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First off, what I'm going to say is only my opinion, as someone who grew up as a non-black minority, but I did live in a lot of predominantly black areas. So this is my observation.
I think government interference actually harms the black community more often than not. First, racial profiling is real, and once you have a criminal record, you're pretty much ruined for life in terms of getting a good job or finding a good place to live. So, what often happens is that you're apprehended by the cops for having a bit of herb on you, and boom, you've got a record.
Now, someone mentioned entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to legally start a business, and especially in blue states/cities, every damn thing is so over regulated, and you need a bunch of licences to do practically anything, so it makes it very expensive and difficult to start a business legally at all, much less start hiring from the local community. This hurts many would-be entrepreneurs, and those in the black community are no exception.
Ending the war on victimless crimes, cracking down on racial profiling and police abuse of authority, and letting small businesses start and operate without government-set barriers (in many areas, you need a licence just to do hair...that's ridiculous), and that will help make a positive difference.
Last edited by ohhwanderlust; 05-18-2016 at 12:47 PM..
Why is the NBA dominated by black players? Is the NBA racist against whites, Asians and Hispanics? Are black players genetically different? Is it politically motivated?
The reason blacks dominate the NBA is due to basketball being culturally important to the black community causing more black youth to aspire to excel in that sport.
Why do some Asian groups perform better in school than whites? It's because there is a greater cultural weight of importance placed upon academic achievement. It's not political, systematic or any form of racism by school officials.
A greater percentage of black people are having success issues due to cultural problems in the black community. They need to stop pretending it's racism.
Of course, people on the lower end of the economic scale do have more obstacles to overcome, but that is true for all races.
The only reason that it became culturally more important is because that is what America allowed to foment first. We could see successful sports heroes before we could see success in other venues of economics, through radio and TV. Sports and entertainment opened up first on the national scene and as a result that showed us we could be that too, if other blacks were. It's the power of belief created from seeing people that look like you and coming where you come from finding success. You then think that it is not only possible, but probable for you too. Consequently, sports and entertainment became HUGE in the black community and that is what many aspired too, as opposed to STEM type career paths. It did not happen accidentally. It is what America conditioned through unequal treatment.
Having lived and worked in Queens, where the majority of Black Americans are middle class, I understand what you are saying. In fact, in the mid 90s the average Black family income became higher then that of White family income in Queens County.
However this is a thread about a Black Marshall plan.And while I am glad you are doing well, not everyone else is, regardless of race.
I agree with the bold and especially so in regards to the red. So are you disregarding the non-black people in regards to this "Marshall Plan?"
If a majority of black people are doing well in life, what is the use of a Marshall Plan specifically for black Americans, especially when other non-black people who are in the same income bracket as poor blacks are having similar if not the same issues?
On the video specifically (got to watch in on lunch), Mr. Morial spoke about income of black families versus white families and how black families only make $28K versus whites $74K. He spoke many times about government interventions and how they are needed from a local to national level.
He spoke about how the increase in Master's degree attaintment for blacks to some degree is due in part because of Affirmative Action programs initiated in the 1960s (and I greatly agree with him there).
However, in regards to income disparity he did not mention about how a majority of black families/households are headed by only one individuals, whereas a majority of white households are headed by two individuals.
IMO, the best way to increase familial wealth amongst the black demographic is for organizations like the Urban League and others to "push" marriage or legal cohabitation on black couples. FWIW, I am a female and I had my first child with my then boyfriend and we did not marry until our child was 7 years old. Due to that, I always filed "head of household." My income as a "family" was about $45-$50k back then. My boyfriend's (now husband's) income was also about $45-$50k back then so even though we looked on paper to be poorer than the average white family, we actually were richer than the average white family once we married and I started filing taxes "married filing jointly."
Also, the video didn't really spell out any particular "plan." Only that they hope that local, state, and federal governments use their information and they gave an historical perspective on education and income demographics amongst black vs white Americans.
Maybe I am missing something here. What was the plan?
I will also add that the Urban League is one of my least favorite "black" organizations. They really have a very storied history. They actually used to put ads in black newspapers and in northern cities in particular during the Great Migration, they assisted new black residents in those areas obtain housing and employment via a grass roots sort of effort and activities. Today, they primarily only make reports. I have individually attempted to get involved in their organization in three cities I have lived in and they never respond to inquiries. They don't offer much in the way of community support to the citizens in the areas of which they are supposedly active. Maybe they now just spend their time creating an annual report. It is sad IMO.
There is no doubt that blacks are successful. The problem is the left makes claims you can't keep up and need special treatment. How about that voter ID where the left tells the world that getting an ID to vote is too hard. I'd be insulted but for some reason your not.
On this comment "the left" is not the only one who makes such claims. Those claims are also made by the right. I have not been around any liberals who claim that black people cannot get IDs. That is usually something that conservatives say.
My opinion is that if one can create a distinction with a difference concerning a problem....ergo Americas fixation on "black dysfunction"....then one SHOULD follow by creating a distinction with a difference regarding the solution. In other words, society, on one hand, cannot constantly create a distinction about black crime, black single family homes, black irresponsibility, blacks lack of education, etc, which is in essence TARGETING blacks, then on the other hand be averse to a targeted solution aimed at blacks. For example, Affirmative Action was not a black specific program and blacks were not even the primary beneficiary of it (white women were). Thus, it failed at solving the "black problem" because it was not tailored just for blacks. It was tailored to be inclusive of every group except white males. As soon as a program is aimed at blacks, it becomes REVERSE DISCRIMINATION. You cannot solve problems efficiently without the ability to target and create distinctions with a difference......just like the problem is defined.
Socioeconomic inequality is not going to be reduced with policies designed to lift all boats. Those policies are fine, but not all boats in the water are in the same condition. Policies have to be designed to target each specific boat for its problems and policies have to be designed to rise the tide.
My issue with this Marshall Plan is even if it's targeted directly for Black-Americans how will any benefits it produce be maintained by Blacks?
Black-America already has a TRILLION dollars in buying power but this money hasn't translated into more economically healthy Black communities. This is because very little of that trillion is circulated among Black businesses. How will a Black Marshall Plan change that?
For several complicated reasons Black-America is lacking businesses in their areas that could be employing more blacks. Because black communities are lacking in thriving Black business districts today I'm not seeing how a Marshall Plan is going to benefit Blacks long term. This Marshall Plan has to be backed up by Blacks starting businesses and spending more of our trillions with those businesses which we should already be doing.
My issue with this Marshall Plan is even if it's targeted directly for Black-Americans how will any benefits it produce be maintained by Blacks?
Black-America already has a TRILLION dollars in buying power but this money hasn't translated into more economically healthy Black communities. This is because very little of that trillion is circulated among Black businesses. How will a Black Marshall Plan change that?
For several complicated reasons Black-America is lacking businesses in their areas that could be employing more blacks. Because black communities are lacking in thriving Black business districts today I'm not seeing how a Marshall Plan is going to benefit Blacks long term. This Marshall Plan has to be backed up by Blacks starting businesses and spending more of our trillions with those businesses which we should already be doing.
This is our country as much as it is anyones. However, I strongly believe that African Americans should invest heavily into a single African Nation and then have dual citizenship in that nation, if that nation will have us, like many Americans have dual citizenship in Israel, with Israel getting billions sent to them each year. I think selecting a small African nation and using our trillion dollar purchasing power can help create an alternative for African Americans, as I don't think things here will ever really get better than they are now, in terms of equality. The only thing that going to work here is blending out the races through intermixing.....thus making everyone look the same.
FWIW, I did a quick search on the objectives of the UL's 2016 report. They cited the need for the following:
Quote:
Universal early childhood education
A federal living wage of $15 per hour, indexed to inflation
A plan to fund comprehensive urban infrastructure
A new Main Street small- and micro-business financing plan focusing on minority-and-women-owned businesses
Expansion of summer youth employment programs
Expanded homeownership strategies
Expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Targeted re-entry workforce training programs administered through community-based organizations
Doubling the Pell Grant program to make college more affordable
Expansion of financial literacy and homebuyer education and counseling
Expansion of the low-income housing voucher “Section 8” program
Establishment of Green Empowerment Zones in neighborhoods with high unemployment
Affordable high-speed broadband and technology for all
Increased federal funding to local school districts to help eliminate resource equity gaps
Of the items above, I have highlighted the only ones I personally feel would be beneficial to the demographic as a whole.
I am wondering if this is the plan that you all are speaking about.
In regards to EITC, I worked for many years in public service/government and I personally believe that it is the main reason people do not get married and why black families remain poor on paper due to not getting married. They do not want to risk not getting that money back. If you make more than approximately $47k per year, you do not get EITC, which contributes the bulk of people's "refunds" every year and can be in excess of $10,000.00 for some families. When I made about $45-$50k per year and I paid for fulltime childcare for my oldest (it was about $9000 per year) I used to get about $10000 a year back as a "tax refund." I was happy to get it of course! However I was not as heavily invested in receiving it as a lot of people out there who basically told me that me marrying my husband would take away our tax refunds. It did, and I didn't think about that at the time we got married, but now I do miss that $10000 lol. I don't get anything back now even with an extra kid from EITC.
I specifically worked in housing and rolled my eyes at the expansion of Section 8 portion. FWIW, it is no longer called "Section 8" and IMO that program needs some severe reform whereas people are kicked off after a specific number of years. There is no reason to be on HCV for 20-30 years and I have had employees I worked with (both black and white and hispanic and Asian) tell me they didn't want to get raises due to not wanting to have their rent increased because they were HCV tenants.
I feel that the UL like a lot of other older organizations just has an old mindset on "black issues." IMO all of the above are regurgitated talking points of the extreme liberals.
On the ones I highlighted that I feel would be beneficial, they would be beneficial for America at large, especially free, high quality early education and homebuyer education.
On the red, I know for a fact that this is an area of which UL receives federal grants and so of course they would support an increase in funding for "community groups" since they are one of those groups who would get an increase in funding.
On school districts, a large amount of urban districts have reforms in place whereas they have heavily invested into the school systems and today more money is spent on inner city, minority youth, versus suburban youth in a wealthier neighborhood.
Since moving to AZ, I have encountered more poor, un(or undereducated) whites who lack drive and ambition but somehow they escape the constant scrutiny that people of subSaharan African ancestry are constantly bombarded with but a certain segment of the population.
The truth is that the certain segment of the population actually hate to see wealthy, educated, well-connected blacks. They envy us. We frighten them.
This should be an insult to black people.....I say SHOULD.....!
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