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You know, I really like you urban, you seem like a nice, intelligent young man in many of your posts - but you are so buried down in the trees you are missing the rest of the forest.
You are also exhausting to read at this point, lol. How you can say NOTHING will ever change when this country just elected its first black president is beyond me. Things are changing ALL THE TIME. OPEN YOUR EYES, the world is not as grim as you apparently think
How grim do YOU THINK urbancharlotte's outlet is ? You say he can't see the trees from the forest,please explain to me what you meant by this? Keep in mind I am not at all trying to sound confrontational I am just wondering what you meant by your commments about my husband. FYI I am a white female that agrees with him 100%. In all honesty intergration was my idea I just did not have the guts to get on here and say what needs to be said, my husband did.
How grim do YOU THINK urbancharlotte's outlet is ? You say he can't see the trees from the forest,please explain to me what you meant by this? Keep in mind I am not at all trying to sound confrontational I am just wondering what you meant by your commments about my husband. FYI I am a white female that agrees with him 100%. In all honesty intergration was my idea I just did not have the guts to get on here and say what needs to be said, my husband did.
Forced social engineering failed here in the 60's and 70's with school desegregation. Affirmative action has done little to add the prosperity of minorities and actually has done more to divide than to unite. While I applaud the provocative thought and willingness to post something like this on this board, it isn't something that is new. I believe that First Ward (I think this is right neighborhood) in Charlotte is area of mixed income housing, and I think that the upper income housing has not sold at all. When people want to re-develop areas like Wilmore and Cherry to bring in mid and higher income families to mix things up, they get citied for trying to regentrify the neighborhoods. Passing laws to force people to live in an environment that they don't necessarily want to won't make things better I'm afraid.
To add one more layer to Urban's plan though, let’s take it one step further. We all know that in Charlotte, Sundays are the most segregated day of the week, so lets say in new Charlotte that ALL churches must be 50-50(white/minority) integrated. I think if you started with the churches, you might actually get a foothold in achieving a socially integrated society.
Totally tangential, but FYI:
Oriental is a style/period ie: oriental rug, furniture, etc...
People are Asian ie: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc...
Actually, oriental simply means "of or from the east". It has nothing to do with a style or period.. I think the point you are trying to convey, however, is that the term 'oriental', when referring to a person of eastern descent, is considered offensive to said persons.
Everyone should practice speaking plainly... it leads to much more effective communication.
urban, I like you, but as a 30+ year resident of Michigan, I can assure you that Detroit's problems have nothing to do with racial integration and everything to do with crime/income/etc. I assume you'll argue that they are tied together, but not necessarily so. I know lots of middle-income black families that also moved to the 'burbs (and have seen lots of poor white folks stuck in the city). It's not because they didn't want to live in "black" neighborhoods, they simply wanted to live in *safe* neighborhoods with good schools. Detroit proper couldn't offer that, and the suburbs could. No real mystery there.
I am sticking to my theory that has evolved over 30 years . . . that the problems here in our country (and right here in CLT) have everything to do w/ economic parity and very little to do w/ race/ethnicity.
Charlotte's biggest future obstacle will be uniting our diverse city.
It's an obstacle but don't hold your breath. Uniting a racially/ethnically diverse population hasn't happened in Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, and it won't happen in Charlotte.
Last edited by Palmetto Heel; 12-28-2008 at 06:28 PM..
Location: Charlotte,NC, US, North America, Earth, Alpha Quadrant,Milky Way Galaxy
3,770 posts, read 7,545,095 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adavi215
I am glad to see the discussion get to this point. Some of the post were really annoying me ways I think only a few on this thread can understand. I remember reading on this thread about prostitution ring being busted and the leaders were white. I remember reading how prostitution was a public health problem and violence was I guess something else. I'm sure I will be corrected (as is the custom of this forum when someone is 1% off) but how is violence not a public health problem since it is a threat to the physical health of the public?
That being said let's address violence and crime in the BLACK community as if it were a public health problem. The first things we need to address is what is contributing to these problems. Someone already pointed out the urban economics in the Black urban community. Another problem is music that edifies violent thuggish activities. As a black male when I bring this up I don't get alot of popularity, but some of the music that is out here, put out by millionares from the "hood", glorifies illegal activities that they did to make fast money and multi-platinum selling CDs bragging about how they did. A faous line is "... I am an example that crime do pay..." I could go on but I'll stop there.
Am I saying music is the sole source. NO. But I am saying some of the music encourages them to commit some acts. The problem, though, is addressing the public in how to stop supporting such music that is degrading the Black community. As long as people keep buying it, it will continue to be made.
Education is good, but to some from this lifestyle that is slow money and they don't see the point. Graduating high school, going to college, and then to grad school, takes some time. When you're 14 years old, watching your single mother struggle and you watch your little siblings hunger, and y'all live in sub-par housing, you really just want some aid immediately! The usual route doesn't seem applicable. Now I know that this may not be general setting or circumstance for all situations but I believe it gives insight to why such "thugs" exist. I believe I am getting too long. But I hope this opens up the complexity of the issue of why "uncontrolled youth/Blacks" are "terrorizing" Charlotte.
Ultimately, youth need someone to look to as an example that they don't need to resort to such means in order to make it. What do y'all think?
You have to read much of what's posted across the site with perspective. They don't represent the views (whatever they may be) of whomever the post may say he or she represents. If you don't do that, you'll get annoyed and ticked off quite a bit- spend a few moments on Politics and Other Controversies and a thread like this will seem like Sesame Street. There is a lot that's said for pure shock value- to induce an emotional response. It could be someone who has a lot of bitterness justified or unjustified, however they then want the world to feel as bad as they do.
Having said that...
I make a distinction in my mind between those who want to better themselves regardless of where they are in life and what environment he/she is in. I believe across the board this is the vast majority of Americans, the country couldn't work if it weren't.
There is no greater time in history for anyone to be anything in America. We've got our issues as a country but I can't think of anywhere else on the planet that this is true.
So specifically to young urban black youths, there is a historical context that can't be denied, and yes it does matter, despite how much some people would like to diminish it (mostly because they are tired of hearing about it). However as I said earlier, *anyone* can be anything. Your race isn't an excuse, your absentee daddy isn't an excuse, far more people all over the world have it much harsher than that. I'm not trivializing the role of intact families and actually I would submit that is the single greatest impact on urban families- the breakdown of the family unit . However there exists within every human being a sense of what is right and what is wrong. There should be (and are lots of) programs for people who genuinely want to change the trajectory of their life and the life of their family. I posted earlier in the year of a young woman, 22 yrs old, a single mom, with 5 year old boy with breathing issues. She had zero family that could help her (i.e., watch her child while she worked), and she was willing to work, but always had a childcare issue. She wanted to go to school but had issues with childcare and transportation. Here was someone who had enough moral fiber to want more for herself than what she could see on Brookshire blvd. Constantly resisting the "help" of men (who 99% of the time lived outside the community) in exchange for sexual favors. She was stuck and was on the brink- these are the people that the social programs should help.
I have zero compassion for someone without a sense of work ethic, and simply wants to game the system. That are bad seeds within the communities that often gets lifted up as the average of the community (which is a version of how to lie with statistics).
A Pastor back in Boston (who had one arm) would often say "life isn't fair, but it's real". So what if you're counterpart in the burbs can be carpooled and you have to catch two buses- do it, and do whatever it takes. Remember that as you walk across stage to receive your diploma and your accolades. Will you bump into bigots, narrowed minded, and straight-out jim-crow racists, probably- but should that derail you, never. Just keep that in mind when you come into a position of influence and power and you do the right thing.
One of my all time favorite movies is "Men of Honor" (I like that even more than Pursuit of Happiness) about Carl Brashear. He was the first black master Navy diver- this significant because it was a year or so after the military was desegregated by Presidential order, up until then the role a black man could take on a US Navy boat was cook. His name is legendary in the US Navy among all service men and officers. You name it, it happened to him, he was setup to fail, sabotaged, lied on, threatened, etc. He pushed through it, and did it with honor and integrity. Even at great personal cost to him (he lost his family, his leg among other things). My favorite quote of his is "It's not a sin to get knocked down; it's a sin to stay down". WOW.
Don't fall for the subtle distractions of the industry that promotes racial divides and leads us away from issues that are always about right and wrong.
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