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You were also the beneficiaries of 35 years of Affirmative Action in which you were given preferential treatment (especially in government jobs) in the work place. You were granted preferential status in college entrance (even grades were scaled downward to accommodate Blacks). Hate crime legislation was passed on behalf of Blacks. School children were forced from their neighborhood schools and bussed for miles under the guise of creating a diversified and equal to all educational system (which failed miserably). The SBA has opened its pocketbook wide to accommodate Blacks wishing to enter the business world.
As far as integrating American neighborhoods, that has already been accomplished by law. It is against the law to deny housing of any kind based on race. This law has been in force for some time now. The main problem is that many Blacks simply cannot afford upper-price housing.
The country and the government has done far more for the Black race than they have for any other race, yet Blacks continue to refuse to avail themselves to even a high school education, Black fathers continue to sire children and leave them to roam the streets and join gangs and wind up in jail.
You're only 12% of the population, yet you have advanced the very least.
Even the Democrats have grown tired of hearing your constant whining so much so that your first ever Black President has simply made his own million and thrown the rest of you under the bus while he has turned his attention toward the Hispanic voter for the good of his party.
We have made the most of these last 35 to 40 years. I know a few people who have made insane amounts of wealth these last 5 years. I haven't made millions but I damn sure made it from poverty to middle class.
Obama didn't throw Blacks under a bus. He isn't the only Black man in america making millions... there are 35,000 Black millionaires and the numbers are growing. Obama also wasn't elected to lift the Black race out of poverty.
You are too busy focusing on the Blacks who are struggling, most of us are law abiding, hard working, Americans.
I'm not disagreeing with you here. We already tell our kids the importance of a quality education. Unfortunately, other situations including what's in the second part of your post is what is stopping this from actually occurring more.
I know. Although it is tough to have to admit, in reality it is the very assistance programs that were intended to help the poor, the single moms, the abandoned wives and kids, that is destroying your own race.
It's an extremely complex and multi-faceted issue that not many people (including myself) fully understand.
In my opinion two of the major issues that face the American-born black community are:
*NOTE: Obviously, I'm not talking about every AA in the country. Also, I differentiate between native born AA and those born in an African country who immigrated here because African immigrants are among the must successful immigrant group in the country*
Anyways,
1) In regards to the crime and poverty. It is extremely difficult to pull yourself out of poverty in this country (I'd say probably more so than in a lot of other developed countries) because we don't have as generous a welfare net as other developed countries. It's very hard to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" if you don't have health insurance or care that you can rely on, and in addition the cost of going to university is insanely expensive. These are two key issues that need to be addressed in this country imo. I think that it would benefit the entire nation if we had a universal HC system, and also subsidized university. However, I think this would prove especially beneficial to the AA community who are in last place in terms of ethnic/racial groups on the economic/financial spectrum.
What we have now in many AA communities is a vicious and seemingly never-ending cycle of poverty, lack of education, broken family structures, and crime. And it's a parasitic relationship. They all feed off of each other and continue the cycle. In order to address the problems that the AA community faces, this cycle needs to be stopped.
2) Culture. I think part of the problem is also some aspects of the AA culture that have emerged as a result of this cycle that I described above. In many AA communities, education is almost viewed as a bad thing. And I don't mean necessarily education in and of itself. But if a young AA from a poor socioeconomic background speaks eloquently or tries to get out of the neighborhood and better themselves, then a lot of times they're ridiculed by their peers as "talking white" or trying to "act white". Too many people view it as a negative thing.
Another problem related to this is that in many of these impoverished AA communities, education isn't held in high regard. I mentioned this briefly above, but what I mean is that education isn't as stressed in many poor AA households as it is in the households of Asian Americans or Jewish Americans, for example. The focus on education just isn't there, and instead kids in the ghetto dream of playing a professional sport or becoming a rapper in order to make it out of the hood instead of trying to use education as a means to achieve their goal.
Anyways, like I said, I think this is an extremely deep and complicated issue, but these are just some thoughts that popped into my mind after reading the OP.
EDIT: In addition, I agree that escaping the victim mentality is also a must. Yes, white people were the root of many of the problems that have plagued the AA community for years. However, at some point you have to start taking responsibility for yourself and try to recognize and fix your own problems instead of always pointing the finger at someone else.
That's an excellent point. All those call center jobs, and also computer tech jobs; I don't see why more of them aren't done from home. The job will get done same as usual and people can stay home to watch their young children.
It seems like if someone was working a full time job from home that the child would be ignored a lot while that person was working. Why not offer subsidized child care or free based on income and location?
We have made the most of these last 35 to 40 years. I know a few people who have made insane amounts of wealth these last 5 years. I haven't made millions but I damn sure made it from poverty to middle class.
Obama didn't throw Blacks under a bus. He isn't the only Black man in america making millions... there are 35,000 Black millionaires and the numbers are growing. Obama also wasn't elected to lift the Black race out of poverty.
You are too busy focusing on the Blacks who are struggling, most of us are law abiding, hard working, Americans.
It seems like if someone was working a full time job from home that the child would be ignored a lot while that person was working. Why not offer subsidized child care or free based on income and location?
Why not at least attempt to come up with a solution that won't add to the taxpayers' burden? Everybody wants someone else to pay the way for everything.
The problem is not that SOME blacks engage in anti social behavior, being human they do. So do whites and everyone else. The problem is RACISM, which unfortunately, some comments on this thread make very clear. Even when blacks do.everything right, and follow all.the rules as the vast majority do, they are still subject to.racism.
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