What do you think?
Rate this book
Pick a Better Country: An Unassuming Colored Guy Speaks His Mind About America
Calling himself "The Black Avenger," Ken Hamblin insists that America works for anyone who is willing to seize this country's opportunities, remain diligent, and commit to our traditional values of right and wrong. From Hamblin's perspective, all black Americans today share this opportunity. They are no longer victims, and white people should stop feeling guilty about the past.
Raised on welfare in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Hamblin knows what it's like to grow up poor. And he faced segregation firsthand, as an Army soldier stationed in the South in the days before the civil rights movement. But he refused to settle for poverty, never making it an excuse for failure or assuming it was his lot in life as a black American. And after joining the millions of other Americans who took down "colored" and "white only" signs in the 1960s, today he is demanding to take his place as a fully vested American.
Saying things that "a white person wouldn't get away with," Hamblin criticizes black trash - if there's white trash, then it follows that there can be black trash. The difference is that we've allowed this sick culture of gangsta rap, drugs, gangs, and welfare to be glorified by some as the only "authentic" black American culture; brood mares - what else can you call young black girls who are having babies, more than 90 percent illegitimate, with no means other than welfare to care for them?; black thugs - they go on crime rampages, claiming to be leading a phony social justice crusade on behalf of their race, but the truth is that they have probably snuffed out more of their own than any white racist group; poverty pimps - these black urban politicians devote their entire political careers to delivering nothing but government welfare to their stagnant communities of isolated constituents; quota blacks - they'll always be second-class citizens because emotionally and numerically they fill outmoded affirmative-action minority slots in the workplace; and egg-sucking dog liberals - by furthering the patronizing notion that blacks can't get ahead on their own, these white liberals are sucking the substance out of the promise America holds for its black citizens.
Hamblin concludes that together these groups have fostered the Myth of the Hobbled Black, which, simply put, says that black people still cannot make it in America. But Hamblin is standing up to debunk that myth loudly. He urges all Americans to return to the day when we were grateful for the good fortune of our accident of birth and when we joyously celebrated the successes and rewards brought about by pursuing the American Dream.
Raised on welfare in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Hamblin knows what it's like to grow up poor. And he faced segregation firsthand, as an Army soldier stationed in the South in the days before the civil rights movement. But he refused to settle for poverty, never making it an excuse for failure or assuming it was his lot in life as a black American. And after joining the millions of other Americans who took down "colored" and "white only" signs in the 1960s, today he is demanding to take his place as a fully vested American.
Saying things that "a white person wouldn't get away with," Hamblin criticizes black trash - if there's white trash, then it follows that there can be black trash. The difference is that we've allowed this sick culture of gangsta rap, drugs, gangs, and welfare to be glorified by some as the only "authentic" black American culture; brood mares - what else can you call young black girls who are having babies, more than 90 percent illegitimate, with no means other than welfare to care for them?; black thugs - they go on crime rampages, claiming to be leading a phony social justice crusade on behalf of their race, but the truth is that they have probably snuffed out more of their own than any white racist group; poverty pimps - these black urban politicians devote their entire political careers to delivering nothing but government welfare to their stagnant communities of isolated constituents; quota blacks - they'll always be second-class citizens because emotionally and numerically they fill outmoded affirmative-action minority slots in the workplace; and egg-sucking dog liberals - by furthering the patronizing notion that blacks can't get ahead on their own, these white liberals are sucking the substance out of the promise America holds for its black citizens.
Hamblin concludes that together these groups have fostered the Myth of the Hobbled Black, which, simply put, says that black people still cannot make it in America. But Hamblin is standing up to debunk that myth loudly. He urges all Americans to return to the day when we were grateful for the good fortune of our accident of birth and when we joyously celebrated the successes and rewards brought about by pursuing the American Dream.
- GenresPolitics
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 13, 2025
THE FIRST BOOK BY THE CONTROVERSIAL FORMER RADIO TALK SHOW HOST
Ken Loronzo Hamblin II (born 1940), the self-titled ‘Black Avenger,’ was host of his own nationally syndicated radio show, until he abruptly left in July 2003, due to a contractual dispute with his syndicator. He has remained in private life since then. He also wrote ‘Plain Talk and Common Sense.’
He wrote in the Prologue to this 1996 book, “Pick a better country. I throw that challenge out to people almost every day on my radio show. A while back I talked to a twenty-nine-year-old black trucker who was whining about how bad it was for a black guy out on the American highway… I said, ‘Pick a better country.’ ‘No way,’ he responded without the slightest hesitation. ‘I’m not going anywhere. You’d have to carry me out of here kicking and screaming.’ ‘Then why don’t you get on board and become part of the very thing that you refuse to give up?’ I challenged him. He had no answer, because he is caught in limbo. He’s afraid to get on board as a fully vested American driven by the promise embodied in the American Dream because boisterous African-American community activists are telling him America doesn’t work for guys like him.”
Recalling his childhood and his mother’s reactions, he says, “I also sensed from her that poverty made us different from other people. And so I hated welfare. I thought welfare was dirty, that it cheapened the soul.” (Pg. 36)
He explains, “‘Black trash’ is one of several terms I use that send my critics into a frenzy, claiming that I hate black people. But indulge me, and consider my logic. There is a universal comprehension of what ‘white trash’ means. The label is a disparaging term for a category of poor people considered to be from the wrong side of the socioeconomic tracks. It refers to an unskilled and unemployed class of white America—the illiterate, the poorly housed, the welfare dependent. Poverty is only one facet of white trash. Their distinctive lifestyle and culture are the earmarks that prompt criticism from most people. So it’s obvious, at least to me, that if human trash exists among whites, it also can exist among blacks. And the members of this culture… would tend to be socially inept, possess limited education and few saleable job skills, demonstrate a minimal regard for civilized society and the generally accepted rules of humanity, and have a firmly entrenched attitude that welfare is a God-given right.” (Pg. 52)
He states, “I am angry that these modern-day black thugs have been allowed not just to escalate their adolescent bravado but also to reach out to threaten the peaceful lives of law-abiding citizens. Their sagging pants, bandanna colors, and backward baseball caps---and unfortunately their black skin---make up the stereotype that instills fear among us. Even Jesse Jackson, a career defender of the community, admitted a while back that he was relieved to turn around and see a white instead of a black face when he heard footsteps following him in certain neighborhoods.” (Pg. 63) [The Jackson remark was made at an Operation PUSH meeting in Chicago on November 27, 1993, and was quoted by Mary A. Johnson in the November 29, 1993 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times.] He adds, “The Jesse Jacksons… don’t challenge the community to put a stop to the gangs and their unspeakable behavior. Instead they call for more taxpayer-supported liberal social solutions to ‘save’ these boys.” (Pg. 73)
He asserts, “these are the black teenage girls who are breeding in unspeakable numbers. Some sources indicate that more than 90 percent of their babies are born out of wedlock. If the gang members are the foot soldiers of the black-trash welfare culture, then these young girls are the brood mares whose sole function is to keep replenishing the rank and file, collecting another welfare entitlement for each newborn.” (Pg. 78)
He contends, “the overriding political platform of many black urban politicians, the ones whom I have dubbed poverty pimps… stake their political careers on knowing that [whites] will pay because of his guilt and because of his fear. Poverty pimps … probably should be held accountable for actually creating the myth that black people can’t get ahead in America because white people have kept---and continue to keep---them down.” (Pg. 101)
He acknowledges, “the Detroit Free Press hired me as its first black staff photographer. It was clearly an affirmative action hire. In fact, I may be the only employee ever hired for the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain who was not required to take the daylong battery of written personnel tests.” (Pg. 128) He adds, “There is no question that many blacks like me were thankful in the 1960s and 1970s to get into the mainstream job market, even if it meant using special privileges afforded us as affirmative action hires. But, given the alternative of being hired strictly on the basis of merit, I would never recommend affirmative action as the preferred path to building a career.” (Pg. 130)
He says, “modern-day white liberals … are sucking the substance out of the promise America holds for its black citizens… and the spirit inherent in the American Dream for all people.” (Pg. 142)
He clarifies, “Essentially, Rodney King was just a black speeder who resisted arrest. The tape showed that a clear-cut injustice was perpetrated against him by these particular police officers. But obviously to a great many mainstream white citizens of Los Angeles, King represented a growing black criminal element and a threat to their well-being. This majority of Los Angeles citizens opted to support the police, despite a few bad cops, because apparently after considering the alternative, they believed the cops were their only hope of holding the line between them and the black thugs who were overrunning their city… Contrary to what my detractors propagandized, I never have condoned the King beating.” (Pg. 176-177)
There are many valid points that Hamblin makes (e.g., about street crime), but---as a talk show personality---his deliberately hyperbolic language alienates many who might otherwise agree more often with him.
Ken Loronzo Hamblin II (born 1940), the self-titled ‘Black Avenger,’ was host of his own nationally syndicated radio show, until he abruptly left in July 2003, due to a contractual dispute with his syndicator. He has remained in private life since then. He also wrote ‘Plain Talk and Common Sense.’
He wrote in the Prologue to this 1996 book, “Pick a better country. I throw that challenge out to people almost every day on my radio show. A while back I talked to a twenty-nine-year-old black trucker who was whining about how bad it was for a black guy out on the American highway… I said, ‘Pick a better country.’ ‘No way,’ he responded without the slightest hesitation. ‘I’m not going anywhere. You’d have to carry me out of here kicking and screaming.’ ‘Then why don’t you get on board and become part of the very thing that you refuse to give up?’ I challenged him. He had no answer, because he is caught in limbo. He’s afraid to get on board as a fully vested American driven by the promise embodied in the American Dream because boisterous African-American community activists are telling him America doesn’t work for guys like him.”
Recalling his childhood and his mother’s reactions, he says, “I also sensed from her that poverty made us different from other people. And so I hated welfare. I thought welfare was dirty, that it cheapened the soul.” (Pg. 36)
He explains, “‘Black trash’ is one of several terms I use that send my critics into a frenzy, claiming that I hate black people. But indulge me, and consider my logic. There is a universal comprehension of what ‘white trash’ means. The label is a disparaging term for a category of poor people considered to be from the wrong side of the socioeconomic tracks. It refers to an unskilled and unemployed class of white America—the illiterate, the poorly housed, the welfare dependent. Poverty is only one facet of white trash. Their distinctive lifestyle and culture are the earmarks that prompt criticism from most people. So it’s obvious, at least to me, that if human trash exists among whites, it also can exist among blacks. And the members of this culture… would tend to be socially inept, possess limited education and few saleable job skills, demonstrate a minimal regard for civilized society and the generally accepted rules of humanity, and have a firmly entrenched attitude that welfare is a God-given right.” (Pg. 52)
He states, “I am angry that these modern-day black thugs have been allowed not just to escalate their adolescent bravado but also to reach out to threaten the peaceful lives of law-abiding citizens. Their sagging pants, bandanna colors, and backward baseball caps---and unfortunately their black skin---make up the stereotype that instills fear among us. Even Jesse Jackson, a career defender of the community, admitted a while back that he was relieved to turn around and see a white instead of a black face when he heard footsteps following him in certain neighborhoods.” (Pg. 63) [The Jackson remark was made at an Operation PUSH meeting in Chicago on November 27, 1993, and was quoted by Mary A. Johnson in the November 29, 1993 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times.] He adds, “The Jesse Jacksons… don’t challenge the community to put a stop to the gangs and their unspeakable behavior. Instead they call for more taxpayer-supported liberal social solutions to ‘save’ these boys.” (Pg. 73)
He asserts, “these are the black teenage girls who are breeding in unspeakable numbers. Some sources indicate that more than 90 percent of their babies are born out of wedlock. If the gang members are the foot soldiers of the black-trash welfare culture, then these young girls are the brood mares whose sole function is to keep replenishing the rank and file, collecting another welfare entitlement for each newborn.” (Pg. 78)
He contends, “the overriding political platform of many black urban politicians, the ones whom I have dubbed poverty pimps… stake their political careers on knowing that [whites] will pay because of his guilt and because of his fear. Poverty pimps … probably should be held accountable for actually creating the myth that black people can’t get ahead in America because white people have kept---and continue to keep---them down.” (Pg. 101)
He acknowledges, “the Detroit Free Press hired me as its first black staff photographer. It was clearly an affirmative action hire. In fact, I may be the only employee ever hired for the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain who was not required to take the daylong battery of written personnel tests.” (Pg. 128) He adds, “There is no question that many blacks like me were thankful in the 1960s and 1970s to get into the mainstream job market, even if it meant using special privileges afforded us as affirmative action hires. But, given the alternative of being hired strictly on the basis of merit, I would never recommend affirmative action as the preferred path to building a career.” (Pg. 130)
He says, “modern-day white liberals … are sucking the substance out of the promise America holds for its black citizens… and the spirit inherent in the American Dream for all people.” (Pg. 142)
He clarifies, “Essentially, Rodney King was just a black speeder who resisted arrest. The tape showed that a clear-cut injustice was perpetrated against him by these particular police officers. But obviously to a great many mainstream white citizens of Los Angeles, King represented a growing black criminal element and a threat to their well-being. This majority of Los Angeles citizens opted to support the police, despite a few bad cops, because apparently after considering the alternative, they believed the cops were their only hope of holding the line between them and the black thugs who were overrunning their city… Contrary to what my detractors propagandized, I never have condoned the King beating.” (Pg. 176-177)
There are many valid points that Hamblin makes (e.g., about street crime), but---as a talk show personality---his deliberately hyperbolic language alienates many who might otherwise agree more often with him.
August 27, 2022
I definitely had a conversation with this book.
Ken Hamblin is an outspoken black man, talk radio host, and an accomplished person. He has a tell it like it is style that is sometimes off-putting and other times right on. He believes strongly that America is a good place, that hard work and perseverance can help you achieve, and that no one owes anyone a free ride.
Although I found myself cheering him on at times, the words he uses are provocative and sometimes insulting. He talks about his own race in a derogatory manner, while at the same time wanting each person to hear him and take advantage of education and training to better their life situation.
His book is worth reading and thinking about, yet I am not the target at which he aims his words. Too bad. I was listening.
Ken Hamblin is an outspoken black man, talk radio host, and an accomplished person. He has a tell it like it is style that is sometimes off-putting and other times right on. He believes strongly that America is a good place, that hard work and perseverance can help you achieve, and that no one owes anyone a free ride.
Although I found myself cheering him on at times, the words he uses are provocative and sometimes insulting. He talks about his own race in a derogatory manner, while at the same time wanting each person to hear him and take advantage of education and training to better their life situation.
His book is worth reading and thinking about, yet I am not the target at which he aims his words. Too bad. I was listening.
August 13, 2012
Very sad state of affairs.
Pg 249: "I am the living, breathing proof that America works. I took lemons, and I made lemonade.
When I went into the army, there were signs posted in parts of this country that read 'Colored' and 'White Only.' I didn't like those signs. But instead of talking about going back to Africa, instead of renouncing my citizenship, I said, 'This is my country too.'
I went hand in hand with black Americans, white Americans, Jewish Americans, Christian Americans, northern Americans, and southern Americans, and we took those signs down. I am proud to be a member of the can-do generation that made this a better country."
Ken Hamblin believes in the American Spirit. For that he has been called some of the most vile, demeaning, disgusting names and accused of betraying his race. Very sad.
Pg 249: "I am the living, breathing proof that America works. I took lemons, and I made lemonade.
When I went into the army, there were signs posted in parts of this country that read 'Colored' and 'White Only.' I didn't like those signs. But instead of talking about going back to Africa, instead of renouncing my citizenship, I said, 'This is my country too.'
I went hand in hand with black Americans, white Americans, Jewish Americans, Christian Americans, northern Americans, and southern Americans, and we took those signs down. I am proud to be a member of the can-do generation that made this a better country."
Ken Hamblin believes in the American Spirit. For that he has been called some of the most vile, demeaning, disgusting names and accused of betraying his race. Very sad.
August 13, 2016
To be quite honest, I don't remember much about this book. It was informative, but I thought much of it was picked from Hamblin's Pick A Better Country. I was hoping for a little more insight, or a fresh perspective. His main topics of discussion are The American Dream, Clinton, Newt, Liberals, Race, Affirmative Action, Crime, Cops, Justice, Guns, Capital Punishment, Immigration, and Patriotism. I should probably read this book again to refresh my memory on it.
June 21, 2008
Back in my proto-fascist days when I actually enjoyed listening to right-wing radio talk, I found Ken Hamblin to be one of least astringent of that ilk. This was a mixture of Horatio Alger autobiography and various horror tales of affirmative action gone wrong written by a guy who benefited from that very system. Not badly done, such as it is.
sold
October 19, 2012Given to Mike Maginnis in July 2011.
April 13, 2013
Wow! This book is about people of all races being proud to be American.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews