(Sorry about the long post.)
I think you're underestimating the persecution Jewish people have faced, even in the US. For one, many of the extremist groups (usually far-Right wing white supremacists) which hate black people also hate Jews.
Additionally, Jewish people faced genocide in Europe - whereas in the US, even black slaves were not sentenced to die in the infamous ovens.
This isn't to say that black people haven't suffered greatly - obviously they have. The difference here is that, particularly in the USA, Jews and black people are on opposite ends of the social scale despite having faced threats and violence from the same type of extremist.
I am actually underestimating the persecution of
Black people, in comparison to Jewish people. Yes, the Holocaust happened. Yes, Jewish people faced genocide in Europe. Guess what: so did Africans and Black slaves. Where as the Holocaust happened, and a quantitative description of that atrocity could be forged, countless millions of Black slaves were murdered, tortured, raped (to death,) and flayed. No one counted this number, because Black slaves were
property - that is another distinction between Jews and Blacks. Jews were at least called entities like dogs or swine. Black people were comparable to pieces of paper, or dung.
And, saying that extremist groups treat Black people the same as Jews is incorrect - it is like saying the homosexual persecution in the States is the same - or comparable to Black struggle. It is insulting and marginalizing, because for one thing you can always hide homosexuality AND your Jewish background. You cannot hide being Black. Secondly, the ignorance it takes to compare
slavery,
post-Antebellum American racism, Jim Crow, post civil rights, and millennial racism to Jewish and homosexual trials - in America - is simply monstrous.
Black people are a default for directing hate. Only someone who chooses to ignore that, or is not Black would not understand this. You cant even "be black for six months" like some people have tried to do anthropologically, because in the back of your mind, you know when the term is up you can go right back to being your original race. Black people are Black forever; the experiences of racism, and the experiences of having to hear people marginalize them and tell them to essentially "get over it" when injustices happen daily are ongoing and continual - until Black people die.
Using examples from other nations and other ethnic groups is perfectly relevant. Indians (people from India, not native Americans) faced persecution and servitude from the British in their own country. Today India itself still has many problems, yet up to 70% of Indians in the USA have college degrees - a far higher percentage than the US population in general.
So? S
tatistics can make anything look pretty, especially when you don't include the sample space. What about the Indians
in their own country? And, are the British still occupying India as they did in the 19th century? Or, do the Indians in India have some sort of veneer of
control of their country?
Black people can go to any other nation and prosper - especially if the nation accepts them. That is not the argument. The argument is racism in one's
own country,
by the people in power in one's own country.
Similarly Jews have faced with religious and secular/ethnic persecution in Europe over the centuries, yet in terms of education and wealth, the Jews are a highly successful group.
Ok. Does that still happen to this day? Or, is there a culture of Jews being default occupational success stories (almost stereotypically,) like being a lawyer, doctor, scientist, etc.? And, are the stereotypes of Black people "good ones," or the same hackneyed "chicken and watermelon, grape soda, big lipped, crack addict, murdering, smelly animal, criminal" stereotypes? Are you really trying to convince me that - even if Jews and Black people started at the same bottom - Jews are on an even playing field with Black people, especially in terms of persecution?
Black peoplea are not the only group who have suffered from white colonialization and racism. I know that probably sounds harsh, and I'm not trying to downplay the effect such persecution has had - but if we are going to use racism and colonialization as an explanation, we would also have to explain why other races and enthic groups who have faced the same problem are more socially successful than black people.
Who is saying black people are the only one's that suffered from white imperialism and racism?
And, "these ethnic groups" aren't "more successful" than another ethnic group. That is a statistician argument that is politically backed. The truth is that all ethnics groups are successful - you can't measure success over a whole ethnicity - and it would be both ignorant and arrogant to do so. And, you don't sound harsh saying something like this because it is trite; the mainstream media, racist politicians, average layperson, and internet trolls have already beat you to this several times over (not that I am calling you any of those.) Especially with educated Black people, things like this don't mean anything because we know the truth of the situation, and how ignorant it is to measure the success of an entire race, and to compare it to the success of another race. As said before, it is a statistician argument that is politically backed.
Again, forgive me if I've misunderstood you, but it seems like you're insinuating that I can't have a valid opinion on black underachievement unless I'm black myself.
Because - if you were saying that the validity of my opinion is based on my race - well, that would be racist.
That is not what I am saying - why is the extreme always taken when I spend plenty of clicks on the keyboard trying to thoroughly explain my position?
I don't bash people for having an opinion on black underachievement if they aren't Black. Valid is a matter of opinion, of course. What I am saying is that you cannot possibly understand the intricacies of Black problems, and the thorough degradation, politics, and discrimination if you aren't Black yourself. Opine all you want. But, saying you understand the "plight of Black people" - so much so that you think your opinion of their underachievement is "valid," is ignorant at best. That is like me saying I understand the plight of North Korean women trying to escape from N.K. to Hong Kong in order to have a better life - because I experience racism and prejudice in the States. Really? Of course, I can opine about N.K. women's experiences, and their perceived underachievement all day long. The validity of such an opinion is debatable at best.
And, no saying the validity of your opinion is based on your race is not racist. Saying your opinion is valid is in and of itself a matter of opinion - especially if you are a different race. You think if you are Peruvian, and lived there all of your life, you could say that your opinion on cultural whitewashing of Hawaiian culture is valid - no questions asked? I would hope not; it would be a matter of opinion - on both accounts (both the opinion, and its validity.)
To reiterate my point, black people have faced terrible persecution from white people over the last few centuries - but this is not unique to them. Other ethnics groups such as Indians and Jews have faced similar persecution from white people too, but today both of them actually outperform whites in terms of education and income. Black people (and Hispanics) however are underperforming.
No one is arguing anyone else's persecution by white people.
The title of the thread, and the subject of the original post is directed toward Black people in America. So, it would be germane if we kept on the subject of Black people in America, and the subject of the OP.
And, just so you know: you sound very ignorant when you compare the success of any race, especially when you don't live in the country. (Now, before you say I said your opinion doesn't matter, re-read what I wrote: I said you sound ignorant; I didn't say your opinion doesn't matter. If you gather that from reading what I said, those are your own feelings.)
Even if you did live in the States (for all of your life,) you would still have to know, and accept the political skew toward making brown people seem undesirable, and lighter skinned people more desirable. Like I said before, brown people's accomplishments are not paraded in the States - they are not subjects of discussion often.