Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A large number of Black children are born out of wedlock and are often raised without fathers in the home. Large numbers of crimes from some Black people. So what? What do you expect someone like me to do? What do you expect Denzel Washington to do? We're doing our part. My parents did their part. I'm doing my part not to contribute to problems. What more is expected from me? I ask this because there are people coming here basically complaining about Blacks to the tune of "you're a pest in this country". I also get the feeling that these grievances are being aired as if I am the one who is expected to do something about the problem. Well, nothing I can do about people who can't stop committing crimes, other than have the courts deal with them.
Many people seem to think that black folks are a monolithic group, and hold the entire group responsible for the actions of some.
Black people. And yes I'm going to go there. Let's just say we've pre-paid. i'll keep it short. Many of the problems stem from poverty, and guess which group never received the big r-word. Guess which group has been marginalized throughout American history. Guess which group has had multiple successful business neighborhoods (like in Tulsa) torn to shreds by whites. And so on and so on. Now when yall wanna start paying the big r-word back, then you can roll out an argument about who's paying for blacks. We're paying for our selves plus more. What a silly attempt. Huge strawman on your part. This is the only response i'll give to your strawman.
You can wish in one hand and **** in the other; see which one fills up first. Reparations are a pipe dream, as well they should be. I'm the fourth generation in this country in my family, and there is no way in hell that I'd be paying if something like this ever occurred. My family had no part in slavery. Even if they did, I have no responsibility for that. To even suggest so is patently absurd and offensive, and if some reparations bill were ever passed that required direct transfer from all whites, I believe you'd find a large portion of Americans agree with me.
How about you leave the racists comments out and quit acting like blacks or anyone is different based on their skin color?
And yes as a group blacks do need help but not the help the welfare state is giving them.
You're making all this drama up. As a group blacks are worse off financially. To ignore that is to ignore the truth. Bias, discrimination, and racism, are not big factors on if one succeeds in life. Finishing high school, working full time, and waiting until you're 21 to get married and have kids gives one a 75 percent chance of being in the Middle Class or higher. Nothing to do with what group one belongs too.
Stop playing the victim.
But you have no problem taking their money, which is the problem. That's what many humans do. Nothing to do with skin color.
Single parent families lower the chances of the childrens success. Ending the welfare state goes along way to evening out the paying field. Why work when you can get paid to not work? Why stay together and raise kids when the state will do it for you?
Sigh...you are proving my point being that just because I spoke about my reasons why black people should help ourselves, you are saying I'm "racist" when I said nothing derrogatory about any group of people.
You don't know how to focus on anything except your own feelings and defensiveness.
You also provided a great example of why I wouldn't want you at the table to discuss or plan to remedy any "black problems." As I noted in my response to the poster that you quoted - you do not believe racism or discrimination is a factor for black people. That right t here is a reason I would not want you on my team. You live in a la-la land and want to try to tell me what my issues are when you have no experience dealing with discrimination or the ideology of "white supremacy" racism.
I don't take anyone's money and I along with a large amount of black people - I'd dare say a majority would rather blacks not be on any social welfare programs at all. That is why there is a huge focus in black America on economic achievement and entrepreneurship. As I stated, you all are focused on the wrong things. You are not an ally of mine. If you were, you'd ask me what you could do to help instead of trying to tell me about my own experiences and life from a place of ignorance.
For the poster who initially asked about why they can't "help" I'll note I thought about that a little further and feel that if you really want to "help" you should join the NAACP and work on a committee they assign you to in your local area. They are a multi-racial organization contrary to what many believe and they will gladly put you to work, but if you speak a lot of nonsense, they'd also have no problems letting you go. I've seen them make black members leave lol. No one wants a non-productive team member on their team.
Obviously, whites don't have to deal with racism in the same ways that many black folks do. However, I'd very confidently state that black folks today don't have nearly the same uphill battle that they did 50 years ago. Of course discrimination still exists, and is probably worse in some ways now because it isn't overt like it was until the civil rights protests and such, but it's not like blacks are getting lynched every other day.
Now, on to some of the other points you made. Black poverty is a real thing, and to continue denying it is not helping. You can't confront an issue and hope to make any progress on correcting it if you can't even come to terms with the scope of the problem. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, in WI (what I'm familiar with, being from Milwaukee), 31% of blacks are below the poverty line. Now, in WI, blacks make up 6.6% of the population. Putting actual numbers on that, WI is home to 5.7m people (2016). 6.6% of that is roughly 381,000 people. Now, of that, 31% is about 118k. So, of a total population of just over 380k people, 118k of them are in poverty. Contrast this with numbers for white people. WI is 81.7% white alone, non-hispanic. This translates to about 4.7m people. Of this, 8% are below the poverty line, which is 377k. Overall, about 11% of people in WI are in poverty. Based on these numbers, black folks are clearly over represented. These are simple facts; there is no racism involved here. I don't consider blacks to be worthless people, and I don't blame every black person for the actions of other black folks.
You never did address the other main part of my reply, in that regardless of race, we're all "in it together". That's what community means. I don't want black folks to have to deal with systemic and widespread discrimination, and I don't believe any one particular race is inherently better than another. Shutting down debate and not listening to my viewpoint because I'm white is no better than those who do the same to you.
Note, I never said that discrimination is the same as it was 50 years ago. I said that bias and discrimination are a factor for all black people in this country. That is true. And it is something that many non-black people overlook or act like is not a factor, see the poster above I quoted and bolded.
In regards to poverty. I never said poverty was not an issue for black Americans. I said white rural poverty stricken people do not have the same issues as black urban poverty stricken people. That is true as well.
I also didn't state you think black people are worthless.
I did listen to your viewpoint, but you not being invested in black neighborhoods or communities from an internal standpoint, means you cannot contribute much, if anything to any solutions. Citing statistics doesn't do anything, we know all the statistics you know. As I noted above, if you want to do something, join a majority black organization and see what they want you to do instead of trying to dictate to black people what they should be doing or repeating statistics we already know. It is condescending and honestly we don't want to deal with that as there is more important work to do other than talking to you and explaining things to you that you will never fully understand or that you will try to diminish our viewpoint as internal stakeholders on.
As I noted, the best thing you can do as a white ally is to recognize if you have your own biases and to stop other whites from being biased and discriminatory against black people. IMO blacks need to work primarily on curing ourselves of what is called the "black inferiority complex" meaning blacks who believe that they are inferior to whites - that we are "worse" than white people or that we need whites or government to solve our personal problems.
I believe in self empowerment and self reliance and would rather blacks learn this from an internal community source and build upon our culture of "social uplift" rather than bring a whole bunch of people who would rather "discuss' and try to start arguments and disagreements over various non-important statistics. You may not be aware of it but us blacks have enough arguments and disagreements amongst ourselves. We don't need to entertain any others.
And for me, a community is a local area. If you live in Milwaukee, do you live in a majority black area? If so, you should seek out the organizations that are working in your neighborhood to do something of value for whatever focus/cause that is important to you in regards to the people in your area.
I live in a majority black area. I focus on growing black businesses, black entrepreneurship, and black cultural education and providing mentorship to young people in my neighborhood. For me the most important aspect to black growth is a solid cultural foundation for our teens and young adults in particular, a focus on economic improvement, and a continued dedication to our families, no matter the structure of said family. My activities and work in the latter have nothing to do with statistics, they have to do with the people who I know in my community and whose lives I want to see go as well as they possibly can and who I want to ensure are aware of our history and culture as black Americans so that when they hit bumps in the road, they will have the knowledge that the roads will not always be pot holed. As you noted, we've gotten much better in regards to experiencing overt oppression and discrimination. This is directly due to black American activism and our culture and history of helping each other in every successive generation. We will continue to do the same without your help and for me, it is just a distraction to stop and explain things to people when I wouldn't have to explain it to a black person. It is a waste of valuable time.
Note, I never said that discrimination is the same as it was 50 years ago. I said that bias and discrimination are a factor for all black people in this country. That is true. And it is something that many non-black people overlook or act like is not a factor, see the poster above I quoted and bolded.
In regards to poverty. I never said poverty was not an issue for black Americans. I said white rural poverty stricken people do not have the same issues as black urban poverty stricken people. That is true as well.
I also didn't state you think black people are worthless.
I did listen to your viewpoint, but you not being invested in black neighborhoods or communities from an internal standpoint, means you cannot contribute much, if anything to any solutions. Citing statistics doesn't do anything, we know all the statistics you know. As I noted above, if you want to do something, join a majority black organization and see what they want you to do instead of trying to dictate to black people what they should be doing or repeating statistics we already know. It is condescending and honestly we don't want to deal with that as there is more important work to do other than talking to you and explaining things to you that you will never fully understand or that you will try to diminish our viewpoint as internal stakeholders on.
As I noted, the best thing you can do as a white ally is to recognize if you have your own biases and to stop other whites from being biased and discriminatory against black people. IMO blacks need to work primarily on curing ourselves of what is called the "black inferiority complex" meaning blacks who believe that they are inferior to whites - that we are "worse" than white people or that we need whites or government to solve our personal problems.
I believe in self empowerment and self reliance and would rather blacks learn this from an internal community source and build upon our culture of "social uplift" rather than bring a whole bunch of people who would rather "discuss' and try to start arguments and disagreements over various non-important statistics. You may not be aware of it but us blacks have enough arguments and disagreements amongst ourselves. We don't need to entertain any others.
And for me, a community is a local area. If you live in Milwaukee, do you live in a majority black area? If so, you should seek out the organizations that are working in your neighborhood to do something of value for whatever focus/cause that is important to you in regards to the people in your area.
I live in a majority black area. I focus on growing black businesses, black entrepreneurship, and black cultural education and providing mentorship to young people in my neighborhood. For me the most important aspect to black growth is a solid cultural foundation for our teens and young adults in particular, a focus on economic improvement, and a continued dedication to our families, no matter the structure of said family. My activities and work in the latter have nothing to do with statistics, they have to do with the people who I know in my community and whose lives I want to see go as well as they possibly can and who I want to ensure are aware of our history and culture as black Americans so that when they hit bumps in the road, they will have the knowledge that the roads will not always be pot holed. As you noted, we've gotten much better in regards to experiencing overt oppression and discrimination. This is directly due to black American activism and our culture and history of helping each other in every successive generation. We will continue to do the same without your help and for me, it is just a distraction to stop and explain things to people when I wouldn't have to explain it to a black person. It is a waste of valuable time.
I definitely agree about people glossing over discrimination. I see it from some in my line of work, although I can honestly say there aren't many racists in my line of work because they quickly find they become outcasts.
I've moved away from Milwaukee and WI to a place with far fewer black folks (East Texas), but when I was in WI I lived outside of Milwaukee. I'm more of a country person in general, so I prefer living in a rural area. As for the rest, I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree. Just know there actually are white folks out there who aren't out to get minorities.
I searched for this so I wouldn't have to get cooties from Breitbart or give them any clicks...
He was talking about his film role and how important it is to raise kids in a loving family to help keep them from falling into the prison-industrial complex.
He said "it starts at home."
He didn't say "that's the entire problem."
I agree with him. It does start at home. I don't think too many parents would argue with that sentiment.
I'm not sure how that's "breaks with the liberal mantra" but whatever.
__________________
When in doubt, check it out: FAQ
Black people. And yes I'm going to go there. Let's just say we've pre-paid. i'll keep it short. Many of the problems stem from poverty, and guess which group never received the big r-word. Guess which group has been marginalized throughout American history. Guess which group has had multiple successful business neighborhoods (like in Tulsa) torn to shreds by whites. And so on and so on. Now when yall wanna start paying the big r-word back, then you can roll out an argument about who's paying for blacks. We're paying for our selves plus more. What a silly attempt. Huge strawman on your part. This is the only response i'll give to your strawman.
Still looking for a handout. You should be embarrassed that you fail to be able to support yourself when so many generations of others overcame obstacles and became a success. Keep sticking your hand out looking for reparations? It will be a long wait while many others leave you in the dust.
You can wish in one hand and **** in the other; see which one fills up first. Reparations are a pipe dream, as well they should be. I'm the fourth generation in this country in my family, and there is no way in hell that I'd be paying if something like this ever occurred. My family had no part in slavery. Even if they did, I have no responsibility for that. To even suggest so is patently absurd and offensive, and if some reparations bill were ever passed that required direct transfer from all whites, I believe you'd find a large portion of Americans agree with me.
The point is whites never paid reparations so they have zero room to complain about the condition they left blacks in. It's that simple. They didn't properly pay reparations all this time, but they still want the luxury of telling blacks to bootstrap. Aside from reparations they won't even take responsibility, again they have zero room to complain. Like I said, poverty and crime go hand in hand, combine that with how black men are targeted and you have a recipe for what we are seeing. People keep trying to wag their finger at blacks to just get "it" together, all I ask is they do the same for their own people and show us how it's done. Then they can lecture other groups. And they didn't have any issues paying the Japanese reparations in a timely manner. So its not like the idea of reparations across the board was outlandish. No excuses. And no room to lecture blacks when clearly they have a heavy hand in the current conditions.
Still looking for a handout. You should be embarrassed that you fail to be able to support yourself when so many generations of others overcame obstacles and became a success. Keep sticking your hand out looking for reparations? It will be a long wait while many others leave you in the dust.
there's a difference between handouts and reparations. A handout is what your European ancestors received when they failed in Europe and ran to a country built on "free labor and free land". Anyways, you're people received the ultimate multi-century handout and yall still run around committing crime. What's you're excuse? Show us how its done.
Also, even when blacks did build our own business communities guess who was there to burn them to the ground.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Guess which group has been marginalized throughout American history.
