Job Discrimination? Racial Mingling? (Baltimore: high school, gangs, moving)

[Hamish Forbes]

[quote=DCnative27;18474611]

Originally Posted by Hamish Forbes

making the dean's list several times and graduating was my own doing.

I'm glad that you did well despite the complications of the situation. Sincere congratulations!

[mrboltonman]

What complications?

[Hamish Forbes]

Originally Posted by mrboltonman

What complications?

Hi, Mr Bolton Man. I don't pretend to have a good knowledge of what goes on now as I'm a retired guy. It just seems to me that there's a lot of racial tension that doesn't make things any easier for anyone in my beloved hometown of Baltimore. My only thought was that a young man who does well in school deserves congratulations. Making the Dean's list and graduating from a legitimate university are good things he can be justly proud of!

[mrboltonman]

I don't disagree with that, it is good.

[picturegirl]

Wow, I had been strongly considering moving back to Maryland after moving out of state because of my spouse's job, but now I'm not so sure. I used to live in Towson in 2007, but the rents have skyrocketed as well for the same apartment complex. But after listening to the gloom and doom that seems like most people's impression of Maryland, overall, I don't know if I want to chance it again. My search goes on .

[bmoregrimey]

Im from baltimore and have grown up in this city in the not so good part of west baltimore near lexington terrace projects...i can say that black and white people stereotype a great deal in this city. white people generally think that every black person is going to harm them or robb them, black people think that every white person is racist and elitist. many poor black people are ignorant in this city not because they wanna be but bcuz they grew up that way and it was a learned behavior. if you really wanna understand people you need to try to understand their culture and history. if you grow up in a crime ridden crumbling neighborhood where no one works or earns an honest living, and education is not valued then obviously one will be more likely to hold those same values...coupled with these factors: bad education system, no police protection or respect, the availability of drugs and alcohol...and you have a recipe for vicious cycle that will repeat and get worse...the solution is understanding, outreach, mentoring, and the best solution would be effective communication

[manywaters]

Born in va, nor was racist, could not understand it. My parents nor said anything racist. At 3 they told me nor use the N word in case I heard it. In the fifties going s, we stopped at a place with separate water fountains. I was 5, looked up and asked dad why? He shook his head. Once at 14, was riding bus round town. I had seen plenty black women in same seats as whites, but the black men were in the back.

I told them they should sit in the other seats. They were more comfortable. When they did not budge, I went to back and said ' then I will sick with you'. They acted uneasy, thanked me and asked me to not sit with them. This was not evn a black white issue since black women sat where they chose.

Years later, worked in school system wz 55/45 bl/wh. An ab black hs kid said press of senior class always white. I said u r the majority, elect one of 'ur own people'. He said, 'u don't understand. I am on ab honoroll. I could ez get straight A's, but would be called whitey etc. If any qualifying black ran for sr class press, many blacks would vote against them. In my yrs there was 1st time I heard the N word, light blacks to dark skins. Darks called them ho ky.They were not using that N word I. Jest either. Was a horrid racial slur. I was shocked!


I met black women assertive successful, no one wz trying to hold black smart school girls. I tried to get lack coworkers mad at discrimination. They could have moved in rich white neighborhoods, complained when more qualified blacks got passed over for pro otions like principal, school board etc. It was not that no blacks were promoted. It was more whites evn when blacks better qualified.

I was angry, it wz time ti fight, but could not get them to. I saw a few situations so obvious, they would have won in court. To them it wasn't worth it, cz looking at own lives/ town not big picture. Big picture is by challenging obvious and provable injustice, ie picking right fights means more justice.

I finally got understanding from the movie , 'the greatest debate'. If smart men knew the truth, they might fight passivity. There have been horrid cases after katrin a where white activists did the protesting and suing. If some blacks need white activists to fight on their behalf, talking openly will make more whites angry. Maybe us fighting and openly showing anger will make more blacks feel less isolated, more courageous.

Laura

[Hamish Forbes]

Originally Posted by bmoregrimey

many poor black people are ignorant in this city not because they wanna be but bcuz they grew up that way and it was a learned behavior. if you really wanna understand people you need to try to understand their culture and history. if you grow up in a crime ridden crumbling neighborhood where no one works or earns an honest living, and education is not valued then obviously one will be more likely to hold those same values...coupled with these factors: bad education system, no police protection or respect, the availability of drugs and alcohol...and you have a recipe for vicious cycle that will repeat and get worse...the solution is understanding, outreach, mentoring, and the best solution would be effective communication

I think that your comment is very insightful. One part of the solution is to restore decent job prospects. Trouble is, we don't need these people anymore for their labor, what with mechanization, outsourcing, downsizing, computerization, and illegal immigration. On the other hand, these people need jobs in order to have a decent life. We don't need their work, but they still need an income and a sense of social purpose. John Kenneth Galbraith talks about this in his book "The Affluent Society" published many years ago.

However, the problem appears to me to be more complicated than that. We have tried lots of times in the past to break the cycle -- Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty, affirmative action, head start, no child left behind, and so forth, with little success. I personally saw the failure of a 1960's-era project by the Western Electric plant in Baltimore to provide jobs to people who couldn't set an alarm clock to get to work on time or to come to work on Monday after being paid on the previous Friday. So I'm guessing that the solution, if there is a solution, is going to have a much harder edge than just supporting understanding and more-effective communication.

But there may not be a solution. We may see the circumstances that you describe spread into the white community rather than contract in the black. In my opinion, the spread has already begun (for example, the rising number of illegitimate white children, the spread of belligerent white ignorance, the destruction of job prospects for the white formerly-middle-class, and so on). We have been through these cycles before in the USA, and it's not a pretty picture.

[bmoregrimey]

hamish i agree, the fact that computers and robots have replaced labor is true however the new manufacturing jobs are in the new technologies especially renewable energy...the govt is just not investing significantly in these industries mostly because the govt is not interested in getting the american people back to work, they are interested in reducing us(labor) into third world status like the rest of the world, then we will be able to compete in the global labor market

[duttygal86]

Originally Posted by DCnative27

I lived in the Central Florida which I consider to be the Deep South, as a teenager living there I've heard racial slurs all the time and always saw rebel flags. Blacks also are heavily disenfranchised down there, dilipadated housing, very small middle class, discouraged from participating education etc. My observations and experience living in Central Florida mirror my experiences and observations in Baltimore.

In my experince as a Black male, no matter how you speak, dress, your level of education, or income unless you're biracial and I mean half White and you can pass! You will be discriminated against in Baltimore. Baltimore is very much a Southern City and so is DC with the exception of all the transplants that permeate the DC area. I went to school in Baltimore, UMBC to be specific. Even at UMBC, I found people to not be accepting of Black/and African ppl/culture and they regarded all people of Black decent to be idiots until proven otherwise. Asians and Indians got an immediate pass and UMBC goes to bat for Latinos, which is all talk because they do very little to recruit them. I met a Black professor there from Chicago who was absolutely miserable in Baltimore. It was hard for her to find a date, places to visit often and even a safe inexpensive area of the city to live in. She wanted to retreat back to Chicago with her tail between her legs. She luckily found something at American U a few years back and she had a PHD from Depaul and moved to a DC suburb.

Also, which is very weird about Baltimore and the African-American community is that they live pretty crappy regardless of socioeconomic status. I've met people with so called good jobs (30k is good for Baltimore lol) who talk down about other less fortunate Blacks. Only to find out later that their quality of life is very ****ty.

I just want to reply to your first statement as a biracial girl from. LAKE county Fl, living in

Baltimore, I believe the black folks in Baltimore (the poorer ones ) are light years behind blacks in the south. This city has created a welfare dependant population
In contrast to the simple yet hard working folks I know back home. The problem with Baltimore is that its still cool to be ignorant here.