Ok, listen, I misjudged you, I'm sorry. If you don't mind, I'd like to continue this at some other time. There's a lot I could say, but basically I have Asperger's syndrome, empathy is not exactly a strong suit. I thought your background growing up had to do with gay sex and drug-dealing...
I grew up in middle-class background. Albeit, I spent half that portion in the "ghetto" over my black extended family's house. Spending the night. Visiting. Etc. It was not to far from were I was raised anyways. Maybe 10 minutes on bicycle to get there.
In general, I would have been considered a square then. To some extent I'm still considered one now. So, you are dealing with issues of perception and relativity now. I appreciate "Chicago Steppin" but I don't myself know how to "Chicago Step" (or "Step" as it's also known), therefore, I am a "square."
Relative to those that do. Within the
perception of a section of Black-Americans.
It doesn't help much that I now have some college education (Oh, please, you Southern blacks that are about to hit the "report button." Contrary to what you think every city is not in the South with black people that have a strong culture of the HBCU's. Like many of these whites, some of you never even knew what "Chicago Steppin" is and when you hear the word "Step" you think of the black college frats that do their strong stomping dances). That's okay for a black female, but for a black male it's regarded as pretty square. That does not mean going to college is held in disdain. It's just viewed as the opposite of making a commitment to the streets.
You see... knowing things, seeing things, even experiencing things does not necessarily make you "hip" or "gangster" in my hood or in the whole of the North Side of Milwaukee. I feel confident in saying it's the same thing in Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland etc.
Yes, as an adult I've backed up a partner and pulled a sawed-off shotgun on a family, outside, had people sliding on porches on their bellies. I've done a number of things. But I'm still a square. That's just what you do where I'm from (backing up your partner). And doing it makes you reliable, not hip, or gangster, and does not diminish your squareness.
which was why I assumed you liked the book because it was like a story of your own life, or similar enough to your own. I didn't know you were a marine or a boxer, and in light of that thank you for your service.
I grew up middle-class. Not in the ghetto. Mind you... black middle-class neighborhoods in the Midwest often have lots of noise, traffic, robberies, rapes, and today gun violence too. But there are some differences. One being you're very, very, very unlikely to see two families on the same street (or one that is one or two blocks or so down from the street from the other) in mass fist fights out on the block. Or today it can be two homes across the street from one another shooting at each others houses (but I've only heard of that on the news and only once). That doesn't happen in middle-class black neighborhoods. Doesn't mean someone might not walk up to you as you stand on the corner and from behind you pull out a .38 or 9mm pistol and shoot you in the back of the head. You'd have to have some beef with someone for that though.
Iceberg had
a much different life than mine. His was not square and his was steeped in the ghettos. I went to Catholic school and had a father that was an armed Federal Agent that investigated criminals, carried out raids on violent gangs, went undercover etc. And I spent part of my life around the German-American white side of my family. We used to visit some of them in the country (Wisconsin).
And I'm not sure I'd label myself a boxer. I think one needs more time in boxing than I had to be rightfully labeled a boxer. As for the Corps... no need to thank me. The Corps thanked me every 2 weeks when they gave me a paycheck. I didn't enlist out of the kindness of my heart or love of country. I got to carry assault rifles along with the potential opportunity to hunt man and kill man without going to jail. What more can you ask for? Being American or part of the American military you are almost certain to carry out the hunt of your prey in his own backyard. We don't fight wars on mainland USA. Protected by too much bodies of water. And up and down from us we got Canada and Mexico to use as human shields. When we hunt man we go on an African safari. And we bring billions of dollars of equipment with us. It is no fair fight. Semper Fi.
...so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the black narrative. I don't like it anymore than you do, but quite frankly I'm just one person and I can't fix much. Obama couldn't.
Eh, you and I both. But it won't stop neither white or Black-Americans of accusing you of creating the drama by not holding their hands and
pretending along with them that what is in fact reality is not reality.
But I'm 43 years-old and tired of playing pretend with Americans.
My life has been hard too, and I've had struggles as well, they just manifest themselves differently. Also, I'm only 20 so I don't exactly know everything.
Everyone has struggles. And material poverty by the way... is not the worst thing. That's an American and Western European fictional story. Emotional poverty is far more cruel and destructive.
You have black African families and some Mexican families that come to the USA in material poverty. But they are incredibly rich emotionally. And their emotional health, emotional prosperity, strong families, propels them to "success" in the USA.
Therefore, the irony is this. For some it would have been better they be born in Africa or Mexico and then come to the USA in all that great emotional wealth, than as they were born in to USA into emotional abject poverty within either their emotionally dead families or emotionally perverted families.
And I don't particularly love Shakespeare either, I just thought you were being like the woman we were originally talking about and being disrespectful to it because it didn't talk about minority struggles.
Really, I brought up Iceberg I think, because I was mentally recalling or mentally reflecting on the
popularity of black urban fiction today among young blacks. Actually, a lot of Black-American women my age read that stuff too. I mean... that's the only genre some of them seem to read. Now, that's among those women with no college education. Those black women with some or a lot of college educations read a more diverse genre of literature.
When I'm talking black urban literature I'm talking about stuff written today too. Most of it is written today. I go in the public libraries and they have whole shelves dedicated just to that. The Milwaukee Journal wrote an article about the explosion of authors--just in Milwaukee--maybe 2 or 3 years ago. Of course, most authors don't get published. But then there is self publishing today too.
And yeah... some of this stuff (if not a lot of it) is written by Black-American female authors. So far as I can tell--I haven't read any of it (other than browsing over back covers of paperbacks)--it goes by much of the same themes. Young black woman meets a "good guy" black thug (probably dark skinned because that's what's most popular among black women today) that's a big time drug dealer. He's a tough guy. But she knows that deep down he has a heart of gold and wants to bring that out. Et cetera, et cetera. They all live materially lavish etc.
I get the impression most these authors never experienced the "streets" the way Iceberg or I have. And they like these rapper Rick Ross narratives. I could be wrong. But that's the impression I get. Obama will listen to them. I won't. Some of them might "snitch" and hit the "report button" and the moderators on this forum will listen to them. I won't.
Iceberg was more akin to the incarcerated Larry Hoover of Chicago than to the rapper Rick Ross. What I'm trying to say is a lot of black urban lit--to my impression--is akin to the rapper Rick Ross portrayal of the streets and its heroes. Which are about as reflective of truth, regarding their fictional ghetto heroes, as every Republican in Congress and the White House are sinless saints and 100% heterosexuals etc.