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Originally posted by Shortfuse
No I didn't say that at all. But when those people had support groups coming up. I'm talking about older people in their neighborhoods who made sure they were going int he right direction and was getting that education. These people gave them contacts/money/support that they needed to survive. Kids today are thrown out to the wolves. Just right here in DC where the head of the household could be a 10 year old boy hustling to feed his baby brother/sister or both. The blacks of the 60s and 70s didn't have it easier but there were people their to teach them how to grow up to be men and women. People sacrifice time and money to make sure that they didn't have to face what they faced in the 30s,40s, and 50s.
Now to answer your second question, they owe the people who helped them along the way to turn around and help today's generation to make sure they're not lost, just like their elders made sure that they wouldn't be lost. The struggle doesn't stop just because somebody makes a speech and a few laws are passed. IT ends when we finally are able to do what Bro. King said in his speech.
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I don't doubt that back then that there were equally poor problems as today. What I think has complicated things today is the introduction of drugs and crime as things that can provide a livelihood. For that 10 year old boy hustling people on the streets to feed his siblings back in the 60's and 70's, I don't think drugs, etc. were nearly as accessible. I sure as hell don't think education was better, and I don't know enough about the support structure of that community to say anything about it.
One thing that has really torn ALL lower-level socio-economic communities apart is the prevalance of drugs. My only experience in the real "ghetto" as I have said before happened at about 4AM in Memphis, right on the East side of the river. Within 60 seconds of getting out of my car, I had a meth rock shoved in my face. Holding it, I saw one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Here was a woman with no teeth, very dumpy, but probably not more than 35. I seriously doubt that today, 2 years later that this woman is still alive.
I know it's easier to find in urban communities, but it's all over the place. In my state, we had (HAD) one of the highest rates of meth use in the country until the state government made pseudophedrine extremely difficult to procure in any large quantities. Since then, use has plummetted and many users and dealers have moved out of state.
But before that, I could really see how our small towns just weren't the same as they used to be. Everyone was too cracked out to give a crap, and everyone could only think of themselves. Kids raised in that environment just don't have a chance. I don't care how much $$ you pump into their schools. With parents like that, they are screwed from the get-go.
There's hope. I see our churches reaching out, individuals and groups are helping. But the problem has become so vast that these efforts are just a drop in the ocean. What has to happen is a fundamental social and cultural revolution. And I don't see that happening unless society really hits rock bottom.