Wasn't New Orleans Bad Before Katrina?! (credit, loan, school)

[sockmonkey70]

Are you serious? Last time I checked, there aren't any slaves, and there aren't any slave owners currently in the US. To apologize for something current US residents aren't responsible for, to people who weren't even slaves would be silly, and regressive. African Americans get plenty of federal oppurtunities, and especially for college educations.

It is no one's fault that minorities don't take advantage of the oppurtunities set aside just for them. I would love to get my hands on half the financial aid my black friends get for college. But alas, I am white, so people automatically assume I can afford college, so I don't get any special minority scholarships. Black people (and please, don't get offended by the term black, as I refer to myself as white, it's just a color) can succeed, but they have to get out, and look for oppurtunities, not wait for someone to bring it and put it in their lap.

[dusesean1986]

Originally Posted by sockmonkey70

Are you serious? Last time I checked, there aren't any slaves, and there aren't any slave owners currently in the US. To apologize for something current US residents aren't responsible for, to people who weren't even slaves would be silly, and regressive. African Americans get plenty of federal oppurtunities, and especially for college educations.

It is no one's fault that minorities don't take advantage of the oppurtunities set aside just for them. I would love to get my hands on half the financial aid my black friends get for college. But alas, I am white, so people automatically assume I can afford college, so I don't get any special minority scholarships. Black people (and please, don't get offended by the term black, as I refer to myself as white, it's just a color) can succeed, but they have to get out, and look for oppurtunities, not wait for someone to bring it and put it in their lap.

I do not choose to get in any political fights on here, so I'll make this short and sweet. African Americans are in a much worse bind than Caucasian Americans because of slavery. Less money, worse neighborhoods, more crime, poor education. Slavery kept A.A. back about 150 years, they were treated like the dirt on the ground. It's no one's fault that's present today that African Americans were in slavery, but the disadvantages they face are obvious. Yes, A.A. can succeed, but African Americans are less likely to due a higher probability of no father figure, gangs, and a lack of money for education and college. Yes, there are blacks that cannot afford college, like there are whites who can't afford college.

[sockmonkey70]

I am sorry, I don't want to fight either and I apologize for coming across a little snippy and/ or racist, I am not. I just have seen many black people succeed because they know what is out there for them and work towards it, just like many of us average, lower/middle class white people have to, but many just look for a hand out and pull the slavery card, assuming all us white folks are made of money.


I completely agree slavery has directly caused the situation that African Amercians are in today, but it is in their hands to get out of it!

"Yes, A.A. can succeed, but African Americans are less likely to due a higher probability of no father figure, gangs, and a lack of money for education and college."

Is that white people's fault that some African American people choose to be in gangs, deal drugs, and have poor family relations? What does black fathers choosing to leave their children have to do with slavery? It sounds like something that needs to be fixed within the race. And minorities have SO much money exclusively for them for college it is not even funny. If you graduate highschool, and your family income is very low (like many A.A. families) then you will qualify for PELL grants that completely cover the costs of college. TOTALLY. No loans. Straight up money. I think if the black youth would listen more to their teachers than the rappers spitting out bull**** about gangs, murder, and drugs, alot more black children would know they have oppurtunuties waiting for them. It doesn't matter if they are poor as dirt, they can get a free ride to college if the have decent grades in highschool.

[dusesean1986]

No problem guy! I just exited a nasty debate over illegal immigration and I didn't want to go deeper into race relations. I whole heartedly respect your opinions on the issue.

[sockmonkey70]

I'm a girl ;p

Glad we can agree to disagree.

[toyomatrix]

The slavery time is way behind us now. Everyone that is bored or immigrated in/to the US have opportunity to earn a living or more. Some become rich and some making ends meet, like me. The government did not pick which people are to be poor they choose to be because their too greedy and lazy to work. I’m Asian and when we immigrated here we had nothing we came from a very poor village (not city/town) in Asia. My parents work their boot off get where we are today. Every race had gone through hard times in the past but that’s the past and we all had to work for it. If someone decides to stay home and receive food stamps all of their life what examples are they setting for their kids. Remember, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, taxpayers like myself are paying it and you’re welcome.

[momof2dfw]

Glad this "debate" is pleasant. As a comment I would like to add something. Don't you think that even some white people suffered just as many financial hardships as blacks did once the civil war was over? I don't really want to go back to the war or anything but we do have to remember that many of the people in the South lost just about everything and it did not matter what color they were. Look at the "GTT" movement that went on after the war. Many families left the deep South to head to Texas or points farther west to find something and to leave the destruction behind. I came from the poor white families all the way down the line as did my husbands family. It was up to each person in each generation to take advantage of what was offered to them to succed and to break the mold. In the last 2 generations, omy, we have come A LONG WAY!!! From my fil being raised in a shack w/ dirt floors in Alabama to where I set in present day Dallas w/ a successful business that he helped start. It was hard work, determination and faith that got us here.

Anyway, back to the wonderful city of Nawlins. What many people across the country do not understand is the basic economic situations of most people in NO of ALL colors. My white friends that came from there were dirt poor and they all said the same thing. We have to remember that many of the jobs in NO were in the tourist fields. These tended to be low paying. Then take into account all of the other factors. Many people in NO did not own a vehicle. NO had public transportation that was widely used and one could walk to just about anywhere if they lived in the urban areas. This is why they could not just simply get in a car and evacuate like people thought they could. NO also had many families that lived w/ each other. The strong family ties supported a policy of open acceptance of extended family members all living together in one house. It may be a very small house but they were happy. More than likely that very old, small home was PAID FOR!!! So they did not need those high paying jobs that a college education might be needed to obtain. This was a way of life for them and it was accepted. In other large cities around this country it is looked down on for all the grown siblings to be living at home w/ their spouses and children. As each generation passed the home and land just got passed down the line. It is very easy to see how it was for these people to get into this shape of "poverty" but it was the norm for them and they were happy. They had no need for big, new, fancy homes or new cars. If you think about it, look at their life expectancy, they lived a lot longer in these conditions than we do beating ourselves to death to be "successful".

Anyway, just a thought and I am glad to see that some parts of NO are getting rebuilt. Sadly it does take those high dollar areas to get built first to be able to help those that are in need.

[sockmonkey70]

Very good points on the issue. Most white families in the south DID lose everything, and had to work to make themselves back into something.

And think back to when Europeans started settling America..They came here with nothing and built an entire country from it.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by sockmonkey70

Very good points on the issue. Most white families in the south DID lose everything, and had to work to make themselves back into something.

And think back to when Europeans started settling America..They came here with nothing and built an entire country from it.

Thanks.

Having done extensive research on my families genealogy and my husbands I have found that all of our families were in the "New World" before 1700 (one on the Mayflower). Most of them settled in the New England states and helped with the founding of this country. On each family that I have traced they all received land farther south as each generation went along. Some received land grants for fighting in the Revolutionary War and got land in the Carolinas. Then with each new land grant opening up in "new" states the farther south they moved: Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama mostly. Then with the war on our own soil they were all pretty much wiped to nothing. I found ancestors that fled the south after the war to places in Lousianna, Texas, California, Utah, Kansas, etc. All pretty much w/ nothing. These were people that came from families that were the "movers and shakers" of our founding and the founding of many great communities that once were. They were known as the great builders of important buildings in their time, helped establish governments from our own countries founding to the states and counties they settled. These families did lose everything and even though they were white it did take hard work and determination to survive to make it better for their own kids. Having gone back now just looking online at the areas that these people settled in the 1700's and early 1800's they are all pretty much in what are now some poor areas. I have one family on my side that had a plantation in South Carolina. When he was ready to pass it on to his sons all of them had moved away and none wanted to return to the state. In his will he leaves everything he owns to his handful of slaves, it was one family and from reading his will it sounds as if they were more like family to each other than anything else. Then to think that I should be responsible because one of my long ago ancestors owned slaves? I think not afterall that was MANY generations ago and I had no part of it. His own sons more than likely ended up worse off than the family he left all of his belongings to. Seeing as where they settled in Mississippi, those folks in SC WERE better off and probably still are. LOL!!!

[dusesean1986]

Whites have endured their share of hardships. But, African Americans were pushed back 150 years in every aspect due to slavery. I.E. education, money, housing, effects of sharecropping. They started out from scratch after slavery ended.