I can all the way dig what you are saying. I did want to clarify the fact that yes i went to college but i had the same chances that most blacks have. Im from south central los anges (78th and normandie 1 block from where the LA riots started) i went to public school my whole life. My high school was probably the worst in Los Angeles (washington high). I wasnt given any extra anything. I just wanted to clear that up
I do agree it is a problem that needs to be solved from the inside out. Thats what scares me the most.
The reason i say the general public wants to see baffonary is because of the demand for it. sponsors make it popular for fools like flave to be on tv...let me get this straight....chuck D has an hour radio heard by virtually no one (air america) but Flave gets a national T.V show. Dude are you serious.
well, here is another big issue you have brought up. You say you came from the dreggs of society and the worst of its public school system. yet somehow, you made it. I commend you for this. my girlfriend came from ghetto santa ana (her neighbors ate cats and her windows were shot out on more than one occasion), went to horrible schools and ended up with a degree in psychology and two minors from UCSD (top 5 psych school is the nation btw). She watched reverse gentrification in her neighborhood as every white family moved out on her block leaving her family the lone white one amongst entirely mexicans. she saw the school system continually decline, along with property values. her family had no money, she was the youngest of 8. But she made the system work for her. Sure, she has boatloads of school debt, but she still has the earning power (aka "a degree") to pay it off. I am assuming you are or were in a similar situation. Now, many WHITE and black liberal leaders will say that you or her are an "abberation" or a lone example of how one can succeed, but that for the most part its impossible. this leads me to believe that the political leaders have lost faith in most minorities abilities to learn at all. i went to a "presitigious" public high school in norcal. the teachers were crap, really really crap. it was all hype. the parents did homework for the spoiled kids, and the kids that weren;t spoiled and had to learn stuff had to read the texts and teach themselves, cuz teachers, no matter where you go, are crappy. Occasionaly you'll get a good one, but not consistently. Why this doesn't happen more in and amongst black schools is beyond me. You did it, why can't others??? I have no answers for this, because i KNOW that black people are just as smart as white people or asians or mexicans or indians or whatever. I would like to hear your views on this.
Problems i see on a consistent basis amongst the black community:
Fiscal irresponsibility amongst the black community: rims, bling, grills, tvs in the car... why does all wealth have to be shown?? studies show that black people spend more frivolous money than any other minority, yet make the least amount of money. whats up with this?
Parental irresponsibility: how many kids don't have a daddy??
Scholastic irresponsibility: at what point in a childhood is the message sent that school is not the be all end all that it is. It may not be direct, but its being sent out by parents or adults who talk around the kids.
Machismo: The brawn behind the bling. the constant "i'll show you" attitude that leads to almost everything stupid done in the black community. If you get "owned" in south central, you retaliate by shooting. why are pride and hubris so important and detrimental to the black community in particular?? why can't people just walk away? is it the thinking that "if you don't have anything else, you have to stand up for yourself at all costs, regardless of the potential detriment to one's future self?"
Now i know that this sounds a bit inflammatory, and it is, but its intended to be provocative for discussion. I have done research papers on this for school and was on many occasions labeled "potentially racist" for asking the questions that needed to be asked. and who came to my defense?? the black students in my class. i found that quite telling.
haha, by the way, my very white brother used to play in a gospel band (he played keys) around the area you grew up in. He took me to his buddies house and while we waited on the porch we were getting mugged at by people left and right. Once his buddy answered the door he yelled at them that we were cool musicians and to "get back to getting high and wasting your time!" it was funny. my brother also played at a church and afterwards all the little kids were staring at him cuz they'd never seen a white person "so close." True stuff man.
