al sharpton on CNBC now,the injustice of more blacks in prison today than were slaves

so many around here are unwilling to have a dialogue... tells me where their true intentions are

 

Why don't you ask them to hold back their thoughts on the Rockets unless they have actually played in the NBA themselves.

 

Seriously, I am continually astounded by the number of people on these boards who think they know better than, and subsequently completely disregard, people who do statistical research for a living. For example, every time some piece of social science research on race comes up, without fail, someone says "but what about INCOME!?" as if that's not the most basic of control variables.

 

Eddie, you're angry because you're ignorant.

 

This so frustrating. So damn frustrating.

God help this country.

 

Posts like these do not keep things civil nor do they add to the discussion.

 

OK, I'll give it a shot...

It's painful to have to say this to someone...ANYBODY...in this country in this day and age...

...but unfortunately, there are different rules that apply socially to black people as opposed to everyone else.

You speak, eddiewinslow, of your parents, and of their prototype story of American success. How their differences culturally, ultimately, were not brought to bear against their individual ambition.

Your parents had the consummate immigrant experience, in essence: if they brought the best of themselves to America, they had a chance to better their station in life.

My parents did not have that experience, the experience of immigration and assimilation. Our (black) experience is one of expatriation and grudging tolerance.

Only someone of Native American descent can claim a similar sentiment.

There's a difference between being invited and being welcome. It's why someone earlier said something about admitting he had a different reaction to black people in the same homeless situation as a white person.

It is not your experience in any way to understand it, so I'm sure at the most basic level, this perspective can only be seen as an excuse to you. That is both true and immaterial, in the grand scheme you espouse, ironically enough.

Statistics are cited and recited about what's wrong with black people. Black people, just so you know, do this amongst each other all the time (criticize and critique our behavior and appearance). That doesn't get reported or commented on, unfortunately, because no one listens to us on average, or believes we have anything important to say. That's why we have "black" magazines and "black" holidays and the like...

What can we contribute, as black people, outside of our cultural identity, to the greater whole of America? A cultural identity steeped unmoving from the very beginnings of this country?

How can we do that without the one credible vehicle that lends weight (if not sanity) to any opinion or perspective....money?

I'm black. I grew up on the south side of Houston in a housing project with my mother and younger brother. I saw more crime and death before age ten than I've seen in the 30-some-odd years since.

I have only my mother and God to thank for not winding up dead, in jail, or some combination of the two before I became 16.

My mother was a single parent. She's black. She's in her 80's now. She knew what it was like to think highly of yourself and not have anybody else think highly of you.

My mother never made excuses for her situation. Her grandmother was a slave. Her mother was a domestic worker. She had to sacrifice her education to provide and take care of her sisters and brothers, so that they could go on and have better lives. All I've ever known my mother to do for other people is sacrifice.

The greatest gift she gave me was the gift of dignity. Dignity she repeatedly reminded me that was inherent, not arbitrarily distributed to a worthy few who met a certain set of criteria, or "played the game" a certain way.

Dignity is the greatest thing a black person can hope for in this country. The dignity of an identity not entirely dependent on the narrative of America being totally inclusive about it.

And dignity cannot be won from another. It cannot be given. It cannot be earned. It cannot be legislated or edited or reported or misreported.

I'm sorry if you find generations of systematic, overt, covert, legislative and emotionally based discrimination should have been wiped out by now if black people were just a bit more industrious.

There's more evidence of success for black people in this country then there is failure. In fact, I believe the success of black people in this country is wholly the success of EVERYBODY in this country.

The seeds of self-loathing, self-doubt, and outright derision and rejection and subjugation of black people that cannot be entirely legislated out of the society, until it is removed from the consciousness of all Americans, aren't as easy to overcome as you seem to think, good person.

God knows I wish it was. It was hard for me to see myself differently than the rest of the country did. Even among some of my own people.

But it starts to happen when people start to care about one another.

A scripture in the Bible suggests that it is a spiritual wickedness we face. The enemy we face, though formidable (no matter who denies it), is really in the idea that it is someone else's fault or someone else's problem.

The idea that it's me and not you. That it's us and not them. Drawing lines in the dirt and telling each other which side of it to stand on.

As a black man, I can only say this: I am glad that I see myself much better than anybody (black or white) sees me. I am glad I can teach to my son what my mother taught to me. I am glad I can see in the relationships my son builds that he moves closer to that ideal, that there will be less need for people to have to point out what's wrong with us...

...and can focus on what's right....

 

Can people coming from poor background succeed? Of course they can. Can a majority of them succeed? No they cannot. There are always exceptional people, but that is why we call them exceptional.

Why cannot everyone be Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? I mean I am sure the average top 1% works hard right, why couldn't they make it in the top 0.01%?

 

mdrowe - with all due respect, that's a touching story, but it reeks of the same pity party and excuse making that is the norm. Sorry to be blunt, but it's like making an investment decision -- you have to move beyond the sunk costs. You've fallen into the trap that race hustlers like Sharpton and Quannell want you to fall into...

 

#1 Who said anything about you being successful or not successful?

#2 Nope, you didn't come from a similar situation so your situation does not relate. You can offer advise all you want, but it doesn't hold any more water than Bigtexxx, myself or any other financially successful person that did not grow up in poverty.

 

Without a doubt, the BEST post that I've ever read in the D&D and possibly on this board. I'm proud, and I don't even know you - But I'd like to. Thank you for that. REPPED.

 

Yes, because black people were always privileged and always had things handed out to them. They were so privileged that no longer than ~40 years ago Black only schools received 10% the funding that a corresponding non black school received. Black people were so privileged that they had their own black only restrooms and bus seats then also. They had it all!

And look at all these poor nations that love giving "handouts" to it's citizens.. This map is % of GDP in social expenditures


Successful nations like my parent's own nation, Bangladesh and India are smart and their governments don't spend much of their revenue on their citizens. That is why these nations are flourishing with prosperity.

 

What?

 

I was proven 100% correct in the Trayvon thread.

deal with it.