Posted on 04/14/2014 9:57:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
“We didn’t run from where we grew up. We aren’t afraid to be associated with the people who came up with us.”
That’s Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks writing in defense of his friend, DeSean Jackson, who was cut from the Philadelphia Eagles amid reports of gang ties. Sherman isn’t trying to litigate the allegations or exonerate Jackson—he doesn’t know the details. But he doesn’t think it’s wrong for Jackson to associate with the men from his childhood.
And why would it be? Yes, some of them have criminal records—and for some, that includes gang activity—but leaving home is hard, and the social distance of wealth makes it even harder. As Sherman writes, “In desperate times for people who come from desperate communities, your friends become your family. I wouldn’t expect DeSean to ‘distance himself’ from anybody, as so many people suggest pro athletes ought to do despite having no understanding of what that means.”
I don’t know if Sherman sees it or not—my hunch is that he does—but in a few sentences, he’s put his finger on the pulse of something overlooked in our discussions of poverty and economic mobility as they relate to black Americans: neighborhood. Sherman’s experience of being pulled back to a poor neighborhood, even as he accumulates wealth, is common among blacks.
The difference for ordinary black Americans, as opposed to NFL stars, is that this has been a powerful driver of downward mobility. Just a quick comparison of black and white neighborhoods is enough to illustrate the particular challenges that face black families as they reach for middle class, or try to keep their position....
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
One of my best buds growing up, he literally knew no English. Eventually he tired of people making fun of him at school so he learned English by having his neighbor read the newspaper to him every weekend then he read and spoke the words himself. He eventually became one of the researchers for the Antiques Roadshow.
You have people who came here with little Education, fleeing Communism and appreciating the Freedoms that most American took for granted.
Entire Families worked in Donut Shops, Dry Cleaners, Sandwich Shops, Nail Salons, you name it. They sacrificed doing menial Labor, even those people who came here with an Education, so their Children would succeed. They pooled their Money and bought Homes, the American Dream. They took care of their own.
I worked at a Check Processing Center for a Major Bank. Most of the Proof Operators were Vietnamese kids, some in High School and some College Students. They showed up on time, never complained and respected their Parents and their Peers. They were Polite and they would never do anything to bring Shame upon their Families. Most were the first in their Families born in the United States.
Ever hear of thousands of Vietnamese American malcontents demonstrating because they think they are owed a Living by the White Man? Didn’t think so.
They all seem to think wealth will just be handed to them.... Like it was to Obama.
I imagine most of those Vietnamese have a very strong family structure.
in 82/83, a Vietnamese nurse worked the night shift with me. When she got off, she went to the family restaurant to do prep, while her husband went to work.
He had already been up, and hit the wholesale markets for the fresh produce, and delivered it.
When the prep was done, THEN she went home and got some rest, before opening for the dinner trade. The husband came to the restaurant as soon as he was off work, until closing.
The kids helped before and after school.
Another one worked all the extra shifts she could get, and also had a side job. One morning, she was on the phone to her husband, and blew up: “You better get job quick! I’m not supporting you forever! You LAZY!” Asked by another nurse what the matter was, she said, “last week he graduated medical school, AND STILL NOT HAVE JOB! Uses excuse he’s interviewing for internships. WHOLE WEEK AND NO JOB! LAZY!!!”
That was in San Bernardino, and was a far cry from “work ethic” of the local denizens.
Very few Black families visible in interstate rest stops, at least in the northeast.”
...interesting observation.
They stuck together as Families, with everyone doing whatever was necessary to improve their lives. They overcame the Language Barrier and they made sure their Children worked hard and got a College Education.
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In the DFW area of TX, there are ‘pockets’ of Vietnamese and Chinese. They pool their communal wealth and help each other to buy houses, stores, restaurants, etc., thereby taking over entire neighborhoods.
As a Manager at a major defense contractor in the ‘90s, I became a friend of a Chinese I.E. Engineer who worked in an adjacent area. He was only about 35, but also had a Masters in Finance.
One day he told me he was leaving the company. His community had selected him to be in control of all of their pooled investments to provide the best gains for all in the community. That was a heavy responsibility and a huge honor.
While the VN and Chinese here are Americanized and get along well with others, they, like all other people, prefer to live among people of the same culture. They are successful.
Imagine if Blacks and Hispanics had the same priorities of financially helping their communities in a similar way by pooling their money to invest in the ‘pockets’ where they choose to live. I know they support each other ethnically and racially, but they could do much better by studying the methods employed by the Asian groups in America, IMO.
Actually, leaving home is quite easy. I know because I did it myself, as did many of my friends. Apparently it is a little known fact that you can leave and still come back to visit. At points the author talks about this like free will and free choice don't exist.
Many of us are tired of the excuses.
I remember the words of some sports agent who represented a number of athletes, many of them black. He said most of them had no concept of saving money and spent every penny they made. Which was why many of them are flat broke shortly after the end of their playing careers.
I imagine most of those Vietnamese have a very strong family structure.
The people who came here from SE Asia, came here with nothing and were given nothing. They have become very successful.
Others who came here with nothing and were given everything have been conditioned to expect support and there is no urgency to succeed.
so here we are.
hunger is a real motivator.
But....they need those “status symbols” to show they are better than all of us.
Same with people from India and Pakistan. They live in their stores. Work every shift and never seem to go home. I don’t fault them a bit.
There are about 42 million black people of which about 30 million are of "marrying age" times 15% = 4.5 million married blacks or about 2.3 million black families with two parents.
In a nation of 320 million that is .007 or 7 tenths of one percent.
You now can see how few black families there are in America {except on TV commercials, where everyone is married with two perfect children, a middle class home, $160/month family plan for their phones, a Toyota Camry, and a dumb ass white neighbor, that cuts his tree branch off, so that it falls on his black neighbor's car}.
The white neighbor is a member of the NRA, TEA party, KKK, and is very stupid and has no insurance.
There have been a few posts commenting on how Asian families who emigrated here have succeeded so well as compared to native blacks. Left out in the equation, so to speak, is a comparison of IQs in these populations. That would be of great interest, it would seem.
I live in one of the collar counties of Washington, D.C. From what I can see, when families move out of the inner city, their bad friends come to visit them out here and see an opportunity to make trouble, even if the new suburbanites are nice themselves. There is plenty of gang activity out here in these ostensibly lovely communities.
With blacks it is always someone else responsible for their general misery.
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