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A major outlying factor here is absentee fatherism. I don't remember where I read the statistic, but the incidence of single-mothers and absent fathers actually went UP post civil-rights movement. The black family unit was actually stronger pre-equal rights. How much "potential gain" has been lost since then because of whatever is causing absentee and multiple-fatherism in the ghettos?
How much violence and decay could be avoided with a strong family support network?
A major outlying factor here is absentee fatherism. I don't remember where I read the statistic, but the incidence of single-mothers and absent fathers actually went UP post civil-rights movement. The black family unit was actually stronger pre-equal rights. How much "potential gain" has been lost since then because of whatever is causing absentee and multiple-fatherism in the ghettos?
How much violence and decay could be avoided with a strong family support network?
Absolutely true---you've been doing your homework. The civil-rights era saw the birth of many "welfare"-type programs (AFDC, WIC, etc) which actually made it financially better for a woman with kids NOT to have a male head-of-household in the picture. Caseworkers often visited "clients'" homes for evidence that an adult male lived there--if one was found, benefits could be in jeopardy. There were many jokes about the husband or boyfriend hiding "under the bed" or "in the closet" during "home visits".
Unhappy teenage girls, going nowhere in school and living in a chaotic home, could "set out" to become pregnant, and could then, by doing the proper paperwork, qualify for many benefits and often even their "own" subsidized apartment. Critics of the system often referred to this as these single Moms being "married to the system"---the System, in effect, fulfilled all the duties of a husband, minus the abuse and the arguing. It was an extremely hard system to "fight", and generations of clients became immersed in its grip. Adult males became "marginalized" in the life of a family.
One of the biggest "boosters" of the interests of poor blacks was New York politician Sen Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who wrote extensively on black poverty. Although quite a "champion" of the minority poor, Moynihan himself often criticized the corrosive effects of the welfare system and its discouraging of initiative and personal responsibilty. He walked a fine line, with huge credibility as a "friend" of the black underclass, yet frequent "scoldings" for his statements as "the views of a white man"....
Your remark about the family being stronger in the PAST is also true, in a broad sense. Prior to civil rights, the entire black community was "segregated"--the educated, the professional, the leaders, and the competent, along with the "lower classes" The anger experienced by these folks was well-reasoned and well-founded. Segregation just plain "sucked" and well-meaning people of ALL races could hardly deny this.
With the coming of civil rights, many of the competent, educated, and ambitious membes of the black community moved "up and out", into mainstream society, and to some extent, out of the "news"--they became "just regular Americans". Left behind were the less "employable" folks. With all of the programs to "help" them now, and with the end of legal segregation long past, the "anger" of the inner city has far less sympathy from society-at-large. Yet it seems like those still "left" in the ghetto are actually far angrier than their predecessors were. Their poverty is far less "curable" than that of the past. There are fewer illusions now that it's "society's fault".
Many blacks have left "the ghetto" far behind. But those who remain seem no closer to help, in some ways, than the "old-timers" of 40 years ago.
Fascinating topic....
You've got a pretty good grasp of the situation, it seems to me....
Are you serious? Schools and neighborhoods throughout the country are effectively segregated now probably more than they were back in the 70's, when "white flight" was starting.
Are you serious? Schools and neighborhoods throughout the country are effectively segregated now probably more than they were back in the 70's, when "white flight" was starting.
Well, he did say the end of LEGAL segregation. You can't FORCE people to integrate, and you'll actually find many blacks who lament the loss of "black neighborhoods," etc.
But I digress. White flight occurred for many of the same reasons that "black flight" is occurring right now from major urban centers. (and, *gasp* the tide of blacks fleeing Latin American encroachment in places like Southern California). Guess we're not all so different after all, are we?
Well, he did say the end of LEGAL segregation. You can't FORCE people to integrate, and you'll actually find many blacks who lament the loss of "black neighborhoods," etc.
?
Well, he did say the end of LEGAL segregation. You can't FORCE people to integrate, and you'll actually find many blacks who lament the loss of "black neighborhoods," etc.
But I digress. White flight occurred for many of the same reasons that "black flight" is occurring right now from major urban centers. (and, *gasp* the tide of blacks fleeing Latin American encroachment in places like Southern California). Guess we're not all so different after all, are we?
Yeah, except (as has been argued before) black flight is happening a few decades after white flight.
That is another generalization ..... There are good and bad in both races .....Who decided enough was enough and freed blacks from slavery?
A black man didnt and still doesnt have "that" kind of power in america but things are definatly better for blacks now compared to back then.....i would think that alot of older blacks would be calling younger blacks "sissies".....i would use another word but i dont wanna get banned...well anyways i would think older blacks would say to younger blacks that they are complaining about alot more than they should since now everyone can use the same bathrooms and water fountains and do lots of things that werent allowed before.....i understand there is racism with some things nowadays but whites dont cross a street out of fear when there is a black man with a suit and tie on or in casual nice clothes....whites do cross the street when they see a black guy that is dressed with baggy pants and gold teeth though....and whites are called racists for that....i dont think it is racist .....i think it is survival
Last edited by THASPECIAL; 09-21-2007 at 05:07 AM..
Yeah, except (as has been argued before) black flight is happening a few decades after white flight.
Doesn't that suggest something?
It suggests that many black families have become economically empowered decades after many white families did to HAVE the means to flee?
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