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1. This is not a 'trolling' thread.
2. This is not a 'safe haven' to espouse racism.
3. This is an objective (not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased) thread, not a subjective (existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought) thread.
With that said, does the "black community" hurt or hinder black Americans?
For the sake of argument and my personal thoughts I have had (my opinions could change based on the reasoned responses to this post), I will say YES.
I'm "white". So let's get this out there early. But here's the thing: I don't accept any other "white" people's actions speak for me. I don't associate any actions, good or bad, of another "white" person dictate where I stand in society/the world. I do what I want as far as the U.S. government (state government, local government) will allow me to do. I am an American citizen and I hold my own thoughts and beliefs that are in conflict with a lot of other Americans. Sometimes they are in agreement with the general sentiment at the time. Other times they are not.
But at no time have I ever accepted, or welcomed, a "voice" for the "white" community. Good or bad, benign or malignant. I am who I am. No person speaks for me under any circumstances because they have the same skin tone as me.
A "white" person kills 50 people in Norway? I feel TERRIBLE that it happened, but that person isn't me, and doesn't speak for me. I have no link to him other than my skin "color".
A "white" person kills many people in a movie theater, and I feel TERRIBLE, but I don't let that effect my out view on who I am.
A "black" cop shoots and kills a "suspected" law infractor, and I feel good that a person who seeks to do harm against others is no longer with us.
A "white" person blows up a federal building killing many people, and I feel TERRIBLE, but I know I am my own person and would not act that way.
In any of those situations, and many more, I feel like bad has been done, but it has never made me feel like I was a direct part of that tragedy. I have never felt like such actions were racially motivated or going to, "set white people back".
But if we inverted the "colors" in my above examples, I feel there would be some sort of "unified front" (either real or perceived), that made it about specific "communities". Just thinking about how it would effect the "white community" would be labeled as "racist", I think.
I remember EXACTLY where I was when the O.J. verdict was read, and I remember (and have seen various pictures since then) that certain people were happy and giddy that O.J. was found not guilty. It was some sort of "victory" for the "black community" that someone was not punished for acts they committed (read Amazon.com: Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder (9780393330830): Vincent Bugliosi: Books if you have any doubt about the verdict). Somehow O.J. Simpson became the poster child for the justice system working (incorrectly) favorably in a "black" person's favor... but the "black community" somehow applauded it as some sort of retribution (maybe from Rodney King?... But even in my opinion I think that was government taking the side of government, i.e. the police) than it was about race... I don't trust government on any level).
I remember EXACTLY where I was when the Pacers/Pistons brawl happened (in the NBA, for those not up to date with that stuff). And the going perception from there has been that the NBA (a community) is dominated by thugs and miscreants. But look at the San Antonio Spurs... they don't have that problem/stigma. The Spurs are hardworking, get-it-done-at-all-costs type of team. But they are effected by the actions of two entities.
Ergo, NBA player = Miscreant.
Why? Because they have the same spokesman and they bow to the same leader.
Penn State covered up child molestation, but no one is punishing Oregon or USC or Texas A&M or FSU.
They are part of the same playing field, but they don't base their morality, standards, ethics on one person group.
So I ask, "Does the "Black Community" hurt black Americans?"
I live in a black neighborhood, in the black "area" of my city.
My answer to this question is a simple, YES. Without question, YES.
It is a tragedy that the #1 killer of blacks in America, is other blacks. Nothing else even comes close.
This is NOT a racial thing, because if it were racial there would not be any blacks who could behave otherwise. But that's not the case, because there are millions of black Americans who are stellar people, living exemplary lives.
But there is definitely a certain culture - or sub-culture - of blacks in America that are extremely self-destructive. It would be great to know how to change that.
Oh I thought u ment physically u mean mentally right?in that case if u mean like say right now a black dude kills 700 white people yes I would feel bad that its my people doin that type of stuff like the dude (as u mentioned) who killed all those people at the theater. I was relieved that I wasn't my people doin that. So answering your question kinda.But we dominate almost every sport
Oh I thought u ment physically u mean mentally right?in that case if u mean like say right now a black dude kills 700 white people yes I would feel bad that its my people doin that type of stuff like the dude (as u mentioned) who killed all those people at the theater. I was relieved that I wasn't my people doin that. So answering your question kinda.But we dominate almost every sport
1. This is not a 'trolling' thread.
2. This is not a 'safe haven' to espouse racism.
3. This is an objective (not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased) thread, not a subjective (existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought) thread.
With that said, does the "black community" hurt or hinder black Americans?
For the sake of argument and my personal thoughts I have had (my opinions could change based on the reasoned responses to this post), I will say YES.
I'm "white". So let's get this out there early. But here's the thing: I don't accept any other "white" people's actions speak for me. I don't associate any actions, good or bad, of another "white" person dictate where I stand in society/the world. I do what I want as far as the U.S. government (state government, local government) will allow me to do. I am an American citizen and I hold my own thoughts and beliefs that are in conflict with a lot of other Americans. Sometimes they are in agreement with the general sentiment at the time. Other times they are not.
But at no time have I ever accepted, or welcomed, a "voice" for the "white" community. Good or bad, benign or malignant. I am who I am. No person speaks for me under any circumstances because they have the same skin tone as me.
A "white" person kills 50 people in Norway? I feel TERRIBLE that it happened, but that person isn't me, and doesn't speak for me. I have no link to him other than my skin "color".
A "white" person kills many people in a movie theater, and I feel TERRIBLE, but I don't let that effect my out view on who I am.
A "black" cop shoots and kills a "suspected" law infractor, and I feel good that a person who seeks to do harm against others is no longer with us.
A "white" person blows up a federal building killing many people, and I feel TERRIBLE, but I know I am my own person and would not act that way.
In any of those situations, and many more, I feel like bad has been done, but it has never made me feel like I was a direct part of that tragedy. I have never felt like such actions were racially motivated or going to, "set white people back".
But if we inverted the "colors" in my above examples, I feel there would be some sort of "unified front" (either real or perceived), that made it about specific "communities". Just thinking about how it would effect the "white community" would be labeled as "racist", I think.
I remember EXACTLY where I was when the O.J. verdict was read, and I remember (and have seen various pictures since then) that certain people were happy and giddy that O.J. was found not guilty. It was some sort of "victory" for the "black community" that someone was not punished for acts they committed (read Amazon.com: Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder (9780393330830): Vincent Bugliosi: Books if you have any doubt about the verdict). Somehow O.J. Simpson became the poster child for the justice system working (incorrectly) favorably in a "black" person's favor... but the "black community" somehow applauded it as some sort of retribution (maybe from Rodney King?... But even in my opinion I think that was government taking the side of government, i.e. the police) than it was about race... I don't trust government on any level).
I remember EXACTLY where I was when the Pacers/Pistons brawl happened (in the NBA, for those not up to date with that stuff). And the going perception from there has been that the NBA (a community) is dominated by thugs and miscreants. But look at the San Antonio Spurs... they don't have that problem/stigma. The Spurs are hardworking, get-it-done-at-all-costs type of team. But they are effected by the actions of two entities.
Ergo, NBA player = Miscreant.
Why? Because they have the same spokesman and they bow to the same leader.
Penn State covered up child molestation, but no one is punishing Oregon or USC or Texas A&M or FSU.
They are part of the same playing field, but they don't base their morality, standards, ethics on one person group.
So I ask, "Does the "Black Community" hurt black Americans?"
First and foremost, those (no matter what race) that think that we (blacks) all:
think, eat, drink, live, vote, etc., monolithicly or as a "community" you are either followers of race baiters Al and Jesse or simply ignorant beyond all comprehension.
Although it makes some feel better to lump us all together, We ARE NOT a community. Unfortunately, for some it is easier to lump us all together to make them feel better about the dysfunctional hypocrisy of their own races.
I am not ghetto, I have been gainfully employed for more than 35 years, I have owned 4 homes all of which I purchased on my own. I raised my son as a single parent, received no child support and have never been on the govt dole in my life. Despite the fact that I have been a single parent, my 23 year old son's entire life he graduated from Lake Forest Academy (received a scholarship), was in the top 5th percentile of ALL Americans when he took the SAT's (without a calculator because he left it in the car), has 2 years of college, took 6 years of French, and speaks French fluently. Did I mention he got a perfect score on the ASVAB is now a proud member of the Air Force?
Last edited by PurpleRain_1; 09-06-2012 at 05:04 PM..
It's not like I have much of a choice on how I am classified by society. For whatever reason, "normal" in this society equals "white". You get to not think of yourself as part of a group OP because in general the world around you doesn't do that to you. For instance, most whites are killed by other whites but "white on white" crime is not a thing. That is not to say black youth killing each other is not a problem, merely to illustrate how these problems get framed. Or better yet, white men in business suits are not lumped together as embezzlers, even though most white collar crime (no pun intended) is committed by white men with professional level jobs.
That is true generally for any group outside the "neutral" cultural "norm". Gays get lumped together, Muslims, hell even political parties. A collective "understanding" of that group is formed and not all of the definitions are flattering. So the problems start for the members of the group.
That said once you've been named a group, there are benefits to working together to push back against any negative consequence.
I am not ghetto, I have been gainfully employed for more than 35 years, I have owned 4 homes all of which I purchased on my own. I raised my son as a single parent, received no child support and have never been on the govt dole in my life. Despite the fact that I have been a single parent, my 23 year old son's entire life he graduated from Lake Forest Academy (received a scholarship), was in the top 5th percentile of ALL Americans when he took the SAT's (without a calculator because he left it in the car), has 2 years of college, took 6 years of French, and speaks French fluently. Did I mention he got a perfect score on the ASVAB is now a proud member of the Air Force?
Which is why you won't be shown on the news doing a good thing, be talked about by any politician or otherwise proven to exist to the common man or woman on TV.
No- ghetto, violence, drug and crime and sex is what sells for the news and therefore is what defines the so-called "black community" to mainstream America.
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