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Originally Posted by Nabisco007
This thread reminded me of Rev. Wright...
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...no comment
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadha
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.
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i agree with many of your points. like i had said originally, "No one's trying to claim that the legacy of slavery exempts African-Americans from personal responsibility."
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadha
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 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.
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once again, it's not necessarily all that easy. i hate to revert to personal anecdotes after criticizing that guy in my class for doing the same, but just a few hours ago i was talking to one of my closest friends, a first-generation Salvadorian American. it's been a few years since he dropped out of high school to help his mom support the family, and today i asked him why he still hasn't signed up for classes at the community college like he's been planning to do since he got his GED. he almost broke down when he was telling me how he doesn't have enough money left between buying food for his family, paying a bill to keep the electricity from being cancelled, and sending money home to his grandmother in El Salvador. to make matters worse, since his mom doesn't have papers, the community college requires him to pay out-of-state tuition, which costs 3x as much.
i can't tell you how brilliant this guy is. he dropped out of 10th grade, but his vocabulary is better than mine. it's a complete shame.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadha
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.
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i wasn't trying to imply that they have absolutely no chance, i'm just saying it's a lot more difficult to break those barriers when the cards are stacked against you. i'm in the middle of a book about employees of a branch of fast food restaurant in Harlem, which discusses the alienation a young person sometimes faces when she alone out of her peers decides to enter the working world. obviously she's making the right choice for herself, but how might it feel to know that for all her work in the legal economy, she is still probably less able to make ends meet than her friends working in the underground economy?
the same friend was telling me that aside from how crushing it is to be unable to go back to school, it's especially frustrating to continue going to work without any change in his life, while all his neighbors are making $1500 a day selling drugs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadha
They can afford all that food to be overweight
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....go the grocery store and take a look at how expensive fresh/healthy/organic food is, when compared to fast food or canned processed garbage. i don't think it's as much a matter of spending too much money on food as it is a matter of making do with what's affordable and easy to prepare.
i'll respond to more later, iA
