Hat tip for the infographic and cartoon to occasional links and commentary.
I only hope that the gap between white and black Americans is closed by blacks and whites both rising, but blacks rising faster, and not by blacks and whites both falling, but whites falling faster..
For more on this subject, click on Poverty, Meet Cash Transfers by Kelly Kleiman for the Reality-Based Community. [added 8/31/13]
Tags: I Have a Dream, Jobs and Freedom, March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr.
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
August 30, 2013 at 3:25 pm |
Living in Atlanta I live in close quarters to black people. I live in a neighborhood that is quite divers between latino, black, and white people. Being around this I’ve noticed that a lot of the issue is cultural (not necessarily societal). What is popular and acceptable in the black community is very different that what is acceptable in the white and latino communities. What is praises is different, behavioral norms is different, and much of what is praises and condoned is negative. I hate seeing all the blame thrown around – the black community as a whole really needs to step it up and fix it and stop playing the blame game.
I am friends with a local leader in the black community and he talks about this a lot. One of his major goals is starting programs and movements aimed at changing the cultural norms and values specifically in the black community. It’s an interesting phenomena.
LikeLike
August 30, 2013 at 3:32 pm |
I don’t question the truth of anything you wrote, but I think we white people also should stop playing the blame game.
Let’s create a level playing field for our African-American fellow citizens, and then see how they do. Maybe not all of them will do well, but it is only fair to provide the equal opportunity.
LikeLike
August 31, 2013 at 7:41 am |
I don’t live in close quarters with black people. Most of the black people I know and have met during my life are middle-class professionals or striving poor people with middle-class values. My opinions are partly the result of stories they’ve told me about being treated as if they were members of the criminal underclass. I think I will write a post about this at some point.
In the meantime here’s my nickel summary of what I think.
1. Although a great deal of progress has been made since Dr. King’s 1963 speech, the opportunities of black citizens of the United States still are limited by the racial prejudice.
2. No matter how much a victim of prejudice you are, or think you are, that is not an excuse for crime, laziness, addiction or ignorance.
3. I accept that there is such a thing as a black underclass, which has all the negative attitudes you mention. I do not come in contact with members of this class and can’t say anything more than that. I do not believe that members of this underclass are typical of black people nor are they a majority of black people. I live in a racially-mixed working-class neighborhood in the city of Rochester, and I have a good experience with both my white and my black neighbors.
4. I believe it is wrong to assume that any random black person in any context (such as the campus of the University of Rochester) is a member of that class, just as wrong as it is to assume that any random white person is a racist or racially prejudiced.
LikeLike