What's "African" About Black-Americans? (country, culture, living, view)
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Okay, well, they're obviously not who Galounger and I are talking about. As I clearly already stated, Black pride = / = Black supremacy. They're two different mindsets with their own distinct meanings.
That someone should only take pride in what they willfully achieved is one of the silliest things I've heard in a while. Being black is MORE than just "ok". It's great, and it isn't something I'd trade for all of the money in the world.
For you and Neuling, Black may just be a skin color. Just understand that for many of the rest of us, it means so much more.
Here's an example of how African Americans simply adopting a let's assimilate and forget we are Black and just work hard mentality won't solve our economic woes.
Wish it would but things are more complicated than that economically, and culturally. I will use construction contracting as an example but could have just as easily used general manufacturing, engineering, franchising, software development or a number of other areas.
I've observed whites enjoy many advantages in the multi million dollar world of construction contractors that Blacks don't realize such as:
1. In my area many whites business owners own very large farms or tracts of forest land that they frequently get security deeds against in order to obtain large bank loans which they pay back when convenient. In this way they keep a good cash flow going and avoid not paying off debts on time. Having this land also helps them put up the huge bonds that are necessary to get some big contracting jobs. Many of them inherited this land which has been in their family for a long time. Many families acquired this back when we were too busy picking cotton as either slaves or very oppressed share croppers and most Black farmers over the years lost their land due to unfair lending practices. It is what it is.
2. Many white contractors have been in the construction contracting business for generations like I said earlier. Over the decades they have gained expertise that will win them contracts that most blacks as new comers are not going to have right off the bat. In construction like in most other industries they have a giant head start on us. Over the years they have formed close relationships with the State and other customers that is pretty solid by now.
3. It's not what you know it's who you know. I can relate to you the story of a Black contractor who was very very good and did work for the State DOT and everyone enjoyed working with him. However, if he were to have screwed up or missed a deadline he would have been severely fined. Another very large white owned contractor that inspectors hated to work with because they did shoddy work and missed deadlines alot would always get away with this because they had important connections in the State capital that they
could call on. No Black owned contractor (they were all small) had those kinds of connections.
4. The part above about Black farmers having been forced out of business plays another important role. See, many whites in the South get into heavy construction because they gained extensive knowledge about operating heavy equipment and construction on their farms. Most Blacks don't have this knowledge or if they have jobs as equipment operators only have limited knowledge so heavy construction contracting just becomes one more of the very lucrative enterprises we are very under represented in.
You see I could go on for several more pages listing how historical injustice has made it more difficult for us to get into and succeed in many industries. (Like why we are so incredibly underrepresented in Silicon Valley which is a financial behemoth. Believe me, it's because of a lot more than just education).
This is what the posters that just keep repeating that Blacks need to just be American and work hard aren't seeing. We could close our eyes and pretend that all is fair and equal and most white people would love us for doing that. But numbers 1. thru 4. would still be there holding us back. and a whole lot of other numbers that have nothing to do with how much of a colorblind "can we all just get along" attitude we carry with us.
Now this is one of the most eye opening posts I have ever seen. you have a great way of explaining things.
When slaves were brought over from West Africa to the Americas, including the American South, they were stripped of all their culture and heritage, except for . . . music. In fact they were highly encouraged to sing together in the cotton fields, because the slaveowners believed it to make them more productive.
Blues, jazz, soul, and hip hop, all uniquely African American music styles could NOT have developed if it were not for the rhythms passed down through the generations.
When slaves were brought over from West Africa to the Americas, including the American South, they were stripped of all their culture and heritage, except for . . . music. In fact they were highly encouraged to sing together in the cotton fields, because the slaveowners believed it to make them more productive.
Blues, jazz, soul, and hip hop, all uniquely African American music styles could NOT have developed if it were not for the rhythms passed down through the generations.
I am a musician and will say that just about all modern music styles have had some influence from Black Americans. I caution however on the amount that is African. A large part of it was made up once they got here, making it very uniquely Black American.
I am a musician and will say that just about all modern music styles have had some influence from Black Americans. I caution however on the amount that is African. A large part of it was made up once they got here, making it very uniquely Black American.
My advice to young blacks is to study the job market and acquire the skills and experience to be competitive. If starting up a business becomes an opportunity then they will have some skills and experience (hopefully) good credit and savings and they will be known by potential clients and suppliers. To tell them to open up a business when they cant even balance their checking account is just dooming them to failure.
You have a point, but this all starts with the schools. How can one study the job market and acquire, say, solid IT skills when his/her reading level and math skills just aren't where they should be? As long as public schools are financed via property taxes, Blacks will always be at a competitive disadvantage.
Even though it seems unlikely and so far gone, I think our "salvation" will lie in keeping more dollars in our own communities as well as getting more outside dollars to flow in. But on the latter end, we have more of an uphill climb I think, due to discrimination.
Here's an example of how African Americans simply adopting a let's assimilate and forget we are Black and just work hard mentality won't solve our economic woes.
Wish it would but things are more complicated than that economically, and culturally. I will use construction contracting as an example but could have just as easily used general manufacturing, engineering, franchising, software development or a number of other areas.
I've observed whites enjoy many advantages in the multi million dollar world of construction contractors that Blacks don't realize such as:
1. In my area many whites business owners own very large farms or tracts of forest land that they frequently get security deeds against in order to obtain large bank loans which they pay back when convenient. In this way they keep a good cash flow going and avoid not paying off debts on time. Having this land also helps them put up the huge bonds that are necessary to get some big contracting jobs. Many of them inherited this land which has been in their family for a long time. Many families acquired this back when we were too busy picking cotton as either slaves or very oppressed share croppers and most Black farmers over the years lost their land due to unfair lending practices. It is what it is.
2. Many white contractors have been in the construction contracting business for generations like I said earlier. Over the decades they have gained expertise that will win them contracts that most blacks as new comers are not going to have right off the bat. In construction like in most other industries they have a giant head start on us. Over the years they have formed close relationships with the State and other customers that is pretty solid by now.
3. It's not what you know it's who you know. I can relate to you the story of a Black contractor who was very very good and did work for the State DOT and everyone enjoyed working with him. However, if he were to have screwed up or missed a deadline he would have been severely fined. Another very large white owned contractor that inspectors hated to work with because they did shoddy work and missed deadlines alot would always get away with this because they had important connections in the State capital that they
could call on. No Black owned contractor (they were all small) had those kinds of connections.
4. The part above about Black farmers having been forced out of business plays another important role. See, many whites in the South get into heavy construction because they gained extensive knowledge about operating heavy equipment and construction on their farms. Most Blacks don't have this knowledge or if they have jobs as equipment operators only have limited knowledge so heavy construction contracting just becomes one more of the very lucrative enterprises we are very under represented in.
You see I could go on for several more pages listing how historical injustice has made it more difficult for us to get into and succeed in many industries. (Like why we are so incredibly underrepresented in Silicon Valley which is a financial behemoth. Believe me, it's because of a lot more than just education).
This is what the posters that just keep repeating that Blacks need to just be American and work hard aren't seeing. We could close our eyes and pretend that all is fair and equal and most white people would love us for doing that. But numbers 1. thru 4. would still be there holding us back. and a whole lot of other numbers that have nothing to do with how much of a colorblind "can we all just get along" attitude we carry with us.
This is some good stuff, and it's great to see a real world example cited. It reminds me of this article:
I am a musician and will say that just about all modern music styles have had some influence from Black Americans. I caution however on the amount that is African. A large part of it was made up once they got here, making it very uniquely Black American.
Definitely agree with you here.
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