I got this from a friend's email. But I have comments to this below.

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Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. They believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:

1. Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the Black Community
3. Commitment to the Black Family
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black community
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11. Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12. Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.

Please read the "Black Value System" again -- only this time, substitute the word "White" for "Black."

If your church had such a "White Value System" Jesse and Al and the NAACP would have 10,000 demonstrators out front in a heartbeat.

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So I read up to this point and started to agree when I realized that both perspectives were flawed in consideration of the problems we face.

Try substituting American instead of white or black ...we are all in this together and white versus black never solved anything then or now.

See it this way:

1. Commitment to God [ But our judicial system and legislative bodies have denigrated reference to God]

2. Commitment to the American Community [ So many immigrants now wish to be Mexicans or Latinos in America and not to be an American]
3. Commitment to the American Family [ How many "whole" families versus how many "single
parent/broken/dysfunctional" families?]
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education [ Americans in our institutions of learning
consistently score less than foreign students]
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence [ Made in USA no longer means good quality and hasn't for thirty years]
6. Adherence to the American Work Ethic [ We have three and four generation families who have all lived entirely based on welfare]
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect [ Too many athletes in sports prove this is not a goal they desire or their fans expect ]
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness" [ Whever this means, middleclass is a very
narrow target and getting slimmer daily]
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the American Community [ Only if the salary/price is right ]
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting American Institutions
[ We're still trying to support outselves while our government supports other nations that
despise us and panders to multinational corporations that bleed us of jobs, skills, and money]
11. Pledge allegiance to all American leadership who espouse and embrace the American Value System [ This is probably the hardest one. Too many of our "leaders" and political organizations
are in a foreign nation's pocket]
12. Personal commitment to embracement of the American Value System. [ Not if they can't shop at Wal-Mart ]

Commitment, dedication and allegiance used so often above, are sadly unused in real life today except towards the self.