Southern Comfort

We can't take the dismal performance of the Manihiki tribe on the hit TV show 'Survivor, Cook Islands' as representative of the African American community. The dominance of Randal on the NBC show 'The Apprentice' makes that clear. But the Manihiki tribe showing is much more common than that of the Randal's in the African American community. The Reason. Racism; not its practice, but the belief in it. The silence in the media on the Survivor 'experiment' is systematic of the problem.
In the professional world one of the first hurdles to achieve success is to acquire a comfort level, with the people you deal with and one's own abilities. In the case of one's abilities it comes from facing, sometimes severe, criticism in one's work. When I was a small child, I went to visit the home of one of my classmates. His grandmother was home a very strict, German speaking woman who really made me feel uncomfortable, though three generations earlier my great grandfather would have run a very similar house. Overcoming these discomfort is part of life and becoming one with the larger community. It opens opportunity and stimulates creativity. Far too often in the African; wait I never use that word when I'm speaking. Far too often in the Black community this is called racism. Not that racism isn't very real, it just is no longer prominent in this nation.
Africa had been isolated to a much greater extent than Europe or Asia. No migration of the nations, no invading armies sweeping back and forth across the Asian steps. Trading routes were much more piecemeal on the African continent. The cultural differences are great and black culture in the U.S. has been very resilient. A attribute to be admired in most cases. In fact the influence of black culture is very strong in the U.S. Music and not to mention that hip 70's counter culture have made a powerful influence on the greater culture. If all the youth of black America were raised in stable two parent families, lost black time and achieved a comfort level with the larger society the black community would dominate this nation.
Unfortunately many in our society have become dependent on the stigma of racism. Old habits are hard to break, but until the black community throws off this security blanket we'll see many more Manihiki tribes. If Black people understood how disappointed ( I've been too well conditioned to say disgusted; that would be racist) the white community is at seeing the vilification of prominent blacks in our society, including Condoleezza Rice, and the lack of outrage at Clinton becoming the 'first black President' real understanding could begin.
This pseudo racism, just as real racism, hurts everyone. The white Rarotonga tribe was no shining example. The problem is a large portion of our population is comfortable with the way things are.