And, yet, ironically -- I think today we have more black men making it bigtime in Hollywood and in the music industry than ever before. Hello out there, ever think of helping your "brothers"??? (Maybe if you stopped singing about whores and pimps for a minute, you could do something really worthwhile for these black men...)
This was a good article. It was not, however, an "editorial."
BTW, in my post #1 , I am not talking about all black boys -- I am sure Obama Barak's Harvard educated parents were on him about school all the time; I am talking about some of the inner city black boys in public schools.
I wonder how much concern there is for the victims of these Black Men, many of them Black themselves.
life is a bit od a race and the ones with their waist bands down around their knees are just not going to make it.
Let's say that you are not an intellectual giant, in fact, you barely squeak through high school. Maybe not even that. Forget about race for now, just look at the eduacation aspect. You aren't one of those folks who are going to start their own business, you are just a real "average joe. 30 years ago, you could certainly find work in a factory of some sort. Folks with that 'gearhead' mindset would end up in some sort of machine shop or something involving steel. Not quite up to that level? Well, somebody needs to assemble Barbie dolls, right?
Ah, but this is the 21st century! There are good jobs if you know technology and you job hasn't been outsourced to India yet. There are plenty of jobs working at Wal-Mart, but they pay like the bumper sticker, "Low Wages...Always".
Okay, what about jobs for the remanining what, 30% of society who don't have software development kung fu skills, but who are certainly more skilled than a Wal-Mart clerk? In our enlightened society that has embraced the "Cheapest price rules" mindset, we've shipped away all the jobs for which the "average joes" were perfectly suited. Auto mechanic? Not any more, with the complexity of cars these days. Construction? Sure, but the constructin field goes through some pretty nasty boom/bust cycles. There just aren't a lot of average jobs anymore!
Not a very well paying job at about .25/hour.
After all of the analysis is over, the end result will be the same, it's everything and everybodys fault but their own.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
One word
Liberia
The ironic thing is, black males are more influential on popular culture than any other "ethnic" group. Has been this way since the days of the Cakewalk.
I'm not saying blacks speak that way. I've known a lot of people that happen to be black and none of them speak like they are from the inner city. It just struck me that for a change the "black kids" on this TV show tonight were extremely well spoken. I liked seeing that for a change instead of the bad characterization of blacks on TV that seems to be the norm.
I went to a Catholic grade school that became mostly black by time I graduated. All the boys went to high school and several of them to the highly rated Catholic military school in town. As far as I was able to keep up with them, they all finished high school at least. This would have been in the early 70s.
I'd guess that most, but not all, of these boys were from 2 parent families. Some single mothers sent their boys to Catholic school so they would be disciplined, and in high school, around strong male teachers.
The fact that there's no dad doesn't mean that you have to commit crimes. I never subscribed to the theory that poverty = criminality. Is it just the absence of fathers from the home that has caused this decline in behavior? Due to war and other factors, men have been absent from homes since the beginning of time and we haven't had these problems. I wish I had an answer. It is sad to see so many black men waste their lives when many black women are making it.
Yet, if a black man from Africa gets legal status here and they thrive in America with good jobs or their own business.
The bottom line is there is a lot of problems with that culture in this country.
The real problem is the lack of a father in many black families, and unfortunately the problem seems to be self perpetuating.
Throwing money at the situation won't make it better.
Good job summer
Key is fathers.
Fathers that are there and care. Fathers that dicipline.Fathers that love the childs mother. Fathers that work and provide for their families.
Fathers that lead by example.
I believe a big problem with both black and white boys who end up in prison is the humility needed to start at the bottom. I go in to the prisons and I always wonder how they are going to deal with working entry-level jobs and having very little money. Many of them are obviously intelligent enough but more can barely read. The only way they'll stay out is a spiritual life IMHO.