Quote:
Originally posted by Phasad1913
Maybe its no longer possible for black americans or black people in general to "change as a race". Things have changed so much both globally and here in America. We were so grouped together during the days of segregation (in its first form) and jim crow that there truly was a sense of togetherness in the struggle. But things have changed a lot in countless ways, both good and bad. People are, in general, more individualized in their thinking. Many black people are conservative (with a small C) and feel that they have and will make it in life because of their own merit, not because of anything someone gave them. I just don't really feel that there is A or ONE black America any more and that is actually why people feel like change in and among ourselves as a group in never going to happen. It probably won't. People have to live for themselves and I don't mean that in a selfish way. What I mean is that people already look out for themselves and their own families and thats about all one can expect another to do. So, why not just accept that? There is absolutely nothing wrong with reaching out and lending a helping hand. We are all supposed to do that. But doing so with a "I have to do this because I am black and so are you" attitude isn't the crux of the issue anymore.
Rather than people waiting for some miraculous grand awakening of black people to occur, we need to just live our own lives to the best of our abilities and try to encourage one another as Christians are supposed to do, or what ever your religion calls for in terms of helping our fellow man. This goes for Bill Cosby and anyone else. When he talks, everyone nods their heads because everyone does feel and can relate to what he is saying. No one is fighting with him over his views. The problem is that the motivation for change is going to always have to come from within each individual person, not from some external force.
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Phasad1913,
I feel you on this post. We're too diverse to realistically ever again expect one person to lead us. As one of those small "c" conservatives you mentioned, I think a significant portion of the successful AfAm community is rightly concerned about helping those trying to help to help themselves. Most of us are making it, or at least on our way, and remember the obstacle/s we had to conquer. Knowing that, our greater sense of collective good, IMO, leads us to reach back. Hopefully, our diversity won't kill that.
True, there are knuckleheads who squandered their talent and didn't prepare. Bad choices usually yield bad results. But my social service peeps (and my own observations) suggest that the majority of lower-economic class are not shiftless, anti-social, negative-headline generating gangbangers. The majority are the ones hitting the Urban Leagues and the Life Skills centers, and other programs, trying, as best they can, to come up.
When the prodigal son came to himself and made his way back home, he didn't get a lecture. He got restoration. And even if the poor have to find full restoration on their own, they at least deserve to make the trip back home without full-throated criticism ringing in their ears.