What's the....PROBLEM?

1. 84

   gmwilliamsposted 8 years ago

   
   Is the problem in the Black American community the result of external racism or is it an  internal psycho-cultural, even sociocultural consciousness, mentality, philosophy, psychology, & outlook of Black Americans?  Why are Black Americans behind? Your thoughts?

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   1. 65

      lovetherainposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Black culture is the problem.

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      1. 84

         gmwilliamsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Exactly, Black American culture is presently downright dysfunctional, if not pathological, in its premise.  There is a prevailing negativity in current Black American culture to the point of dissolution, even destruction.  I really don't understand the passive negativity of Black American culture as a Black American woman.   Many Black Americans aren't progressing at all but in fact regressing.   
         
         Black parents must step up to their parenting responsibility.  They have to become more conscious & pro-active regarding their children's educational & career well-being.  They have to demolish this dependency & victimology mentality.   There is a prevailing & persuasive passivity in many Black American families & communities. They also have to abandon the poverty & struggle mindset & psychology.

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   2. 77

      Say Yes To Lifeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Back in the 1990s, East Palo Alto was an African American enclave in Silicon Valley.  They used to whine about how they had  no industrial parks.  SUN Microsystems decided to grant them a favor, and moved in.  Guess what?  Property taxes skyrocketed to the point where the blacks could no longer afford to live there.  Today, it bears no resemblance to what it was 20 years ago.
      
      Blacks - be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it!
      
      Another thing; if Black Lives truly Matter, show it by treating each other right and lowering the crime and illegitimacy rate.  Do well in school, and use your money wisely.  Whites are getting sick and tired of hearing you whine.  Check out some of the hostile posts on Topix to see what I mean.  We don't want this to erupt!

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2. 80

   Kathryn L Hillposted 8 years ago

   What do you mean "behind?" behind what and in what way?
   Is it because the government is helping them out too much and they have become dependent of the government instead of themselves? Is it because the government has coddled them and made them feel they need lots of help because for some reason they are incapable of thinking for themselves and managing their own independence?
   
   "Federal employment has traditionally been considered a secure form of employment, one that affords a sense of security to those who choose to become public servants. Most government jobs have good pay and benefits, which can be a good foundation for middle-class incomes; therefore, any loss of government jobs can have a disproportionate effect on the middle class. This is particularly true for African Americans and other people of color, who, after the civil rights gains of the 1960s, saw that public service employment opened up economic opportunities for good, well-paid jobs … "
   
   http://www.theblackinstitute.org/cap_th … e_of_color
   
   Is it because the government has coddled them and made them feel they need lots of help because for some reason (??? see link below) they are incapable of thinking for themselves and managing their own independence?
   http://sageamericanhistory.net/reconstr … ction.html

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3. 80

   Kathryn L Hillposted 8 years ago

   "States with large black federal workforces are also states with high rates of black poverty, from the DC/Maryland/Virginia area to the five states mentioned above, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Maryland, home to black federal worker-heavy Prince George’s County, has a black poverty rate of 14 percent; Texas at 23 percent.
   
   Further complicating the situation is the disproportionate number of African Americans who rely on federal social programs just to get by.
   
   It all depends on how long and how deep. In the last episode, a “modest” shutdown found Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and veterans benefits were flowing without much interruption.  So too were welfare programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Unemployment benefits, at least those that hadn’t expired since Congress cut extensions a long while back, were relatively unaffected, as well, at least according to what we know.
   
   But should it go longer than two weeks, Head Start programs will slowly close, veterans won’t see benefit checks, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programs will suddenly need state carry-over money and small businesses will have trouble receiving federal loan guarantees. Roughly 30 percent of all children enrolled in Head Start programs are African American while 20 percent of WIC participants, according to federal government data, are black. All of the above represent crucial federal programs that are widely utilized by or relied upon African Americans. A combination of pain felt by federal workers, the lack of revenue from government coffers flowing into the economy and the shortsighted slow-death of crucial poverty programs, particularly during a sluggish economic recovery period, will be widely felt. But African Americans are bound to absorb some potentially fatal financial body blows should a shutdown persist. We’ll be watching it closely."
   
   CHARLES D. ELLISON is a Contributing Editor for TheRoot.com and Washington Correspondent for The Philadelphia Tribune. He can be reached @ellisonreport.
   
   http://nulwb.iamempowered.com/policies/ … -shutdowns

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4. 80

   Kathryn L Hillposted 8 years ago

   Its not an easy issue at all. But with Christ (consciousness) all things are possible.

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5. 84

   Marisa Wrightposted 8 years ago

   I think it's a combination of both.  It's like a marriage breakdown, it's never just one person's fault.
   
   I know I'm looking at it from the outside.  I can really only relate my experience based on a guy who worked for me.  He was an African American from Chicago.  He had been in the navy and subsequently moved to Australia. 
   
   As most people know, Australia is not a perfect place and we have our racism issues here too.  But we often worked together on projects so we'd be stopping at a cafe for lunch, and our whole department often went out for drinks or dinner for staff birthdays etc.  He was always commenting on how surprised he was that he and I could sit at a table having lunch and no one would give us a second look.  Or that he could be in a restaurant with our group, or he'd be up dancing with some of the girls, and no one would notice.  Apparently in his part of Chicago, at least, there would be covert looks and comments.
   
   He also said that as a janitor working late at night in Chicago, he would be stopped by the cops every single night and searched, even though they knew him well after the first few times.  Whereas he never had any such trouble in Australia.
   
   So from that, I take it that white attitudes have a way to go in parts of America.
   
   On the other hand, he said that he'd been brought up to be deeply suspicious of white people.  It was only when he joined the navy and had to mix with all races, that he realised how irrelevant skin colour was to the integrity or goodness of a person. So it sounds like black attitudes are also perpetuating suspicion and hatred in places, too.

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