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I went to visit a friend in Virginia over the weekend and her county was having a black history month celebration. So we spent a lot of time in a section of town that is pretty much black owned. I noticed that most of the owners were in their 50's or older, the Barbershop, the Rib place, a fish joint, a hair salon, a car wash, dry cleaners. We ate in a small soul food restaurant and the service was great, our waitress was the owners wife and she talked to us like she'd known us forever and recommended places we should go while I was visiting. The owner came out, asked us how we liked our food and even gave me a free piece of Pecan pie cause I told him I'd never eaten any. It was busy in there too, but the service was far better than any service I've ever gotten in a restaurant. It was just a great atmosphere.
But it made me wonder what will happen to communities like this in 40 years. Most of the men in my age group fall into 3 categories; those who want to be rappers, those who want to be CEO's and those who will always live at home with their mama.
Young black men these days seemed to be all about $ and they want a lot of it. They don't seem to understand the value in owning your own business. My grandfather actually had his own landscaping business that he started with just one lawn mower. Two of my uncles joined him and it eventually grew and has been in my family since...but I don't see any of my brothers or male cousins taking it over in the future.
The same kind of goes for the women in my family. My grandmother used to run the kitchen at a headstart program and she sold dinners on Sunday's for extra money. All of my aunts are excellent cooks but us grandkids, myself included, can barley boil water and my mom has never expressed an interest in teaching me.
I'm just wondering what these communities will be like when all of the grandparents are gone and have taken all of their talents with them.
But it made me wonder what will happen to communities like this in 40 years.
Tough to see, you can romanticize it a bit and discuss some of the positive attributes, but the goal of the black leaders over the past half century has been the expansion of opportunities, improved acceptance into overall society and integration. While I understand the sentiment expressed in your posting, and the skill sets associated with the various businesses, the perception of a separate but equal society was pretty much dismissed by the early 1960's.
My guess would be that what you observed will slowly go away, and probably for the better for their succeeding generations. I realize that as things evolve you generally gain and lose, but in this case I think most would agree that many detremental aspects were associated with this life too.
I agree with NewToCa, the black community is solidly moving into the middle and upper income class. As for kids wanting to be rappers or making money whenever has that just being anything but the typical American dream? Rap artists are just flamboyant in their style.
Most of the men in my age group fall into 3 categories; those who want to be rappers, those who want to be CEO's and those who will always live at home with their mama.
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This will be exactly what happens to the black community in 40 years. Those that decided to go to college and invest in their human capital will do very well. The ones that want to become CEO's, start their own businesses, will be very wealthy, however the ones that "want to live at home with their mama's will be destitute and poor begging for a handout, which the black elite in 40 years won't give two craps about. In fact that do not give two craps about it now. Just look at how they've rigged Affirmative Action to only benefit the black upper middle class. The worst thing for the black population was when they pushed out the "fair skin" old guard and usherd in the civil right elites. The typically uneducated civil right elites have been nothing but trouble in my opinion and have basically trumped the good things they did in the 60's with all the crap they do now in an effort to maintain power and control.
I think the black community will be seperated into two groups. You will either be upper middle class/rich or lower middle class and poor. The fastest mobility between classes is blacks moving from the middle to the upper middle and the slowest is blacks moving out of the lower middle into the middle/middle. However, the wealth inequality will just increase within the black community, so my advice to those sitting around waiting for a "handout" or "jesus's second coming to save them" if they do not get out work, invest in their education, and take responsiblity for themselves, in another 40 years they'll be lucky if they can find shelter under a subway tunnel. Currently the black elites make up 25% (middle/class, upper middle, rich) of the black population, as that increases to near half the wishes of the black poor and lower middle will no longer matter.
I think the black community will be seperated into two groups. You will either be upper middle class/rich or lower middle class and poor. The fastest mobility between classes is blacks moving from the middle to the upper middle and the slowest is blacks moving out of the lower middle into the middle/middle. However, the wealth inequality will just increase within the black community...
Which mirrors the rest of the citizens in the USA, so integration appears to be working.
Blacks, like every OTHER group, are going to have to face the reality of this basic equation: You can't call yourself "black", and at the same time, object to the fact that people regard you as "black". A simple lesson, very much part of the "American Experience", yet profoundly difficult to put into practice.
If you want to be "different", then you must prepare for the fact that you'll be thought of by the society around you as "different"; and implicit in that, will be the perception that your needs, your goals, your view of life, and even your ability to 'get along in life', will be 'different'; will be unique; and you'll be seen as 'looking out for yourself', and not looking out for society as a whole.
That's the situation that we ALL face. For every time any of us celebrates "our" culture, there's an implied understanding that it's not "your" culture. Sometimes this can be harmless fun; but it can also lead to rifts and divisions in society.
This thread is about Black people. It applies to "blacks" only to the extent they see themselves as 'black"...and it could apply equally to any OTHER group as well.
To the extent that black people regard themselves as Americans, sharing the benefits, the burdens, and the costs of American life with everyone else, then threads like this will not be relevant.
That's a pretty condescending approach, macmeal. You've got no more moral authority in suggesting that Black Americans stop referring to ourselves as "Black" in order to improve our lot in life, any more than you have the moral authority to suggest to Korean Americans that they keep doing what they're doing to remain successful.
In any event, I see the Black community more diverse, better educated and politically more powerful and influencial in the next 40 years. We will expand. And in order to expand, we will first contract. That contraction will include the dead weight of the chronically criminal and uneducated; the complacent; and 1960's-minded. The expansion will include, but not exclusively, more Nigerians, North Africans, Afro Latinos, multi-ethnics and Polynesians.
That's a pretty condescending approach, macmeal. You've got no more moral authority in suggesting that Black Americans stop referring to ourselves as "Black" in order to improve our lot in life, any more than you have the moral authority to suggest to Korean Americans that they keep doing what they're doing to remain successful.
In any event, I see the Black community more diverse, better educated and politically more powerful and influencial in the next 40 years. We will expand. And in order to expand, we will first contract. That contraction will include the dead weight of the chronically criminal and uneducated; the complacent; and 1960's-minded. The expansion will include, but not exclusively, more Nigerians, North Africans, Afro Latinos, multi-ethnics and Polynesians.
No moral authority is involved, any more than if I'd commented on the law of gravity. If you're going to be a black American (or a Korean-, a Dutch-, or a Coatian-American), then you're NOT going to be "just" an American. You are defining yourself as "different". And you'll be viewed by others as "different" as well, because that's how you're defining yourself. You may be regarded as "better" than others, or "worse", but you'll still be "different", in any case. If that's what you want, it's OK. But if you don't want to be thought of as "different", it may be a problem. That's your decision---and you can pay as much, or as little 'attention' to this observation as you choose.
The whole idea, though, of a 'black community' is getting pretty much theoretical. There may be some common connection between Larry Elder, Snoop Dogg, Condoleeza Rice, Malcolm X, OJ Simpson, Clarence Thomas, Eldridge Cleaver, Notorious B.I.G., Colin Powell, and Damian Williams, but it seems to me that that's an AWFULLY loosely-defined group. Just what's your definition of a "community", anyway?
No moral authority is involved, any more than if I'd commented on the law of gravity. If you're going to be a black American (or a Korean-, a Dutch-, or a Coatian-American), then you're NOT going to be "just" an American. You are defining yourself as "different". And you'll be viewed by others as "different" as well, because that's how you're defining yourself. You may be regarded as "better" than others, or "worse", but you'll still be "different", in any case. If that's what you want, it's OK. But if you don't want to be thought of as "different", it may be a problem. That's your decision---and you can pay as much, or as little 'attention' to this observation as you choose.
The whole idea, though, of a 'black community' is getting pretty much theoretical. There may be some common connection between Larry Elder, Snoop Dogg, Condoleeza Rice, Malcolm X, OJ Simpson, Clarence Thomas, Eldridge Cleaver, Notorious B.I.G., Colin Powell, and Damian Williams, but it seems to me that that's an AWFULLY loosely-defined group. Just what's your definition of a "community", anyway?
You posture as if you're speaking from a position of knowledge and experience.
Moreover, you ignore the reality of America past and present. Black Americans are the ones who fought and sacrificed life and limb for the purpose of being regarded as Americans without hyphens. We are the ones who took on that struggle, when "real" Americans would have none of it. And that's not ancient history. That's my and your lifetime.
And if you have to ask for the definition of Black community, then you could never--ever--appreciate the answers.
You posture as if you're speaking from a position of knowledge and experience.
Moreover, you ignore the reality of America past and present. Black Americans are the ones who fought and sacrificed life and limb for the purpose of being regarded as Americans without hyphens. We are the ones who took on that struggle, when "real" Americans would have none of it. And that's not ancient history. That's my and your lifetime.
And if you have to ask for the definition of Black community, then you could never--ever--appreciate the answers.
OK then, I hear you. You've made your case. You are black, and you have issues that I am incapable of understanding, because my race makes it impossible for me to do so. There is no way I could ever be of help to you, nor expect you to be of help to me. You and I are different, and therefore any further discussion between us is pointless. I can never understand you, and you can never understand me. I'll continue to work for a multi-racial, multiethnic American society, and you can continue looking out for blacks (the ones who aren't interested in 'getting along' with the rest of us)..
Last edited by macmeal; 02-12-2008 at 03:21 PM..
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