A Report from the White Community

Status
Not open for further replies.
bpmartyr

bpmartyr

Snuggle Club™ mascot
Awards
1
  • Established
A Report from the White Community
By Jerry Agar
Thursday, March 27, 2008

I did not spend a moment today thinking about how to keep the black man down. Just another day.

I can’t remember ever getting a memo about, or an invitation to a strategy meeting on keeping the corporation white.

So stop telling me everything is my fault.

Don’t get me wrong. White people are great organizers. Look at all those St. Paddy’s Day events we recently held. We just are not organizing against blacks.

I am very aware of how well thought-out the vicious racism of the past was and that it was organized by white people. Some of them were judges, and politicians and business leaders; the so-called respectable people of the community. I would apologize for that, but I wasn’t there. That makes it no less a crime.

I am aware that racism still exists. It is a sad part of the human condition. But it is no longer institutional in America and to the extent it exists, it runs both ways.

But as we have heard over and over again lately from the pastor of an 8,000 member church, one of his 20-year parishioners who is running for president, and all of their media enablers, the problems in the black community today are still the fault of us white people. White guys in particular.

In the Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell quotes a spokeswoman for Rev. Wright, Iva Carruthers, commenting on Obama’s speech. “The sad thing about this is, the people who really need to understand the message – white males – I don’t know if it will have any effect.”

Barack Obama calls for the white community to understand that “investing in the health, welfare and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.”

How much larger does he think America’s investment in those areas can get? In real dollars education spending is multiples of what it was four decades ago and test scores have hardly changed. If we have failed perhaps it is time for less government, the prevailing failing authority. Let’s call onto the carpet the people responsible. Is it those evil, suburban white guys again? Well, shame on them – no wait – it turns out that practically all of our big cities are run by liberal Democrats, many of them black. Education is dominated by a teachers union run by liberals, not white Republicans.

Why is Obama willing to let salvation lie in the hands of white people? Would he not be more useful preaching a message of black pride, black ability and self reliance, rather than one of waiting for someone else to love you and hoping, in vain, that the government will? If you think you will succeed, you probably will. If you think you will fail, you undoubtedly will.

The single most important contributing factor to multi-generational poverty is the fact that 70 percent of black children are born to single mothers. Are white guys getting these ladies pregnant and then abandoning mother and child? If so, shame on those white guys. Something should be done. Are black guys the love ‘em and leave ‘em culprits? Yes? Well, shame on them then and leave the white guys out of it. Shame on the women as well.

Too high a percentage of young black men are in prison. Are the courts unfair? We should fix that if it is true, but as Bill Cosby has pointed out, you can argue that a black man getting a tougher sentence for dealing crack than a white guy does for selling cocaine is unfair, or you could stop dealing crack! That’ll fool them. They won’t be able to lock you up.

Are white people putting guns to the heads of black men and forcing them to join gangs, rob stores and deal drugs? No? Then leave us out of it.

Barack Obama referred to a Constitution "stained by this nation's original sin of slavery." How short is the list of nations that never had slavery? Could we just once stop to celebrate the fact that what makes us unique as a nation in terms of slavery is not that we had it, but that America was one of the first nations on earth to outlaw the practice? A lot of white guys died to bring that about. No credit?

The resentment, defeatism and hate that too many black parents and leaders teach their children is so deep that Obama’s preacher, Rev. Wright actually said that Obama is “not a rich man.” He says this why? Is it his knee-jerk evaluation of all black people? Is it the internalized self-evaluation of all black people?

Obama is a United States Senator who lives in a mansion. He is a graduate of Harvard Law. Ditto Mrs. Obama, who lately was earning over $300,000 a year. He has two best-selling books. Chicago Magazine reports that Obama made $737,690 last year (add that to his wife’s income.) That is way more than Democrats are talking about when they scream for more taxes on “the rich.” The Obama’s are the very picture of wealth, power and privilege in America. Did they earn it? Yes they did. Good for them.

I had hope - there it is - that while I could not agree with Obama's socialist policies, he would at least move race relations ahead. Now I know he will not.

I don't think there are simple answers to why blacks still struggle, but Wright's it's-whitey's-fault approach is as simple as they come, and most certainly part of the problem. It's well-known now that you can't solve a problem until you admit it exists. When the rest of America heard what was being preached at Obama's church, they -- to put it mildly -- saw a problem.

How often does it happen that a black person who has done well enough to be interviewed about success gives all the credit to the person who raised him or her? Almost every time. What do they mention particularly? That their parent(s) or grandparent(s) emphasized that life isn’t fair and that they were expected to achieve anyway. Condoleezza Rice says of her parents, "they refused to allow the limits and injustices of their time to limit our horizons." Why isn’t this catching on?

You want to know why white kids succeed? Their parents tell them to. Their parents expect them to. If the school doesn’t provide a book they send their child to the library. You should try the library, it’s free. While the children are doing their lessons the adults could wander over to the self-help section and read “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” or something like it. There are plenty of choices. (But not “The Secret,” that’s another get-something-for-nothing book.)

You could point out that while I am busy absolving myself of the problems in the black community I am not doing anything to help. Perhaps that is true, but I didn’t help the Asian children either. How are they doing?
 
Red Dog

Red Dog

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Agreed -- Always nice to know there are other reasonable, respectable, and logical people who think just like me!
 
ManBeast

ManBeast

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Great post, very well written.

MB
 
bioman

bioman

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Makes some decent points but on the whole is a bit condescending and prone to over generalizing.

"...but that America was one of the first nations on earth to outlaw the practice?"

Not really close to the first. Also, if you asked a soldier on either side of the Civil War what they were fighting for..next to none would say "To end (or keep) slavery.".


"You want to know why white kids succeed?"

This is kind of a stupid question/statement on the whole. Do we really all succeed? Been to a trailer park lately? If you really want to get racial about which kids succeed, look at Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Viet Namese kids in terms of what the author states about "expected to succeed". In those cultures it's a bit more of a universal paradigm..but then to generalize about any culture would be unwise.

I'm white..not much was expected of me growing up, yet I still got where I wanted to be. I grew up middle class but I can see that if I grew up in a crime ridden area and struggled for basic survival that my attitude would have been totally different. Just food for thought.

Guys like Rev Wright are reactionary products of their generation. In my own family I have white racist products of their own generations. Though I may not agree with these family members, I don't disown them for their beliefs nor do I believe that I should be expected to. Even if Obama were to disown everyone from his past, it would not be enough for his critics..so why should he bother?
 
ManBeast

ManBeast

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I agree, there are a lot of poor down-and-out white people around here (mid-missouri), lots of racism in all directions. I spent 2 years working in the payday/title loan industry, and I met as many racist non-white people as I did racist white people. We (meaning all the people in the world) need to recognize that racism is not just a whites hating non-whites problem, it is an anyone problem (meaning that anyone can be racist).

MB
 
goslamacamel

goslamacamel

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
It's not necessarily a problem, it's a human tendency. However sad or disappointing it is.

If you put a big mix of races together, the general tendency will be for each individual to seek others who are most like them, and usually this would mean skin color and appearance for this case.

If you put a bunch of ethnically identical people together, the general tendency will be for individuals to congregate based on secondary factors from appearance, i.e., behavior clothing or interests.

Smart whites/blacks/asians with dumb whites/blacks/asians will separate from eachother based on intelligence before they separate based on appearance.

This problem will not go away, it's a tendency of humans and pretty much all species to assimilate towards those alike to them unless they're trained otherwise (like dogs who are kept in contact exclusively with humans).
 
Dadof2

Dadof2

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
Makes some decent points but on the whole is a bit condescending and prone to over generalizing.

"...but that America was one of the first nations on earth to outlaw the practice?"

Not really close to the first. Also, if you asked a soldier on either side of the Civil War what they were fighting for..next to none would say "To end (or keep) slavery.".


"You want to know why white kids succeed?"

This is kind of a stupid question/statement on the whole. Do we really all succeed? Been to a trailer park lately? If you really want to get racial about which kids succeed, look at Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Viet Namese kids in terms of what the author states about "expected to succeed". In those cultures it's a bit more of a universal paradigm..but then to generalize about any culture would be unwise.

I'm white..not much was expected of me growing up, yet I still got where I wanted to be. I grew up middle class but I can see that if I grew up in a crime ridden area and struggled for basic survival that my attitude would have been totally different. Just food for thought.

Guys like Rev Wright are reactionary products of their generation. In my own family I have white racist products of their own generations. Though I may not agree with these family members, I don't disown them for their beliefs nor do I believe that I should be expected to. Even if Obama were to disown everyone from his past, it would not be enough for his critics..so why should he bother?
The South was fighting for States Rights. The North didn't really care about the slaves, other than the fact that they wouldn't mind having them to work in their factories (which they did, and they spent their pay in something called "The Company Store" and they lived on location at the factory. Its not slavery, but close). Grant owned slaves, and there were several other Union Generals who were rediculously racist.

The slavery issue was a slogan that was used to hide the real agenda, the Feds stomping all over the rights of States.

That is not to say that things would have turned out better if the South was allowed to leave, but the motives of the North was about something much larger than slavery.

I am of the personal opinion that you reap what you sow, and that the Civil War and current social issues are all a result of the evils of Colonial Slavery.
 

teribleturtle

Member
Awards
0
Makes some decent points but on the whole is a bit condescending and prone to over generalizing.

"...but that America was one of the first nations on earth to outlaw the practice?"

Not really close to the first. Also, if you asked a soldier on either side of the Civil War what they were fighting for..next to none would say "To end (or keep) slavery.".


"You want to know why white kids succeed?"

This is kind of a stupid question/statement on the whole. Do we really all succeed? Been to a trailer park lately? If you really want to get racial about which kids succeed, look at Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Viet Namese kids in terms of what the author states about "expected to succeed". In those cultures it's a bit more of a universal paradigm..but then to generalize about any culture would be unwise.

I'm white..not much was expected of me growing up, yet I still got where I wanted to be. I grew up middle class but I can see that if I grew up in a crime ridden area and struggled for basic survival that my attitude would have been totally different. Just food for thought.

Guys like Rev Wright are reactionary products of their generation. In my own family I have white racist products of their own generations. Though I may not agree with these family members, I don't disown them for their beliefs nor do I believe that I should be expected to. Even if Obama were to disown everyone from his past, it would not be enough for his critics..so why should he bother?
I think the point you make on white trailer parks kids success or lack there of point is really pointing at the fact that most of our social ill's also tied to socio/economic factors. Why do trailer park whites, S. Boston Irish kids, Blacks, Latino's, S. East Asians, do poorly as opposed to others? Well we should examine who the successful others are, if the successful ones are upper middle class White kids, then these kids by birth have an inherent advantage in terms of economic capital and cultural capital that other kids dont have. It is often mentioned by Sociologists ( Pierre Bourdeaux) that social circumstances often perpetuate themselves, for instance a upper middle class kid comes from an educated family of professionals, intellectuals, etc. often the family reinforces consciously and subconsciously what expectations are, often the child fulfills the expectations. The same can be said for the; trailer park, South Boston, or inner city black/latino kids, who come from homes where resources are low, both social and economic and education is almost an alien concept. Often the child fulfills those expectations and continues to perpetuate the same circumstances he was raised in.

This is not to say that success isnt possible I suppose I am an example ( Latino, lower class upbringing, graduating from college this semester, attending grad school next fall, PhD aspirations ) but it is simply the case that it is much more difficult for these individuals to succeed. I have mentioned it before and will mention it again, that we as a society and as Americans should really examine and question this notion of a meritocracy upon which this nation was founded on. I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors as I was simply trying to be quick on this post. Dialogue and debate is welcome with the intent on pursuing a higher understanding and not simply antagonism.
 
Dadof2

Dadof2

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
I think the point you make on white trailer parks kids success or lack there of point is really pointing at the fact that most of our social ill's also tied to socio/economic factors. Why do trailer park whites, S. Boston Irish kids, Blacks, Latino's, S. East Asians, do poorly as opposed to others? Well we should examine who the successful others are, if the successful ones are upper middle class White kids, then these kids by birth have an inherent advantage in terms of economic capital and cultural capital that other kids dont have. It is often mentioned by Sociologists ( Pierre Bourdeaux) that social circumstances often perpetuate themselves, for instance a upper middle class kid comes from an educated family of professionals, intellectuals, etc. often the family reinforces consciously and subconsciously what expectations are, often the child fulfills the expectations. The same can be said for the; trailer park, South Boston, or inner city black/latino kids, who come from homes where resources are low, both social and economic and education is almost an alien concept. Often the child fulfills those expectations and continues to perpetuate the same circumstances he was raised in.

This is not to say that success isnt possible I suppose I am an example ( Latino, lower class upbringing, graduating from college this semester, attending grad school next fall, PhD aspirations ) but it is simply the case that it is much more difficult for these individuals to succeed. I have mentioned it before and will mention it again, that we as a society and as Americans should really examine and question this notion of a meritocracy upon which this nation was founded on. I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors as I was simply trying to be quick on this post. Dialogue and debate is welcome with the intent on pursuing a higher understanding and not simply antagonism.
I think that there is definately a correlation there, but what is the answer? It isn't money, we can't just throw money at the lower classes and hope that it improves the situation. This has been tried in this country since LBJ, and it has actually made the problem worse.

The lower classes are trapped not necessarily because of a lack of resources, but because of a lack of anything resembling a functional family (in most cases) and a lack of parenting. Poorly raised kids become poor parents. Not only is it advantageous to have two parents in a home, but having two incomes is a great way to stave off poverty (unfortunately our welfare policies actually encourage single parent families).

These middle and upper middle kids who go on to succeed do so not just because of their financial resources, but because of their family unit. They go on to not only practice what they learned from their parents, but they go on to raise healthy children and perpetuate the cycle.
 
Red Dog

Red Dog

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
So I have an example very relevant to this article that I think some of you guys might find interesting..

In one sociology recitation I used to be in, every kid had to come up with a question regarding racial discrimination and poll the class (it could literally be about anything as long as it dealt with race)..

Anyways, my question was, "Consider a situation in which you were moving to work in a new city, and you've found two houses in equally distant suburbs that fit your needs perfectly and equally. One is a neighborhood with a homogenous race population (of your own race), and the other has a ~50% population of your own race -- which one would you preferto live in?

Out of 30 people, 28 said they would rather live in the homogenous population -- one said she had no preference, and a second said she would prefer to live in the mixed population (both were black females) -- pretty one-sided.

So, are you a racist if you prefer to live with others of your own race? While nobody in the class favored forced segregation or racial superiority, nearly everybody preferred living with their own race.

What do you guys think? Is that wrong? Which would you choose? I got to ask them another very similar question but I'll save that for later..
 
Dadof2

Dadof2

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
So I have an example very relevant to this article that I think some of you guys might find interesting..

In one sociology recitation I used to be in, every kid had to come up with a question regarding racial discrimination and poll the class (it could literally be about anything as long as it dealt with race)..

Anyways, my question was, "Consider a situation in which you were moving to work in a new city, and you've found two houses in equally distant suburbs that fit your needs perfectly and equally. One is a neighborhood with a homogenous race population (of your own race), and the other has a ~50% population of your own race -- which one would you preferto live in?

Out of 30 people, 28 said they would rather live in the homogenous population -- one said she had no preference, and a second said she would prefer to live in the mixed population (both were black females) -- pretty one-sided.

So, are you a racist if you prefer to live with others of your own race? While nobody in the class favored forced segregation or racial superiority, nearly everybody preferred living with their own race.

What do you guys think? Is that wrong? Which would you choose? I got to ask them another very similar question but I'll save that for later..
No I don't believe that wanting to live among your own kind is racism. I believe that it is probably hardwired right into our DNA(tribalism and all), and that it is completely normal.

What is abnormal is our current fascination with multiculturalism, but that is fodder for another thread.
 
goslamacamel

goslamacamel

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
No I don't believe that wanting to live among your own kind is racism. I believe that it is probably hardwired right into our DNA(tribalism and all), and that it is completely normal.

What is abnormal is our current fascination with multiculturalism, but that is fodder for another thread.
I agree the multiculturalism fanatics are an anomaly given the history of the world. I think the biggest disappointment of America today is how rapidly races are interbreeding. It's sad because when people of two ethnicities marry, the offspring aren't magnificent blends of two cultures - they lose both cultures. The melting pot is really just evaporating rich cultures into one big boring media-mall-music-driven mass.
 
firecross

firecross

Board Supporter
Awards
0
Something like 1% of the population owned slaves, so that wasn't a big issue for most people. Besides, all other nations that had slaves were able to end slavery without war. Even Lincoln was pursuing repatriation plans.

You could say the South saw the North as aggressors trying to take advantage of their relations and imposing on their rights. Seeing no good option for resolution, the South tried to test the limits of the free union by asking to withdraw from it. Apparently there was not enough freedom to allow such choices so the South had to be attacked and destroyed to keep it from leaving on its own free will.

The Civil War could have limited its impact when it ended, but the victorious North set about punishing the South, uprooting its culture, and trying to destroy it from within. Extreme actions that leave a trail of destruction take a long time to forget, and unfortunately a strong impression was made that outlasted the memories of war.
 
SilentBob187

SilentBob187

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
In the words of my friend in a rather lucid, albeit drunken, moment: "Everybody's people."
 
goslamacamel

goslamacamel

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
In the words of my friend in a rather lucid, albeit drunken, moment: "Everybody's people."
Dogs is dogs. But how recently have certain breeds been bred? Perhaps the last couple hundred years would be a conservative guess for a vast number of breeds. How recently have different races of humans come about? Maybe 10,000 years wouldn't be stretching the truth. Bully breeds and wolfhounds are a night-and-day difference in behavior, territoriality, and human relations. Now those types of dogs have branched from eachother much more recently than different races of humans have. So, sure everyone is a person, but types of people are vastly different. Difference goes far deeper than skin color. Not trying to be pessimistic or racist, but a typical black person's hormone release, developmental patterns, skull structure, and controversially, behavior, are way different from a typical white person's. This obviously has nothing to do with which is better or worse, just different is all. I like bully breeds just as much as wolfhounds.
 
jminis

jminis

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Whether white, black, latino or whatever what it comes down to is education. It's one generation after another remaining in poverty hence not giving access to the better schools filled with students who want to learn and succeed. I don't think the problem is the teachers it's the students. As kids we want to fit in and we immitate what we see. In these schools there is a saturated population of kids who don't have a care in the world. It's like a disease that infects everyone it comes in contact with, only it's a disease of the way people think.

The parents don't stress the importance of education because it was not stressed to them. Hence we have schools filled with kids who like their parent or parents don't give a rats a$$. In a typical suburban school you have maybe 10% of kids don't care, the ones who do are the majority. In schools that I was talking about above it's reversed. If you care about school and want to make it you are vastly outnumbered.
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
I used to be an Alicia Keyes fan, until during some show or another on BET, she went off into "you can be a lawyer, you can be a doctor, you can be anything you want, don't let the white man tell you that you can't"
 
Gtarzan81

Gtarzan81

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I dont have time for a culture of victims. Regardless of their color, nation of origin, or whatever.

Whatever life has handed you when you are born, you have no control over it. You can moan, and make excuses why your not succeeding, OR you can roll up your sleeves, bust arse, and make something of yourself.

The choice is yours.
 
BLACK747

BLACK747

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
not all blacks blame the so call whiteman for problems in today society so dont bunch us up. im cool with alot of different ethnic groups never have i said that i hate a particular race or that i blame someone else for my short coming so specify that its not all blacks or whites but a select few dumb a####
 
goslamacamel

goslamacamel

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
not all blacks blame the so call whiteman for problems in today society so dont bunch us up. im cool with alot of different ethnic groups never have i said that i hate a particular race or that i blame someone else for my short coming so specify that its not all blacks or whites but a select few dumb a####
When I'm in Germany I don't expect people to come up to me in English and ask what language I speak - once they come into contact with me they'll find out for themselves how I speak and behave. Make the analogy yourself.
 

teribleturtle

Member
Awards
0
I think that there is definately a correlation there, but what is the answer? It isn't money, we can't just throw money at the lower classes and hope that it improves the situation. This has been tried in this country since LBJ, and it has actually made the problem worse.

The lower classes are trapped not necessarily because of a lack of resources, but because of a lack of anything resembling a functional family (in most cases) and a lack of parenting. Poorly raised kids become poor parents. Not only is it advantageous to have two parents in a home, but having two incomes is a great way to stave off poverty (unfortunately our welfare policies actually encourage single parent families).

These middle and upper middle kids who go on to succeed do so not just because of their financial resources, but because of their family unit. They go on to not only practice what they learned from their parents, but they go on to raise healthy children and perpetuate the cycle.

To make a long story short, once trapped in that cycle of poverty, hopelessness it becomes very hard to break out of it. Even Arnold Scwarzanegger is quoted as saying "I once thought everyone should pull themselves up from their bootstraps like I did, then I realized not everyone has boots". Even Arnold is shooting holes at the idea of a solid meritocracy, which is like a race only with different starting points, some at the front, some at the back.

This idea of mixing races brought up by another board member as bad has absoultely no merit. If by race you mean that there is an inherit essence to members of a particular race then perhaps you might be right. As human beings there is no real essence other than the fact that we are living and we exist. Most notions of an essence (masculine, feminine, racial, ethnic, etc) are nothing but social constructions that can be deconstructed by the individual as quick as they were constructed.
 
Gtarzan81

Gtarzan81

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
thought I should add this:


To whose who whine about life not being fair:

If Helen Keller can get over it, move on and make something of herself, WTF is your problem?
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
To make a long story short, once trapped in that cycle of poverty, hopelessness it becomes very hard to break out of it.
yes, but funny, thats the way most of our grandparents or greatgrandparents started here. living in poverty, fresh from some other country, without a pot to piss in. They didn't use it as an excuse for the next 10 generations or indefinitely.

its funny how portions of the "black community" are happy to band together as a community to despise the white man, but won't band together to make their men be responsible for the children they father.

Does anyone else here besides me know which group holds the most % of nobel prizes based on how many of them there are on earth? Can you guess they have a culture that values learning over rims?
 
ManBeast

ManBeast

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
its funny how portions of the "black community" are happy to band together as a community to despise the white man, but won't band together to make their men be responsible for the children they father.
Amen... although I've heard of deadbeats from all cultures

MB
 
jminis

jminis

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
All races have their deadbeats but none come close to the black community. This is something that needs to change. Too many women (who are kids themselves half the time) are being left alone to raise kids. This is a huge problem in this country and I believe the lack of a father in many kids lives results in a lack of respect and discipline. By nature this is the fathers role.
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
All races have their deadbeats but none come close to the black community. This is something that needs to change. Too many women (who are kids themselves half the time) are being left alone to raise kids. This is a huge problem in this country and I believe the lack of a father in many kids lives results in a lack of respect and discipline. By nature this is the fathers role.

I think the statistic is that 70% of black children grow up living with a single mother. I could be wrong, but its something amazingly high like that.

With the increasing number of premarital births and a continuing high divorce rate, the proportion of children living with just one parent rose from 9 percent in 1960 to 28 percent in 1996. Currently, 57.7 percent of all black children, 31.8 percent of all Hispanic children, and 20.9 percent of all white children are living in single-parent homes. --Source: Saluter, Arlen F. Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1994., US Bureau of the Census, Current Population Report. p28-484. Washington, DC: GPO, 1996. US Bureau of the Census. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1997, Washington, DC: GPO, 1997.
that was back in 96, could be higher today
 

teribleturtle

Member
Awards
0
yes, but funny, thats the way most of our grandparents or greatgrandparents started here. living in poverty, fresh from some other country, without a pot to piss in. They didn't use it as an excuse for the next 10 generations or indefinitely.

its funny how portions of the "black community" are happy to band together as a community to despise the white man, but won't band together to make their men be responsible for the children they father.

Does anyone else here besides me know which group holds the most % of nobel prizes based on how many of them there are on earth? Can you guess they have a culture that values learning over rims?
Your response is simply an observation, it is in no way a thorough analysis of the problems being faced in the Black community, it is simply an overgeneralization. You mention grandparents taking generations to succeed. I am sure they faced a form of discrimination but not to the extent and duration that the grandparents of Blacks faced and today continue to face. My take on this is, if you have never lived a day of your life in the ghetto or as a minority then you really do not know what it is like to fail or succeed in such an environment. Do not take this as an attack on the notion of hard work, as it is a notion I strongly believe in and practice, but I am overly skeptical of the idea of the U.S. being a true meritocracy. We are all entitled to our opinions, but as far as I am concerned an opinion based on simple observations and generalizations, simply makes for a weak argument at best. Also do not take this as an attack against any of you, but if a higher understanding is what we wish to achieve then dialouge and debate is neccessary.
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
My take on this is, if you have never lived a day of your life in the ghetto or as a minority then you really do not know what it is like to fail or succeed in such an environment. Do not take this as an attack on the notion of hard work, as it is a notion I strongly believe in and practice, but I am overly skeptical of the idea of the U.S. being a true meritocracy. We are all entitled to our opinions, but as far as I am concerned an opinion based on simple observations and generalizations, simply makes for a weak argument at best. Also do not take this as an attack against any of you, but if a higher understanding is what we wish to achieve then dialouge and debate is neccessary.
At the same time, excusing people based on where they are born rather than based on their actions is a joke, and part of the culture of failure that continues to plague the black community which didn't plague the irish, the italians, the chinese or any of the groups of immigrants including the hispanics.

I grew up with a father who didn't know his father. his father abandoned his mom and family of 5 boys and 1 girl about 6 months after the youngest was born. My dad grew up illiterate as he had to do odd jobs to make enough money to feed the family from the age of 7, along with the 2 of his brothers who were older. Washing dishes, delivering newspapers, delivering groceries, washing cars, whatever he could make a dime, or even get something in barter for.

I grew up in a less than wonderful neighborhood, eating free school lunches as even in the 80s you couldn't exactly make a pile of money if you couldn't read. Did either my father or I use that as an excuse to not be responsible for ourselves? nope.

And there is the real problem, the huge volume of young black men aren't in jail because of prejudice, they end up there because they chose to commit a crime because they believed there was nothing else they could do because even their community leaders tell them they will fail. refusing to take responsibility for yourself and commiting crimes because "they white man is holding you down" is ridiculous
 
BLACK747

BLACK747

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
listen easy not all blacks are like that but a few are but you need to include other races too or you began to sound races
 
Jayhawkk

Jayhawkk

Legend
Awards
2
  • Legend!
  • Established
Just an other op-ed political piece filled with bias and hate towards liberal democrats... Some points were fine until they were watered down with opinion. And no, i'm not a liberal dem.
 
Red Dog

Red Dog

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I think he's well aware that those situations arise in every race to a given degree, but it's undeniable that the topics at hand are several times more prevalent in the black community -- which is why I would imagine the emphasis on that particular race.
 
BLACK747

BLACK747

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
I see it day in and day out in my community my homeboys hanging on street corners looking suspect not because its all they can do its because its all they believe they can do. Bottom line its alot of things that can be blamed because of this but race is not one of them.One thing us African Americans needs to tackle is single parents issue and thats something that needs to be brought up in churches sunday dinners etc.
 

teribleturtle

Member
Awards
0
At the same time, excusing people based on where they are born rather than based on their actions is a joke, and part of the culture of failure that continues to plague the black community which didn't plague the irish, the italians, the chinese or any of the groups of immigrants including the hispanics.

I grew up with a father who didn't know his father. his father abandoned his mom and family of 5 boys and 1 girl about 6 months after the youngest was born. My dad grew up illiterate as he had to do odd jobs to make enough money to feed the family from the age of 7, along with the 2 of his brothers who were older. Washing dishes, delivering newspapers, delivering groceries, washing cars, whatever he could make a dime, or even get something in barter for.

I grew up in a less than wonderful neighborhood, eating free school lunches as even in the 80s you couldn't exactly make a pile of money if you couldn't read. Did either my father or I use that as an excuse to not be responsible for ourselves? nope.

And there is the real problem, the huge volume of young black men aren't in jail because of prejudice, they end up there because they chose to commit a crime because they believed there was nothing else they could do because even their community leaders tell them they will fail. refusing to take responsibility for yourself and commiting crimes because "they white man is holding you down" is ridiculous
I wont argue that their are exceptional individuals who through their efforts "make it out", myself included ( minority, raised in the ghetto, now pursuing a masters and PhD). But these individuals are the exception and must be even much more exceptional than your average mainstream middle class student, due to the fact that the obstacles (academic, personal, and social) are much greater. Simply due to those circumstances you could see why and it follows logically that individuals from impoverished backgrounds will do much worse. Compound that to the fact that it has not been so long since Jim Crow, segregation, etc. ended some of the effects of that period are still lingering. Also Hispanics situation is just as bleak as that of Blacks, in fact in terms of educational attainment it’s much worse, but they too are in a similar cycle of poverty.
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
One thing us African Americans needs to tackle is single parents issue and thats something that needs to be brought up in churches sunday dinners etc.
Thats really where I think things would change, as I think that has more to do with it than anything else anymore. Learning family values which include feeding and clothing your kids and the absent dad not resorting to crime so that he can wear g-unit and coogi and nike while the kids get their clothes from the church.

Its definitely not just the black community this happens in, its just a bigger problem there as a percentage, which also makes it a way larger problem in raw #s.

I think it really is all about the family, and what values get espoused. Grillz are cool and all, but when that comes before paying for health insurance for the family, theres a problem. And so it really needs to have a solution or movement that comes from inside the ghettos. Theres no way from the outside to force a child to believe that they can make it if they try, it needs to be the parents + community members. Any attempts from the outside to try and stop the negative elements are met with resentment - "taking away more of our young men"
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
Also Hispanics situation is just as bleak as that of Blacks, in fact in terms of educational attainment it’s much worse, but they too are in a similar cycle of poverty.
True in some ways, however just looking at the single parent households # from the census its not as bad. And I can't recall the last time I heard hispanics talking about how "whitey is holding them down", a larger percentage take responsibility for their families, work hard so that their children can be better off than they are. So i'm not sure i'd agree their situation is as "bleak", as they don't believe their situation is. Again I believe that the black community believing their situation is bleak and using that as an excuse for accepting irresponsible behavior is the only thing that makes it bleak. The hispanic gangs are no better, but its a smaller % of the community.
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
just cause it feels a little tense, i'm not racist, i've dated black girls when I was single, and am married to a puerto rican, and having been raised jewish know some of the feelings of being a minority as well. religious minority things are a wee bit different, but some similarities.
 
goslamacamel

goslamacamel

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
just cause it feels a little tense, i'm not racist, i've dated black girls when I was single, and am married to a puerto rican, and having been raised jewish know some of the feelings of being a minority as well. religious minority things are a wee bit different, but some similarities.
Being a racist as I understand the word is simply playing the probability game intelligently. You don't have to hate anyone or discriminate against anyone to be racist. Racism is simply an initial judgment which stands against someone until they're known more personally. I have plenty of black friends, but if I'm walking on a street and a black guy is following me closely, I'm not dumb - so I'll walk faster. The same situation with a white person following close behind would just be weird, but I wouldn't be nearly as concerned. Racism is simply knowing probability based on empirical evidence, not ignorant discrimination.
 

teribleturtle

Member
Awards
0
just cause it feels a little tense, i'm not racist, i've dated black girls when I was single, and am married to a puerto rican, and having been raised jewish know some of the feelings of being a minority as well. religious minority things are a wee bit different, but some similarities.

Well it was interesting discussing the issue, and Easy we can agree to disagree with no hard feelings. Seems to me that I was kind of alone in this debate, but none the less interesting. Its always refreshing to hear contrary arguments and opinions, not only does it allow you to understand what "the opposition" thinks, but when challenged it gives you a greater understanding of your own ideas and opinions. I guess its nice to leave the muscle building and supplement world for a while, come back to reality and discuss issues that have a significant impact on peoples lives and society.
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
Well it was interesting discussing the issue, and Easy we can agree to disagree with no hard feelings. Seems to me that I was kind of alone in this debate, but none the less interesting. Its always refreshing to hear contrary arguments and opinions, not only does it allow you to understand what "the opposition" thinks, but when challenged it gives you a greater understanding of your own ideas and opinions. I guess its nice to leave the muscle building and supplement world for a while, come back to reality and discuss issues that have a significant impact on peoples lives and society.
Its probably one of the most important issues today, more important in some ways than terrorism or the mortgage/credit crisis because it has not been getting any better. I wish there was an easy answer to it, but there isn't. You are definitely right that its not easy to break out, but the "why" and "what can anyone outside of that community do to change it" are the parts that so far nobody can figure out. My belief is that its due to the broken families, and not enough parental involvement in the childrens lives + academia, because anyone who has successfully broken out generally gives a lot of that credit to the effort their parents put in. My mother spent a lot of time when I was in the 1-3 age reading to me, teaching me to count etc. Before I turned 4 I could read some of the dr seuss books. Subtracting that from my situation and stuff me in front of a tv for those hours instead and i'd be doing manual labor jobs somewhere today.

back to my earlier question on who holds the biggest % of nobel prizes, its the jews. As a percentage of them on the globe they hold something crazy like 20x as many nobel prizes as any other group. But they are a strong tight community that values family (Rabbis are married with children, not pedophiles) and education highly. Its not some set of equal opportunity laws that gives them this, its the effort of their community.

I guess funny enough thats why I like anabolic minds so much. We also are that sort of community. We value our members, and don't want to see any of us fail. Even the people on the fringes, and the ones who just moved in. We'll band together to try and help them find the answers they need to not hurt themselves, or make the best of what they have. We value the education and knowledge as much as anything else.

Maybe its even something like testosterone levels. With black males having some of the highest levels as a group, a greater % have more of the heavy alpha male thing going on, and are more willing to harm their community so long as they can be "in charge".

teribleturtle as a question, do you go back to where you grew up and let the young people know that they can break out if they put effort in and try? I think that is a part of the problem, that most people who manage to break out don't want to go back. That plus a 3 year old honda accord that is paid for isn't as impressive as a stolen escalade painted metallic neon green riding on 24s.

Lastly I guess another weird example of the way it seems from the outside that the inner city black community has some issues with what it values is Marion Barry. Everyone makes mistakes yes, and you should forgive them, but that doesn't mean you should reward them. How can someone manage a city when they can't manage their personal life?
 

teribleturtle

Member
Awards
0
Its probably one of the most important issues today, more important in some ways than terrorism or the mortgage/credit crisis because it has not been getting any better. I wish there was an easy answer to it, but there isn't. You are definitely right that its not easy to break out, but the "why" and "what can anyone outside of that community do to change it" are the parts that so far nobody can figure out. My belief is that its due to the broken families, and not enough parental involvement in the childrens lives + academia, because anyone who has successfully broken out generally gives a lot of that credit to the effort their parents put in. My mother spent a lot of time when I was in the 1-3 age reading to me, teaching me to count etc. Before I turned 4 I could read some of the dr seuss books. Subtracting that from my situation and stuff me in front of a tv for those hours instead and i'd be doing manual labor jobs somewhere today.

back to my earlier question on who holds the biggest % of nobel prizes, its the jews. As a percentage of them on the globe they hold something crazy like 20x as many nobel prizes as any other group. But they are a strong tight community that values family (Rabbis are married with children, not pedophiles) and education highly. Its not some set of equal opportunity laws that gives them this, its the effort of their community.

I guess funny enough thats why I like anabolic minds so much. We also are that sort of community. We value our members, and don't want to see any of us fail. Even the people on the fringes, and the ones who just moved in. We'll band together to try and help them find the answers they need to not hurt themselves, or make the best of what they have. We value the education and knowledge as much as anything else.

Maybe its even something like testosterone levels. With black males having some of the highest levels as a group, a greater % have more of the heavy alpha male thing going on, and are more willing to harm their community so long as they can be "in charge".

teribleturtle as a question, do you go back to where you grew up and let the young people know that they can break out if they put effort in and try? I think that is a part of the problem, that most people who manage to break out don't want to go back. That plus a 3 year old honda accord that is paid for isn't as impressive as a stolen escalade painted metallic neon green riding on 24s.

Lastly I guess another weird example of the way it seems from the outside that the inner city black community has some issues with what it values is Marion Barry. Everyone makes mistakes yes, and you should forgive them, but that doesn't mean you should reward them. How can someone manage a city when they can't manage their personal life?
Absolutely, I go back as much as possible, as a matter of fact during the summers I volunteer at my old high school, as a tutor, and as a sort of college counselor helping kids who have no idea of how to get into or pay for college find solutions. Not only that but when I go to my old "hood" I often talk to some of my friends younger brothers and sister and talk to them about the importance of a college education. I also work at a non-profit low income housing developer, spent semesters in D.C. and NYC studying community development strategies. A large portion of my life I dedicate to social justice issues. I know it seems uncommon for a "bodybuilding/jock athlete type" to be involved in these causes but its what really gives me a purpose. This was all brought up while in college and just witnessing the lack of not only minorities but also kids who come from poor and working class backgrounds, this disparity is even greater in grad school. I know I cant change the world but if I am able to help a few people change their lives then I see it as one cycle of poverty being broken.
 
EasyEJL

EasyEJL

Never enough
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
For a while in the tail end of the 90s when I had more free time, I used to work with a group that took in computers that businesses were getting rid of as part of an upgrade cycle, cleaned them up, reinstalled OS, installed educational stuff on them, and put them in low income area parks that had lockable buildings. Worked out some, the technological divide is another piece of the puzzle nowadays, you can't do crap for a job if you can't type.
 
Dadof2

Dadof2

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
yes, but funny, thats the way most of our grandparents or greatgrandparents started here. living in poverty, fresh from some other country, without a pot to piss in. They didn't use it as an excuse for the next 10 generations or indefinitely.

its funny how portions of the "black community" are happy to band together as a community to despise the white man, but won't band together to make their men be responsible for the children they father.

Does anyone else here besides me know which group holds the most % of nobel prizes based on how many of them there are on earth? Can you guess they have a culture that values learning over rims?


The Jews.
 
Dadof2

Dadof2

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
To make a long story short, once trapped in that cycle of poverty, hopelessness it becomes very hard to break out of it. Even Arnold Scwarzanegger is quoted as saying "I once thought everyone should pull themselves up from their bootstraps like I did, then I realized not everyone has boots". Even Arnold is shooting holes at the idea of a solid meritocracy, which is like a race only with different starting points, some at the front, some at the back.

This idea of mixing races brought up by another board member as bad has absoultely no merit. If by race you mean that there is an inherit essence to members of a particular race then perhaps you might be right. As human beings there is no real essence other than the fact that we are living and we exist. Most notions of an essence (masculine, feminine, racial, ethnic, etc) are nothing but social constructions that can be deconstructed by the individual as quick as they were constructed.

I am willing to wager that Arnold didn't utter such things until he began his political career. Regardless, I do not disagree with you, it is very easy to stay in a bad situation than to break out of it. However, we should recognize when the government and civil institutions are contributing to the cycle. As it stands our government is hurting some minorities in this country more than it is helping them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads


Top