Quote:
Originally Posted by shadha
dreamdeferred: Out of curiosity.......what part of what he said seems valid from your pov?
afrakabob: i'm curious as well.
I'm almost 100% sure that no one is going to like what I have to say but hell that's never stopped me from saying my peace before, so enjoy. 
I really am tired of this whole woe is me victimization that many in the black community dwell in. They dwell in the past and use the past as an excuse for the present and future. There is definitely a lack of motivation, self-discipline and self-accountability in the black community. Anytime something goes wrong for them, they want to blame the white man of today and of 200+ years ago. Enough is enough. We see the statistics of crime, HIV/AIDs, broken homes, prison population- enough of the excuses already. Yes, there is a lot going against them [socially] but that should not be used as an excuse. Yes there is still racism but again don't use that as a life-long excuse as to why you're unsuccessful. There are kids who come over to this country with jack crap and don't know a word of English yet they excel and succeed. Why do you think that is? Motivation. You can't tell me that black Americans, inner city and else where, have absolutely no chance at making something positive of themselves because I know far too many that have. They have so much opportunity in this country than others around the world- I mean for God's Sake the library, which is filled with thousands of books, is free! They can apply to tons of scholarships. They are given an education. Many states, if not all?, offer state funded Health Care.
Afrakabob mentioned in the thread post about the stigma of dress- well who wants to hire some hood rat? Under no circumstance is that dress attire considered professional- so why are they sabotaging themselves by stubbornly sticking to it? Then they want to complain that they are being 'unfairly judged'. Please. It's like an emo kid complaining that he can't get a job on Wall Street. No **** sherlock. I have a real problem that many can afford hundred dollar shoes but they can't afford a decent shirt and dress pants? They can afford to deck out their cars lovely but they can't afford a library card? They can afford all that food to be overweight but they can't afford a decent shirt and dress pants? Many unfortunately have their priorities all twisted.
Afrakabob also mentioned about random here and there success stories. They are not few and far. Many bust their asses during the day and go to community college classes at night. Some have two jobs and go to school. That's what we call being motivated and having self-discipline. Even if it takes them twice as long to get the degree- they are putting the effort into it.
Bill Cosby is not the first black celebrity to speak out against such behavior.
It was not right for the guy to make a sweeping generalization against ALL Black Americans but surely the points he made are valid and can easily be applied to many black Americans. This is not blaming the victim, this is keeping it real.
shadha-
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All this slavery and Jim Crow talk is getting way too cliche and typical around here regarding topics about Afro-Amer. You can smell it coming from a mile away. Not to sound rude but unless you're black or have lived in a heavily populated black area, chances are you don't have enough knowledge to be talking about this topic. The second you hear Jim Crow and Slavery you know that person is not in the above category. If you were you would be talking about the present not the past.
It's almost unhealthy how often black issues are discussed by mostly immigrants on this forum.
And why are Latinos being mentioned, how many unemployed Hispanics do you guys know? I doubt it's very many; having a job is very important in our culture whether it's through working at McDonalds, being a plummer, or working in an office.We're still fairly recent immigrants and many of us are moving on up in the corporate world,
It's just that the more recent immigrants could care less about paying through your nose to go to college to work some desk job in an office. Many of them take pride in working blue-collar job cause it gives them a sense of really earning their money with their hands as opposed to hugging onto the testes of some rich middle aged executive in order to get a promotion.
How many Hispanics do you see lying on their butts and claiming welfare; no matter how meager almost all of us have jobs. That's more than can be said for several British Pakis and French Arabs, many of whom have no problem claiming welfare benefits because they're too arrogant to work a blue-collar job with their hands for fear it will ruin their marriage prospects