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Old 10-07-2003, 02:44 PM
Steeltrap Steeltrap is offline
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Something to think about

Within the Newsweek article on Kobe, I thought that Kevin Powell (from the first Real World) had some marvelous points on how black males are raised.

Race was also a key ingredient in this family brew. “It’s the classic story that happens in black families,” says Kevin Powell, author of a new book, “Who’s Going to Take the Weight? Manhood, Race and Power in America.” “It’s a classic story that happens in black families, where the mother raises the daughters and spoils the sons. The community tends to be very protective of young black men because of what they often face in the world. That can sometimes backfire.” Powell maintains that Kobe’s youth in Italy did nothing to prepare him for the realities of growing up in America, particularly as a black man. “I really don’t think his parents understood what having him grow up there in his formative years did to his ability to communicate with others, particularly African-Americans. It emotionally stunted him.”

That's an interesting indictment, IMO. It's also something that could apply to black children who are raised in deep suburbia, similar to places like Orange County.
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