[QUOTE="GabuEx"][QUOTE="Snipes_2"]
So, Racism, oppression ,and unequal laws cause Drop Outs, Single Parent Households, Obesity, Diabetes, Poverty, and incarceration? I don't think you can blame all that on something that happened Decades ago. What "Unequal Laws" are we talking about anyways? I'd say all of these are user error.
bigdcstile
The environment in which one grows up plays a huge role in the person whom one ultimately becomes. One may change one's course if one has the will to do so, yes - but where does that will come from? It tends to be a vicious cycle: an environment in which education is not highly encouraged, in which marriages tend to fail, and in which people are poor and prone to criminal behavior is also an environment that will produce people who are poorly educated, who do not try hard at marriage, and who are poor and prone to criminal behavior. In that sense, the specter of racism still looms over the black community: even though the bonds that shackled them down have long since been lifted, their effects on that community linger on. To say that they need to just get over it or whatever is to completely ignore all of the effects that such things have on a person's psyche.
Here's the sad thing, while I agree with you in that it has an effect (it's not solely responsible, mind you, but it is a major effect), the question is what causes the almost defeatist mindset that leads to one accepting mediocrity?That's a good question. I'll try and take a stab at it. I'm a black man myself, I've went to both public and private school. I've been in predominately black schools and predominately white schools. If you've been in an inner-city school your set up to fail. There isn't enough supplies, many are overcrowded, and the teachers are mediocre and are a revolving door there. Public schools in better areas are drastically better as far as resources are concerned. They also tend to expose students to way more different things (ex. better field trips, more choices of sports, expanded curriculum, etc.).
Stereotypes also play a major role. When your viewed as dangerous and seen as less intelligent, you begin to beleive it. I remeber one of my earliest expereiences with racism. I was at the county fair in Los Angeles with my parents. I was 9?? We were in one of those tarps where the salesmen advertise their product. I was standing next to my mother and an older white lady. She looks down at me, looks at here purse, and then switches her purse to the other shoulder away from me. What danger was a nine year old holding is mother's hand to her? I don't know, but little stuff like that can really hurt your confidence and make you feel like your dirt. Since then, I've been called the N word multiple times in my life. And I wasn't dressed "ghetto" or doing anything to anyone. One time it happened while I was in my Catholic uniform in front of my high school waiting for the school bus.
Now I was raised by my parents, Grandmother, Aunts, Uncles. My mother and her side of the family are immigrants of another country. I was taught at a young age that I should be proud and happy of my heritage and my self as an individual. I was lucky to have such a supportive family that taught me at an early age to go to college, and that I am just as intelligent as anyone else. That I can go as long as my will takes me. Not every minority gets that support. Too many other factors take parents away from kids (drugs, poverty, violence, stress, society, self-fulfilling prophecy, etc.) Not everyone gets to hear that college is an option and that your worth it. Some families are so crippled and beat down by life that they have nothing to lift their kids with.
As far as the original post goes, yes racism and bigotry are still a problem. I have never met a minority (black, Indian, Persian, Chinese, Fillapino, whoever) that has not felt or had some type of racism directed to them. It's a problem, but as long as we teach our children to grow up with an open mind and to treat each other with respect then I have hope that one day it will end.
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