The Black/African American Perspective on the Watchtower Organization

by XOCO 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  dinah

  That's sad, Snowbird. It's something that never made sense to me. Not only do you have to deal with prejudice from whitey, but you gotta deal with it "from the inside". Light skin, dark skin.....blah blah. It's crazy. Genes can pop out from many generations ago. I can remember when I was a teen all the boys wanted a "caramel skinned" girl. It never made sense to me. Why go by skin color when the heart is what matters. You can be beautiful on the outside and very UGLY on the inside.

  Anyway, I always heard the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. Right? Every skin tone has its own beauty.
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  snowbird

  Anyway, I always heard the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. Right?

  You know it, girlfriend.

  Sylvia
• 

  momzcrazy

  Thought ya'll find the history interesting.
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  dinah

  Momz,

  God that was sick. If you go back a couple of decades you find alot of ridiculous stuff like this.
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  momzcrazy

  My sister was married to a wonderful black man for 3 years. But here in TN they had issues. My sister would want to kick butt but he was (sadly) used to it. When we were all sitting at his bedside his mom said that things really hadn't changed much than when he was young. But in the hall he was one of the most respected elders and the most caring. It's been a year and we still miss him.

  momz
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  Shawn10538

  I teach in south central Los Angeles. The congregations in this area are very "healthy" and thriving. I have had a few fake studies with Black brothers from the area and have attended the meetings there. I have concluded that there just isn't the same kind of mass exodus/awakening from the WT in black congregations that we are finding in higher socio economic areas. Uneducated inner city blacks just don't have the tools available to them to challenge the WT. Further, the WT is very, very appealing to disenfranchised blacks in poverty because with out any sort of education at all, you can become a WT heavy in your own congregation.
  
  The doctrine that if one puts spiritual things first in life all other things will be added to you is also very appealing to poor people because it suggests economic stability. So, live a shitty life in south central, have your kids join gangs and take drugs or become a JW and become a "respectable man with economic stability." It's a no brainer. Becoming a JW or staying one will always be a better deal to inner city black folks. A mass exodus in the black community is very, very far away.
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  XOCO

  Shawn10583: The doctrine that if one puts spiritual things first in life all other things will be added to you is also very appealing to poor people because it suggests economic stability.

  that's very true and its even harder b/c if u get ppl who are from 3rd world countries as in my case these kinds of ppl work in menial low paying jobs like retail, factory work, selling stuff at the flea market etc. but if ur parent are from a 3rd world country and they raised u in the "troof "they really really want u to pursue a higher edu b/c they don't want their American kids 2 suffer the same fate as them.( but what hinders them is that the elders will tell them no and state what Shawn10583 said) i mean my parents did not move to the USA for me to work in a crap job, if they did they would of not left the country they came from and i would not be posting here on JWD. in my hall 2 elders are white and 2 are h****an/black. one white elder is college edu and so is the black one. one white elder got a technical degree and the black elder has some kind of accounting degree (but now attending college to get some pharmacy tech degree) so why yet they still hang on to the belief that put jah 1st crap but all the elders are struggling financially except 4 1 elder and he is black BTW.
• 

  pratt1

  In the New York City area, many of the congos are mixed racially some predominately black.

  Many of these congo were started in areas that had high concentrations of housing projects or low income housing. In the 60's, 70's and 80's these congos grew fast and large with many splitting to form new congos. many of the Elders and MS were black, but ussually there was a large number of bethelite brothers there to keep the rank and file in line.

  Many of these dubs had good intentions in becoming dubs, they were looking for a better life for the kids, and unity with the races. The white bethelites were in most cases good people who became like family to many of the local friends. It almost seemed like there was a little bit of the paradise right in the cong with all races getting along.

  However in my opinion the "truth" outside of all other lies it told us also help to hold back black people even more. It made poor uneducated people think that higher education and pursuit of the better things in life was bad and that you should rely on Jehovah. This was especially bad for black people. They were setting us up for failure by not encouraging us to equipt ourselves with the right tools to succeed in the world. Black, poor and now uneducated we had the ultimate three strikes against us. Is it no wonder that the children of those original dubs has left the org in droves.

  When I speak to my conterparts who also grew up as dubs (blacks) almost all of them say that being discourgaed form pursuing a higher level of education has effected their lives more than anything else.

  What is ironic about this is that most of these black families came form the south where education was a priority for everyone. Once their parents came up north and became dubs, they did a complete aboutface and instead of teaching their children to excel, they taught them to "rely on Jehovah."

  I see the same thing happening today with the influx of immigrants into the borg. Those children will pay later for their parents not supporting their dreams of education.
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  XOCO

  Black, poor and now uneducated we had the ultimate three strikes against us..

  in my case i have the ultimate 4 things against me

  1) I'm H****AN/American

  2) I'm a woman of color

  3) I'm dirt poor

  4) i'm made fun of b/c my parents came from a third world country.

  ppl can be so cruel in this "system of things"

  but at least im pursuing higher edu ^_^
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  pratt1

  XOCO - Although in some circles being black, a woman, poor and undereducated are strikes against a person, these things don't define who you are as a person.

  What you have in your favor and its a "biggie", is intelligence and the drive to do better.

  Many people have overcame major obstacles in their life to become positive, productive and happy people.

  You will too.

  Keep up the fight. You have a lot of people on the website who has succeeded even when everything and everyone around them wrote them off as failures.

  Good Luck.