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When the statistics on black on black crime drop to below the rates of white on black crime, come talk to me.
It doesn't matter what those statistics are. I've actually been harassed and even attacked by White people. Some Blacks have done this, but looking back in alot of my life, it has mostly been Whites who have done alot of this.
Let me explain my take on this. According to the statistics, I, as a 26 year old African-American male, am more likely to BE murdered than anyone else. According to the statistic, I am more likely to commit a crime. That is what it looks like on paper. However, what is on paper doesn't match MY reality. The most important statistic for me is the one I'm working with. Let's look at this. I don't sell drugs. I don't hang around criminals(or any race), I don't live in a ghetto, I have a family(my mother and my father as well as my siblings). I have a college degree. Every factor in my personal life basically negates those statistics for me.
The statistics might suggest that Whites don't harass Blacks. Well, I spent middle school and high school in a "redneck" area outside of Atlanta. I was also short and very slight in stature, not to mention nerdy. What happened? I was getting harassed by White kids and one even shot me with a paintball gun. A few Black kids harassed me and even assaulted me. However, my own life experiences go against what you might say. Statistics can say one thing on paper. However, personal experience will often say something else.
Which brings me to this: How can one take those statistics and apply them to me as an individual, given my life experiences?
Oy. Stop playing dumb. Do I really need to explain how having a child affects one's ability to work? You sort of need child care so you can go to work. How much does child care cost? The equivalent of a minimum wage job worked full time. No work means no advancement in financial status. No college education, again due to juggling children and financial constraints, leads to no advancement in financial status. See where I'm going with this?
Yes, people are poor b/c they are working dead end jobs or refuse to work. And how did they get to that point? See above. You should study how to better your deductive reasoning so people don't have to always explain obvious things to you.
No, the problem is that people have children too early and cannot make a decent living for themselves. Sure, a lack of jobs for the non-skilled contributes. But whose fault is it that they are not skilled enough to have access to more jobs? See above....
LOL Your stats are very wrong. Just food stamps is something like 40M right now.
Wanted to just point out that childcare costs depends on the area one lives in. Where I live right now, in Atlanta, you can find childcare for $75 a week, which is much less than a full time job making minimum wage, which would be $290 a week. If both parents are together their minimum wage jobs would be about 2400 a month before taxes, probably 2000 a month after taxes. They would have enough to pay for childcare. But they would still qualify for assistance like foodstamps and medicaid or sCHIP for the child.
Also you don't seem to recognize that in many areas there aren't many higher paying jobs available. The reason why they are working in dead in jobs is because that was the only job they could find. Many people lost good paying jobs in late 2007 and 2008 and had to take lower paying jobs which put them in a lower income category. Many already had children before they lost their good paying jobs.
You should really consider that people are not monolithic, not poor people, and not black people.
I remember you posting before that you owned a business and had employees. I wonder how many of your employees qualify for assistance and in a way you and your business are benefitting from those employees receiving benefits as you don't have to pay for them exclusively out of your pocket by paying someone a livable wage.
This is a cyclical thing. People who work are poor because they are not paid well. I will admit that I have a very good paying position and I do less work now than I did when I was younger and worked fast food jobs and cleaning jobs and tutored kids and college students. Those were stressful, and sometimes demanding positions. Right now I work in an office and audit paperwork and answer questions for people and make more than 5 times what I used to make.
Personally, I also feel that the reason many people are not more qualified for highly skilled positions is because our educational system fails them. Also, companies used to sponsor training programs to teach prospective employees how to do a specific job function for that company, especially in manufacturing. Many manufacturing companies are in need today of skilled labor but people are no longer trained in these skills. It would be beneficial for both the companies and those currently unskilled, to have access to these sorts of trainings in order to broaden their prospect for employment.
There's nothing controversial about it. Take race out of the equation and you have your answer. A man was being beaten and defended himself, it's quite simple. He did not intentionally kill him but that was the end result of him being attacked.
The moral of the story? Don't attack someone and expect not to get attacked back in self-defense. Unless of course, the attacker is black and the victim is white, b/c then everyone will say you did it out of racism. Completely ridiculous, it disgusts me.
I don't know what really happened. I'm hearing two different stories. Which one do I believe?
I think another reason this is controversial is because of trust issues. Thanks to alot of historical grievances, there is alot of mistrust between Blacks and Whites.
It doesn't matter what those statistics are. I've actually been harassed and even attacked by White people. Some Blacks have done this, but looking back in alot of my life, it has mostly been Whites who have done alot of this.
Let me explain my take on this. According to the statistics, I, as a 26 year old African-American male, am more likely to BE murdered than anyone else. According to the statistic, I am more likely to commit a crime. That is what it looks like on paper. However, what is on paper doesn't match MY reality. The most important statistic for me is the one I'm working with. Let's look at this. I don't sell drugs. I don't hang around criminals(or any race), I don't live in a ghetto, I have a family(my mother and my father as well as my siblings). I have a college degree. Every factor in my personal life basically negates those statistics for me.
The statistics might suggest that Whites don't harass Blacks. Well, I spent middle school and high school in a "redneck" area outside of Atlanta. I was also short and very slight in stature, not to mention nerdy. What happened? I was getting harassed by White kids and one even shot me with a paintball gun. A few Black kids harassed me and even assaulted me. However, my own life experiences go against what you might say. Statistics can say one thing on paper. However, personal experience will often say something else.
Which brings me to this: How can one take those statistics and apply them to me as an individual, given my life experiences?
Have you considered that this could well have much more to do with being short and nerdy? You say you were harrassed by those of both races. How do you know their individual motivations? The jock and gang/outlaw segment of high schools often target those who stand out whoever they are. I was a shy and loner nerd in school, white with mostly white students, and I go teased constantly. That they quit might have had something to do with the time my temper went off and we all got sent to the VP. Bullying against anyone different in jr high and high school is a huge problem. My son dropped out in 12th grade over bullying in favor of a more peaceful ged.
It sounds like you've already won if you have a degree, live in a nice area and have a family to be with. The ones who spent their high school years assaulting other students probably aren't so lucky.
I agree, stats can be used to suggest anything. You can site bullying and unless you take into account every last factor it can be bent any direction you want to.
I never said being short and nerdy didn't have anything to do with it. In fact, I put that in there because it did play a role in me getting harassed and assaulted alot. I was harassed by kids of both races. It was mostly White kids who did it to me. Some of them were rednecks. Some of these kids didn't like Black kids. However, since I was considered an easier target, I was harassed and even assaulted. Actually, I even mentioned this on another thread. I was seen as the weak one, so I was subjected to more harassment and bullying. My own high school was kind of a hot bed for racial tension. I was even threatened a few times. A few kids said they were going to "lynch" me. One kid told me to "pick his cotton" before calling me the "n" word.
Bullying is a big problem in the schools. It doesn't just end there. It happens in the adult world too.
I've even been harassed a few times in my adult like. It was always some guy in a truck screaming something at me while driving by.
I did have problems with some of the Black kids. I was basically the "White" Black kid according to some of them. Some others who bullied me, I didn't know why.
Your son dropping out sounds alot like how I felt. Middle school and high school kind of turned me into depressed, and angry person. Even though I ran track and cross country, I still had problems with other students.
Anyway, I was sharing what happened to me in my youth because I got the idea people were saying that Whites never harass Blacks. My own experiences tell me otherwise.
I never said being short and nerdy didn't have anything to do with it. In fact, I put that in there because it did play a role in me getting harassed and assaulted alot. I was harassed by kids of both races. It was mostly White kids who did it to me. Some of them were rednecks. Some of these kids didn't like Black kids. However, since I was considered an easier target, I was harassed and even assaulted. Actually, I even mentioned this on another thread. I was seen as the weak one, so I was subjected to more harassment and bullying. My own high school was kind of a hot bed for racial tension. I was even threatened a few times. A few kids said they were going to "lynch" me. One kid told me to "pick his cotton" before calling me the "n" word.
Bullying is a big problem in the schools. It doesn't just end there. It happens in the adult world too.
I've even been harassed a few times in my adult like. It was always some guy in a truck screaming something at me while driving by.
I did have problems with some of the Black kids. I was basically the "White" Black kid according to some of them. Some others who bullied me, I didn't know why.
Your son dropping out sounds alot like how I felt. Middle school and high school kind of turned me into depressed, and angry person. Even though I ran track and cross country, I still had problems with other students.
Anyway, I was sharing what happened to me in my youth because I got the idea people were saying that Whites never harass Blacks. My own experiences tell me otherwise.
Sorry if I it sounded like I was questioning that. Sadly, the essense of school bullies mentality is go after anything different. Schools tended to try to hide the problem but when it started to turn into revenge violence they had to quit pretending. But it doesn't seem to have stopped too much of it.
My son is taking some time off and doing volunteer work, getting his head straight, and then plans to go to college. This is a good plan since he wasn't going to profit much from it at the time. I do think the whole climate of anger, against someone the wrong color, the wrong cultural heritage, the wrong sexual orientation, or just the old traditional reasons had magnified the problem and sometimes harrassment comes from a mix of reasons the culpret might not even be able to say. Mostly the reason is to feel 'better' than the victum, something which the current climate gives to some permission to do.
Most of my friends were nerdy way back in the 60's and all of them got 'teased'. I presonally hated jr. high. My friends in high school were by choice 'wierd', and ignored everyone else, and I guess there were better targets. I suppose today we wouldn't have been.
I think we ALL need to embrase the idea that its wrong to harrass. Period. Instead of concentrating on who did what, concentrate on the idea that it is not acceptable, no matter why. I fear when we make it a big point that group A (or more properly *some* of group A) harrasses group B, we reinforce the lines. Better to establish that the some of every 'group' who only see themselves need to widen their view. We need to de-emphasize things like race and nationality and all the rest to reinforce that it isn't okay and nobody is better.
So long as we hold onto these definations then we'll never see that every single human being on this planet is human, and underneath the cultural additions we're also equipped individually with the same range of life options. If it takes letting go of old issures and old preceptions then let them be let go of.
It doesn't matter what those statistics are. I've actually been harassed and even attacked by White people. Some Blacks have done this, but looking back in alot of my life, it has mostly been Whites who have done alot of this.
Let me explain my take on this. According to the statistics, I, as a 26 year old African-American male, am more likely to BE murdered than anyone else. According to the statistic, I am more likely to commit a crime. That is what it looks like on paper. However, what is on paper doesn't match MY reality. The most important statistic for me is the one I'm working with. Let's look at this. I don't sell drugs. I don't hang around criminals(or any race), I don't live in a ghetto, I have a family(my mother and my father as well as my siblings). I have a college degree. Every factor in my personal life basically negates those statistics for me.
The statistics might suggest that Whites don't harass Blacks. Well, I spent middle school and high school in a "redneck" area outside of Atlanta. I was also short and very slight in stature, not to mention nerdy. What happened? I was getting harassed by White kids and one even shot me with a paintball gun. A few Black kids harassed me and even assaulted me. However, my own life experiences go against what you might say. Statistics can say one thing on paper. However, personal experience will often say something else.
Which brings me to this: How can one take those statistics and apply them to me as an individual, given my life experiences?
I'm not condoning any of that behavior, however:
1) Whites are greater in number than blacks. I am talking about percentages. On these threads, people like to forget this fact. By default, you would probably be harassed by more whites than blacks since there are just plain more of them.
2) The fact is, you've been harrassed by both. I don't know what you're defining as harrassment, but I have never been that perturbed someone's treatment of me to call it harassment. But assuming that what you say it true, perhaps it is something to do with you personally rather than your skin color.
The fact of the matter is that when a black person has a problem with a white person, it's automatically the white person's fault and it's b/c of racism. </sarcasm>
I remember you posting before that you owned a business and had employees. I wonder how many of your employees qualify for assistance and in a way you and your business are benefitting from those employees receiving benefits as you don't have to pay for them exclusively out of your pocket by paying someone a livable wage.
No, we are not "benefiting" by not paying them a "liveable wage." We own a restaurant and more than half our employees are tipped employees. We pay them three times as much as the minimum wage for tipped employees ($6/hr versus $2.xx whatever it is nowadays). It is up to them to make the rest. I have done that job before and as a single woman who had a car payment, rent, groceries, cell phone, car insurance, and a drinking habit (not to mention I was still a smoker), I was more than fine. The other employees start at minimum wage and get raises based on performance. We have nobody there making minimum wage right now, except a kid we just hired who starts tomorrow. Managers make a competitive salary (and guess what, I make the same as they do and I'm the owner's wife!). The nature of the food industry and the service industry in general is that it's transitional. This is not a career for most unless they want to go into management. If we paid whatever you believe a liveable wage to be, we would have to raise our prices and probably would go out of business as our profit margin is typically about 5-10%. If someone wants something better, they need to get skilled or get educated and go find it elsewhere. Our regular non-tipped employees range from 18 to 23 years old. The managers including myself are 21-28 years old. The tipped employees are anywhere from 27-60ish and only two of them have minor children living at home.
So don't go around saying we are the ones doing something wrong. We give people jobs and honestly, almost all our employees could have been fired by now but we believe in giving people chances and helping them learn to do their job better, which gives them a better skill set when they move on. When they start, these people really don't have any marketable skills and we teach them a good work ethic such as being on time, doing what one is told but also being a self-starter, learning your job and doing it well, being polite to customers and getting along with other employees. That is really all that is required to work for us. No skills=crappy pay (in the grand scheme of things).
Have you considered that this could well have much more to do with being short and nerdy? You say you were harrassed by those of both races. How do you know their individual motivations? The jock and gang/outlaw segment of high schools often target those who stand out whoever they are. I was a shy and loner nerd in school, white with mostly white students, and I go teased constantly. That they quit might have had something to do with the time my temper went off and we all got sent to the VP. Bullying against anyone different in jr high and high school is a huge problem. My son dropped out in 12th grade over bullying in favor of a more peaceful ged.
It sounds like you've already won if you have a degree, live in a nice area and have a family to be with. The ones who spent their high school years assaulting other students probably aren't so lucky.
I agree, stats can be used to suggest anything. You can site bullying and unless you take into account every last factor it can be bent any direction you want to.
Completely agree with everything you said here, esp the bolded.
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No work means no advancement in financial status. No college education, again due to juggling children and financial constraints, leads to no advancement in financial status. See where I'm going with this?
