A question for Black Americans regarding relocating out of America (Christmas, Brown)
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Will say I think the post above by Bronxguyanese is one that I includes generalizations that were made about a variety of supposed "black issues." All of the comments mentioned are based from a media perception and are a result of the technology age where people read/see/consume a lot of generalized information and that, in turn makes them believe that all of that stuff is majority true when it was not. I can understand that black Americans get sick of dealing with the same conversations about the same generalizations over and over and due to me having been in discussions about all of the things mentioned in that post at some point in time, I'll share, that I usually will provide a response to those comments, in person, in a very nice, but direct fashion.
Case in point - about "white on black violence" and how it "didn't occur" prior to 2008 and how the poster thought that black Americans were all of the sudden "targeted by subprime mortgages" and the "higher loan payments. I'd speak in person to this person about the fact that there has always been "white on black violence" in America. Its just that prior to having a black president, the media didn't report on it often and when media did report on it in local areas, it was a local story and couldn't "go viral" because the internet was not then, what it is today. There have always been race riots in America. Police have always killed and harassed black people in American cities. Wealth has always been lower for black Americans and hasn't risen or fallen much since 1997 even with the inclusion of the minor recession that happened during GW Bush's years and the major recession that happened toward the end of his term and the first 4 years of Obama's term.
All of those topics have long, historically attributing factors. Due to the internet and people just being lazy and less likely to actually research racial history of the US from a variety of factors (education, housing, civil rights, economics, etc.) they think all this stuff is brand new or at an all time low when it is not.
Even the stuff on the male/female relationships is silly IMO since there are over 20 million black men in this country and only 2 million of them are in prison. Also black men make more money on average than black women. It is true that we black women have risen educationally, but we still don't make as much as black men. Over 90% of black women marry black men (I'm a black woman and I'm married to a black husband). Most black men marry black women as well.
I am from the Rustbelt. I lived in Detroit for a few years and still have family there. Detroit is on a resurgence right now. Cleveland has been on the come up for nearly a decade now, it had some hiccups during the financial crisis but so did Atlanta, which is where I lived during the Great Recession. Nearly every city in America suffered due to that financial crisis mostly because of the foreclosure rates that destabilized families and housing stock. Family homes are the primary factor in a families net worth and if a family owes more on a mortgage than the home is worth, their wealth is automatically decreased. All types of Americans suffered a decrease in wealth based on their home values decreasing. Black neighborhoods, due to the history of redlining in America have always been worth less money than a majority white neighborhood. It is a legacy of our country's racism. As a result black neighborhoods always suffer the most when a recession hits. This one was no different than others in that respect. Luckily the home I own in Atlanta actually has finally gone back up in value over what it was when we bought it over 10 years ago. It took much longer to regain its value because it is in a majority black neighborhood.
And 70% of black women are not single moms. Black women get married at later ages and often have children before they marry. By age 40 a majority (nearly 80%) of black women are either married or have been married and are divorced.
All Americans voted in a lesser number this past election due to the fact that both major candidates were horrible.
On the "legacy of slavery" there is nothing negative about being descended of slaves. Nearly all countries, including Guyana had slavery and a large percentage of them imported slaves from Africa and Asia. I also, am "tri-racial" as I have African, European, and Indigenous American ancestry, but culturally I am a black American and being a black American is a wonderful thing to be.
Will say I think the post above by Bronxguyanese is one that I includes generalizations that were made about a variety of supposed "black issues." All of the comments mentioned are based from a media perception and are a result of the technology age where people read/see/consume a lot of generalized information and that, in turn makes them believe that all of that stuff is majority true when it was not. I can understand that black Americans get sick of dealing with the same conversations about the same generalizations over and over and due to me having been in discussions about all of the things mentioned in that post at some point in time, I'll share, that I usually will provide a response to those comments, in person, in a very nice, but direct fashion.
Case in point - about "white on black violence" and how it "didn't occur" prior to 2008 and how the poster thought that black Americans were all of the sudden "targeted by subprime mortgages" and the "higher loan payments. I'd speak in person to this person about the fact that there has always been "white on black violence" in America. Its just that prior to having a black president, the media didn't report on it often and when media did report on it in local areas, it was a local story and couldn't "go viral" because the internet was not then, what it is today. There have always been race riots in America. Police have always killed and harassed black people in American cities. Wealth has always been lower for black Americans and hasn't risen or fallen much since 1997 even with the inclusion of the minor recession that happened during GW Bush's years and the major recession that happened toward the end of his term and the first 4 years of Obama's term.
All of those topics have long, historically attributing factors. Due to the internet and people just being lazy and less likely to actually research racial history of the US from a variety of factors (education, housing, civil rights, economics, etc.) they think all this stuff is brand new or at an all time low when it is not.
Even the stuff on the male/female relationships is silly IMO since there are over 20 million black men in this country and only 2 million of them are in prison. Also black men make more money on average than black women. It is true that we black women have risen educationally, but we still don't make as much as black men. Over 90% of black women marry black men (I'm a black woman and I'm married to a black husband). Most black men marry black women as well.
I am from the Rustbelt. I lived in Detroit for a few years and still have family there. Detroit is on a resurgence right now. Cleveland has been on the come up for nearly a decade now, it had some hiccups during the financial crisis but so did Atlanta, which is where I lived during the Great Recession. Nearly every city in America suffered due to that financial crisis mostly because of the foreclosure rates that destabilized families and housing stock. Family homes are the primary factor in a families net worth and if a family owes more on a mortgage than the home is worth, their wealth is automatically decreased. All types of Americans suffered a decrease in wealth based on their home values decreasing. Black neighborhoods, due to the history of redlining in America have always been worth less money than a majority white neighborhood. It is a legacy of our country's racism. As a result black neighborhoods always suffer the most when a recession hits. This one was no different than others in that respect. Luckily the home I own in Atlanta actually has finally gone back up in value over what it was when we bought it over 10 years ago. It took much longer to regain its value because it is in a majority black neighborhood.
And 70% of black women are not single moms. Black women get married at later ages and often have children before they marry. By age 40 a majority (nearly 80%) of black women are either married or have been married and are divorced.
All Americans voted in a lesser number this past election due to the fact that both major candidates were horrible.
On the "legacy of slavery" there is nothing negative about being descended of slaves. Nearly all countries, including Guyana had slavery and a large percentage of them imported slaves from Africa and Asia. I also, am "tri-racial" as I have African, European, and Indigenous American ancestry, but culturally I am a black American and being a black American is a wonderful thing to be.
Those weren't generalizations. Much of it is facts which I can back up and claim. I even helped to write a paper on it for an individual at a prestigious university here in NYC. Yes much of black and white violence did exist prior, but things just went down hill during the economic recession. I even predicted race will be an issue during the recession. When the economy is good, and everyone is making money, everyone is happy. The recession eliminated plenty of black wealth in this country. You can simply look it up Ms. Research. As for 70 percent of black women being single moms, I meant 70 percent of black women are single, while 72 percent of all black American kids are born from out of wedlock This is very high and has been predicted by the Moynihan report back in the 1970s. I can list my sources from the 2010 census data, to black demographics.com. I don't know what anal is up your butt. Of course their is nothing negative about being a slave. At one point we where all slaves. In Europe during the Greek and Roman era when other European tribes like Germans, Slavs and Celts were slaves to Southern European masters. To Serfs who worked on lands of their lords. Slavery still exist in some way shape or form. Soviet Union slavery existed, Nazi Germany used slave labor on the Jews, Communist China slavery still exist. My comment seemed to change the course of the topic. Thus resulting for blacks to leave America and become expats.
Last edited by Bronxguyanese; 07-07-2017 at 10:47 AM..
Those weren't generalizations. Much of it is facts which I can back up and claim. I even helped to write a paper on it for an individual at a prestigious university here in NYC. Yes much of black and white violence did exist prior, but things just went down hill during the economic recession. I even predicted race will be an issue during the recession. When the economy is good, and everyone is making money, everyone is happy.
That's kind of like predicting the ground will get wet when it rains.
We've had recessions before, such as toward the end of the 70s and in the early 90s, and race has always become a highlighted issue. Not a hair raising prediction.
I don't like the flashiness of Dubai, but I do like the idea of starting off with a clean slate.. and not worrying about the issues which currently plague America.
As a Black American , what are the daily issues you or the population faces?? IMO Grass is always greener outside but I felt US is the least racist compared to other countries. Except may be France.
Those weren't generalizations. Much of it is facts which I can back up and claim. I even helped to write a paper on it for an individual at a prestigious university here in NYC. Yes much of black and white violence did exist prior, but things just went down hill during the economic recession. I even predicted race will be an issue during the recession. When the economy is good, and everyone is making money, everyone is happy.
So do you think that black people are worse off educationally, in housing, economically and on the issue of Civil Rights today than we were in 1970 or 1995?
Things are not "going downhill" from my perspective for black Americans. The entire country was dealt a horrible blow from the recession, not just black people and our demographic is always more vulnerable to economic shifts due to the fact that we were not allowed full participation and opportunities that America affords its citizens until the early 1980s nationwide (especially in relation to housing).
We are much better off today on racial issues in particular. Police brutality/murder is especially much better than it used to be. It is horrible now, but at least people believe it exists today lol. Black people have always been active on that issue in particular. The race riots in the past were way worse than they were in the past 10 years and prior to 2008 there was a race riot in my hometown in Ohio, along with in Cincinnati and various other urban areas across the country. People only think things are worse because they are bombarded with information (much of it false like the black women not marrying thing) that is constantly in front of them on the internet. People also are very naive when it comes to youtube and in beileving that all these popular race characters are actually reflective of the vast majority of black people in this country.
I read yesterday that some lady was saying she was going to marry a white man so she could have "cute babies" and there were a bunch of dumb black people agreeing that "mixed babies are cuter." People very easily go along with stuff they are showed or hear over and over in media.
I'm not like this. I don't consume a lot of media and I have read and studied a lot of material about not only black people in America, but the history of our country from a variety of perspectives and eras. I think this is why the "white racism" that the OP mentioned doesn't bother me like it seems to bother him/her. As stated, I don't expect white people not to stereotype me. I don't expect all of them to and I especially don't expect them to say any sort of racist things since I don't believe all, or a majority of white people are racist (especially not openly so), but it doesn't surprise me when it happens because that is our reality worldwide. I also wouldn't be surprised if an African in an African country stereotyped me - called me "ghetto" or asked my why black Americans do XYZ and attempt to denigrate us as a demographic. I especially wouldn't be surprised of an Asian stereotyped me or wanted to take pictures with me just because I'm black and they've never seen a black person in their country. Or if they call me by the name of some black celebrity they know lol. If I go to Europe, as a black woman, I wouldn't be surprised to be stereotyped as an African in Europe and deal with their stereotypes of black women (that we are prostitutes or sexually promiscuous). Again, I've traveled abroad. Our racism in America is...I can only call it "familiar" to me and I know it and I know why it is what it is, so it doesn't bother me. I feel if more black Americans become more familiar with why things are the way they are and not buy into the media/internet pushing the message that all of this is "worse" or "new" then they would not be so upset about it and can live a decent life.
But as stated, I support everyone living where they want to live and experiencing what they want to experience. I'm glad that blacks fought and struggled for me and all Americans to do just that - no matter their physical appearance or ethnicity. I moved back to the Rustbelt due to the fact that I am much more used to our particular racism than that of the south. I honestly never dealt much with white racism where I live even though I always went to integrated schools and even in the hood I live in, I have white neighbors. I think it is because where I'm from there is a solid population of white people who are poverty stricken to working class and due to me being from a similar class and growing up/around them and they around me and other ethnic groups, we all just don't sit around a b**ch about racism all the time. But FWIW, in the last 5-7 years, I do think many of my old classmates have become very influenced by internet and media. I have a couple good friends from high school, who are white guys who were my neighbors who post all kinds of ridiculous Infowars stuff and prejudiced articles on their Facebook pages. I engage them and ask them if they thought that about me and my brothers and all the other black people in our neighborhood and they usually delete that sort of thing or they block me lol. They never used to post this sort of thing until this last election cycle.
So do you think that black people are worse off educationally, in housing, economically and on the issue of Civil Rights today than we were in 1970 or 1995?
Things are not "going downhill" from my perspective for black Americans. The entire country was dealt a horrible blow from the recession, not just black people and our demographic is always more vulnerable to economic shifts due to the fact that we were not allowed full participation and opportunities that America affords its citizens until the early 1980s nationwide (especially in relation to housing).
We are much better off today on racial issues in particular. Police brutality/murder is especially much better than it used to be. It is horrible now, but at least people believe it exists today lol. Black people have always been active on that issue in particular. The race riots in the past were way worse than they were in the past 10 years and prior to 2008 there was a race riot in my hometown in Ohio, along with in Cincinnati and various other urban areas across the country. People only think things are worse because they are bombarded with information (much of it false like the black women not marrying thing) that is constantly in front of them on the internet. People also are very naive when it comes to youtube and in beileving that all these popular race characters are actually reflective of the vast majority of black people in this country.
I read yesterday that some lady was saying she was going to marry a white man so she could have "cute babies" and there were a bunch of dumb black people agreeing that "mixed babies are cuter." People very easily go along with stuff they are showed or hear over and over in media.
I'm not like this. I don't consume a lot of media and I have read and studied a lot of material about not only black people in America, but the history of our country from a variety of perspectives and eras. I think this is why the "white racism" that the OP mentioned doesn't bother me like it seems to bother him/her. As stated, I don't expect white people not to stereotype me. I don't expect all of them to and I especially don't expect them to say any sort of racist things since I don't believe all, or a majority of white people are racist (especially not openly so), but it doesn't surprise me when it happens because that is our reality worldwide. I also wouldn't be surprised if an African in an African country stereotyped me - called me "ghetto" or asked my why black Americans do XYZ and attempt to denigrate us as a demographic. I especially wouldn't be surprised of an Asian stereotyped me or wanted to take pictures with me just because I'm black and they've never seen a black person in their country. Or if they call me by the name of some black celebrity they know lol. If I go to Europe, as a black woman, I wouldn't be surprised to be stereotyped as an African in Europe and deal with their stereotypes of black women (that we are prostitutes or sexually promiscuous). Again, I've traveled abroad. Our racism in America is...I can only call it "familiar" to me and I know it and I know why it is what it is, so it doesn't bother me. I feel if more black Americans become more familiar with why things are the way they are and not buy into the media/internet pushing the message that all of this is "worse" or "new" then they would not be so upset about it and can live a decent life.
But as stated, I support everyone living where they want to live and experiencing what they want to experience. I'm glad that blacks fought and struggled for me and all Americans to do just that - no matter their physical appearance or ethnicity. I moved back to the Rustbelt due to the fact that I am much more used to our particular racism than that of the south. I honestly never dealt much with white racism where I live even though I always went to integrated schools and even in the hood I live in, I have white neighbors. I think it is because where I'm from there is a solid population of white people who are poverty stricken to working class and due to me being from a similar class and growing up/around them and they around me and other ethnic groups, we all just don't sit around a b**ch about racism all the time. But FWIW, in the last 5-7 years, I do think many of my old classmates have become very influenced by internet and media. I have a couple good friends from high school, who are white guys who were my neighbors who post all kinds of ridiculous Infowars stuff and prejudiced articles on their Facebook pages. I engage them and ask them if they thought that about me and my brothers and all the other black people in our neighborhood and they usually delete that sort of thing or they block me lol. They never used to post this sort of thing until this last election cycle.
It depends on who is around your social circle. What is great about America, and the American system is that everyone can move up, not everyone but with hard work, folks can move up, if not maybe your offsprings will. But also folks can move down. That in an essence is capitalism. From your perspective Africans Americans are doing better, I can agree with that. But from my perspective I see lots of stagnation, and I want to help out and assist. My last girlfriend who's African American wanted me to be a teacher and she said that I needed to help black men out. She's an ivy league grad, my current girlfriend who is also African American is a masters degree holder and going for her Phd. I see black Americans doing well, but then again I see black Americans not doing well and falling back into decay. This is in NYC, but when I visit other parts of America I also notice stagnation. And I want you to know that I'm happy that black Americans are doing well in your neck of the woods. I commend you on that.
As for your question, are black Americans better off today than in the past. Academically yes, and housing yes. Before blacks could not attend Ivy League schools and such. Equally opportunity laws did its best to promote young black youths to college. We have programs like trio to help minorities and those who poor get a leg up with college assistance. Today their are more black men going to college vs them in prison. Black women have high rates of academic attainment. Housing still has a long way to go, but gains have improved, minority of blacks can live peacefully amongst any race. like the end of red lining and block busting practices has come to an end, but Gentrification still remains an issue in urban areas. Housing is a shaky subject. I used to work in real estate company here in NYC. The company used to charge slightly higher rents for blacks compared to white renters. Housing will always be an issue, but has been improved over the decades. As for economy? I have to say yes. Black Americans can obtain jobs, professions that they did not have access before, and even move up. But in terms of business creation. I have to say no. Integration has eroded black business and entrepeurnal. Prior to Civil Rights era, black money bounced around within the community, and today it does not. Thanks to integration, black money goes into the hands of Jews, Wasps, Asians and so on, and not the other way around.
Last I hope you are not assuming that I read and look into mass media on where I get my information instead of reading resources. I feel that you are a woman and a Social Justice Warrior and you are making assumptions about me generalizing. I can list a boatload of resources for you. But any way, I don't want to get off topic on this thread. I just want to help out the African Americans. As for the woman with kids from a white man. Good for her, I can careless what or who women have kids for. I'm all for the pursuit of peoples happiness especially happiness for women. All I know is that all my girlfriends have darker shades of color than I, kinkier hair, but I don't let that be a problem. I'm a man that sees good in people regardless of color, and love is love. I believe in working together. If we don't, we all fall as a society.
It depends on who is around your social circle. What is great about America, and the American system is that everyone can move up, not everyone but with hard work, folks can move up, if not maybe your offsprings will. But also folks can move down. That in an essence is capitalism. From your perspective Africans Americans are doing better, I can agree with that. But from my perspective I see lots of stagnation, and I want to help out and assist. My last girlfriend who's African American wanted me to be a teacher and she said that I needed to help black men out. She's an ivy league grad, my current girlfriend who is also African American is a masters degree holder and going for her Phd. I see black Americans doing well, but then again I see black Americans not doing well and falling back into decay. This is in NYC, but when I visit other parts of America I also notice stagnation. And I want you to know that I'm happy that black Americans are doing well in your neck of the woods. I commend you on that.
As for your question, are black Americans better off today than in the past. Academically yes, and housing yes. Before blacks could not attend Ivy League schools and such. Equally opportunity laws did its best to promote young black youths to college. We have programs like trio to help minorities and those who poor get a leg up with college assistance. Today their are more black men going to college vs them in prison. Black women have high rates of academic attainment. Housing still has a long way to go, but gains have improved, minority of blacks can live peacefully amongst any race. like the end of red lining and block busting practices has come to an end, but Gentrification still remains an issue in urban areas. Housing is a shaky subject. I used to work in real estate company here in NYC. The company used to charge slightly higher rents for blacks compared to white renters. Housing will always be an issue, but has been improved over the decades. As for economy? I have to say yes. Black Americans can obtain jobs, professions that they did not have access before, and even move up. But in terms of business creation. I have to say no. Integration has eroded black business and entrepeurnal. Prior to Civil Rights era, black money bounced around within the community, and today it does not. Thanks to integration, black money goes into the hands of Jews, Wasps, Asians and so on, and not the other way around.
Last I hope you are not assuming that I read and look into mass media on where I get my information instead of reading resources. I feel that you are a woman and a Social Justice Warrior and you are making assumptions about me generalizing. I can list a boatload of resources for you. But any way, I don't want to get off topic on this thread. I just want to help out the African Americans. As for the woman with kids from a white man. Good for her, I can careless what or who women have kids for. I'm all for the pursuit of peoples happiness especially happiness for women. All I know is that all my girlfriends have darker shades of color than I, kinkier hair, but I don't let that be a problem. I'm a man that sees good in people regardless of color, and love is love. I believe in working together. If we don't, we all fall as a society.
My entire point was that people believe things they see/consume a lot in media about black people. That is how stereotypes were created. All Americans, including black ones believe generalizations of black people and for me, that is the biggest issue of black America.
Also we are better today as black Americans. We have opportunities to do well in our lives and the opportunity to attend school and use libraries and do all sorts of things our grandparents and great grandparents were limited in pursuing. So we are better. All demographics have a population of those who are doing well and who are not doing so well. To think that black people are not the same is odd to me based on the fact that I have studied and read a lot about the history of this nation and of black people in particular.
On the SJW comment, I always think it is funny considering people around here think that of me, but the blacks in the south thought I was a conservative black Republican and even the black people where I live now think I'm "too conservative" and that I "don't understand" people's woe-ish sorts of excuses for why they are not doing well in life from an educational and economic perspective. I am a warrior of sorts, but I honestly don't care about social justice stuff that is commonly discussed online. I'm someone who is for freedom of speech and I speak my mind and I don't purposefully spout off any SJW crap or even know who the leaders of any SJW "movement" are. I am into old school black intellectualism and the volunteerism I take part in is mentoring young people to be critical thinkers and problem solvers and not to go along with things just because someone says something. You get to the source and make your own opinion. You also are the main person who is in control of your life and so you view the world with your plan, try to get by those obstacles, but if they get in your way, you come up with a plan and put it into action to get by those obstacles. For me - that perseverence is the essence of being black. We cannot sit back and b**ch and moan about stuff and think if we leave everything will be all better for us or for black people at large. And we especially shouldn't buy into the idea that we can change anyone else's racist POV of black people just by being "good." I frequently mention there are old racist jokes like :
Question: What do you call a black doctor in a benz?
Answer: A n*gger
This past week, NYer Jay Z dropped a new album as you may know.
Maybe you've heard this song. It takes to heart part of what I'm saying. People will view you in whatever stereotypical, racist way they want, but your goals should still be aimed for and achieved.
My entire point was that people believe things they see/consume a lot in media about black people. That is how stereotypes were created. All Americans, including black ones believe generalizations of black people and for me, that is the biggest issue of black America.
Also we are better today as black Americans. We have opportunities to do well in our lives and the opportunity to attend school and use libraries and do all sorts of things our grandparents and great grandparents were limited in pursuing. So we are better. All demographics have a population of those who are doing well and who are not doing so well. To think that black people are not the same is odd to me based on the fact that I have studied and read a lot about the history of this nation and of black people in particular.
On the SJW comment, I always think it is funny considering people around here think that of me, but the blacks in the south thought I was a conservative black Republican and even the black people where I live now think I'm "too conservative" and that I "don't understand" people's woe-ish sorts of excuses for why they are not doing well in life from an educational and economic perspective. I am a warrior of sorts, but I honestly don't care about social justice stuff that is commonly discussed online. I'm someone who is for freedom of speech and I speak my mind and I don't purposefully spout off any SJW crap or even know who the leaders of any SJW "movement" are. I am into old school black intellectualism and the volunteerism I take part in is mentoring young people to be critical thinkers and problem solvers and not to go along with things just because someone says something. You get to the source and make your own opinion. You also are the main person who is in control of your life and so you view the world with your plan, try to get by those obstacles, but if they get in your way, you come up with a plan and put it into action to get by those obstacles. For me - that perseverence is the essence of being black. We cannot sit back and b**ch and moan about stuff and think if we leave everything will be all better for us or for black people at large. And we especially shouldn't buy into the idea that we can change anyone else's racist POV of black people just by being "good." I frequently mention there are old racist jokes like :
Question: What do you call a black doctor in a benz?
Answer: A n*gger
This past week, NYer Jay Z dropped a new album as you may know.
Maybe you've heard this song. It takes to heart part of what I'm saying. People will view you in whatever stereotypical, racist way they want, but your goals should still be aimed for and achieved.
I don't follow hip hop. Usage of the N word only hurts blacks in this country and does not propel them. I have said this before many times. I respect your noble duties as a citizen. Many blesses from me to you!
I don't follow hip hop. Usage of the N word only hurts blacks in this country and does not propel them. I have said this before many times. I respect your noble duties as a citizen. Many blesses from me to you!
The song went along with the joke I shared. No matter what you achieve as a black person somebody is still going to see you as a n*gger and society in general, even in America today will still see you that way.
Regardless of that fact, you can do what you want with your life. Leaving the country will not solve racism and being good in front of Europeans and whites in America is not going to solve racism.
We need to focus on ourselves and our families and our communities and growing economically and educationally and especially realizing the fact that media lies and statistics as reported on by media aren't always the truth. It is skewed to fit a particular stereotypical and racist perspective oftentimes - like perpetuating to black women that we rarely, if ever get married or that a majority of black men are in prison, etc. Knowing what the truth is means you aren't bothered by lies when you see/hear them. And FWIW it doesn't only happen to black people at large. Both genders and all ethnic groups are portrayed negatively and pervasively by some form of media.
I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm certain that I know the history more than most. What annoys me about some black American people is, their underlining belief that everything is "good." Many of "these" people are not receptive to heeding warning signs. They are more than happy to continue taking part in the pathology.
I've learned a long time ago, that it's important to focus, not only on myself (and my relative standing) but to also concern myself with the standing of the less fortunate. Yes, I earn a very good income, yes, I have solid money saved, yes, I have great health insurance and yes, I'm in the process of trying to find a good place to purchase property, but I still realize that this nation is not a good place to reside in long-term. Yes, you gain access to materialism, but as with everything there is a trade-off.
Forgot to address that on the bold, most people are very self centered. Not just black people. If everything is "good" in their lives, they think everything is good for nearly everyone lol.
On materialism, it depends on the person. I also make a good income but I'm not materialistic. Not sure why I'm not because there are plenty of materialistic people in my family - especially my mom lol. I think I just didn't like that about her personality and so I've always been very frugal and very smart with my money. I also put no value on name brands or specific car models or even zip codes.
I wanted to note on the materialism aspect that you moving abroad and especially if you move to a poorer country, you would be seen as materialistic and wealthy compared to most natives in those countries. Even poor black Americans are wealthy compared to the vast population of the impoverished individuals in the world, many of whom live in the Caribbean or S. America or Africa or Asia and even in Europe.
Not sure if you've traveled abroad before for a long period of time, but as stated, I've traveled and it made me realize that I am much more knowledgeable and comfortable with our country's brand of racism than other countries. Also that black Americans have a global stereotype, mostly due to the proliferation of movies which characterize us in specific ways - ghetto gangsters, sports stars, action figures/sidekicks, etc. All these blockbuster movies with a secondary black character, those black characters form the basis of the global stereotypes of us. Also many black people of the African diaspora around the world have a "hater" attitude IMO about black Americans in that they feel we all "do bad" and that we don't take advantage of our opportunities here. They also have those blockbuster movie stereotypes of us. So I do hope you travel more and hopefully for a long time and I hope you like living abroad but if you don't, you learn more about what being a black American means to other people in the world. Broadening our perspectives, I feel is very important. I agree with you that we are a part of a global community and IMO a global community of humanity. We should get passports and travel as much as we can. The young people I mentor, I help them get passports and I take them on trips as well within the country (you may be surprised at how many black kids in inner cities in particular have never even been outside of their own city) and outside the country. I don't live far from Canada and am planning a trip with some young people to Toronto in the next couple of months. I wouldn't mind living in Canada but it is not all that different IMO from the US and if I were looking to live overseas, I'd probably pick a more exotic location. I like Canada though. I've never met an unfriendly, not nice Canadian.
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