That is the crazy thing about race and racism. Who is to say one North African qualifies as an Arab, thereby White, and another is not? And if we really want to get technical, we could go way back to the Bible that shows Semites as descendants of Shem and Caucasians as descendants of Japheth. So really, where Arabs come from is a really poor way to determine one's race, especially when we remember that "Arabs" (and I use the term loosely) come in as many colors and religions as do African Americans. And besides, the rule applies to North African countries, not specific groups within those countries.
And I guess I would like to know what you would suggest as an alternative to seeing the situation of Black people for what it is? I know many have a tendency to over focus on the negatives without balancing it w/ the positives. However, the alternative is often to be soo afraid of mentioning the negatives that we bury our heads in the sand.
We must also remember that Jews did not have 400 hundred years of culturally, physical, spiritual genocide to contend with, neither do the Asians. So maintainig ccultural identity was not a problem for them. In our situation, we don't have a consensus as to what our cultural identity should look like. Shoot, we don't even have communities, let alone an identity.
In any event, to shrug off disenheartening information about the status of our community simply because of the negative tone is counter productive. Especially if the one disregarding that info has no alternative to provide.
Were you able to find out where the info on the #12 in GNP thing could be located?
And I guess my question would also be, if we have the ability within us to succeed, why aren't we? What is it about Black skin that causes us to make up nearly 1/2 of those w/ HIV? What is it about Black skin that causes us to comprise overy 1/2 of the national prisonpopulation? What is it about Black skin that makes over 60% of our households headed by single Black women? What is it??? The thing is, Anderson offers very specific, details and contexts for his information. As do many other "neo-socialist academics". When will we stop debating the percentage points of teh statistics and get up and do something? (not directed at anyone in particular, merely rhetorical...but if the shoe fits...)
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Originally posted by DoggyStyle82
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Originally posted by LiberatedQueen
Actually, they can. My whole family is West Indian, and we all qualify for African American Status after we've been naturalzied. Any AFrican (of whatever color) can claim African American once they achieve American status. What's crazier, in my opinion, is that most North Africans (according to immigration law), and people from what we call the "middle East" are eligible for honorary White status. So they can legally claim that they are of caucasian status.
The key there is that you became "naturalized". I have several West Indian chapter Bruhs who are not American citizens even though they have been here since childhood and they could not get certain scholarships and loans or preference for certain grad programs because they could not claim "African-American" status. Also, technically and genetically, North African Arabs (Middle Easterners) are Semites, who are a subset of the Caucasian genus.
Anyway, as long as Black folks take a myopic viewpoint of the real and larger world (America and its capitalist, libertarian system), we will always view ourselves as crabs in the barrel. To continously measure our success or percieved lack thereof against vague and misleading measurements thrown about by the neo-socialist academics who pass themselves off as the Black Intelligentia, does us a great disfavor.
Jews as a group are successful because they have successfully integrated while maintaing their group identity. They are rich, not because they sell to themselves (not enough of them ) but because they sell to the greater American community of all races.
Asians are successful for the same reasons, a committment to education, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice, all of which are within the dominion of African Americans as individuals and as a race. "We" would view ourselves and our businesses alot better if "we" better reflected those tools of success.
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