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Yes, imagine how different the world would be if there were lots of successful black people on TV! Imagine a TV family of blacks where the father was a doctor, the mother a lawyer and all the kids were bright, articulate and made funny jokes. Nah, that would never catch on...
Even when the Cosby show was on there were many who were not quite ready for that.
Yes, imagine how different the world would be if there were lots of successful black people on TV! Imagine a TV family of blacks where the father was a doctor, the mother a lawyer and all the kids were bright, articulate and made funny jokes. Nah, that would never catch on...
Actually the Cosby Show was VERY much a part of my own personal life. It made me see that black middle class professionalism was "normal" and that black people going to college was a requirement. "A Different World" which was a spin off of Cosby made me desire to go to and eventually attend an HBCU. I had never heard of HBCUs before that show or the Cosby Show. That sitcom had a dramatic effect on the way black youth of my generation saw ourselves and our futures and what we could become.
It would help alot. There are Black owned businesses that can be found. The question is this: Why aren't more of them being founded in Black neighborhoods? Or at least certain Black areas. I understand that in the Atlanta area, I can find a Wells Fargo in the Cascade Road area, and it's run by Black people. There is a Publix there, ran mainly by Blacks. Alot of millionaires and expensive homes on Cascade Road. If I go to MLK Drive, the area just looks horrible.
Alot of Black people are doing well. What I am seeing is that a large segment of the Black population that is thriving, thrives outside of predominantly Black areas. Cascade Road is doing well. Nice homes, some expensive ones that I can't afford. Other parts of Atlanta are doing bad, notably the Adamsville area.
Wanted to note on the bold that IMO black people need not focus entrepreneurial pursuits on black neighborhoods primarily or only. They need to sell their wares to everyone. Most businesses today are not traditional brick and mortar types of businesses. Many people work out of their homes. I had a business in Atlanta and I worked out of my home. My husband has a business now and he works out of our home.
On Cascade and all the banks/retail outlets, major retailers locate where there is a decent median income in a specific neighborhood/geographic area.
I will point out though that MLK has a black owned bank on it and the entire street in its entirety in Atlanta is not dilapidated and there are businesses in that area, including a SunTrust and a Walmart and formerly a Publix was where Walmart is. There are also some business that are based around the AUC and in the West End neighborhood near West End mall that are black owned businesses or that are run by black people. In all cities there are areas that are good and bad and I will point out that there are black middle class enclaves all over the country and in Atlanta they are in many more places than just "Cascade" within the city of Atlanta along with in the surrounding suburban communities.
No blacks cannot. Well let me say this, there is some blacks that have their own businesses in the south. Any other parts the banks do NOT give blacks business loans at the same rate as whites This is another reason how blacks are oppressed
Easier now than it would have been before. Times have always been hard for Blacks. At least now we don't have things like Jim Crow making it hard to access things. We can go anywhere we want, start up anywhere we want. I think it is now a matter of helping one another out.
Wanted to note on the bold that IMO black people need not focus entrepreneurial pursuits on black neighborhoods primarily or only. They need to sell their wares to everyone. Most businesses today are not traditional brick and mortar types of businesses. Many people work out of their homes. I had a business in Atlanta and I worked out of my home. My husband has a business now and he works out of our home.
On Cascade and all the banks/retail outlets, major retailers locate where there is a decent median income in a specific neighborhood/geographic area.
I will point out though that MLK has a black owned bank on it and the entire street in its entirety in Atlanta is not dilapidated and there are businesses in that area, including a SunTrust and a Walmart and formerly a Publix was where Walmart is. There are also some business that are based around the AUC and in the West End neighborhood near West End mall that are black owned businesses or that are run by black people. In all cities there are areas that are good and bad and I will point out that there are black middle class enclaves all over the country and in Atlanta they are in many more places than just "Cascade" within the city of Atlanta along with in the surrounding suburban communities.
There are more Black middle class areas. Cascade is what I know because that is where I've been. What I know of MLK comes from riding a bus through Adamsville.
I have never really been much of an entrepreneurial success. I always expect brick and mortar type places because that is what I see around me. I wouldn't know who works from home unless I go to their homes or if I personally know that person.
I've never been around the AUC much (only visited when my cousin when to Clark Atlanta, and I only went straight to his dorm, I was also 10 years old(mid 1990s), so I was under adult supervision all the time).
I merely brought up Black neighborhoods for this reason. There are nice Black areas. However, the neighborhoods that could use the businesses so that things can turn around for the better, most business people will avoid those areas.
Easier now than it would have been before. Times have always been hard for Blacks. At least now we don't have things like Jim Crow making it hard to access things. We can go anywhere we want, start up anywhere we want. I think it is now a matter of helping one another out.
The question is--and I can't see this clearly from my perspective--whether the market is yet colorblind to a black business owner. If we're still stuck largely to a black market, we're still largely crippled.
I've had a sideline as a professional portrait photographer--even owned a studio up until a couple of years ago--and I still found that market usually hewing the color line.
There are more Black middle class areas. Cascade is what I know because that is where I've been. What I know of MLK comes from riding a bus through Adamsville.
I have never really been much of an entrepreneurial success. I always expect brick and mortar type places because that is what I see around me. I wouldn't know who works from home unless I go to their homes or if I personally know that person.
I've never been around the AUC much (only visited when my cousin when to Clark Atlanta, and I only went straight to his dorm, I was also 10 years old(mid 1990s), so I was under adult supervision all the time).
I merely brought up Black neighborhoods for this reason. There are nice Black areas. However, the neighborhoods that could use the businesses so that things can turn around for the better, most business people will avoid those areas.
You need to network more in Atlanta. Not sure of your political background or if you now live in the city but you need to get out and see what is going on in your community.
Black people in Atlanta are highly entrepreneurial and even companies in Atlanta, due to the horrible traffic there are very supportive of telecommuting or working from home for 1-2 days per week or everyday, depending on the job.
I am an AUC graduate and am very familiar with the AUC neighborhoods as I lived in the area for over 10 years. I also lived in Adamsville and the portion you see on MLK is not the entirety of that neighborhood, there are a lot of middle class black families who live in Adamsville and many of them have businesses in their homes as well.
In regards to black neighborhoods in Atlanta that you are not familiar with, you should not speak on them if you are not aware of what goes on there IMO. Especially in regards to business and especially considering that the MLK corridor near the AUC has a pretty large, established commercial base and a large amount of those businesses are minority (black) owned and operated.
And businesses by themselves do not turn a neighborhood around. The economic success of the residents brings the businesses to the neighborhood - especially major chains of stores/retailers and restaurants. That is what you see on Cascade Rd. On MLK the income base is lower so you don't see the big name outlets; however in the AUC area is particular there are a lot of "mom and pop" type of places, especially barber shops/beauty salons, restaurants, and small retailers. And I'll note that area is actually growing and even experiences some gentrification along its edges, which is something that many of the residents don't want to rapidly occur anyway as people will be displaced, some who may be long term, valuable members to the community.
The funniest thing is those that complain about integrating being a trap reap the most often benefits of it, especially these Social Justice Warriors who are an annoying breed of people.
With the black Church bombings that have occurred recently, some are questioning what the attitude of the congregation should be when a white stranger attends a predominantly black church. Now I'm Christian and I must say generally when I see a white person in the congregation, I think "wow, it's flattering that they appreciate this style of worship". I'm generally not bothered by it, but I don't feel that the black church should compromise it's culture for the sake of making others feel comfortable. I'd be interesting to see where you stand on this question.
Segregation was essentially about limiting access to resources. It was about putting Blacks in the lowest positions. Separate was never equally, nor was it intended to be.
Black children do need to be treated like anyone else. In some cases, it is hard to tell whether a child is being treated fairly or not, especially if any kind of prejudice is just under the surface. The school district I went to during middle school and high school, a principal resigned after allegations of treating the Black students harsher than the White students for the same offenses. It made me wonder. I remember going to In School Suspension for swearing at a girl. There were kids in there that were habitual troublemakers. I was the only Black kid in there.
Wow. I've never heard anything like that. I've never heard any of my teachers refer to any student, black or white, as stupid. I've seen teachers get mad. I've been yelled at, but never called stupid. In fact, a teacher got onto me because I called myself stupid. Her response was "you are not stupid, you just need to concentrate, stay focused".
It doesn't surprise me that there are low expectations for Black students. I have not gotten outward hostility from teachers. Anything I ever got was more or less passive. It could be a teacher playing favorites, or the like.
I grew up in the 90s and 2000s, and I never went to city schools. In Georgia, if you don't live IN the city, or if your county doesn't have "city schools" you get county schools. I went to county schools, therefore, there was no busing. You went to wherever you were assigned based on your address.
I know about the Boston busing issue. Why Boston of all cities got so violent still makes me wonder. My parents wanted better for their kids. They put us in a school system where they thought would be better. There is still a thinking that "predominantly White schools are better". Truth was, the schools were worse. The redneck element was strong where I went to middle school and high school. At has since diminished, but it is still there.
I watched Remember the Titans many years back. I couldn't imagine living back in the 70s. That was something I wouldn't have had the strength to go through. I had to deal with stupidity in my high school, in the early 2000s.
I did have teachers that cared, that wanted to see me do well. Some of them remember me. I did have some issues with other students, both black and white. I will get into that later. However, it did seem like the adminstration didn't have a handle on everything. Administration does not want a lawsuit, hence the reason they take little to no action to alleviate bullying.
Busing did send kids into hostile environments. That said, the environment for Blacks was hostile in general. Hostile in the sense that Blacks didn't have a say in most things.
Here is something more ironic. Some of the kids who made fun of me for "acting White", were White kids. Growing up in the late 90s/early 2000s I was exposed to some weird stuff. I was made fun of by other Black kids. I got mocked a few times because of the way I talk. On the other hand, I didn't expect some White kids do point out that I "talk White". One girl would call me "White boy" all the time. I never knew why, and it was ironic considering that she was White.
Integration was done under the guise of blacks not being good enough. There is no such thing as separate but equal (at least not when it's mandated by law). By making it a law, you've canceled the equality out with making something separate.
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