work.  

I still believe in the American dream, which says, "If you work hard, you'll do well."  

Someone might be able to find an example of where that didn't seem to work right, but I believe there are lots of examples of where it did work right.  

But beside hard work, it's best to take the Lord as your partner by being a Christian.  

He has promised to bless His people who serve him.  

Another way to learn career skills is in the U.S. military.  I learned my basic Electronics at U.S. Navy Electronics Technician "A" School.  

And when I got out of the Navy, I had some pretty good jobs because of my Navy training.  

But the U.S. military would like to see candidates who are High School graduates that are without criminal records.  

So if a young person gets involved in crime (such as the crimes committed in rioting), he can throw away his chances of job training in the military.  

I believe it was R.G. Letorneau who said, "God is my partner," and did extremely well in the manufacturing of large earth moving equipment.  

Chapter 2

But sometimes blacks will talk themselves out of success.  I've heard the argument, "Well, people kidnapped my ancestors out of Africa, and that's why I can't do well in the United States."  

Yes, I guess that did happen many decades ago, but look at how many successful blacks there are today.  Anchormen on TV, champion athletes, Lawyers.  We have an Afro-American as President, and there's another Afro-American, a retired neurosurgeon running for President.  

So please don't tell me that black people have no chance for success.   

Talking the wrong kind of talk can seriously damage one's future.  

Teachers on this subject are Kenneth E. Hagin, Dr. Norvel Hayes, and Charles Capps.  

A good book on the subject of talking right is Charles Capps' book, "God's Creative Power Will Work for You."

In that book, Capps talks about how wrong talking made him poor, but how when he got his talking straightened out, he became prosperous.  

A book that helped Capps was Kenneth E. Hagin's, "Right and Wrong Thinking."  I think you can find it at www.Rhema.org

Capps has a website at www.CharlesCapps.com

Hayes has a website at www.nhm.cc

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. achieved civil rights advances for black people, and he did it with peaceful marches.  

There is no need for this rioting, and the government could get a lot tougher that it has been.  One reason that it hasn't is that politicians would like to get reelected, and that desire can adversely influence their judgment in choosing what's best for the nation.  

Blacks, and many other people often go through life without a proper foundation.  

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock,  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it didn't fall, because it was founded on a rock.  

And everyone that hears these sayings of mine, and doesn't do them, is like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand,  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and it was a big disaster." (Matt 7:24-27)

The above quotation is from Jesus, the Greatest Teacher who ever walked the face of the earth.  

Notice that there are two categories:  those whose foundation is the sayings of Jesus, and those with sand instead of a foundation.  

The storms come to those of both categories.  But the people with the foundation of Jesus' words come through the storms of life without crashing.  

And where do we get the words of Jesus?  In the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament part of the Bible.  

Now there are those who say that we shouldn't use racial profiling.  

Some would say that just because a man is black doesn't make him more of a suspect than the guy standing next to him who is white.  

But statistics say otherwise.  

Crime statistics show that blacks are committing far more crimes, percentage wise, than their percentage of the population.  

More than a decade ago, I heard that one out of every four black men in California was behind bars.  

And yet, black people didn't account for one fourth of the California population.  

Some would say that just because a man looks middle-eastern and Arabic shouldn't make him more of a terrorist suspect than those who are not.  

Oh, really? But aren't most terrorists today Muslims?  Yes, generally they are.  

Of course, we have some American Muslims, too.  

But if you're looking to spot terrorists, such as at an airport, Arabic, middle-eastern men are more likely to be your terrorists than Caucasians.  

Black Americans do seem to commit more crimes than Caucasians.  I don't say that because I'm Caucasian.  It's just a fact.  

When I was living in San Diego, for a while there seemed to be a shortage of jobs in my usual field of Electronics.  

So I took a temporary job with the County of San Diego Probation Department.  I worked as a Word Processor, typing up reports from Parole and Probation Officers for Superior and Municipal Courts.  

After a while of typing up reports, it was fairly clear that about half of the automobile thefts were committed by Hispanics, although Hispanics didn't account for nearly half of the population there.  

That says something bad about Hispanics.  And when they were arrested, it was found that some of them might have eight different aliases by lying to the police about their names.    

Similarly, when law-enforcement people see that blacks are committing a much higher percentage of the crimes than their percentage of the population, that fact will be remembered.  

Some of the reasons for this are poverty, lack of education, lack of proper foundation, and also falling in with the wrong crowd.  

One scripture is, "Don't go with an angry man, and with a furious man you shall not go, so that you don't learn his ways, and get a snare to your soul."  

You are likely to become an angry person if you hang around with angry people.  Some of it will rub off on you.  

If you hang out with adulterers, you're likely to become an adulterer.  

If you hang out with criminals, you're likely to become a criminal.  

Don't hang out with the wrong people.  

I had a friend in Houston, TX.  And then I was away from Houston for a while.  The next time I spoke with that man, I was surprised at how he had acquired a dirty mouth because of the dirty words he was using.  

I mentioned something about it to him.  

He said, "Oh, I've been spending a lot of time down at the garage.  They talk like that there, so I guess I learned to talk like that."  

Lack of education can be a little puzzling when we live in a nation that provides free education through high school.  

But the opportunity for education must be grasped.  Students must pay attention in class.  Students ought to do their homework.  Please see my book, "Why Johnny Can't Read."

Poverty is certainly a contributing factor in crimes committed by blacks.  But there are many, many examples of people who started in poverty, and worked their way out of poverty.  

But one thing those successful people didn't do--they didn't go around saying that because of the color of their skin, they could never be successful.

Kenneth E. Hagin, Dr. Norvel Hayes, and Charles Capps can tell you that if you go around saying, "I can't be successful," then, YOU WON'T BE SUCCESSFUL.

The Lord told Charles Capps, "I've told my people they can have what they say (Mrk 11:23), but instead, they are saying what they have."  

Talking wrong can put success out of your reach.  The solution:  learn to talk right.  

God said (book of Genesis), "Let us make man in our image."  We humans are made in the image of the God who spoke the worlds into existence.  Therefore, we also have some power to speak things into existence.  

Let's be careful not to speak the wrong things into existence.  Let's speak the right things into existence, with God's help to do so, and let's ask Him for that help.  

Jesus said, "You must be born again." (John chapt 3)

You get born again by obeying Romans 10:9,10--
"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you're saved.  For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made for salvation."  


___James chapter 1
 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.
 2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,
 3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.
 4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.
 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
 7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.
 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
 9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,
 10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.
 11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
 12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,
 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
 15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.
 16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.
 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.
 18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
 19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
 20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.
 21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,
 24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
 25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
 26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.
 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2
 1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
 2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,
 3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"
 4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?
 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
 6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?
 7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?
 8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,
 9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.
 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
 11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.
 12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.
 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.
 14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?
 15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,
 16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?
 17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.
 18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."
 19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.
 20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
 21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?
 22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?
 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."
 24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
 25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
 26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3
 1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.
 2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
 3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.
 4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.
 5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!
 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.
 7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,
 8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
 9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.
 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.
 11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?
 12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.
 13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.
 14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.
 15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
 18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4
 1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?
 2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.
 3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.
 4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.
 5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"
 6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.
 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.
 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.
 11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.
 12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?
 13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"
 14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
 15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."
 16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.
 17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5
 1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.
 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.
 3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.
 4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.
 5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.
 6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.
 7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.
 8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.
 9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.
 10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
 11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
 12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.
 13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.
 14 Is anyone sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,
 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.
 16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.
 17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.
 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
 19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,
 20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.