Leid Stories - Harlem: A Case Study in Plantation Politics - 12/19/12

Not long ago, Harlem was a model of black urban achievement and the epicenter of black political power in the United States. Today, Harlem is but a shadow of its former self in almost every way; Harlemites openly concede it. How did this come to be? Kermit Eady, founder of the Black United Fund, attributes the decline of Harlem, and the Harlems of the United States, to "plantation" politics -- black elected officials and leaders willingly becoming stand-ins for political and economic interests bent on exploiting, and ultimately destroying, these once-thriving communities.