The Economist surveys Black America

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by HornsInTheHouse, May 11, 2008.

  1. HornsInTheHouse

    HornsInTheHouse 500+ Posts

    A long, in-depth article with lots of statistics and opposing viewpoints from academics that mentions a lot things debated on this board. I recommend reading it.

    The Economist

     
  2. gecko

    gecko 2,500+ Posts

  3. Michtex

    Michtex 1,000+ Posts

    In reply to:


     
  4. naijahorn

    naijahorn 250+ Posts

    He correctly does not equate high-achievement with high GPAs and that is where your confusion is coming from.
     
  5. HornHuskerDad

    HornHuskerDad 5,000+ Posts


     
  6. Mr.Wizard

    Mr.Wizard 1,000+ Posts

    "Bourgie" labeling of successful blacks has been going on for years.

    Bourgie comes from the word bourgeois, it seems pretty self-defeating to me.
     
  7. gecko

    gecko 2,500+ Posts

    I saw the apparent contradiction michtex quotes. I was wondering if what he's driving at is that high achieving blacks are more popular among their high achieving black peers then whites...?

    Of course, I'm not sure I adequately explained t above myself.
     
  8. groverat

    groverat 2,500+ Posts

    In reply to:


     
  9. buckhorn

    buckhorn 1,000+ Posts

    “re-branding”

    Many blacks have deeply seeded fears regarding America, her system of opportunities and rewards, and the ways that being black interacts with rational and irrational behavior among whites. This aspect of the issue is about how blacks perceive their interests in a world that is often assumed to be hostile. If communities have collective memories, and I believe that they do (mythologies, histories, iconography, etc.), the African-American collective memory is fraught with nightmarish results connected with decades, even centuries, of toiling to build a country that usually doesn't really feel like their own. America is a brand name that foreigners believe in more than native blacks. Things have unquestionably improved over the last 40 years, but many have not enjoyed that improvement and have had little reason to outgrow what might seem to 'successful' individuals to be pathological pessimisms that are not rooted in reality.

    Racism is still endemic in America, but it is not the same racism of 1920 or 1940 or 1960. Further, the ways that racism (or the many racisms) of the country flows through institutionalized settings and practices has changed profoundly over the last 60 years. This means that racist thought and behavior is much less powerful, though not to be ignored or assumed absent.

    The Jim Crow years, followed by decades of urban decay (the dissolution of family, jobs, mobility, and lawfulness (made much more pronounced by the amped up drug war)), have mixed with some of the fiscal weaknesses noted in the article to create truly limited ceilings in many pockets of the African American community. Attitude adjustment is needed, which one would hope could lead to an even higher incidence of blacks following proven paths of upward economic mobility, but there are structural issues that constantly push against simple reorientations of attitude leading to miraculous turn arounds. Usually, societies have pockets of chronically poor groups (in American blacks are over-represented in such groups, but they are not alone) and any turn around usually involves sea changes in structural byways (for instance, civil rights agitation coupled with changing attitudes among whites after WWII's unveiling of western genocide to created an atmosphere that led to changes in the ways decades old laws were read and enforced (or dustbinned), which led to new employment and education opportunities that mingled with better black rep in the armed forces (which included GI Bills) and other government positions, etc.).

    A new paradigm for black leadership has been needed for some time, especially since the old paradigm doesn't properly recognize its own gains, gains which required the loyal opposition (various conservative forces, for instance) to change its position and grant myriad concessions. This means that, whatever opposition remains in those quarters has had to change its operational methodologies and expectations. Julian Bond, bless his heart, is not a 21st century leader. Neither is Jesse, the Rev. Al, or Farrakhan (who is as early 20th century as you can get without actually being on a 1920s Harlem street corner).

    X
     
  10. blueglasshorse

    blueglasshorse 1,000+ Posts

    Good read. Thanks for posting.

    I am fortunate to work in a profession that allows me to be surrounded by high achievers of all ethnicities. One might look at my organization and conclude we have "arrived" as it relates to racial equality of opportunity. One would quickly realize that conclusion was false after a brief conversation with some of my colleagues re: their children. During the past 6 years, two African Americans I work with have had teenage children who got pulled over by the police for no apparent reason on a regular basis in both Travis and Williamson Counties. One, over 20 times in less than 4 years. Both are good kids with excellent gpas, college bound, no crim record. Tickets seldom if ever written.

    These are kids who overcame the negative cultural stigmatism attached to academically successful kids within the black community. So basically they are taking crap from both sides. I think much progress has been made but we still have a ways to go.
     
  11. Anastasis

    Anastasis 1,000+ Posts

    The economist almost always comes strong.
     
  12. Bottom Line

    Bottom Line 250+ Posts

    "The soft bigotry of low expectations" ---GWB

    BL
     
  13. HoosierHorn

    HoosierHorn 500+ Posts


     
  14. stabone

    stabone 500+ Posts


     
  15. Hornin Hong Kong

    Hornin Hong Kong 1,000+ Posts


     

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