On December 6, 2014, I posted an article on my Face Book page, written by Republican political consultant and syndicated columnist Raynard Jackson, entitled “Blacks Have Declared War On Our Own People”.

I totally agreed with Raynard’s position that everything that happens to the Black community is not the result of racism and that Ferguson, Missouri didn’t just happen, it was a breeding ground.

Further he stated that neither the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) nor the vocal civil rights advocates like Al Sharpton and Michael Eric Dyson or the protestors around the country yelling “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” will acknowledge that the unarmed Black teen Michael Brown was a thug and had just finished robbing a local store before he was confronted by white Officer Darren Wilson.

But the quote that Raynard used was so on point. It was Proverbs 4:7 “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

Understanding is what I pray that people will get when they read my political writings.  Some do.  But they are mostly conservatives.

One man, who loves to comment on my Face Book page, hoped that God would not deny me the understanding to think the way he does. That was mild considering what one woman believed I should do. For this protester who said she marched in the sixties with Dr. King, I needed to “stop my ignorance”, quit “being angry” and “read Moses and Ghandi”.

I love when people assume I’m ignorant about Blacks and our struggles. She even talked about seeing slaves, which would make her older than my 94 year old mother, who’s now writing about her grandfather, my great grandfather, being the son of a run-away slave boy.

Most of those who send me such ugly comments were in school when I was teaching communication skills to ex-felons (some convicted of violent crimes like murder) so they could get jobs.

Many were looking for jobs when I helped the Urban League integrate corporate America, preparing Blacks with degrees how to deal with whites so they could achieve the American dream.

Others hung out at happy hour while I sat in board meetings and committee meetings and task force meetings so I could help our community get access to all the mental health, drug and alcohol, rape and domestic violence treatment and educational support they needed.

Where were they when I helped create organizations for Black business owners in construction, architectural and engineering or helped save the Black Set-Aside program for Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida?

They have no idea that I was appointed by then-Governor Bob Graham and got more Black judges appointed to the County and Circuit Court benches in four years than had been appointed in the history of Miami-Dade County.

What were they doing when I ran campaigns that helped Blacks get elected or whites and Hispanics who would be empathetic to our community or when I raised money to send Black kids to college?

These people don’t know me, but assume I know nothing since I don’t think marching in protest for people who were killed while resisting arrest for crimes they didn’t have to commit is not the right thing to do.

Most Blacks don’t seem to understand that they cannot compare the protests of today with the protests of the sixties.  The civil rights movement was started because of denial of basic human rights for Blacks who wanted nothing more than to sit down on a bus or eat at a lunch counter like whites did.

These protesters have no sense of fighting for basic rights.  They focus only on what they want to believe is racism without knowing what racism really is.  Racism had nothing to do with Michael Brown getting shot or Eric Garner dying from a choke hold. But because the cops were white and the perpetrators were Black, the race baiters like Al Sharpton made it about racism.

And other Blacks and young white liberals got played.  And those of us who see through the smoke and mirrors get beat up for understanding what’s going on and speaking on it.

I fought with civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker against the gangsta rap industry, knowing it would destroy respect for women, family and authority. Thirty-five years later, the damage has been done and Black folk still don’t understand.

Barbara Howard is a political consultant, radio host and commentator and motivational speaker. She is Florida State chairwoman for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Trade & Travel goodwill ambassador to Kenya. She may be reached at bhoward11@bellsouth.net.