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Here is another important question. Considering that there are both young White professionals and young Blacks professionals, why are young Black professionals less likely to take part in gentrifying old, rundown neighborhoods and Whites are more likely to do this?
Well, nei beat me to it. There are a decent amount of "buppies" gentrifying crummy areas, but they haven't received as much media attention.
Interracial marriages are disproportionately white and asian or white and hispanic. A large unmixed black population will be around for a very long time, though I expect racial identities to slowly weaken.
That's the tricky and funny thing about interracial relationships/marriages in America, even today: White people don't really treat them as interracial relatonships/marriages unless the non-white person is black.
For example: I've said this before, but as you pointed put, many white men are particularly fond of Asian women, and most other white people don't bat an eye at white/Asian pairings. But let that same white guy bring home Shaniqua for Christmas dinner or take her out with his white friends and a lot them will feel completely different about him and his choice of woman, even if Shaniqua is nice, educated, and attractive.
That's the tricky and funny thing about interracial relationships/marriages in America, even today: White people don't really treat them as interracial relatonships/marriages unless the non-white person is black.
For example: I've said this before, but as you pointed put, many white men are particularly fond of Asian women, and most other white people don't bat an eye at white/Asian pairings. But let that same white guy bring home Shaniqua for Christmas dinner or take her out with his white friends and a lot them will feel completely different about him and his choice of woman, even if Shaniqua is nice, educated, and attractive.
A few things come into play here.
First and foremost, Asian people were never enslaved in the United States, the blacks once were.
Secondly, Asian Americans and White Americans share a pretty similar culture and have many habitual similarities between the two. Black Americans have their own unique culture that is rather different from the rest of the races in the United States.
First and foremost, Asian people were never enslaved in the United States, the blacks once were.
Secondly, Asian Americans and White Americans share a pretty similar culture and have many habitual similarities between the two. Black Americans have their own unique culture that is rather different from the rest of the races in the United States.
I'll give you your first point (and even that is sort of a copout since whites are the ones who did the enslaving), but your second point is total BS: You mean to tell me that Black people who were born and raised right here in America have a radically "different culture" from their white fellow Americans compared to first generation Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern etc. immigrants who aren't even from America?!? Many immigrants' second generation kids are even brought up in the culture of their respective homelands by those same parents even though they grow up in America. I think what you REALLY are trying to say without saying is that Blacks are the only minority group in America who as a whole don't break their backs trying to assimilate with and/or kiss up to white folks.
I think what you REALLY are trying to say without saying is that Blacks are the only minority group in America who as a whole don't break their backs trying to assimilate with and/or kiss up to white folks.
When were they given the opportunity to assimilate?
IMO, blacks seem to have been more hardworking and determined prior to the Civil Right era. It's strange to me. You had people like MLK, Rosa Parks, etc. It's strange how much has changed in the black community. Blacks have really taken their full freedom in this country for granted and don't realize just how much was done to give them full civil rights. Black Marriage rates were incredibly high then and no are the lowest of all races at barely 28%. This alone tells a lot.
Black people in this country are suffering from a case of arrested development. Blacks have only been truly free, first class citizens for about 40 to 50 years. When you take that fact into consideration and the history of black people in this country it is not hard to understand why the may appear to be lagging behind other groups in education attainment and median income. You also have to take into consideration the devastating impact of the welfare state and drugs on the black community. Prior to the civil rights era, black people were not victims of the welfare mentality that is prevalent in many poor communities (of all races). The marriage rate was higher because it was an economic necessity for black people to marry, cohabitate, and merge income. I agree that the general condition of the black family was much better off prior to 1970, but I can also see what went wrong. While well intentioned, the great society programs have really had a negative impact on the black community due to the way they were implemented. Any program that is designed to take the man out of the home is not going to be a good thing for strengthening the family, but that is exactly what those policies did.
With that being said, I believe that the black middle class is much bigger today than it was prior to 1970. I also think that the number of black college graduates is much higher today that prior to 1970. As more time passes you will see these numbers continue to increase, and as they do the black community will improve as well.
Think about this for a second. What percentage of black people that are say 30 years old or older have a grandparent that graduated from college? What do you think the percentages are for white people? This discrepancy is not due to lack of motivation it is purely due to lack of opportunity for people in that era to attain the highest level of education. What effect do you think that would have on a community as a whole?
He beat you to it, and it brings up an important question. Why aren't Blacks getting as much media attention for gentrifying certain areas?
The problem is white yuppies aren't scared of buppies, and there are a lot more white yuppies. So once buppies start gentrifying an area, the black percentage as a whole drops as well. Thus despite Harlem still having a strong black upper-middle class component, the national press talks much more about how "Harlem isn't so black anymore." The logical conclusion is you eventually reach a 65%-85% upper-middle class white neighborhood with a small population of similarly well-off blacks interspersed.
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