What we have witnessed in Milwaukee over the last week is symptomatic of larger problems that people face in so many of America’s inner cities. The events have a familiar ring, but the answer to the problems requires the application of a different remedy. In order to find possible solutions though, we must honestly address the root causes of the endless turmoil that takes place in so many cities around America. Much of the anger that we see on display, and directed against the police in particular is the direct result of black people being fed the narrative that every negative occurrence in their lives is because of the white man who hates them, and wants to systematically subjugate them. This lie has been fed to black people through constant repetition by one political party over decades. Many black people have believed the lie, and what we are observing today are the fruits of the discontent that has led to the perception created by the lie. This shameful, irresponsible act of perpetually stirring discontent in black communities has been used by one political party in order to secure the black vote. Black people in return faithfully continues to reward these politicians who champion themselves as the saviors who will rescue black people from whatever ails them and the supposed injustices they face daily.

This insidious strategy has worked so well that many black people now find themselves in a situation where they believe that they must continue to elect these politicians who promise them the world. These self-appointed saviors never deliver on their promises, but they give black people enough handouts to keep them coming back for more, but what they give is never enough to elevate the black communities they serve out of their desperate circumstances. Black people as a result become stuck in the same situation decade after decade, never making it past the revolving door of their existence. Black people stubbornly refuse to try something different, they elect the same people from the same political party, getting the same results over, and over, and over in again, and under whose leadership they have experienced nothing but misery. They see this as an act of self-preservation because they have been led to believe that everyone else has sinister intentions toward them, and in trying something different their situation will be much worse.

Anyone who takes a dispassionate look at the data, and carefully examines it will see a common thread that runs through it. The poorest cities Across America that have been plagued by the problems of high crime, failing schools, chronic unemployment or underemployment, public corruption and other social problems have almost exclusively been run by leftist politicians who pander to the people, are beholden to teachers unions and implement economic policies that do not work. They attribute all of these problems to nebulous outside forces. They blame the rich for the problems of the poor, they hardly ever take the side of law and order, they constantly malign the police, they portray white people as villains, they blame their failing schools on lack of funding, tthey make promises they cannot keep, and they never look inwardly to solve any of their problems. In the process, the problems in these cities become worse, negatively affecting the people they claim to represent. In all of this, blacks and other minorities are the ones mostly affected, suffering the consequences of all these actions.

The party that runs these cities have pulled off one of the simplest yet ingenious schemes in political history. It is the equivalent of the wolves watching the sheep barn. Black people find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of under privilege in the cities run by leftist Democrats who have free reign to implement the policies they see fit. When their policies fail, they then claim that “the system” is at fault though they run the system.

Black people in these communities in the meanwhile continue to buy in to the conspiracy and blame others for all of their problems. They then vote the same people back into power, and the pattern continues. In this environment, black people can always blame others for their problems. They get to avoid taking responsibility for their actions (including their voting) and their lives. They can then continue to “justifiably” direct their anger at the rich, white people, the police and anyone they have been told is the cause of their problems. They see no contradiction in attacking and opposing the police in their crime ridden neighborhoods, burning down businesses, and attacking innocent people because in their minds, nothing is ever their own fault. It is the system that is to blame.

To be clear, no political party has any magic formula to rid the areas plagued by these problems, and the many challenges that they face. No policy, no matter how effective in theory will work if people are not willing to make the hard choices and the sacrifices that are sometimes necessary to bring about change. In addition, if people are not willing to play a bigger role in their own lives and take responsibility for their actions, things will remain the same. Black people should seriously reconsider their political alliance. Those who truly want to see black people elevate themselves should work harder to reach black communities in helping them to see that there is indeed a better way, that their fellow Americans want them to succeed, and help them acknowledge where they need to make changes in their own lives.