"if white man lets you learn to read..."etc. and what an unenviable situation it is to be on the less powerful side of that relationship ... well, that in itself is the problem.

It's a good point. I thought about replacing "lets" and "allows" with "doesn't stop you from." I'm not sure the political power dynamic today supports the connotation you see, but the words certainly allow the observation you make.

I do agree that the complaints are legitimate. My concern is whether the best use of Black energy is as suggested in the article or in repairing the damage from inside the community.

I don't believe that awfulness is inherent in "Western Civilization," whether or not the surviving players in it behave awfully and still do behave like human beings in a competitive universe. There is no better model out there as far as I can see.