Do u feel Blacks associate ourselves with poverty 2much at the cost of not identifying asMiddleClass

[luke1733]

-Does the Black Middle Class and Upper Class commit fewer crimes than the White middle Class and White upper middle Class?

-What are common trends of the Black Middle Class? Is it two family households? Is it college degrees? Is the Black Middle Class dominated by females?

-How do the children from Black Middle Class families or Upper Middle Class families compare with their parents? Do they follow the same trends as their parents or do they do far better or worse socio-economically?

-Does the Black Middle Class have the same health disparities when comparing statistics to the White Middle Class?

-Does the Black Middle Class have the same amount of single parent families as the White Middle Class?

-Does it benefit the Black Middle Class to live in Black Middle Class Communities or does the Black Middle Class that lives in a White community economically perform better?

-Does the Black Middle Class enroll in college at the same rate and graduate at the same rate as the White Middle Class?

-What and How does the Black Middle class compare in statistics with the White Middle class in socio-economic trends? What are the numbers?

I cannot answer all the questions I posed, but I will provide some insight that will answer some.

Here are the numbers:

In 2009 for Af. Am:

1.2% of blacks are wealthy Upper class

8.1% of blacks are upper middle class

38.4 Middle Class

28.8 Lower Middle Class

23.5 Poverty Lower Class

In 2009 for White Am:

3.8% of whites are wealthy upper class

16.3% of whites are upper middle class

43.7% of whites are middle class

23% of whites are lower middle class

13% of whites are in poverty

 

[luke1733]

So basically when you see these statistics for crime/health/graduation rates then it should/must be mentioned that a large reason for the discrepancies is due to the fact that these statistics are combining a wealthier classes conditions to a poorer classes conditions. Let me reinterpret this. 16.3% of Whites are upper middles class. There are 247million whites in the US. 16.3% are wealthy. That means 39,520,000 whites are upper middle class. THAT number alone draws a HUGE exclamation point when considering this is the pinnacle of my argument. There are only a total of 30 million African Americans in the United States ALONE. So to even have a close to fair comparison between African Americans and Whites one would have to live in a world where ALL 30 million African Americans are upper middle class. There simply aren’t enough of us to rationally be compared to whites when there numbers are so drastically different when it comes to population, opportunities, access and power. To prove the strength of my argument on racial statistics being flawed and not used rationally then HOW COME whites in poverty at 13% are never compared with the entire black race at 13%? The rationale is that there simply are more of them by number in the country and therefore more of them also in richer classes and because richer classes and larger populations of richer classes fair better in almost every statistic pertaining to a quality of life then the statistics used racially to pit a majority race (that has the wealth, opportunities, and power) against a minority race (enduring oppression from the ruling class, deficient education systems, lower paying jobs, drugs lack of access to better opportunities to improve quality of life).

So, with all the things we hear said on African Americans I thought about some realities and wondered if there are some differences that need to be addressed.

The number one issue that came to mind (not saying by any means it is the most important) is the poverty and statistics used to exploit or advertise the worst of our conditions. That brought me to this thought. What about the middle class (those whose salaries range from 35k to 100k) African Americans and the Upper middle class (salaries 200k +) African Americans? What are our crime rate statistics? What are our graduation rates?

While researching this my studies took a different twist when studies were detailing more information about single-parent family households quality of life conditions compared to nuclear families quality of life conditions.

Some of these statistics directly told another story about African Americans poverty in America.

To summarize this, here is the data.

Single mother families of all races still suffer from a poverty rate of 63 percent.

44.0% of all single-parent black people grew up in poverty.

72 percent of black children are raised by a single mother.

I do not feel like doing the math, but you can see that if for all races that have a single mother 63% of suffer from poverty then you can see the INHERITANCE being laid to ensure one’s path is directed in poverty.

In 2007: 9.7% of black people with married parents grew up in poverty.

I encourage all to study or at least know the definition of the Moynihan Report. This report (presented before President Lyndon Johnson) basically shows the United States documented intent to make sure the African American male would be knocked out of the work force. The goal was to effeminize the black man and destroy the nuclear family by making it so that the African American male would not be employable, lack skills and therefore lack funds. This was predicted to lead to him having no power or voice in his household. What is the leading cause of stress in a marriage among all races? Money.http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/04/money-is-the-leading-cause-of-stress-in-relationships.html

Therefore (as many of you surely already know this), if the woman brings in more money than the man then the man loses a lot of the traditional positions that have defined relationships between men and women for thousands of years. Identity crisis, loss of roles expectations, the inability to resolve this conflict, and different priorities can all be effected by finances. More often than not, the man and women allow this conflict to separate them into a divorce. Thus stimulating African Americans own trend to falling in poverty and leaving an inheritance of poverty for our children to be introduced to. A cycle instituted by a nation that directly effects the individual to such an extent that we perpetuate it.

 

[luke1733]

Ironically to this same point, I do want to include that Black Fathers are more involved in their children’s lives than any other race of fathers who are not married to their children’s mother.https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordeba...tive/its-a-myth-that-black-fathers-are-absent

So, getting back to tying the two points. We see that those who live in poverty have statistics that show a lower quality of life enjoyed when using the barometer scale of enjoyment to show opportunities, health, good education, good finances, low crime statistics. We see that trends of single-parent family households help to contribute and perpetuate or at the very least are good at increasing the likelihood of one to endure poverty or inherit poverty conditions.

Conclusion: (last attempt to tie stuff together from entire dissertation).

It is not fair when the White race has the power and wealth, and NUMBERS (five times as many as WHITES than an African minority) to use their lopsided numbers to trick the public into believing the statistics tell a fair unflawed measure of comparison that can be trusted.

Basically if there’s 100 of people like me and only ten people like you and one person from my race kills someone then it is said that 1% of my race kills people. Now, if one person from your race kills someone then the math says 10% of your race kills people. It’s not that the statistics lie as much as it must be remembered and considered as relevant that UNLESS both races have similar numbers in total and similar backgrounds then comparing one against the other is HIGHLY a flawed method that should not be used to prove anything when comparing two different people of such drastically different backgrounds (impacted by power, wealth, opportunities and access) and different populations.



Every society in the world shows the class that is in poverty will always have the higher crime statistics, health problems, wage gaps (obviously), marriage problems, and every other problem that WORLDWIDE comes with being impoverished and subscribing to a lower quality of life when being compared to the wealthy or elite class that use their wealth to improve opportunities for themselves and prevent certain problems that plague poorer communities while also using the poorer classes tax dollars to help fund rich communities. THE POOR ALWAYS ENDURE TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

Class structures/environment has a TON to do with where you and your children will end up in the socio-economic ladder. This is relevant when comparing the Black Middle Class to the Black lower/poverty class AS WELL as comparing the White Middle Class to the White lower/poverty class.

So how do some well-known Black Middle Class communities compare to the entire White American race (including their elite class)? Does this prove that if certain Black Middle Class Communities do not follow the trends that the media narrative sells then the trends are not trends of African Americans as much as they are trends of those disenfranchised, impoverished, and deficient in equal access provided to their communities?

Here’s the statistics:

Kettering, Maryland is 88% black and is middle class and upper middle class and has a 7% overall crime rate that is LESS than the Average of the entire United States. The total year over year crime rate decreases by 14%.

50% of the residents are married.

Mitchellville Maryland is hone to Upperclass Blacks- Crime rate is 24% lower than all of Maryland. Graduation rate is 8% higher than all of Maryland.

http://www.areavibes.com/kettering-md/crime/

Ladera Heights. Affluent Black California Community. Crime is 64% less than the rest of California. High School Graduation rate is 24% Higher than the rest of California. Median Household Income is 64% higher than the rest of California. Median Home Value is 104% higher than the rest of California.

49% are married.

72% of the population is African American.

Population 7,500.

View Park-Windsor Hills, California

Crime is 48% lower than the rest of California.

High School Graduation rate is 20% Higher than All of California.

Median Home Value is 36% higher than all of California.
http://www.areavibes.com/view+park-windsor+hills-ca/livability/?ll=33.99447+-118.34776

Atlanta Still tops the list for the most profitable city for African Americans.

Some 46.9% the metro area’s black population owned their own homes as of 2013, well above the 38% major metro average for African-Americans. Atlanta’s African-Americans have a median household income of $41,800, also considerably above the major metro average, while their rate of self-employment, 17.1%, is second only to New Orleans.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelko...are-doing-the-best-economically/#2f472f12164f

According to the statistics, it is not A BLACK MINDSET (these are mindsets people say we have: we don’t invest in each other’s communities, we shoot one another, we have too many illegitimate babies) that African Americans are struggling with that perpetuates our economic trends BUT the very obvious point that contributes the most to our state. Racism which finances oppression to make sure we do not have the opportunity to increase our dollars.

According to the Institute on Assets and Social Policy, for each dollar of increase in average income an African American household saw from 1984 – 2009 just $0.69 in additional wealth was generated, compared with the same dollar in increased income creating an additional $5.19 in wealth for a similarly situated white household.

Economically we will never win financial independence if for every 69 cents we earn someone else earns $5.

Logically, if one is to think of Black Independence and equality in America financially, politically, media and socially then based on the numbers anything short of absolute war (which I do not endorse since our numbers are so low) isn’t reasonable. The odds in math for wealth and power are literally too high without a drastic cultural change on both sides (white and black). Meaning as blacks improve whites would have to suffer drastically all the while African Americans do not suffer at all and improve in a country predominately white that operates off of oppression that Blacks endorse/finance via our taxes.

Individual blacks can improve our circumstances, but comparing numbers of our entire race to think equality for all blacks and whites does not add up.

That’s the end of my study, saying what most likely you already know or have heard, but perhaps something more than your time loss was gained.

 

[luke1733]

My reason for this study is that I see a need for clarity on the presentation of statistics that do not tell a complete story. SINCE African Americans have a larger percentage of our race in poverty (27.4%) THEN of course when you compare blacks to Whites in poverty (9.9%) you will find trends that say the quality of life conditions are worse in the poorer group. If the one group has more of a percentage of it in that poorer group and are to be compared with another larger group that not only has a lower poverty percentage rate than the poorer group but also a higher population and more numbers of people in the higher classes economically then OF COURSE when measuring the standards of living one will find the trends will always show the minority group with a higher poverty percentage living a lower quality of life. It is the measuring stick that is being used that is spinning the truth with alternative facts.

The only thing really being measured when we see these statistics (showing black crime rate or quality of life versus white crime rates and quality of life ) is that the more money one makes, the better opportunities one finds and thus a better quality of life follows. This contradicts the intent of these statistics that White America wants to prove, which is usually implied using statistics to indirectly state: Blacks inherently are consistently inclined to be less moralistic and civilized in the world. Statistics prove it.

I showed how black middle class neighborhoods do not follow the stereotypical trends White Americans use to paint over ALL black Americans. I showed how black neighborhoods actually contradict quite a few of what their statistics say of ALL Black Americans. If the trends set on ALL Black Americans was true then we shouldn’t see all the stereotypes broken the instant economic conditions change.

Also, I will never pick on the impoverished. This statistic is also relevant to the defense of the impoverished who are lumped in with the statistics of the poor community. Here is the statistic:

Those who live in poverty are also valid in stating they should not be aligned with those in their community that commit violent crimes. Why? Because out of the violence in impoverished communities 95% comes from repeat offenders. This means again that 95% of people or more in impoverished communities are non-violent but are being labeled violent due to a very small percentage of people who keep committing crime. In other words when crime statistics are taken, the numbers are collected on how many robbery attempts, how many murders. What is not being taken or added in these statistics is that 10 robbery attempts actually are usually done by one person. You can do the math as it pertains to when you have 4 people doing repeat crimes for a race whose population numbers are lower than another’s. The sum conclusion is the numbers will be inflated.http://www.cbsnews.com/news/once-a-criminal-always-a-criminal/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ls-responsible-for-half-a-million-crimes.html

77 percent of felony defendants have at least one prior arrest and 69 percent have multiple prior arrests. 61 percent have at least one conviction and 49 percent have multiple convictions.http://www.crimeinamerica.net/2010/...-felons-do-not-serve-time-in-prison—part-one/

The majority of people all over the world are non-violent. Non-violent citizens always outnumber violent. Healthy citizens always outnumber non-healthy. For the same reason we don’t look at a majority race of 78% of a country and say they have a greater number of people who commit a crime is the same reason we shouldn’t look at a minority race and say your percentages don’t match up to a majority race’s percentage in categories that always will yield a specific result. Nobody ever mentions the relevant fact that White Americans have always committed more murders and theft and have more people in poverty and more people that have diseases in America than blacks. Nobody ever uses this fact to say rationally that whites therefore commit more murders, are more impoverished, diseased and criminally inclined than blacks. Why isn’t this statistic used? Because it is not a good measure of accuracy anymore than basing two different population sizes and wealth backgrounds against each other. Both of these methods of comparison are flawed, yet somehow only one is consistently used by propaganda, the media and people to invent/create a narrative that Blacks inherently are consistently inclined to be less moralistic and civilized in the world. Statistics prove it.

The point of this long study/dissertation is not to say blacks do not measure higher than whites in crime or health problems but to show how the statistics are skewed and flawed in providing an accurate measure that can be used and trusted? What method should be used? Well, currently I don’t know. Haven’t thought much about that yet. The irony of using statistics to disprove statistics is not lost on the hypocrisy either.

My intent in writing all this is just to ADD PERSPECTIVE and share some research I actually did and also some of the research that easy internet research.

Below are Other interesting facts that challenge negative stereotypes on African Americans:

 

[luke1733]

-However, is the Black middle class ($25,000 - $49,999) the fastest growing segment of the Black population?

The answer is NO.

Dividing the Black population into quintiles (20% intervals), the fourth 5th and the highest 5th are the fasting growing segments. That is, the upper class , has experienced the fastest rate of growth since 1965.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/economics/analysis.html

-Blacks don’t give back or support anything or give back to one another? Not exactly true. Blacks give 25% more to charities with their discretionary income than whites.

-Black enrollment in college in 2010 was 65%. Equal to whites enrollment in college.
https://psmag.com/are-we-talking-enough-about-the-black-middle-class-13dbfed92322

-Blacks always want a handout or live off government benefits? Not true. 86% of American households receive benefits from at least one of these government programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Unemployment, Food Stamps, veteran benefits, college assistance,)https://www.theatlantic.com/busines...government-benefits-and-who-gets-them/266428/

White people make up 42% of the poor, but take in whopping 69% of government benefits.

African Americans who make up 22% of the poor, receive 14% of government benefits.
http://yourblackworld.net/2013/03/1...t-take-in-whopping-69-of-government-benefits/

- Although minorities are disproportionately poorer than their white counterparts, poor people only received 36 percent of benefits in 2007, down from 54 percent in 1979.

- Wealthy people, who are disproportionately white, receive a higher share of corporate welfare and other tax benefits:

- Seventy percent of counties with the fastest-growth in food-stamp aid during the last four years voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data compiled by Bloomberg.

Source:
http://breakingbrown.com/2013/09/th...rnment-benefits-makes-white-people-look-lazy/

-Blacks are more violent than Whites? Only about 1 percent of African Americans — and no more than 2 percent of black males — will commit a violent crime in a given year;

Blacks commit more crimes against Whites than Whites commit crimes against blacks? According to research by Tim Wise and Michael Moore (Stupid White Men), this is not true.

Any given black person is 2.75 times as likely to be murdered by a white person as any given white person is to be murdered by an African American. The Source:
http://www.timwise.org/2013/08/race...right-manipulates-white-fear-with-bogus-data/

Men in single-parent households are more likely to live in poverty, which could explain the results.

In 1994, Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, using evidence from four nationally representative data sets, compared the outcomes of children growing up with both biological parents, with single parents, and with step-parents. McLanahan and Sandefur found that children who did not live with both biological parents were roughly twice as likely to be poor, to have a birth outside of marriage, to have behavioral and psychological problems, and to not graduate from high 3 school. Other studies have reported associations between family structure and child health outcomes. For example, one study found children living in single-parent homes were more likely to experience health problems, such as accidents, injuries, and poisonings.
http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/states/0086.pdf

Moynihan Report, 1965) was written by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, an American sociologist serving as Assistant Secretary of Labor[1] under President Lyndon B. Johnson of the United States. In 1976, Moynihan was elected to the first of several terms as US senator from New York and continued to support liberal programs to try to end poverty. His report focused on the deep roots of black poverty in the United States and controversially concluded that the high rate of families headed by single mothers would greatly hinder progress of blacks toward economic and political equality.

Moynihan wrote to the President Lyndon Johnson:

without access to jobs and the means to contribute meaningful support to a family, black men would become systematically alienated from their roles as husbands and fathers, which would cause rates of divorce, child abandonment and out-of-wedlock births to skyrocket in the black community (a trend that had already begun by the mid-1960s), leading to vast increases in the numbers of households headed by females and the higher rates of poverty, low educational outcomes, and inflated rates of child abuse that are associated with them.

In 2007:

9.7% of black people with married parents grew up in poverty.

44.0% of all single-parent black people grew up in poverty.

• A diverse team of family scholars working collectively from the Universities of Texas, Virginia, Minnesota, Chicago, Maryland, Washington, UC Berkeley, and Rutgers University recently reported on the multiple benefits for children who live with their own married parents. In general, within this family structure, children:

o Live longer, healthier lives both physically and mentally.

o Do better in school.

o Are more likely to graduate and attend college.

o Are less likely to live in poverty.

o Are less likely to be in trouble with the law.

o Are less likely to drink or do drugs.

o Are less likely to be violent or sexually active.

o Are less likely to be victims of sexual or physical violence.

o Are more likely to have successful marriage when they are older.

• Sociologist Paul Amato, writing in a study published jointly by Princeton University and the Brookings Institute, explains,

"Specifically, compared with children who grow up in stable, two-parent families, children born outside marriage reach adulthood with less education, earn less income, have lower occupational status, are more likely to be idle (that is, not employed and not in school), are more likely to have a non-marital birth (among daughters), have more troubled marriages, experience higher rates of divorce, and report more symptoms of depression… Research clearly demonstrates that children growing up with two continuously married parents are less likely than other children to experience a wide range of cognitive, emotional, and social problems, not only during childhood, but also in adulthood."

This paper can be found at:http://www.princeton.edu/futureofch.../article/index.xml?journalid=37&articleid=107
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/marriage/marriage/30-years-of-research

 

[luke1733]

MY POINT REPEATED ON A SOAP BOX:

My reason for pointing this out is not to ever exploit poverty stricken African Americans or lower income, but to highlight that the successes and races have is also drastically improved/fostered/sustained by living in financially stable condition. Thus, some of the problems people always refer to as problems of African Americans are also problems for any group of people living in poverty with drugs in the community and lack of opportunity. I know, common sense right? But, the media and often times many people speak of Af. Americans situations as unique as in saying "only you all have these problems." When in fact those of us in those positions are doing the exact expected typical behaviors of anyone in that situation. It is also noteworthy to remember that NO RACE that was a minority of 13% and enslaved/oppressed by a richer class that ran the country EVER rose to equal or overthrow the power of the ruling class while remaining in THAT country. EVER!!!

What is my point in saying the former sentence? Just to say to some people QUIT being so critical of African Americans condition. We are talking about 13% of the entire US, there is only so much we can actually do under the circumstances. Never interpret that as loser talk, but it is more like do the best you can and never stop trying to achieve whatever goal is yours WHILE remembering the context in which you exist.

 

[Idiopathic Joker]

TL;DR

 

[2stepz_ahead]

yep....an I'll be back to rip this apart

 

[2stepz_ahead]

almost home...bout to be the coon of the day according to some but would love to proven wrong

 

[2stepz_ahead]

now while i see all the stats...all that can be changed with. mentality.

poor is not about location as it's more about the mind.

I have often ran into people who I know for a fact are better than what they portray.

hell. even on this site are constant examples of poor mentality than anything.

case an point....the moment someone says..." you made it out the hood and think". real shit...that statement invalidates anything you say afterwards...simply because you are assuming the location dictated the mentality. why should someone who made it out be proud or a bit arrogant since there are so many reasons why they shouldn't?.

not gonna point out my nigga..but I once heard Obama aint like us cause he from Hawaii so he don't understand the hood.

I have quite a few problems with that statement.

it's like ok. if he was a hybrid from the hood could he still had been president? did he become president because he wasn't hood? why does his location cancel out his understanding the struggle of being black?

he may not have missed a meal but is he still a black man? if anything. you would think his struggle was harder cause he grew up in hawaii. Hawaii is racist as fukk now. at this moment. how you think it was growing up in the time he was there?

but rather than understanding his struggle people rather give him an out an say he made it because. as if being black changes because.

I'll ask this question again...

what's the difference between a black man in Hawaii and a black man in a US inner city?

ill tell you..

nothing, but the amount and type of excuses.

I'm ready for this fight today

 

[fortyacres]

I will say that alot of African Americans ive meet self-pity alot & are cynical ,but it seems to be changing for the most part.

 

[2stepz_ahead]

I will say that alot of African Americans ive meet self-pity alot & are cynical ,but it seems to be changing for the most part.

correct and it should change.

I know it can change faster than the pace it is.

fukk that.

I'm tough on my people because I know our capabilities.

like the self pity you stated...I heard beneficial excuses... mostly to please people who don't or shouldnt matter.

you ever heard someone saying....white people won't let...

but a few weeks later say something like...I would whipped all three of them.niggas at the same time...

how you selectively a thug?

how you part time?

how you bout it for momentary dignity but hesitant for lifestyle dignity?

always two sides

 

[2stepz_ahead]

I'm ready to fight today...

had to buy $300 remote software to be ahead of this Trump laptop from Europe bam. I'm mad at y'all niggas for him being in office.

this shit effecting me personal

so fukk it ...I'm projecting.

imma go pick some fights in other threads too

 

[R0mp]

Struggling and poverty is just part of the identity for a lot of us.

Most of the black ppl I know personally, though, are middle class to upper middle class, def not 'rich', but not impoverished either.

 

[2stepz_ahead]

Struggling and poverty is just part of the identity for a lot of us.

Most of the black ppl I know personally, though, are middle class to upper middle class, def not 'rich', but not impoverished either.

let me stop you there.

while I understand being poor and poverty....it's not nor will ever be part of my identity.

I fought alot for having a smart ass mouth and quick temper...

my identity is what defines me. being quick tempered and smart mouthed was apart of my personality. fighting was not..

I grew up and learned to control my mouth more..but it doesn't change my thoughts.

being poor is not a personality trait. so it can't be an identity..

being able to identify is understanding... being my identity is who I am.

see the difference

don't do that to yourself bruh.

you better than that as your people are.

 

[5th Letter]

now while i see all the stats...all that can be changed with. mentality.

poor is not about location as it's more about the mind.

I have often ran into people who I know for a fact are better than what they portray.

hell. even on this site are constant examples of poor mentality than anything.

case an point....the moment someone says..." you made it out the hood and think". real shit...that statement invalidates anything you say afterwards...simply because you are assuming the location dictated the mentality. why should someone who made it out be proud or a bit arrogant since there are so many reasons why they shouldn't?.

not gonna point out my nigga..but I once heard Obama aint like us cause he from Hawaii so he don't understand the hood.

I have quite a few problems with that statement.

it's like ok. if he was a hybrid from the hood could he still had been president? did he become president because he wasn't hood? why does his location cancel out his understanding the struggle of being black?

he may not have missed a meal but is he still a black man? if anything. you would think his struggle was harder cause he grew up in hawaii. Hawaii is racist as fukk now. at this moment. how you think it was growing up in the time he was there?

but rather than understanding his struggle people rather give him an out an say he made it because. as if being black changes because.

I'll ask this question again...

what's the difference between a black man in Hawaii and a black man in a US inner city?

ill tell you..

nothing, but the amount and type of excuses.

I'm ready for this fight today

This post is very ironic. So you downplay African Americans and their struggle on some "bah you have no excuses" but turn around and tell us "we need to understand Obama's struggle", you yourself seem to act like you don't understand African American struggles and chalk it up to niggas being able to do better but choose to live shitty.

 

[2stepz_ahead]

now while i see all the stats...all that can be changed with. mentality.

poor is not about location as it's more about the mind.

I have often ran into people who I know for a fact are better than what they portray.

hell. even on this site are constant examples of poor mentality than anything.

case an point....the moment someone says..." you made it out the hood and think". real shit...that statement invalidates anything you say afterwards...simply because you are assuming the location dictated the mentality. why should someone who made it out be proud or a bit arrogant since there are so many reasons why they shouldn't?.

not gonna point out my nigga..but I once heard Obama aint like us cause he from Hawaii so he don't understand the hood.

I have quite a few problems with that statement.

it's like ok. if he was a hybrid from the hood could he still had been president? did he become president because he wasn't hood? why does his location cancel out his understanding the struggle of being black?

he may not have missed a meal but is he still a black man? if anything. you would think his struggle was harder cause he grew up in hawaii. Hawaii is racist as fukk now. at this moment. how you think it was growing up in the time he was there?

but rather than understanding his struggle people rather give him an out an say he made it because. as if being black changes because.

I'll ask this question again...

what's the difference between a black man in Hawaii and a black man in a US inner city?

ill tell you..

nothing, but the amount and type of excuses.

I'm ready for this fight today

This post is very ironic. So you downplay African Americans and their struggle on some "bah you have no excuses" but turn around and tell us "we need to understand Obama's struggle", you yourself seem to act like you don't understand African American struggles and chalk it up to niggas being able to do better but choose to live shitty.

here you go.

I'm not downplaying the struggle....

not sure how you got that.

what I am saying is other people have struggled that are not from the hood. we all have struggles. but being from the hood doesn't automatically mean yours was harder than someone else's who black. struggles are different.

that's why I say...its not location it is mentality.

an nigga please tell me how I don't understand?

why would you assume I dont know?

because I call iout niggas who do stay content?

what that gotta do with the man who busting his ass for his family who didn't make it out YET? they are not the same. but you trynna to put them under one umbrella to defend your argue against the post.

wasted potential is just that.

why is it that everytime somekne says we can do better or you are better...that taken as negative?

is that not what I posted someone was gonna say?

so now encouragement equals not understanding a struggle?

bruh you better than that....reread what you said.

 

[5th Letter]

now while i see all the stats...all that can be changed with. mentality.

poor is not about location as it's more about the mind.

I have often ran into people who I know for a fact are better than what they portray.

hell. even on this site are constant examples of poor mentality than anything.

case an point....the moment someone says..." you made it out the hood and think". real shit...that statement invalidates anything you say afterwards...simply because you are assuming the location dictated the mentality. why should someone who made it out be proud or a bit arrogant since there are so many reasons why they shouldn't?.

not gonna point out my nigga..but I once heard Obama aint like us cause he from Hawaii so he don't understand the hood.

I have quite a few problems with that statement.

it's like ok. if he was a hybrid from the hood could he still had been president? did he become president because he wasn't hood? why does his location cancel out his understanding the struggle of being black?

he may not have missed a meal but is he still a black man? if anything. you would think his struggle was harder cause he grew up in hawaii. Hawaii is racist as fukk now. at this moment. how you think it was growing up in the time he was there?

but rather than understanding his struggle people rather give him an out an say he made it because. as if being black changes because.

I'll ask this question again...

what's the difference between a black man in Hawaii and a black man in a US inner city?

ill tell you..

nothing, but the amount and type of excuses.

I'm ready for this fight today

This post is very ironic. So you downplay African Americans and their struggle on some "bah you have no excuses" but turn around and tell us "we need to understand Obama's struggle", you yourself seem to act like you don't understand African American struggles and chalk it up to niggas being able to do better but choose to live shitty.

here you go.

I'm not downplaying the struggle....

not sure how you got that.

what I am saying is other people have struggled that are not from the hood. we all have struggles. but being from the hood doesn't automatically mean yours was harder than someone else's who black. struggles are different.

that's why I say...its not location it is mentality.

an nigga please tell me how I don't understand?

why would you assume I dont know?

because I call iout niggas who do stay content?

what that gotta do with the man who busting his ass for his family who didn't make it out YET? they are not the same. but you trynna to put them under one umbrella to defend your argue against the post.

wasted potential is just that.

why is it that everytime somekne says we can do better or you are better...that taken as negative?

is that not what I posted someone was gonna say?

so now encouragement equals not understanding a struggle?

bruh you better than that....reread what you said.

You did say you wanted a fight today so I see you're being argumentative right now. My point is that you have to keep it consistent if you can call out niggas then niggas can call out Obama. It's fair game.

 

[(Nope)]

Struggling and poverty is just part of the identity for a lot of us.

Most of the black ppl I know personally, though, are middle class to upper middle class, def not 'rich', but not impoverished either.

let me stop you there.

while I understand being poor and poverty....it's not nor will ever be part of my identity.

I fought alot for having a smart ass mouth and quick temper...

my identity is what defines me. being quick tempered and smart mouthed was apart of my personality. fighting was not..

I grew up and learned to control my mouth more..but it doesn't change my thoughts.

being poor is not a personality trait. so it can't be an identity..

being able to identify is understanding... being my identity is who I am.

see the difference

don't do that to yourself bruh.

you better than that as your people are.

Deliberate relegation to certain districts or neighborhoods due to redlining is in part to blame. The message is sent that you live in a place that is poor or undesirable (even if you aren't), therefore you must be poor or undesirable. I spoke with a woman recently who started an agency that provides emergency or affordable housing to the impoverished. She said something that I thought was profound. She said that (I'm paraphrasing here) poverty in America is trauma. You can always look and see that your life could be better. Whether you are watching television or simply going outside, you can see the demarcation between your circumstances and the circumstances of others. Moreover, we shame the poor in America. The poor should be protected and empowered, but that's not what happens here. We treat the poor like sub-humans because it makes it easier for us to turn our backs to the poor. That same mentality, coupled with the adversity and pain of being impoverished, makes it less likely that poor people are able to recognize their own value, or the value of their neighbor.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what you're talking about is reframing? I.e., poverty is something that is happening to you or surrounds you, but does not define who you are? Which is to some extent true. It's also important to know that no substantive changes are going to be made within our society anytime soon. So, changing how one sees themselves is important. But, that means developing an understanding that whether you are poor or rich, those labels do not define your value in a society that is telling you the opposite and that shit isn't going to happen to overnight.

But, I don't think you said anything crazy man. You assumed competence. It's okay to assume competence as long as you don't have expectations of competence that cause you to shame folks. Because, like you said, being poor is not a personality trait, and generally speaking nobody wants to be nor strives to be poor, there are other forces at work. Can't control those forces, but individually someone can counter those forces and begin to decide how they see themselves.

 

[2stepz_ahead]

so. help me understand.... if I say you can't do better and you'll never be shit.....would that be challenged like what's being challenged?

how would you challenge it?

how would you prove that statement wrong?