May 19th, 2010
I don’t think racism is the major obstacle blacks face.
I do not speak from a position of inexperience. I have taught at a major predominantly black university for several years. I see the struggles every day, face to face, at least second-hand. I don’t see people struggling against racial oppression. I see them struggling with familial dysfunction, semi-literacy, economic plight and a host of medical and psycho-social problems arising, I gather, from seriously poor habits–including extremely poor diets, lack of exercise, poor communication skills, etc. Mostly, I find my students come to college with about an eigth-grade reading comprehension and writing abilities.
These struggles do not derive from the attitudes that whites have toward blacks. They may be from institutional disadvantage, but not what people here are referring to as racism. What say you?
I believe that a greater proportion of blacks are semi-literate than of blacks, by far. The greater proportion of blacks come to college, if they indeed get that far, with the equivalent of an eighth-grade education.
I don’t even trust the graduation rates. Many are passed through for reasons having to do with pity and guilt on the part of educators. We have graduates who cannot write a sentence. People just got tired of failing them.
That is, a far greater proportion of blacks are semi-literate than are whites.
Image taken on 2010-02-28 15:41:35. Image Source. (Used with permission)
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15 Comments
your right need better schools with teachers that care a city problem.
And do you see all this as a black problem. because where I live we are not the only ones. So your theory don ‘t hold water. Professor Einstein!
I say you are generalizing black people. How many black people graduate with honors everyday from major Universities and colleges?
Just as many white people are at a disadvantage as blacks……believe me, I live next door to a trailer park!
“The Bell Curve”, and another book “IQ And Nation’s Wealth”, point toward the primary problem. American blacks have an average 85 IQ.
People are always talking about leveling the playing field, and they just keep blaming teachers. It is not the playing field, and it is not the teachers or the schools. A cold hard fact is that blacks as a group simply are not as intelligent as whites as a group. Nothing is going to work until we begin working from reality rather than liberal wishes and baseless beliefs.
I agree with you 100%. you could not have said it better. It is not race at all. That is why you see people who choose education and forget about the past, are much, better. They don’t choose to fall in that path. They go for the dream and they GET IT. Why waste their time in what happend over 40 years ago. Oh please!! I’m sure they don’t live their lives just thinking about the past. The ones who choose to live like this are the ones who live their lives angry, don’t want to help themselves. I know because I was one of them, Everything that you mention I saw it in me. I wish I had someone tell me different.
My opinion? I think it is the current black-dominated pop culture that places value in a “bad” reps, gangsta attitudes and the devaluing of women and non-blacks; and not in constructive societal values, such as family, personal responsibility, civic duty, respect for others, and education.
Instead of society condemning this destructive behavior, it not only condones it, but actually encourages it.
Blaming whitey is a trump card. Black america knows (or should i say knew now) that whenever they pulled the race card in any arguement their white counter part will admit defeat no matter how ludicrous the claims for fear of being considered a racist. I too see it first hand. I have grown up in a majority black city my whole life. I have had the same opportunities as everyone around me. While they wither away, sell drugs, and make a mockery out of school i have excelled. Not because of my skin, not because anyone handed anything to me, but because i put fourth the effort. I’m sick of everyone negating everything i’ve worked for, with the reasoning, “well it’s easy for you… your white”.
Your right… the problem lays with the individual or with the family. It’s time to start taking responsibility for your own actions and stop pointing the finger. I remember first year i went to college (witch i payed for myself working 40 hours a week while balancing classes) i noticed a black kid from my neighborhood in one of my classes. I thought to myself… good for him, i’m glad to see him here. After about a week, he was the one in the back of the class challenging the teacher every chance he got, talking on his cell phone as loud as he could during class, claiming the curriculum was unfair and comming and going as he pleases… safe to say he dropped out after a month. Last time i saw him after class he asked if i wanted to buy any weed. Wonder if that worked out for him. And after all that… i still bet he blames the white man. Just a guess… but i have a feeling i’m not far off.
One more thing about schooling. My highschool felt the effects of a cultural shock. My city is the urban outskirts of a major city, and considering that fact it has delt with alot of urban sprall over the years. Because of this it has went from a majority white city 30 or so years ago… to a majority black city as of now. When it was a majority white city, with a majority white school system (up till about 10 or so years ago) it was in the top three GPA out of thousands in our state. Since the population has changed it has dropped to the bottom 5%. Now people will blame the city… but i’ve talked to the teachers first hand. Funding hasn’t changed, the school hasn’t changed, the books haven’t changed, and the teachers haven’t changed. The only difference is the students. How may i ask you is that the white mans fault?
I agree with you that it’s not a race issue. A lot of what is happening in the African-American community is a result of children growing up in dysfunctional homes. A child living in a home where there is an absent parent, drugs, violence or a child in the foster care system will grow up to have low self-esteem and thus will be easily influenced by outside forces. Unfortunately, one of the places where the African-American community should be able to go to get empowered, the church, often instills in them the belief that their problems are a result of racism, thus leaving them with a feeling of powerlessness and hopelessness. They need to better educate themselves, they need to take responsibility for their actions, and they need to stop allowing people of their own race to bring them down.
Some of this goes for people of other races too, not just black people.
I feel that there are many obstacles that people of color face that are a result of racism from the past. You mention familial dysfuction, semi-literacy, economic plight, poor communication skills, etc.The black culture that we see today was formed by the opression of racism and their fight against it. Most humans behave and live the way that they were raised; a society’s revolving door of problems are passed from one generation to the next. Each generation will evolve away from their parent’s way of thinking, but will still use their parents’ lifestyle choices as a foundation on which to build their own lives. In the past, racism forced blacks into poverty, failed their education and basically created an entire group of people who would spend their lives disadvantaged. The anger, sadness and hopelessness those people felt has been passed on to their children and grandchildren–even without racism being a major issue. There are still racist people who are that way simply because their parents were. Likewise, there are still people who feel they are trapped in the culture that racism created simply because their parents were. Both groups are passing these feelings along to their children. It will change, but it will take a long time.
The obstacle blacks face is complicated as it’s causes are many. Coming out of slavery with basically no exercisable rights and no quality education or opportunities for most. The funk from over a century can settle into a people pretty deep after so many generations born and bred in utter and forced poverty. With integration came the closing of virtually all of the black business centers in their neiborhoods as big business swallowed up mom and pop’s stores and such. That coupled with easy loans to immigrants like Korean Americans and Indian Americans and Latinos (in some States). The Civil Rights Movement is widely considered tobe the pivitol moment for blacks when it started. American racism did not just end the day Dr. King died, it has been a slow gruelling process to purge the cancer ( depending on who you ask ). Programs like welfare and project housing were designed to keep impoverished people lazy and to break up famolies by forbidding women to have men in the home or they would surely be cut off. Many black men who could not obtain employment simply gave up and left their families. “Hell at least they can eat” became a commonly used phrase as this practice became widespread. As a result of the destruction of the black family the community has broken down over the past few decades as I said it hasn’t been that long and were talking over four hundred and fifty years of oppression. All in all, It is a complex problem that has yet to show promise of being rectified any time soon. Racism (by it’s dictionary defenition) is the root cause of all of these issues and still needs to be addressed with real solutions if there is to be progress in the black community SO I GUESS THE ANSWER IS YES.
If they would stop listening to destructive people like Wright, Louis Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and listen to constructive people like Bill Cosby, their lives would be so much better.
They need to attend school in order to get an education. The parents need to be involved in their lives and their education. Until parents and grandparents care, the kids won’t and the teachers can see this and they will give up. Creating a vicious cycle.
I don’t think Obama helps the situation, when he is still giving the sob story of 200 years ago. Don’t people see how someone like the above benefits from keeping the black race down. Teach the kids a different life then the past generations, a better one.
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“Programs like welfare and project housing were designed to keep impoverished people lazy and to break up famolies by forbidding women to have men in the home or they would surely be cut off.”
This happened in white America too.
I agree as did Thomas Jefferson “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not”
Thomas Jefferson-On Democracy
The liberals continue this practice of handouts, and it is destructive. Trickle up economics does not work. This money is not creating a good or a service.
I think the real problem is economic inequality, and race is something of a red herring, a means to divide and conquer.
There are racist people in every ethnic group. I’ve met them. Racist whites, racist Asians, racist blacks, racist Hispanics, you name it. Not all racism is directed against blacks. It can come from anyone, and be directed at anyone.
I’ve also met rich and poor people of nearly every ethnic group. Yes, Latinos and blacks are on average poorer, but did you know that the ethnic group with the highest average household income are Indian-Americans? “white” people are not in the #1 spot. Some (1% maybe) are very rich but 50% of poor people in this country are white.
you are 100% right….and yes blaming whitey has ultimately come back to them. rather than looking in the mirror to fix the problems….they always blame whitey…which does nothing to fix the problem.
if obama was more like MLK Jr…there would be not problems or issues..in fact he would prob win this election for sure (mlk that is) and i think that would be great. MLK, however; had a reason to be hateful/and racist…..BUT HE WASNT!! enough said…obama is a cop out to the “blame whitey card. MLK woulda never stooped that low….HE KNEW THAT HE PERSONALLY HAD TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHANGE HE WANTED TO SEE IN THE WORLD AND HE WENT AND DID IT! he didnt blame whitey for everything negative in his life even tho he actually had a really good reason to.
using all of the injustices done to blacks thruout history is a typical cop out. thats old news….SLAVERY DIDNT HAPPEN TO YOU OR YOUR PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS. most every people in the world were at some time under some kind of oppression and often slavery of some other dictator…including many times…..white people!!! you dont see the jews, or the irish, asians, or the indians always blabbin about how they are owed this or that cuz of what happend to their ancestors…..THE PAST IS THE PAST…FOR EVERYBODY of every color/creed/religion…..GOOD OR BAD…GET OVER AND MOVE ON LIKE MLK DID. THE BOTTOM LINE IS IF YOU WANT WHATEVER YOU WANT BAD ENOUGH AND WORK AT IT HARD ENOUGH….ANYTHING CAN BE OVERCOME…ANYTHING. MLK did it, bill cosby did it, Chris Gardner, td jakes, and many, many others. I promise you that none of them had a “blame whitey” complex….they were all hustlers in their own respect….and thats what got them success….not pointing fingers blaming people for injustices suffered by ancestors…what good does that really do anybody?
obama hussien is a typical racist bigot…..with a typical case of the “blame whitey” complex!
The Barack Obama Double Standard
March 17, 2008
Imagine in 1999, that a videotape had come to light showing the pastor of Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s church making vicious, hateful comments about America and cruel, racist statements about Americans of color.
Suppose this preacher had given a lifetime achievement award to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and had traveled to Europe with Duke to meet with neo-Nazi terrorists.
Now try to envision that the candidate’s family had attended this church for more than twenty years, that George and Laura Bush had been married there, by this pastor, and that the Bush daughters had been baptized by him.
Picture George Bush titling his autobiography after a phrase in one of this minister’s sermons, writing that the man was his mentor, and then putting him on the presidential campaign staff as a trusted advisor and confidant.
Say it came to light that for several years George W. Bush had been friends with Eric Rudolph, the notorious Olympic Park bomber and anti-abortion terrorist. Furthermore, let’s suppose that Bush had remained friends with Rudolph over the years and still considered him a colleague today.
Now imagine Laura Bush, on the campaign trail for her husband, telling supporters and the national media that America is “mean” and that for the first time in her adult life she was proud of her country.
Is there a doubt that Republican officeholders would have run from the Bush campaign like rats from a burning barn, that he would have become the political leper of the 2000 campaign? And what about the media? They virtually crucified candidate Bush that year for daring to give a speech at Bob Jones University, which had once banned interracial dating. I cannot imagine the field day they would have had with something like this.
And yet excuses are made for Barack Obama, who now finds himself in exactly this situation. Obama’s pastor of more than two decades – the man who married Barack and Michelle Obama, who christened their daughters, who inspired the title of the candidate’s book, “The Audacity of Hope,” – is now at the center of a storm that would have destroyed the candidacy of any Republican the day the story broke.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago for the last 36 years, has been caught on tape denouncing the United States and the white race in terms that should shock and disgust every thinking American. Wright and the church swear allegiance to the “mother country” – Africa. (Presumably this includes the Obama family.)
Rather than trying to infuse his congregation with hope and encouragement, Wright poisons them with vitriol about how the U.S. government has tried to commit genocide against the black community using drugs and the AIDS virus as weapons of choice.
“Don’t say God bless America,” Wright screams in one sermon. “God damn America!”
Wright, representing the church, bestowed a lifetime achievement award on Louis Farrakhan, the racist leader of the Nation of Islam. In the 1980s, Wright traveled to Libya with Farrakhan to meet with Muammar Gaddafi.
AND THERE IS MORE…..
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I agree totally! I would like to agree with others too that blaming rich white people has gotten old! Blacks have the same advantages as whites, Latinos, Asians, and even Muslims!
I am white, was raised by a black woman, I have stepbrother who is black, and a half brother who is mixed. My brothers were given a free education, to where even with my good grades, I had to pay for it. It didn’t bother me because I was treated badly growing up b/c I was in a mixed family. But, they all have the same opportunities, they just have to use them and run with them. It is more about choice than race! I don’t care how one was raised. One has to decide what they want for themselves! Sure there is racism out there, but, most of the time, it is how one chooses to perceive it!
It’s more like their sense of “victimization”. Once that mind-set is overcome, they can be as successful as anyone else.