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The manufacturing economy offered many African Americans middle income living without the need for an education from the 60's, 70's and during the 80's manufacturing began to be an unstable source of unemployment with constant layoffs and downsizing. Here is the thing with that. The young are generally socialized to emulate and become what the adults in their communities do to find success. Thus, since education was not needed by the parents to secure the American dream, many children of that generation did not place much value in education because they expected to be able to get factory work like their parents. When the bottom dropped out of the manufacturing economy, a generation was left structurally unemployable because they had no education and no skills. In many of these cities drug trafficking became a major means of income for black males and the competition for blocks and territory created a lot of violence. Nothing is responsible for the uptick of violence in the black community more than drugs and drug trafficking. Not unlike what happened to Mexico when it become the center of illegal drug production and shipment to the US.
It might seem counter intuitive, but actually some of the best opportunities for blacks are in the places that seem to have the worst statistics for blacks. The catch is that you have to go their with a marketable skill set. Those environments are not conducive for blacks to work their way from the ghetto to success and thus many companies may have trouble finding qualified African Americans for certain job opening. I would say that an educated AA person with marketable skills would find more upward mobility in Minneapolis than in Atlanta because one would thing that many companies in Georgia should not be starved for educated blacks as many educated blacks have relocated there....making the competition that much tougher.
Frankly, i feel that as a black person i could go to any U.S. state and succeed. I might make more money in some places as opposed to others, but money isn't everything.
So i really don't understand the whole "best or worse state for blacks" thing outside of the fact that a few regions have lost the industries that blacks came to depend on for jobs.
But if you're adaptable, you can live and thrive anywhere. I would never live in the South, the Plains or Mountain West States (meaning Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah, or Wyoming), but i have no doubt that i'd do fine in those regions if i wanted to.
Most blacks moved north to escape Jim Crow and to try to get good factory jobs that paid more money than could be made in the south at the time. You did not need an education THEN to get those good factory jobs. Those jobs soon dried up....however.
My experiences working in the projects and the ghettos tells me differently.
IF they got all those jobs you claim, then who lived in all those Gov't housing projects?
I would gladly go up there. In fact, I applied for some jobs in Minneapolis, among other cities. Other places include Denver, Seattle, Portland, Omaha, San Antonio, suburbs of Northern Virginia,etc.
The only two that really surprised me were CO--and especially--NM.
I would not have expected any southwestern or western state to have the highest black income.
We're not just cowboys out here!
Quote:
Originally Posted by green_mariner
I would gladly go up there. In fact, I applied for some jobs in Minneapolis, among other cities. Other places include Denver, Seattle, Portland, Omaha, San Antonio, suburbs of Northern Virginia,etc.
Minneapolis IS cold! It is colder than Moscow in winter, and hotter than Moscow in summer. It is the coldest major US city, just as Moscow is the coldest big European city.
Come to Denver. Winter is much better here. Today it was 63 (according to my phone), and tomorrow is going to be in the high 60s. Then it's going to crash on Sunday. But it's like that all winter.
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