the state of black America today?
354087
I don't think it is a matter of skin color as much as it is a matter of culture. The black culture today is in transition, a lot like the Irish culture when they first moved here. Now please understand that I do not feel that low test scores and joblessness is due to white racism. I think the white scape goat has been kicked long enough and it is time to step up to education, denounce welfare of any type, and demand higher standards. While all people are equal in the eyes of the Lord, not all cultures are equal across the board. Some cultures place a higher value on education and hard work. The high test scores of the Asian community show this. They work their butts off and are leading past white, blacks, others. Their culture has a higher value on education. The black culture does not stress education as much, but I do not feel this is going to last forever. Slowly all cultures seem to mix into this culutral melting pot until there really is only an American culture. You know your there when you don't think of yourself as a 'white' American or a 'black' American or a 'brown' American, but just as an American. Other peoples when they first came to this country remained segregated by choice for a long time. But, over time they slowly began to mix until they weren't focused on diversity as much as they were unity. We really need to work on getting to that point and the only way will be able to do that is by candour. Honest and true discussion. White people need to stop worrying about being called a racist when they present a critque on someone who is black or on black culture in general. If equality is the goal then equality to be called out on our wrong-doings is part of the package. \n\nI do feel that racism is still a problem, but I don't feel that it is as much of a white problem as it is a black problem now. After reading the book "The Ten Things You Can't Say in America" by Larry Elders(not that it should matter, but yes he is black) I really began to notice how true this really is. At the top of his list is, "Black are more racist then whites". He then goes on to do what most people don't do, he uses facts and statistics to back up his arguement. \n\nDefinately many problems face the black culture, but unlike other countries, they don't have to face them alone. In America where all in it together, like it or not. And I honestly believe that is what makes this country the greatest country in the world, in part our diversity, but primarily our unity.
1108923
Do you mean blacks in America, or Europe, or Africa?  Not trying to be inflammatory, just a question.  Because each group has a different perspective.\n\nI'm white, so I'd admit that I don't have the same perspective as you, but I'll try to answer as an American.\n\nFor a long time, blacks lived with the stigma of slavery and inferior status, which was thrust upon them upon a racist society.  Recently, not soon enough, they have realized that are not inferior and been proud of their heritage.  It is certainty an atrocity the method of arrival to America that blacks endured, which white Americans can not apologize enough for, but many blacks have learned to take advantage.  So now more and more black people are taking advantage of the opportunities afforded them as Americans.  The problem still remains that some blacks still view themselves in a slave mentality that makes them dependent on white society.  What they should do is view themselves as part of the larger American society, that now for the most part views racism and discrimination as a shameful chapter in America.  Sure there are still backwater bigots out there, but for the most part they are no longer in position to discriminate.  They just have their primitive ideas, what are no longer the normative viewpoint.\n\nI'm sure I'm oversimplifying black culture and views in America, but I still believe that there are wonderful opportunities in America that aren't available elsewhere.
389896
racism - Doesn't exist like it did in the past. Why else are some of the richest Americans black? Where else would you find a black women, like Rice, in such a high position in government? I think we are doing pretty good in less than 40 years!\n\ndrug addiction - Because we removed the Bible as our moral foundation. It started becoming rampant in the 60s, same time we removed prayer and the Bible from schools.\n\nchild molestation, child abuse - Sex slavery is rampant in other countries. Here, at least, we do something about it when we can.\n\nwomen abuse - Not here. Many women in high positions of power. New legislation to protect them. Houses of sanctuary to flee abusers.\n\n2 wars in 6 years - Yes, both in answer to two towers down. The smart war is one that keeps the enemy on the defense. I will never forget the children that ran out of Saddam's prisons, or the Iraqi Olympic hopefuls that knew that they could compete without Saddam's sons torturing them afterward for not winning. People have short memorys.
797793
It may be surprising to some younger people who have just learned about these things in public schools, but in many ways blacks were better off under segregation. Black families were strong during segregation, but now blacks have a 70% illegetimacy rate. Crime was also not a big problem in black neighborhoods during segregation, but it is now. Also, blacks were less likely to be in prison during segegation than they are now. I could give many other examples as well.\n\nEverything was not perfect in those days, and some whites did mistreat blacks in those years, but that does not mean the concept of segregation was bad in and of itself. If we ever try segregation again we could eliminate those unfair practices.
589880
The only racism i see is the blacks expecting special privleges over whites.  And that is very common.  When do you think this racism will end?
942331
Man, is that crap still happening? I thought this Country and it's people were better than that...I know my circle of friends and family aren't harboring acrhaic and useless prejudices. When are we gonna learn?
899307
Don't worry about people like that. They are beneath you.  Being black in our American society is being American.  Think of Ed Bradley and the accolades paid to him today.  He was not Black. He was a great journalist and an American
728440
I think it is rather likely there will be a black president sometime during the 21st Century.  There are several well-qualified potential candidates now but I don't see most of them seeking the office.
922523
Jeff A, take off your pointed hood and open your eyes.\nLet's look at it from a bigger picture and ask ourselves a couple of questions.\nWhat percentage of the Global population living under the poverty line is black, asian, colored?\nNo matter how you look at it, there is a corelation between the color of skin and prevalence of poverty.\nNow, slavery and colonialism have various debilitating effects. These effects take a lot of time to heal. Every civilization in the past has at one time or the other had slaves from other conquered cultures e.g Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Nevetheless, in none of these cases has the proportion of slaves to citizens come close to the prevalence of the United States. At the height of slavery in the US, there was 1 african slave for every 4 citizen.\nIn the case of previous civilizations, the negative effects of slavery have been greatly healed by the passage of time. It has been barely a century since slavery was abolished in the US, and just a copule of decades since civil right reforms were implemented in the south. It is over optimistic, to the point of naivette, to assume that societal and racial relations in the US would be normalized after only a copule of decades.\nThis brings to mind a skit in an episode of "Family Guy" where a colonial white man removes the shackles from his african slave and says "Okay, its over now. We're cool, right?".\nIt is understandable that minorities unconsciously feel slighted about the past and wish to strike back. In roman history, an army of escaped and former slaves led the Thracean Spartacus led a bloody revolt against the Roman populace.\nIn modern US society, It is sometimes taken as a subconscious mental victory that it is politically incorrect for a white person to say "Ni99er" while black people can refer to each other that way. These irrelevant mental victories help to heal racial problems in the society.\nBeing born and raised for the first 20 years of my life in a West African country, I have the advantage of being able to look at the US society from an outsiders perspective.\nFor anyone who says that the current US society is racially fair, I ask them to research the average family income for a black, hispanic, asian then caucasian family. Numbers dont lie, but ultimately, time heals all wounds (hopefully).
922176
Its called racial profiling.....Black Americans also suffer the same....Sad to say.....
681093
I can only speak for the white people that I know and from that I don't feel most white people hate blacks. If they did, blacks would not be in the positions many successful blacks find themselves in today. Does racism exist - absolutely, but that is a knife which surely cuts both ways.\n\nAgain this is from my perspective but I feel the difficulty many blacks have achieving in this country can be attributed to the following reasons:\n\n1) There is a small percentage of blacks, specifically young black males, which are responsible for a disproportionate percentage of crime in the country (particularly violent crime). I have heard but can not recall the sourse that attributes 75% of murder in the country to black youths. If that is correct, that would mean that roughly 3% of the population is comitting 75% of the murders. Reduce the murder rate attributed to young blacks in half and it is still an outrageous statistic.\n\n2) An extremely high percentage ( 60+ % ) rate of unwed black females giving birth into a system which will perpetuate their children into almost certain poverty and dependence on an ever increasingly resentful society.\n\n3) A significant portion of the black culture which appears to be incapable of fully integrating into a system which has proven time and time again that its rewards are directly proportional to the effort put into achieving within the system.\n\n4) An apparent broad based inability to accept that not all actions taken against blacks are because of skin color. Sandra McKinney is yet another recent prime example. Had a white person, congressional member or not, struck a white house cop in today's climate, that person would be under the jail, not appearing on 200 media outlets for a week playing the race card. \n\nI have to admit, it was refreshing that not a single member of the Congressional Black Caucus participated in her defense in any manner.\n\n5) Hold on to your hat for this one - I feel the single biggest reason blacks aren't as succuessful as everyone would want them to be is an inabilty to move forward despite the tragedy of slavery. \n\nThere absolutely has to come a time when that era in their history is remembered but not used as a crutch or devisive tool as it clearly still is today. \n\nThere IS NOT another single society on the planet that has not taken slaves, or conversely, has not been taken as slaves primarily as a result of war. It does not make slavery right.  It just makes it attributable to being a fact of history like the 1,000's of other atrocities committed by people upon one another. It makes slavery a fact of history experienced by every single race, society, culture, and country that ever existed prior to 1900.\n\nMy ancestory is Irish. I will not get into greta detail about the well documented torturous behavior the people living on what is now as Ireland have endured since seemingly the beginning of mankind. \n\nDo I fault, the Scandinavians, the Romans, the British. Each of these groups have taken slaves, ruthlessly murdered men, women and children and looted everything of value they could manage to carry and some they couldn't like the land itself. These are all well documented facts. But most importantly to me is that they are facts which did not happen to me, my parents, or grandparents just as no black person living today can claim. \n\nI accept this is how people of different origins treated each other during that period in history. Nothing more, nothing less. Just actions in the context of world history.\n\nThere must be some point in time when blacks living in the US accept their history in a similar fashion or they will never fully allow themselves to intergrate into the society. \n\nPick your magic number. Whether its 150 years, 500 years, or 5,000 years, it will disappear into history as all other horriffic tragedies have.  Only they can decide when it disappears in their history. \n\nJust as a point of reference, between 1841 and
862223
Personally I think about 1/2 of the U.S.'s population IS racist and about 1/2 or more of them are black.  I am white and i am not racist until i see someone talk about how good whites have it.  ITS NOT THAT GOOD BEING WHITE THESE DAYS.
441902
haha too true...but some things are better than they used to be...\n-racism has lessened\n-better technology(well that can be looked at in multiple ways)\n\nok so im having trouble thinking of things\n\nits pretty screwed up
872964
I gather you're also in the comedy business. Or at least in some profession that creates fantasies. There is no doubt in my mind that anti-black racism is huge problem in much of American society. You might be surprised to hear that your kind of position on it was fairly common even when there was active segregation and Jim Crow laws. Nobody seemed to be racist then either. Some just thought Martin Luther King was "moving too fast," or that "left-wing" agitators were "causing all the problems," and yet others were "sure" that blacks by and large were happy with their situation - and that "equal but separate didn't mean racism at all." \n\nI've worked for some of the most prestigious U.S. corporations, and I can guarantee you that racism is practiced in a myriad of subtle and not-so subtle ways. I have also watched as "white flight" changes the demographics (and value) of huge areas overnight. And that just covers jobs and housing.\n\nYes, progress has been made, very often against violent, even murderous resistance. But to say it's not there is self-serving wishful thinking. It's easy to point to the shrill nonsense of idiotic poverty-pimps and say, "See. They're just whiners and defenders of criminals!" etc. But when you do the research you will find the problem almost anywhere you care to look.
1187848
Honestly....It's not. Far less than past history. Problem is most blacks bring up the race card against the whites still. Twenty year old kids no nothing of race discrimination, and have no business claiming they're entitled to money from the government due to slavery. The U.S. government owes blacks nothing anymore. The indians bitch less and whites stole everything from them and wiped out most of the tribes too. Trust me. Discrimination isn't so much these days. If you're white you're white. Act white. If you're black, you're black. And act black. But don't claim anything because of your color.
130074
Well ya know all I gotta say is that it seems the Equality we dreamed of has not become reality because people like Jesse Jackson are still whinning about how the Whites need to give the Blacks everything.\n\nBlacks do have more opportunities than they use to.\n\nA Black Teacher I use to have actually had an impact on my opposition to Affirmative Action.\n\nHe commented that he felt that if a White person and Black person applies for a job it is wrong to hire the Black person for being Black (especially if the White person is more qualified).\n\nIt's kinda like if White person and Black person applied for a job it would be wrong to hire the White person for being White (especially if the Black person was more qualified).\n\nIt's kinda like when it comes to Elections I look at abilities of a person over top of race.\n\nFor instance a Black man who is running for Senate in my State has my support but in 2002 I voted for the White person who ran for Attorney General instead of his opponent who was Black.\n\nBut seriously we do need to start thinking of persons as individuals rather than having things based on Race.
1026340
It will never be clean, because blacks won't let it. My grandfather came from Hungary, and my father was the first one born here. So I have absolutely no ties to what happened, yet I have to get glared at by blacks (as if I owe them a food stamp because I am white). The real kicker of it all is that if they would tap into their intelligence just a bit, they would realize the real focus needs to be on AFRICA. AFRICA sold these people to the Americans, AFRICA made a handsome profit from the slave trade. AFRICA pulled these people out of their homes to collect a commission. Slavery did not last long in America until the majority of the whites said, this is wrong!, and chose to fight... to the death.... to free them. Where was AFRICA when it was time to fight for their people?! AFRICA sold them, got rich from their misery, abandoned them, and did not fight for them. Thousands of white men fought and died for their freedom, I think the part of "penance" has been paid. America has bent over backwards catering to the blacks, bending the laws to accomodate them, making things like black radio stations (although white radio stations would be a hate crime), the black expo (although the white expo would be a hate crime), and banning the use of the N word (although if they could not call us honky or craker that would be depriving them of freedom of speech and expression). The white people have done more than enough to say sorry for what happened, but sorry is not what they want. They want to sap off of the misery that people suffered 200 years ago. It is too inspiring to be a victim. Being a normal person isnt fun, you have to work and you get no special breaks. I am glad that my roots are in Hungary, because I seriously doubt the Hungarians would tolerate this kind of ignorance that we are tolerating. Its time to ask AFRICA for some answers.