>>>
>>>What's the biggest problem Most Blacks
>>>face?
>>>
>>>POVERTY!
>>
>>Racism
>
>If you look at the day
>to day problems a lot
>of Blacks face, particularly poor
>ones, poverty is the problem
>that makes them easier to
>oppress in the first place.
>It's also the problem that's
>probably the most pressing in
>their daily lives.


Blacks can escape poverty. How much does poverty effect middle class and upper class Blacks? Racism is there everyday all day no matter how much money you have.

>
>
>
>>>Which leads to crime, poor schools,
>>>shattered families, makes Blacks Vulnerable
>>>to opression, etc.
>>>
>>
>>Every group faces poverty it's racism
>>that makes poverty hurt our
>>community more than say a
>>white community.
>
>No argument here, I just think
>that if you can't feed
>your kids, poverty is your
>biggest concern.


Who can't feed their family when you have WIC and all the other programs not to mention jobs?

>
>
>
>>Actually I think the numbers are the same. If I recall >correctly I think it was Charles Olgatree<sp> or Claude >Anderson that said the same number(talented tenth) of Blacks at >the top now is the same number that was at the top back then.
>
>That kinda proves that we're still
>in the 4th inning, if
>only 10% of Blacks are
>at the top or economically
>successful....then we need to take
>care of the other 90%.

How long do we stay in a inning. During a baseball game eventually you get to the last inning and the game is over.

>
>
>If 60-80% of Blacks were economically
>successful and there was still
>no change in the racial
>dynamics of this country....THEN I'd
>call Booker T. a failure.


Given the increased attacks on Blacks anytime we make gains I doubt we will see numbers that high. Is that the percentage for Asians, Jews and other groups smaller than whites?

>
>
>>While I do agree that money
>>runs this country and economic
>>power will help Blacks I
>>don't trust politicans. How many
>>politicans that need a white
>>majority to win are going
>>help Blacks at the expense
>>of their white majority? Just
>>look at the Natives that
>>were giving money to politicans,
>>how much did it help
>>them,or the way the Democrats
>>have become more Republican.
>
>
>I don't neccessarily disagree with you,
>however I do think that
>strategic use of economic power
>in politics still has value.


Locally it has value, I can't see any value on a national level.

>
>
>
>
>>They can though. Look at what
>>Ward Connerly is doing and
>>Clarence Thomas. Money or no
>>money this will affect your
>>kids and grandkids.
>
>True, but perhaps economic strength can
>shield them and/or I can
>do something to put a
>stop to this nonsense.


True

>
>>We are still getting shot dead
>>in the street, still denied
>>access to capital, upper education,
>>and equal justice in the
>>courts.
>
>Who do the cops shoot? Poor
>Blacks in poor neighboorhoods that
>no one is paying attention
>to. They prey on the
>powerless and those who cannot
>fight back. Ditto for Justice,
>it's easy to screw over
>a Brotha in court when
>he's got a lazy Public
>Defender defendin his but, as
>opposed to a good lawyer
>his family hired.

They also shoot undercover black cops, a teen in a car, Blacks at a costume party. Maybe they are not shooting the people who are pulled over for driving while Black but any number of those stops could turn into a death regardless of where it occurs. They prey on Blacks period. Agreed good laywer is always better than nothing BUT even a good lawyer is powerless against a corrupt racist system.

>
>Education is such an economic issue
>it's not even funny. I
>went from an afluent high
>school to a Blue collar
>one due to my family
>moving and I saw that
>first hand. When you see
>working class friends who are
>brilliant, go to so/so schools
>(if at all) because that's
>what they aspire to (or
>believe they can do) while
>mediocre friends from affluent families
>go to excellent schools and
>end up making more then
>your poor friends parents fresh
>out of college....despite being well...idiots....you
>see the power of economics
>in education.

I agree money helps when it comes to education but it's the connections with money that get kids from affluent families jobs more then the school they went to our the education they have. I've seen people who can't read get hired and promoted while people with degrees and diplomas were blocked from receiving what they earned.

>I read an Article in Forbes
>today that showed how kids
>born into Wealthier families do
>better on their SATs. Could
>be a 2-300 point difference
>depending on your parents income.
>That could be the difference
>between one of the top
>25 schools in the nation
>and a so/so state school.

I would expect kids from wealthy families to do good on the SAT but I don't think they need that to get into the top 25 schools just look at Bush. True yor income is the difference between the best schools and the average schools but I don't think the top 25 are out looking for wealthy Black kids to enroll.

>
>As for Capital it's about working
>the system, so maybe that's
>not neccessarily an economic issue,
>but a knowledge one.

You can have all the knowledge in the world and it won't be enough because it's a racist corrupt system.

>
>It works like this, when you
>apply for a loan they
>look at your credit and
>income. Based on scoring algorithms
>they come up with an
>assessment that the lender uses
>to determine the size of
>your loan. However, you may
>get downgraded depending on your
>personal situation. I.e. If you're
>a free lance worker, they
>may downgrade you, if they
>don't think that your Business
>model is all that great,
>they may downgrade you.

Do you think any of that comes into play when banks are redlining? What about when your Business model will comptete with a white business, or it might hurt a white business?

>On the other hand, you have
>"credit repair" you have so/so
>credit. But you haven't missed
>a payment in a year,
>or you need the car
>to go to work, or
>you work for a Pharmaceutical
>company, so the know you'll
>probably always be employed.
>
>The point is that there is
>a lot of room for
>Loan officers to eff you
>over. So you need to
>learn how to work the
>system so that they can't
>do that isht. One way
>is to apply for loans
>over the phone or online,
>another way is to pull
>your credit report 6 months
>before you plan on getting
>the loan so you can
>make sure it's tight.

>
>The point is that there are
>ways around all that isht,
>you just need to know
>what to do.


You can know the system left and right from beginning to end it still will not make a difference if you have a loan officer who is racist, he is not going to play by the rules even if he is aware that you know the rules.

>
>
>
>>Jews are working with the same
>>people who hate them almost
>>as much as us.
>
>I wouldn't be surprised if they
>hated Jews more, but Jews
>have such a strong financial
>base that they don't eff
>with em. I don't care
>if people hate me, just
>if they eff with me.


You need more then financial strength to stop people from effing with you, but it does help.

>
>
>>If economic empowerment is the solution
>>then what happen to Blacks
>>when they had economic empowerment
>>in Tulsa OK, Roswood, and
>>Durham? They were still
>>at the mercy of whites.
>>Wealth did not save them.
>>
>
>They had money but NO power,
>what good does money do
>you in a society where
>you have no rights or
>any real power outside of
>your immediate surroundings?


Wealth is not power? Their money did not fit the outline of what wealth is ?

>
>This is what I'm talking about,
>Blacks need to build economic
>strength, wield that strength and
>develop a formidable presence is
>all aspects of society: Social,
>Economic & Political. That is
>how we can protect ourselves
>from things like this.


I agree with economic empowerment, I just believe we can't pin all our hopes and aspirations on one thing.


http://www.tbwt.com/content/article.asp?articleid=597 A good link related to what we are dicussing.





"I must warn you, ma'am, that people invariably flee the room when I walk in because I'm from Levittown"

"And what a spectacular act of noblesse oblige on her part to escort the lowly Levittowner around Washington on Inauguration Day!"

"If one were sufficiently paranoid, one might easily misinterpret a decision to go get seconds on that chicken hash as a deliberate insult to the municipality of Levittown."

"Close examination of the guest list reveals many other guests with backgrounds more humble than Bill O'Reilly's. Yes, even more humble than an accountant's son from Levittown. We can only hope that they didn't take offense when O'Reilly himself departed."

I'm working-class Irish American Bill O'Reilly … pretty far down the social totem pole," he says. Growing up in the 1960s, he watched his father "exhausting himself commuting from Levittown" to work as an accountant for an oil company. Dad "never made more than $35,000"—which would be $100,000 or more in today's money