Learned Helplessness

Subtitled The Poison Pill Threat to Black America, this book examines a pattern of self-defeating conduct among Black men in the United States. Its central claim is that many of them, and the wider Black community, have come to see themselves as victims of a white society, and that this belief is the main barrier to adapting to and prospering within today's capitalist economy. Because this outlook runs so deep, the author argues, it hides the plain truth that discipline, sacrifice and hard work are the only real routes out of their predicament. Blame, self-pity and destructive habits offer no way forward.

The author contends that this helplessness, once learned and absorbed into the collective mind, undermines any broad effort by Black Americans to thrive as an independent, self-sufficient and competitive subculture within the nation.

Colonel Vaughan Witten, Ph.D., grew up as the son of a West Virginia coal miner. He retired from the Air Force as a Command Chief Master Sergeant and has written an autobiography about his travels around the world and his social experiences, a book currently read in 134 countries. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from North Carolina State University. Through this work he hopes to reach both Black Americans and the general public with his view that a fundamental shift toward a stronger work ethic, discipline, order and responsible conduct is essential for Black success in America.