I was part of a heated convo about what black people as a group need to improve our lives.

It's the standard argument External Factors (more support from the government, dismantling the white racist power structure) versus internal factors (stronger families, return to our old value system).

Someone said something that I have never heard before put so bluntly (by a non-racist) but my dude said that we need White People to come up. They have the power, the money, the institutions, the come up can't happen unless they are invested. Even when we control things like local government, as we see in cities like Detroit it ain't enough.

Further, its not just a matter of middle and upper class black people pitching in, their aren't enough of us to help.

Got me thinking.

I've come to the conclusion that the best thing you can do for poor black kids is to get them surrounded by middle class and upper class folks (I think preferably black). Being around people who are getting it done has a tremendous impact. My dude's theory dovetails with this because, well, most middle & upper class folks are white.

Anyway, I am trying to work this out in my head and would appreciate hearing other people's thought on this.






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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

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