Posted on 04/25/2005 9:55:53 PM PDT by CHARLITE
For most of the history of this country, differences between the black and the white population--whether in income, IQ, crime rates, or whatever--have been attributed to either race or racism. For much of the first half of the 20th century, these differences were attributed to race--that is, to an assumption that blacks just did not have it in their genes to do as well as white people. The tide began to turn in the second half of the 20th century, when the assumption developed that black-white differences were due to racism on the part of whites.
Three decades of my own research lead me to believe that neither of those explanations will stand up under scrutiny of the facts. As one small example, a study published last year indicated that most of the black alumni of Harvard were from either the West Indies or Africa, or were the children of West Indian or African immigrants. These people are the same race as American blacks, who greatly outnumber either or both.
If this disparity is not due to race, it is equally hard to explain by racism. To a racist, one black is pretty much the same as another. But, even if a racist somehow let his racism stop at the water's edge, how could he tell which student was the son or daughter of someone born in the West Indies or in Africa, especially since their American-born offspring probably do not even have a foreign accent?
What then could explain such large disparities in demographic "representation" among these three groups of blacks? Perhaps they have different patterns of behavior and different cultures and values behind their behavior.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
I discovered that when we moved 'North' back in 1981. I'd never seen such racism in my life! And it wasn't just toward black people. There was a lot of ehtnic racism, as well; Italians vs Irish, Germans vs Poles; Christians vs Jews; it was ridiculous!
I was amazed when talking with a friend once up here in MA. She had never even MET a black person before she went off to college and had a black roommate. That just astounded me, and I couldn't even imagine it. I don't remember a time when I DIDN'T know black people, and not servants or 'help' or anything like that; just people! We had black kids in my Catholic elementary school in S. MS in the 1960's!, WAY before forced integration came along in 1971, when I was a senior in high school.
The funny thing about the forced integration was that the black kids who were forced to come to the white high school absolutely did NOT want to be there! They wanted their OWN school. The black kids who had decided to further their education, had been coming to the mostly white school all along, now they were all forced to be there and they didn't like it.
Yep. My grandfather was one of the first black master plumbers in DC when the unions began to open up. My grandmother was a practical nurse. My mother went to college and became a school teacher, later getting a masters and teaching at community college. I'm a lawyer, now completely demented and getting a Ph.D.
My stepfather's people came from the islands. His father worked as a servant for a wealthy man, his mother was a housewife. My stepfather became a lawyer.
One step at a time. It's too bad that so many black kids expect to strike it rich playing ball or singing when there are so many more avenues to building a good life.
btw - my mother and I can do some of our own plumbing, too! It was a happy day when I got my own plumber's snake!
I think I love you. : )
LOL!
Uhhh...you've never been to Jamaica, I bet.
To the best of my knowledge, American blacks are the only group that respond to disappointment or violence by burning-down their own neighborhoods.
I remember one theory had the excellence of Jamaicans secondary to the fact that the most intelligent ones figured that they would jump ship in Jamaica before getting to the States!
There are a number of reasons why Caribbean people have done better than black Americans, at least in New York. John Perazzo covers some of the history of the black West Indian in America in his book pretty well. Actually, right now I did read a stat that said black immigrants are now outpacing some white people in this area in terms of income because many are self made people who own their own businesses. Even when Caribbean people in general, not just black, started immigrating here they were very self employed minded people. The most famous example is Alexander Hamilton but Perazzo's book only covers black people.
Black caribes come to this country never having known US racism and the history of racism so they have a very new and fresh perspective. Many black immigrants in general don't have the same hangups. They've not been exposed to the mental baggage that comes with hearing the same lies told over and over by civil rights activists.
I could go on but I'll just say that when my mom first came to this country she worked very hard but she said she avoided watching television. She said watching what was going on in the south made her depressed.
No I havent, what is it like in this regard.
Many of the native Jamaicans are not easy to deal with and have an attitude (not all, mind you, but enough so you notice). I will not go back.
Thanks. Too many other good places to visit : )
I think this is an excellent illustration of the problem. The inhabitants of an area are the ones who make it a ghetto or a nice neighborhood to grow up and live in. Yet, all you hear are complaints about the landlord, the condition of the buildings, the trash in the streets, the drug dealers, the cops, the government, etc. None of these made the neighborhood a ghetto, the inhabitants did.
Because they were carefully taught to do it by self-loathing, guilt-ridden white liberals. Sadly for me, I'm old enough to remember race relations in America before the neocommunists took over the Democrat Party back in the early 1960s.
In those days Blacks had intact families and were largely churchgoing folks who took responsibility for themselves despite the awful things that had been done to them. I've always believed that if things had been allowed to run their normal course America would be a much different place today. Race relations would be much more harmonius.
Instead, Marxists hijacked the Democrat Party, using the Civil Rights movement as cover. Republicans also bear guilt for allowing themselves to be painted as bigots when in fact Democrats were the party of racism and repression of Blacks.
The neocommunist use of Marxist tactics worked, and nearly everything that's evil in America since then has been patterned on the same Marxist civil rights model: radical environmentalism, radical feminism, continuing radical racial politics, radical homosexualism, radical secularism -- all the various "isms" designed to divide and conquer original American culture.
I agree with you that responsibility for change rests with the Blacks themselves. I'm heartened to see highly successful Blacks like Bill Cosby starting to preach the Gospel of self-discipline, education and responsibility. But bear in mind what happened to him when he tried. Anyone who believes the sexual charges against him were not inspired by the Neocommunist Left still believes in the Tooth Fairy. It was crucial to them that he be silenced and marginalized by a tried and true Marxist technique.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.