by Dark Side 127 Replies latest social current
We don't like what we see, either.
Totally, I'm about to de-friend one of my husband's young cousins on Facebook. She's 16 and her attitude and language is atrocious. I'm taking into consideration where she lives (the hood) and who she's being raised by (her mother who just had another child out of wedlock and complains about her baby's father on Facebook *sigh*) and as I see it her future ain't pretty.
If I meet one black white doctor, it does not change my opinion of how a lot of black redneck meth smoking white people in this country are not taking advantage of the oppertunities that they have. Thanks to people who believed in a hard working person who reaches out to acheive achieve.
FTFY.
Why? Well, it might have something to do with the thousands I work with daily from southern states like North Carolina, Georgia, etc. I want to think to myself, 'This can not be right!'
I am glad you want to think. Just need to actually take the step and do it. And it makes me glad to hear that there aren't people from places like NY, RI, CA that don't take advatage of opportunites and they are all white, shiny smart and successful.
This is the data I am pulling from. Just because it does not come in line with others, does not shock me. If you saw what I saw, hear what I hear and know what I know ... you might find yourself understanding.
I understand that sweeping generalizations made from personal experience aren't data.
It would be a expected defensive stance, if you did not grasp what I was saying.
Oh, we grasp it. It's just that what you are saying is inherently limited in the information you are building from and overly braod in it's conclusions. Think of it this way....you used your example of the people you work with daily to draw your conclusions. Similarly, if you sampled an oncologist, it would seem that 99% of patients have cancer, but that would be false because you aren't using a proper sample set.My stance isn't defensive, it's dismissive.
When you have Bill Cosby saying things like I did, perhaps it would be easier to swallow. Just because I am white, means I can not understand or have an opinion? I don't get that, as it seems like I am being told 'You can not feel that way, unless you are black.' While the skin color is different, the body and mind are the same ... human. If I see a child in a METH family, I would help. Do I see Trashing White people as better, HELL NO! Anyone who waste their life with drugs, or takes advantage of government assistence and does not seek education. Is going to bother me!
However, this topic was about MLK, and thus the topic of black people. A lot of oppertunities are out there for blacks, that white children will not get. Items put in place because people like MLK and the civil rights movement fought for them. Simply saying, 'To choose a lifestyle of 'government assistence, voilence, and no education.' Is a mistake and a waste of efforts of historical hereos.
AGAIN, I do not believe I said this applies to ALL black people. That would be RACIST! I am simply saying, there are a high population percentage of people wasting good oppertunties opened up to them.
I am happy you would not be someone calling me and saying half your relatives are in prison and you have three children by three different men you never married and wondering how you can get more assistence. For if you were (white, black or hispanic), I would see you as someone who is wasting your gift of a life. I would be hoping that someone would have raised you better. Someone would have taken your hand early in life and showed you a better way.
Just because I am white, means I can not understand or have an opinion?
Wow, nice deflection! I didn't know you were white and I never said your race race the reason I dismissed what you said.
I don't get that, as it seems like I am being told 'You can not feel that way, unless you are black.'
Then you need to re-read what I wrote because it's clear that you aren't getting it.
I am simply saying, there are a high population percentage of people wasting good oppertunties opened up to them.
Right, and I am saying your anecdotal evidence doesn't provide you the data to draw that conclusion any more that it would for me to say that about white people.
NVL, FTBM is addressing Josie mostly.
Listen!
You just may learn a thing or two.
Syl
I have never in all of my natural born days have ever criticized another racial group by saying things like "all Mexicans" or "all poor white trash" or etc. But it never ceases to amaze me that some white folks will do the same when the topic of black folks comes up. Yes you have a right to your opinion but you did make blanket statements based on your limited experiences. Not all black folks live the way you have seen. Don't get your knickers in a twist when someone calls you out on that fact.
In all fairness, Josie, FTBM said he sees a lot of Black people not taking advantage of the opportunities that are available to us now.
He is absolutely right.
I see it every day, and it makes me so very sad and angry.
Syl
This is true but it's not every black person in America acting this way. I can point to family and friends who happen to be black that are contributing to our country in a positive way and I can point to family and friends who are being negative and dragging the black community down. I'd rather focus on the positive and shine a light on the positive for my kids, which is a major reason why I will never live in "the hood".
Which reminds me of a story a friend once told me (she was a black lady, she died of breast cancer 8 years ago):
My friend went to a leadership conference with her team, offsite in Monterey, Ca. At one point each team member was to relate their difficulties in balancing work and home life. A white team member turned to my friend and said to her that it must be hard raising two kids without a father. My friend kept her cool, turned to the team member and replied that her children has a father, he lives with them, and they had been married for a number a years before they began to have children.
I'd rather focus on the positive and shine a light on the positive for my kids, which is a major reason why I will never live in "the hood".
I hear you.
Down here, my daughters and I are fighting to stay above the fray.
The so-called low-income housing areas are a breeding ground of thugs, drugs, despair, and hopelessness.
You can see it in the faces of the people who live there.
It is a day-to-day battle in which we can never lay down our swords.
Syl
Ya know what? When I first saw this thread yesterday, I said to myself, "Darkside did a thread on dishonering MLK. If that's not an oxymoron, I don't know what is." I brushed this thread off, but upon browsing it, this has been a very entertaining 4 pages worth of thoughts. Fascinating stuff man.
