Quote:
Originally posted by PositivelyAKA:
anyway poplife made some valid points, the majority of whites, asians and other ethnic groups do come to this country with a "lets stick together mentality and they do for the most part stick together and support thier own"...how many of us would like the asians have several families in one house in order to save money to buy a business etc. most blacks are into the "i want my own, you get your own mentality" other minorities often have no problem and see nothing wrong with supporting one another...most minorities in america realize that in order to maintain respect and quality of living for the present and future generations of their race they must show unity and sacrifice for the good of the whole now/today. and they are of course doing better as a whole then we are because of that mentality. i think we could learn alot from them.
idealy we should beable to shop/buy whatever works for us, i'm all for that, but sometimes their is a need to sacrifice for the good of the community. other minorities have done it and it has worked for them...so although i will never "tell" anyone to buy something just because its black owned, big company or small it doesn't matter, its still a black man and a black child, but i will say that the mentality of supporting your own has done wonders for other minority groups and allowed them now to be able to do more mainstream activities for lack of a better phrase now that they have established a respect and strong economic foundation in this non utopian country... [/B]
|
Lady AKA, I believe that the sentiment expressed in this quote explains what I meant very well. To further the point,
Dr. Na'im Akbar talks about this subject a lot in his book "Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery". In paraphrase, he discusses the "wonderfully thorough" job that slavery did on the Black mentality (destroying the group consciousness, and elevating a "me" consciousness).
Black Americans have an economic buying power that is absolutely amazing. We literallly have the resources (our money) to make drastic changes in our community. But while the White dollar will circulate throughout the White community for years, the Black dollar leaves the Black community in days.
Black people have a HARD time supporting their own. Whether it be doctors (think a white one is smarter), colleges (think the white one is better), lawyers (think the white firm is more successful) or whatever, Black Americans (for the most part) are amongst the very few groups of people who prefer the "Other" over their own.
Now of course this goes waaaaay beyond hair products. And if it was merely hair products, then it wouldn't be a big deal to say "well I buy what works" (which, in an ideal world would be fine). But when we add not being concsious about seeking out Black hair products, to not being conscious about who we purchase our clothes from, to who we buy our cars from, and who we pay to do our tax returns, and who we go to for legal services, and to who we go to get our appliances serviced...well that adds up to a whole lot of money leaving the Black community. Like the sister earlier said "most minorities in america realize that in order to maintain respect and quality of living for the present and future generations of their race they must show unity and sacrifice for the good of the whole now/today". Rarely would you hear a Korean say they're going to buy products from "John and Bob's Grocer" because the prices are cheaper. Their mentality is such that NO MATTER WHAT they will support their own. And that mentality has worked for them. Now we may rationalize and say "I just buy what works" and think nothing of it...but that mentality has kept us where we are--even though our hair may have that extra bounce...
oh, sorry it took so long to respond
Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the Presence of God