Happy MLK Day!

[lendaddy]

The starting point argument certainly holds some water but I think the liberal policies keeping the black community in comfortable poverty are much more the culprit at this point than racist effort to opress.

The black child of stably employed and loving family is at no great disadvantage compared to the white child of a stably employed and loving family.

I don't see the barriers of a black family being stably employed and loving as being rooted in racist denial of opportunity. Was that the case a generation or two ago? Yes absolutely, but I think we've made tremendous progress.

But...if we are talking about the starting point that many here came from then yes there is still a divide that will take a while to close. But that divide is just as damaging to poor families of all races. What I'm talking about is the "family wealth" that many here have been the beneficiaries of. Wealth that sent them to college or helped them with there first home or whatever. Not many black families have developed this situation yet but as I said earlier, the gap is closing and the barriers are no longer rooted in racist denial of opportunity.

[M.D. Holloway]

Lets keep the party going!

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally Posted by cool_chick

LOL or is that a tart or maybe a torte?

hehe

No, I know what a tart is...need I discribe? JK...

[legion]

One thing that I have noticed (in high school firsthand and now hearing it from parents) is that black kids, particularly males, even from good households, are made to feel that they are not really "black' unless they dress like, act like, and emulate thugs/gangstas.

It's like society is working against the best efforts of some parents.

[YTNUKLR]

"When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

(courtesy Shuie's sig)

[strupgolf]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

The starting point argument certainly holds some water but I think the liberal policies keeping the black community in comfortable poverty are much more the culprit at this point than racist effort to opress.

The black child of stably employed and loving family is at no great disadvantage compared to the white child of a stably employed and loving family.

I don't see the barriers of a black family being stably employed and loving as being rooted in racist denial of opportunity. Was that the case a generation or two ago? Yes absolutely, but I think we've made tremendous progress.

But...if we are talking about the starting point that many here came from then yes there is still a divide that will take a while to close. But that divide is just as damaging to poor families of all races. What I'm talking about is the "family wealth" that many here have been the beneficiaries of. Wealth that sent them to college or helped them with there first home or whatever. Not many black families have developed this situation yet but as I said earlier, the gap is closing and the barriers are no longer rooted in racist denial of opportunity.

You really hit the mark. MLK had a vison of equality, it's up to the person to take advantage of it. It's there for all. Too many of today's black voices seem to think the Gov't will provide. If not, how do you explain the asians who now own company's with little or no money when they came here.

[M.D. Holloway]

Our Son treid to wear his jeans low one day. I hoisted him up by the belt loops, lifting him off the ground and looked him dead in the eye and said "I never ever want to see you wear your pants low. I think I have made myself clear. Do you have any questions?" To wit, he said "I won;t wear my pants like that anymore but can you hoist me up like that again , this is fun!" Message sent, understood but the effect was lost on the fun factor I didn't didn't count on.

The gansta speak and the dress style will only work in certain circumstances. Try that in a decent job and you may not have to wonder long why your on the outside looking in. Save the self expression for the journal...

[cool_chick]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

Our Son treid to wear his jeans low one day. I hoisted him up by the belt loops, lifting him off the ground and looked him dead in the eye and said "I never ever want to see you wear your pants low. I think I have made myself clear. Do you have any questions?" To wit, he said "I won;t wear my pants like that anymore but can you hoist me up like that again , this is fun!" Message sent, understood but the effect was lost on the fun factor I didn't didn't count on.

The gansta speak and the dress style will only work in certain circumstances. Try that in a decent job and you may not have to wonder long why your on the outside looking in. Save the self expression for the journal...

I'd like to see my black friends' kids dress like that. LOL. God, that would be fun to see their parents slap them upside the head.

It's like you letting your daughter dress like a white slut. Some parents do, some parents don't. Color isn't the factor, parenting is.

[legion]

Yes, but white girls don't get accused of "not being white" if they don't dress slutty.

[island911]

Pants, sluts, parents slapping kids . . . oh how this thread has lost it's way. Have you people have no repsect for MLK day!?!?!?

Glad to see Dr. no saw the light.

[cool_chick]

Originally Posted by legion

Yes, but white girls don't get accused of "not being white" if they don't dress slutty.

No, they just get accused of not being hot. And not all black people accuse a black person of not being black.

[skipdup]

Originally Posted by cool_chick

...
It's like you letting your daughter dress like a white slut.
...

And just what is a "white slut"?

[legion]

Originally Posted by cool_chick

No, they just get accused of not being hot. And not all black people accuse a black person of not being black.

Yes, but a girl can easily say: "I don't want to be hot if I have to be slutty."

A young black man may suffer much more cognitive dissonance if accused of "not being black".

[cool_chick]

Originally Posted by skipdup

And just what is a "white slut"?

"LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL"
April 16, 1963
Birmingham, Alabama

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Dear Fellow Clergymen:

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails so express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; selfpurification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gain saying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham that in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Watched what is commonly known as the, "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety this morning...regardless of anyones feeling about the man, the message is irrefutable, as important today as then.

Indeed. This is my impression also. Candidly, I'm not sure I have ever read or watched that speech with dry eyes. And I think there must be something wrong with someone who can take issue with any part of it. The Truth of his statements are more obvious than they keyboard I am using.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by cool_chick

That's his point. You and I as a heteros shouldn't .



Happy Martin Luther King Day.

LMAO. Yes, very well-put.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by island911

Glad to see Dr. no saw the light.

yeah, my bad for taking your predictable bait. But I'm trying to learn...harder since quitting the meds though.

You might try salmon eggs next time...you know, change it up a bit.

[Hugh R]

I believe MLK would be very sad if he could see who has stepped up and taken his place. Actually, while reflecting on it, NO ONE has stepped up and taken His place. There are several who have claimed to however.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Mule

1. King’s critics have long noted that much of the civil rights leader’s academic writings were plagiarized...........It is widely known that King was a womanizing adulterer. ......

Mul, I've got an idea. Why don't you start a thread to discuss Dr. King's shortcomings. It appears you have some good material for that subject today.

[Superman]

It is true that we do not have the leadership in the equality movement today that we had in the early sixties. Certainly true.

I wonder who was surprised when MLK became a political pariah by championing other injustices. Anybody? Anybody think those other injustices were not important or related? No, I didn't think so.

AFter reviewing Dr. King's struggles and message, it will be difficult to view our current batch of presidential candidates with a straight face.