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In what sense? Overall--all things considered--we're still a solid second because of how long we've been here. Heck, if speaking from a global perspective, to some we're first. America is the world's biggest cultural exporter, and who's behind a huge chunk of that culture?
It seems like politically that whites (by virtue of majority rule), Latinos, LBGQT all get political policy directed at things they want.....but not so much blacks any longer.
Last edited by Indentured Servant; 04-02-2019 at 06:08 PM..
The same is true for Texas. Blacks are overwhelmingly concentrated in the eastern third of the state. Houston's black population is more dispersed, but DFW has entire suburbs that are predominantly black.
No matter how anyone cuts Texas, Blacks would still be 3rd. However (and anyone can get a map if to see where I am coming from on this), if the state of Texas was the I-35 corridor and everything east from the Tx/oklahoma border south to San Antonio and then I-10 corridor and everything North from SA east to the Texas/Louisiana border, you would likely see a higher concentration of Blacks in the state. Most of the 3.8 million blacks live in these exact borders. Probably somewhere around 3.5 or 3.6 million blacks in Texas live in this area that's probably around the size of Georgia. Again, it would probably still be third but I think the Latino population decreases a bit. I think you have to take into account on this. If you take the entire state, yeah, you could say blacks culturally may be 3rd. But if you look at where the majority of the population is, Blacks in Texas still have a very strong, impact, influence, and presence and quite honestly, in many parts of Dallas and especially Houston, it is still second behind whites.
Let's also understand that for the vast majority of the history of the state, Texas was mostly black and white. Blacks in Texas easily had the most influence among minorities in the state and it didn't really start to become noticeable until the 1970s or 1980s. We're not that far removed from that and Texas black population, while growing slower, it still very impactful and it is still very attractive though mostly for economic reasons. But that's for most places including Georgia. I think people have moved to cities for more economic reasons than cultural reasons.
It seems like politically that whites (by virtue of majority rule), Latinos, LBGQT all get political policy directed at things they want.....but not so much blacks any longer.
Aside from reparations (which is starting to enter the political conversation again), Blacks got the bulk of our race-specific policies guaranteeing basic rights (on paper anyway) passed in the 60s. Now other minority groups are in that position and are beginning to experience the political backlash to the laws passed and court decisions made in their favor. We have to be vigilant about not losing what we've gained and that requires continued political involvement on all levels, not just voting in presidential elections every 4 years.
Yes, other groups tend to also want to be around other people of similar racial or ethnic backgrounds, but certainly not to the same extent. Based on my experience, most Asian Americans would probably be very happy with an area that is just five to seven percent Asian America, even coming from parts of the West Coast with much higher percentages or overseas where they have come accustomed to being the majority, but Black Americans on this board who seek a large Black American population in a region seem to expect one out of ten people to four people to be Black American.
Well we have a very different history and collective experience in this country than Asians, so yes us Black folks tend to have more of a "safety in numbers"-type of mindset when it comes to places that most of us would feel comfortable living in and moving to. It's not borne out of irrationality.
Well we have a very different history and collective experience in this country than Asians, so yes us Black folks tend to have more of a "safety in numbers"-type of mindset when it comes to places that most of us would feel comfortable living in and moving to. It's not borne out of irrationality.
Don't get me wrong, racism historically and now has been much worse to Black Americans but it isn't like Asian Americans have been treated well and are also minorities discriminated against. I mean, there were the entire 1900s and late 1800s with exclusionary laws and hate crimes and the 90s LA riots. Things which would lead people to want to follow a safety in numbers mindset.
Aside from reparations (which is starting to enter the political conversation again), Blacks got the bulk of our race-specific policies guaranteeing basic rights (on paper anyway) passed in the 60s. Now other minority groups are in that position and are beginning to experience the political backlash to the laws passed and court decisions made in their favor. We have to be vigilant about not losing what we've gained and that requires continued political involvement on all levels, not just voting in presidential elections every 4 years.
Well....national politicians seem averse to even mention aiming policy towards AA. My motto is that if you can aim at us to say something is a problem, then you can aim at us with policy for a solution. People like to make a distinction with a difference about our community....but not create distinctive with a difference policy aimed at AA. You can talk about women issues, gay issues and lots of other issues...but not AA...in regards to policy.
Don't get me wrong, racism historically and now has been much worse to Black Americans but it isn't like Asian Americans have been treated well and are also minorities discriminated against. I mean, there were the entire 1900s and late 1800s with exclusionary laws and hate crimes and the 90s LA riots. Things which would lead people to want to follow a safety in numbers mindset.
Come on dude, that doesn't even begin to compare to hundreds of years of slavery followed by a century of laws and SCOTUS decisions engineered to keep us in permanent second-class citizen status. You should know better.
Well....national politicians seem averse to even mention aiming policy towards AA. My motto is that if you can aim at us to say something is a problem, then you can aim at us with policy for a solution. People like to make a distinction with a difference about our community....but not create distinctive with a difference policy aimed at AA. You can talk about women issues, gay issues and lots of other issues...but not AA...in regards to policy.
It's not so much that they are averse to it, but we've already gained all of our fundamental rights on paper on the federal level. The 13th and 14th amendments took care of slavery and citizenship; Brown v Board and the Civil Rights Act eliminated segregation and discrimination in education, employment, and public accommodations; the Voting Rights Act prohibited racial discrimination in voting; Loving v Virginia nullified miscegenation laws; etc. Aside from reparations which is making a comeback as a political topic on the left, very few policies that would significantly help Black folks are race-specific, such as major gun control legislation or legalization of marijuana, or things that have actually been passed like the ACA, criminal justice reform, Opportunity Zones, etc. Our fight today is mostly on the state and local levels since that's where the rights we've gained are being most negatively impacted (elimination of the consideration of race in college admissions, voter ID laws, etc.). The same is happening to other groups as they get fundamental rights passed on the federal level (religious liberty laws, bathroom bills, heartbeat bills, etc.). The sooner we realize that, the more progress we"ll collectively make.
So if you want to say we're "fourth" nationally, it certainly can't be because other groups are now trying to obtain fundamental rights on paper, specific to their groups, that we've already had for a while now.
It's not so much that they are averse to it, but we've already gained all of our fundamental rights on paper on the federal level. The 13th and 14th amendments took care of slavery and citizenship; Brown v Board and the Civil Rights Act eliminated segregation and discrimination in education, employment, and public accommodations; the Voting Rights Act prohibited racial discrimination in voting; Loving v Virginia nullified miscegenation laws; etc. Aside from reparations which is making a comeback as a political topic on the left, very few policies that would significantly help Black folks are race-specific, such as major gun control legislation or legalization of marijuana, or things that have actually been passed like the ACA, criminal justice reform, Opportunity Zones, etc. Our fight today is mostly on the state and local levels since that's where the rights we've gained are being most negatively impacted (elimination of the consideration of race in college admissions, voter ID laws, etc.). The same is happening to other groups as they get fundamental rights passed on the federal level (religious liberty laws, bathroom bills, heartbeat bills, etc.). The sooner we realize that, the more progress we"ll collectively make.
So if you want to say we're "fourth" nationally, it certainly can't be because other groups are now trying to obtain fundamental rights on paper, specific to their groups, that we've already had for a while now.
That is understood that we achieved rights. What we have not achieved is repair. I don't necessarily want to term it reparations because of what it connotes. However, there are some stark socioeconomic differences that exist in the black community whose origin comes from the history of racial oppression. Other groups are securing rights, but their economic condition looks a lot better than the condition for AA.
In order to achieve racial economic parity/equality, there has to be policy aimed at those ends and it has to distinctively target the AA community. Something is broken and it needs fixing. The country broke it and the country needs a policy commitment to fix it. Everybody is talking about the problems in the black community.....but no one is aiming policy as specific as they point out the problems.....other than more police and more prisons. You can't call out black people for a problem then try to fix that problem with a solution that does not aim at black people specifically. It will not work. If we can't have tailored policy then stop making the problems we face seem particular to blacks.
That is why we are 4th......because America is saying that we have done all that we are going to do for you....once we agreed to stop legally oppressing you. That did not end our problems.
Last edited by Indentured Servant; 04-03-2019 at 09:34 AM..
Some of this may be from people that stayed after being sent to the area after Hurricane Katrina, military folks that stay or are in the area and some that just move to the area directly.
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