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Actually KevK, BET is NOT run by blacks. When it was run by blacks, it was actually much more wholesome, but BET sold out big time. Since being bought by Viacomm, it has become a channel that celebrates crime and hypersexualization. There is actually an online petition concerning the BET turnover from black ownership to white ownership, and the results. Change BET*-*Online Petition
When BET was black owned, it had Teen Summit, Lead Story, and Tavis Smiley: all dealing with social issues in the so-called black community. Interesting, how Viacomm found these shows to be unimportant on the only popular black network. Interesting indeed. Can someone say censorship? What messages are the white owners trying to send to the world about blacks? I think the messages are clear, and loud. What messages are the white owners trying to send to blacks about themselves? I find it totally amazing that as rap went corporate(white owned), it went from "kill the establishment", to "kill each other". It's sad that so many black people literally buy into the crap which is corp. rap music. There is surely something strange going on in corp. rap world. Dan Proft: BET Racist Against Black People?
Wow I remember those days. When BET Was all about feel good party rap. Soul lifting Gospel and R&B and they had shows like Teen Summit and Tavis Smiley. BET News was even legit. Now all BET news does it sticks its cameras up Al (Big Perm) Sharpton's butt. The music was about how much better I can rap than you, not how much better I'm at killing you. I turned to crap once Viacom purchased it. It became disgraceful. Now its slowly starting to reel itself it. I love the summit on Hip Hop. Brian Johnson really took it to those fool so called, "hip hop" artist that sold their souls for a dime.
He's going to be warehoused for a year or two ... and then he's going to be released, and society likely won't be the better for it.
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And not only warehoused, but warehoused and likely made even more brutal than before.
Not to mention they sit in jail, get bulked up, make connections or join a gang. Learn more tricks of the trade, or just meet up with some of their crew from the outside and make plans. They stack up non-violent offenders with violent offenders. And then they must become violent to survive. The can conduct criminal activity from inside prison. The entire conglomerate of MS13 gangs are RUN from a prison.
Then you release them, back into the same environment they've been in. They have new criminal skills or new gang affiliations and the revolving door continues. Prison is extremely ineffective. I mean you could say kill them all, but the death penalty hasn't proven to be a deterant either because most criminals don't do crimes with the thought they will get caught or die. They just don't value life or quality of life for anyone but themselves.
The Outfit (or Mafia if you prefer) at least had some degree of morality. There were things they would not do. They didn't kill elderly people for their Social Security checks nor did they shoot women and children. And they dressed decently and did not wear baggy pants down around their asses or stupid gold teeth. You cannot compare them with what we have now.
No they just terrorized citizens and business owners with brutality in exchange for not giving them money and worship. And they did kill women and children and innocent people and had same innocent people living in fear. Look at the Ukraine mob. You cross them they'd burn your whole family including the baby alive while you watched.
Exactly- how do you break that mindset? You mentioned in your post above that 30-40 years ago there were policies that kept blacks from certain jobs, etc., and that the feelings from that timeframe get passed down through the generations, contributing to the attitudes we have today. That was two generations ago already- how long are people going to use the same excuse- are we going to be hearing in the future about how "90-100 years ago, blacks couldn't even apply for jobs with such and such"???
My ancestors came over from Hungary and Poland in the 40's and 50's, and even though there weren't formal laws that forbade them from being considered for certain positions, there were plenty of groups that wouldn't deal with them- yet they still managed to find ways to make a living and prosper, rather than passing down feelings of exclusion to future generations. Sure, there was the occasional story of the hardships they endured, but it was always followed with the motivational story of how they got through it, and how they would never let it happen again.
I don't have an answer on how to break the cycle, but I do know that it can (and has) been done.
Well you have to know that black people have been "broken" many times by institutionalized policies that prevented them from breaking through. I would put the cut off point as the 80's for institutionalized racism still affecting black success en masse. Up until the 80's black culture was about pride, fighting the fight,and giving 120 percent in a world that you 100 percent wasn't good enough. That mindset somehow got shot to hell and drugs, music, sports, welfare, or working for the post office became our only goals for ourselves. Couple that with teenage pregnancy and absent father, and blaming everyone else for your problems except yourself, and still racism and you've got an entire generation of black people screwed up. And those people have raised children and those children have raised children and here we are today.
This is one reason why I want Barack Obama to win the presidency so my people can stop using the age old excuses as a crutch for not bettering themselves.
Well, here's what I think. It's an under-the-table secret told to restaurant owners in the city, that if you play country music in your restaurant, the gangsta-wannabe crowd will not eat there
I never really liked country music... until now.
By the way, classical music does the same thing, as many convenience stores have discovered if they play it outside (works with ANY teen, any creed, color), without grating on the nerves and scaring paying customers away, as Slim Whitman does with me. ;-)
This is one reason why I want Barack Obama to win the presidency so my people can stop using the age old excuses as a crutch for not bettering themselves.
....ummm, don't want to come off wrong here....
...but how come this didn't happen under Maynard Jackson (MLK friend), Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Shirley Franklin, etc....oh yeah, they didn't have a dream...they had entitlement....
...Barack's minister has been quoted saying, 'To Hell with the White Man'....
....although I guess if a 'White' minister said 'To Hell with the Black Man'...he'd get a pass as well, NOT!!!
...That being said, quoting Franklin today: "we have a Mormon, a woman, a Baptist preacher, and a Black man...."
...Hell...keep Guillani(Terrorist expert) and McCain(war expert) in there all as co-presidents, and why have a majority rule?...
...oh I know why...the surpreme court.....i.e. religion and abortion are both platforms but neither will ever be an issue again b/c the surpreme court and how divisive they are....
.... what matters is your local representatives....they screw up in your district and they're definately gone!!!
....if we're going to put Tax burdens on the wealthy, I proopse that all top 5 income recipients in the U.S. must run for president. They don't actually run...they're just elected....upon election all their income/investments are frozen....
the provide 5 points they will improve on....
...these 5 points are what are voted on along with the candidate...
...upon a 2 year run, and completion/satisfaction of these items, the person may return to privatization and not be re-elected...
...seems like private companies know what they're doing, they should be running the company...
..i.e. jobs, economy, national security would all be measurements...
First of all let me start with a disclaimer. I’m black, 29; lived in Atlanta for 4 year, born in Africa, and been in the United States for 10 years, I have spent time in at least 75% of different parts of the US coast to coast.
Just because Atlanta is more sophisticated than the surrounding parts is no excuse for its poor sophistication standards in comparison to other cities of its size. I also hear this word sophistication thrown around very often. Most people here don’t know what sophistication is. They attach the word to how expensive their drink at the club is and the same person will tip the bar tender pennies if anything. People need to travel more to find out what sophistication is. And when I mean travel, I mean go to Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Australia. Unfortunately to most, they think traveling is going down to Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Nothing wrong with that, these are beautiful places but someone needs to think outside the box. In my books if you can go somewhere, lose your passport and still be able to travel home next day…. That isn’t traveling; it is the same as going to Hilton head. And am I the crazy one when it costs the same to fly to the Bahamas return as it is to fly to London or Paris, why would you want to go back to the Islands for the fifth time???
And I can’t stand whenever I frequent a night club like the former visions or velvet room. When people refer to the different nights, Black night (usually Fridays) and White Night (usually Saturdays). I know people who won’t go to these places on certain nights because it is too White or too Black. I go to both and ironically the music, most of the DJ’s and the bar tenders are the same. Why can’t we get along like other cities? We co-exist but really don’t get along. Most corporations in Atlanta will have a mixed group of individuals working for them and when you go out to the different major lunch venues, you’ll see that although black and white people go to lunch together, chances ar e in most cases if a table has 12 people form the same office, the blacks will sit on one side of the table and the whites another. I have never been able to explain this but you check it out and see. I go to Cirque du Soleil predominantly white, Alvin Ailey predominantly Black; this are really good shows, why can’t we see people in the same ratios as the general population? A couple of years back they had a country music festival on the same weekend as a black music festival. You wouldn’t be able to pull this off in a city where people got along because when you look at it (behind the scenes) the same people who are writing some of Carrie Underwood’s songs are the same people writing for Jordin Sparks. That’s why in Atlanta instead of someone saying my friend John, they say my black friend John. I have to stop and wonder why you have to put someone’s race in front of their name when you are talking about them. And since we talked about the club, Atlanta has the oldest demographic of club goers in the world (a little exaggeration here, lol) but I was shocked when I first came to Atlanta, who is at home taking care of the kids?? I’ll drop this one because I can see others have already talked about how bad the kids are here.
I just have to ask, does the fact that someone lives in a million dollar house make them any better than the one who lives in a quarter of a million dollar house, if they are both ignorant or idiots? I am trying to argue that both white and black people in Atlanta are equally to blame for 1. Not wanting to think outside the box and get to really know each other. 2. Not having enough good citizens from each side trying to educate the other side on their culture and strengths. 3. Not calling out their own for ideologies and behavior that continues to create a rift.
For those who get 100% of their perspective of the opposite race from watching TV. Grow up. Everyone knows what reality TV is. Get out of the house and do your homework. Kudos to the parents seeking better education and neighborhoods for their kids. Much respect to those that are working in making Atlanta a better place to get along.
However since I don’t have another 10 years for things to get better, I’m moving away. Far away, up North or across the pond, somewhere where I don’t have to be someone’s black friend but someone’s friend.
The desire for "bling" and such is not a "mindset", it is genetic.
And I always thought buying some bling was just like buying jewelry, just like any other person of any other race. Turns out that I'm genetically predisposed to buying bling.
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That’s why in Atlanta instead of someone saying my friend John, they say my black friend John. I have to stop and wonder why you have to put someone’s race in front of their name when you are talking about them.
It's not only native to Atlanta, it exists everywhere. I've always wondered why people say that. I guess they can only see color, as opposed to individual. And yet these are the same people who accuse you of throwing down the race card.
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