Blackness Has Become a Commodity

[RDKirk]

I did a personal experiment asking over a dozen different people of various races knowing what they know now, that if they could have chosen their gender and race at birth, would they remain the same or different, 100% of the black men and women said they would remain the same while all except one white person said they would keep their gender but would be mixed race white and something else (black, brown, asian, etc.). Only one white man said he would keep his gender and race.

What in the world makes you think the black people would tell you what we really think in our hearts? None of us is going to tell someone who is not black if we'd rather not be black. We won't even make that kind of self-hating statement another black person, unless the relationship is really close and the moment is just right.

And your "personal experiment" is limited to your personal circle, which is not at all a random sample of anything.

 

[RDKirk]

You are correct. My apologies.

The assumption is that all people in any particular group are the same. And if they are the same, they must have the same experiences and the see the same problems, and thus have the same solutions. This is not true, though. I don’t see why I should listen to a black man from the ghetto discuss so-called racial issues just because he’s a black man from the ghetto and I’m a white man from rural America. The truth is truth regardless of who says it.

LOL.

So when I was an active duty intelligence analyst, I should have given equal weight to information about Iraqi military capability from a white man out of rural America as I'd give to a defector from the Iraq military?

Insane idea.

 

[Hammster]

It hasn't been achieved since blacks arrived on the continent.

From ... Examining the Black-white wealth gap

A close examination of wealth in the U.S. finds evidence of staggering racial disparities. At $171,000, the net worth of a typical white family is nearly ten times greater than that of a Black family ($17,150) in 2016. Gaps in wealth between Black and white households reveal the effects of accumulated inequality and discrimination, as well as differences in power and opportunity that can be traced back to this nation’s inception. The Black-white wealth gap reflects a society that has not and does not afford equality of opportunity to all its citizens.

Oh. I see. You want equal outcome, not equal opportunity.

How do you propose to achieve that?

 

[Hammster]

LOL.

So when I was an active duty intelligence analyst, I should have given equal weight to information about Iraqi military capability from a white man out of rural America as I'd give to a defector from the Iraq military?

Insane idea.

Lol.

False equivalency. You should trust the one with the truth.

 

[Ken-1122]

What in the world makes you think the black people would tell you what we really think in our hearts?

Because I know them, and they are my friends. What makes you think they would not?

None of us is going to tell someone who is not black if we'd rather not be black.

Do you think because you are black that you are qualified to speak on behalf of all black folk? No; you only speak for yourself. Nobody is qualified to speak on behalf of their entire race.

We won't even make that kind of self-hating statement another black person, unless the relationship is really close and the moment is just right.

Consider the possibility the reason they won’t make such a self-hating statement is because they don’t self hate, they are actually happy with who they are.

And your "personal experiment" is limited to your personal circle, which is not at all a random sample of anything.

It’s more of a random sample than your own personal opinion; the only thing you brought to the table.

 

[Ken-1122]

LOL.

So when I was an active duty intelligence analyst, I should have given equal weight to information about Iraqi military capability from a white man out of rural America as I'd give to a defector from the Iraq military?

Insane idea.

The Iraqi defector can give information about the Iraq military, but he is in no position to give information about the white man in rural America.

 

[Tone]

Did you read my second statement ?

Black features, darker skin, fuller features, tightly curled hair, etc. would be clues to African heritage ...

Greeks and Italians are in then huh...

 

[Ken-1122]

I am an African American born in 1960. There has not been a moment in my life ... when blackness was/is considered a commodity.

For as long as I've been alive, non-black American wealth has always exceeded black wealth, non-black average income has always exceeded black income, non-black employment opportunities have always exceeded black employment opportunities.

Immigrant black wealth, income, and education exceeds native black wealth, income, and education also; even 2nd generation immigrants (children of immigrants) when compared to native blacks. Do you suppose culture might have something to do with it?

 

[Ken-1122]

The official US position has been that "one drop" of black blood ... makes you black. This has translated into ... any trace of lack heritage ... makes one black ...

No; the one drop rule was under slavery; that ended long time ago. in my state upon birth, whatever the father is considered, that is what the baby is. If the father is black, the mother white, the baby considered black. If the father white the mother black, the baby is considered white.

 

[bèlla]

@Hammster

Hammster,

A more accurate comparison of income would include similarities in education, family composition, living standard, etc. It isn't difficult to find disparities when you're looking at apples and oranges.

From my experience, several factors contribute to generational prosperity. Including:

• Education - College degree or better
• Employment - Steady work record
• Marriage - No divorce
  
• Living within your means - Minimizing debt
• Savings
  
• Modest family size (in relation to income)
• Investing in quality education and activities for children

Poverty is rarely the result of one bad decision. Multiple contributors create a domino effect and exacerbate the situation. Single parent households, incarceration, limited education, etc. all play a part.

Thomas Stanley, the author of the Millionaire Next Door, declared the most important decision an individual makes is the person they marry. I'd posit the second is a family ethos. If you want to extend your reach and secure the welfare of those who follow, you have to put measures in place and be willing to stick to them. Every deviation has a price and the unit suffers.

I've witnessed this firsthand with my family and the behaviors my grandparents employed and their parents and so on. I saw the same with my clientele in wealth management. The ladder was clear and visions were well defined. I gleaned from each and employed commandments in my daughter's youth.

I'm more hands-on than many would tolerate. I consider the impact of alliances and the long-term benefit of their continuance. The furtherance of my line is foremost. It requires sacrifice and discipline. But you do it for the sake of the next and their children and all who follow. That's how dynasties are built.

Yours in His Service,

~Bella

 

[A_Thinker]

Greeks and Italians are in then huh...

Spaniards too. The peoples of southern Europe had a lot of intercourse with the African Moors ...

 

[Tone]

They had a lot of intercourse with Moors ...

Hmmm, I have a grandpa from northern Italy...

 

[A_Thinker]

Oh. I see. You want equal outcome, not equal opportunity.

How do you propose to achieve that?

We, as a society, can continue to work and to fight against those elements of our society which perpetuate the present imbalance.

As a two-degreed engineer at a major aerospace corporation, I experienced working under a supervisor who was caught in a pattern of attempted derailings of the careers of his black underlings. My experience was that I hadn't a clue what his issue was with me. I had worked at that corporation for 25 years ... and had received rather stellar evaluations of my work, ... and, suddenly, I was facing the loss of my position due to the rather arbitrary dissatisfaction of a supervisor who seemed to despise the fact that I worked under him.

It wasn't until 10 years later that I discovered that there was eventually discovered a pattern of his discrimination towards his black employees. One colleague told me that he had tried to get one black manager (in a first managerial role) ... to fire another black who worked for him for some obscure reasoning. Fortunately, we all survived him (the company ended up shipping him off to some distant assignment), but my career track would be forever impacted by the machinations of this individual.

And that occurred in 2005-2009.

 

[A_Thinker]

No; the one drop rule was under slavery; that ended long time ago. in my state upon birth, whatever the father is considered, that is what the baby is. If the father is black, the mother white, the baby considered black. If the father white the mother black, the baby is considered white.

From one arbitrary rule ... to another ... which makes no sense ...

 

[A_Thinker]

Immigrant black wealth, income, and education exceeds native black wealth, income, and education also; even 2nd generation immigrants (children of immigrants) when compared to native blacks. Do you suppose culture might have something to do with it?

Most immigrants come to this country ... with a good bit more resources ... than most native blacks possess.

 

[Hammster]

We, as a society, can continue to work and to fight against those elements of our society which perpetuate the present imbalance.

As a two-degreed engineer at a major aerospace corporation, I experienced working under a supervisor who was caught in a pattern of attempted derailings of the careers of his black underlings. My experience was that I hadn't a clue what his issue waswith me. I had worked at that corporation for 25 years ... and had received rather stellar evaluations of my work, ... and, suddenly, I was facing the loss of my position due to the rather arbitrary dissatisfaction of a supervisor who seemed to despise the fact that I worked under him.

It wasn't until 10 years later that I discovered that there was eventually discovered a pattern of his discrimination towards his black employees. One colleague told me that he had tried to get one black manager (in a first managerial role) ... to fire another black who worked for him for some obscure reasoning. Fortunately, we all survived him (the company ended up shipping him off to some distant assignment), but my career track would be forever impacted by the machinations of this individual.

And that occurred in 2005-2009.

How is this man responsible for the so-called wage disparity?

 

[A_Thinker]

How is this man responsible for the so-called wage disparity?

He is an example ... of those in our society who have used and will use, if allowed, their power to try to keep blacks back from economic success.

My brother went through similar harassment in his position as an worker for Amtrak.

If you talk to sufficiently representative numbers of blacks operating in corporate America, this is the experience that you will hear revealed many times.

You will hear other stories ... from those who were fortunate enough to steer clear of such characters in their working lives, but what I've related is certainly the default experience of working while black in America.

 

[A_Thinker]

I did a personal experiment asking over a dozen different people of various races knowing what they know now, that if they could have chosen their gender and race at birth, would they remain the same or different, 100% of the black men and women said they would remain the same while all except one white person said they would keep their gender but would be mixed race white and something else (black, brown, asian, etc.). Only one white man said he would keep his gender and race.

Something to take into account is that the vast majority of African-Americans are already mixed-race. The norm for black America is a people who have already accepted a level of diversity regarding their heritages.

 

[A_Thinker]

I guess if we are to follow current sociological trends it has to be decide by the individual's personal preference. If it is so for gender, I see no reason that it should be anything else for what color one identifies as. Perhaps we should all identify as brown since we are all one or other shade of brown.

We really should begin to move away from such designations, at least officially ... while, simultaneously, working together to ensure the blessings of our country's founding principles for all Americans. We will ever be mired in a racial context so long as we continue to struggle to codify our distinctions, rather than our commonalities ...

 

[A_Thinker]

I fail to understand why people identify as another color. I know it's just hateful people acting out but why they chose to do that I just don't know.

Why would anyone choosing how they wish to identify have anything to do with hate ?

Isn't this a country which promotes the idea that people can be what they want to be ?