I Would Rather My Ancestors Not Have Been Slaves Than Being Born An American

The oppression that followed slavery seems a bit more closer to why most are upset.

 

Learning and caring about history will help not to repeat bad history.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_ibn_Said

 

When these type of discussions come up I always say try this thought experiment. If aliens showed up and said that if we go with them to their planet you will have to be a slave but four generations from now your ancestors will be free and have all of the benefits of their advanced technology and medical science. Is that a trade off that anyone would be willing to take?

 

With your experiment you have given the individuals a CHOICE... The slaves from Africa had no choice...

T_Man

 

Yes. Because the argument that blacks Americans are better off because they were taken as slaves and there ancestors now have a better life than they would have in Africa ignores that was no choice in the matter. That's why I'm saying even if there was a choice would you still take it?

 

The most important thing about the whole situation is asking where we are now and what is going on with culture that discourages success.

The number one factor that drives success in American lives is an intact family. Broken families are poorer and men without father figures are far more likely to end up in prison. Government policies that reward and support single motherhood, while warm-hearted, have destroyed the family unit in the lower class in America. Up until the seventies, the black family unit was their strength, with 80+% of families being intact. Whether by accident or design, this strength is now a weakness, and the majority of black children grow up without a strong father figure.

It’s possibly related to the above, but rap and athletic culture denigrate and discourage academic success. This is a secondary factor. Other lower class groups such as Vietnamese immigrants value education and have found success via that path, but as long as the black community associates education and academia with “whiteness”, kids won’t be motivated to follow that path.

The final factor I see is the impact of illegal immigration. Lower class families in the US used to run the businesses currently dominated by Hispanic immigrants (legal and otherwise). This has removed a rung towards success that was dominated by black entrepreneurs in the seventies.

Fix the policies that created these problems, and stop blaming everything on racism and slavery, and we will see significant progress towards more equal outcomes. Most of the highly successful African Americans that I know came from a strong family background, although I know a few smart and strong willed exceptions who beat the odds.

 

Give me a ****ing break.

 

You're assuming that america would have the same technology today and that is no guarantee since a lot of technology was built by african americans...

You're trying to give a hypothetical situation without changing the parameters and that want work...

T_Man

 

I wonder how many white people would admit they're afraid of payback and have that in mind should they tacitly support policies to jail black people and segregate from their communities.

Oh yeah, shame on me for treating wipipo as a homogenous group in a discussion on how black people should act or be...

 

It is a simplistic thought experiment but my main point is if you are trying to downplay, or even credit, slavery for the state of black Americans versus black Africans now then would you be willing to subject yourself to slavery if your ancestors had the chance of being better off.

 

It's not that simplistic...

Not trying to down play it...

African Americans or the slaves have inputted a lot to america with a lot of inventions so who's to say that Africa would not be the new America without slavery....

You're trying to turn this crap around and say slavery is the best thing that could have happened to Africans and I call your BS....

It was slaves that helped you financially by picking your cotton... so without slaves you would not have the money and wealth you have...

It was slaves that helped you win wars from the indian wars to Iraq... you would be speaking German right now if it wasn't for the Tuskegee Airman...

So before you try to flip this with that... remember to do some subtracting with your hypothetical scenarios....

T_Man

 

Example of “policies to jail black people” please? I assume you’re referring to drug crime but I don’t want to assume

 

Stop and frisk?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_profiling#History
I guess we already forgot about that Police Brutality thing six-seven years ago and why it was such a polarizing topic

 

What you just said is RACIST. Keep spewing the Bullshit the Right likes to lean on.

EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID....I'VE BEEN HEARING FOR 40 YEARS AND it is an excuse Republicans/Conservatives use to try to get Black to vote for them. How fixing the schools by giving the same money to poor/minority schools that rich suburban districts get? How not trying to weaken Affirmative Action in University acceptance? Racism doesn't exist in your eyes, please. Slavery is the root of Jim Crow laws, which are still rooted in attitudes in the South. You still young Black men treated as criminals...in interactions with police...whether they are or not.

Republicans don't give a **** about Black people. Hell, Republicans don't give a **** about POOR people. That's the problem.

The reaction to OPIODS vs Crack is all you need to know about Racism in America. You hear these communities dealing with white addicts...".instead of jail, let's get them to rehab". With Crack, it was" put all those MFs in jail.....they are criminals".

Job OPPORTUNITY. Black do not have the same opportunities.....which is rooted in racism.

 

I’m not forgetting anything, thanks for the clarification. So you’re saying whites want to stall an uprising by imprisoning more black men?

 

Here is a question... would you rather your ancestors have been plantation owners or the slaves working the fields?

 

I'm saying many whites are still terrified of blacks and the legacy they know they're responsible with perpetuating.

Being tough on crime but soft and compassionate for opioid addicts falls under that line of thinking.

 

Having worked with black kids you are terrible wrong here. Sports and music are not why they struggle academically, and it's just a shame to see people think this way who have never probably even had a conversation with the people they are judging.

 

Interesting. I think there’s some truth to that. The dichotomy between how we treat opioids vs crack probably did start with racially based policies in the 80s, although I think the carryover is largely because of institutional practice rather than intent. As in I think the “fear of crack” has resulted from what prior generations have led us to believe, that it’s much more “evil” than pills. I’m hoping this will diminish and all addictions will be treated as just that..addictions rather than crimes..we’ve already seen some progress with more states legalizing mar1juana.