Blacks and Crime a study

[Stifler's Mom]

I daresay that you can go to the worst school with the oldest textbooks, and if you show a couple of teachers that you are willing to excell and do your best, your WILL get assistance.

I agree with you, but it will be a harder road to hoe than maybe what you or I had to do. Some people's will have to struggle more than others to get where they want to be.

 

[Timebuilder]

That's true.

While we in America say "all Men are created equal," it is only a fleeting moment of equality, as all the other factors of living in a earthly environment are generally variables that are decidedly unequal.

We all have different lives, and different tasks and blessings. We all need to do the most with the gifts we have, and work as individuals to help others.

Help from individuals rather than governments fosters accountability. Welfare is comfortable and anonymous, making it lack accountability and motivation.

 

[TWA Dude]

Please watch the movie Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd for the definitive explanation (and a great look at Jamie Curtis). (After that movie I never bet anyone more than a dollar.)

Dude

 

[WhiteCloud]

Please watch the movie Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd for the definitive explanation (and a great look at Jamie Curtis). (After that movie I never bet anyone more than a dollar.)

Dude

In the interest of fairness I'd like to get a similar view of Halle Berry.

 

[FN FAL]

In the interest of fairness I'd like to get a similar view of Halle Berry.

You can in several movies...especially if you like watching Billy Bob Thornton laying pipe.

 

[Mr. Cole]

As an African American I shuddered when I saw this thread, primarily because I've had discussions like this in other places, including a few pilot boards, and I often feel like it's a losing battle. Not to mention the direction that political discussions usually take around here. But I will admit that I have been pleasantly surprised by the tone of this thread and by the comments of Capt. Tex and others. In fact many responses have been so well-reasoned that I don't feel the strong need to add my own opinion. This is rare in that most threads of this kind are greatly slanted in one direction, especially when they concern issues such as affirmative action.

Dave

 

[Timebuilder]

Well, good. Speaking as a Caucasian (if a guy with Scottish ancestory via Canada can really say he is descended from the caucuses) I'm glad you are pleased.

You sound like an individual who is overlooked as a role model. I'll bet you'd be a good one, too.

The choices of role models seem to be controlled by pop culture, mostly rap and hip-hop it seems to me. Perhaps as people move up the social ladder they leave others behind in their cultural morass, as they become more integrated into mainstream American cultural values. I don't know why that happens, since so many children are at stake, and can be turned away from many evils if guided early enough.

I see many generations of otherwise bright and productive people suffering from ruination resulting from bad choices.

How can we best accomplish this, since government programs and welfare have failed so miserably? How can we stop filling prisons and day care centers? How can we attain Dr. King's dream? Yesterday is the day he was shot, when I was a teenager.

 

[Caveman]

The idea that we need black role models to make a difference is offensive and part of the problem. A good role model is a good role model regardless of ethnicity. There are plenty of excellent role models out there but the black community is unwilling to recognize these people as legitimate examples because they aren't the right color. Another problem is that only blacks of a particular political bent are deemed worthy of emulation by the majority of the black community. Other than being republican what's wrong with Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Walter Williams, J.C. Watts? Even Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby are accused of being too white even though they are basically liberal democrats.

The single best example I ever saw of a truly color blind society was the U.S. military. Nobody cared what color you were or weren't. Everybody started out on an equal footing and you advanced purely on merit. I can't tell you how many hispanic, white or black Marines I knew that started out as simply an uneducated E-nothing and through commitment and diligence ended up as E-8's or E-9's. It was as close to being the perfect socio-economic level playing field as there is and the results were consistent.

The main difference between the military and the normal world is a problem of perception. In the military everybody started from the same point. It was clearly defined and there was no way to say that you weren't given the same opportunity as the next guy. In the normal world there is the perception that someone has an advantage over you when in fact they really don't. Everyone has the opportunity to go to school. Granted, some are nicer schools than others but math in East L.A. is the same as in Pacific Palisades. Open the book, do your part and you'll get essentially the same results as the rich white kid. Until minority communities acknowledge this fact and refuse to accept the victim mentality things will never change. The playing field is level but black communities need to stop insisting it's not.