Cynique

Not if they were able to neutralize their physical infirmities by being so mentally and intellectually capable that they are able to triumph over adversity and be financially independent. You are apparently having a problem with the very simple definition of the word "loser" which you want to make fluid, give it a face, attach conditions to it, and come up with words which you consider synonyms for it. To me, loser is the opposite of being a winner, pure and simple. It has no character. It is simply an indication of one's status in a situation or society-at-large. Life is made up of winners and losers, haves and have-nots. (Losers who come up with rationales for their status or are in denial about it usually exemplify the word in its slang vernacular). Fortunately, being a loser is by no means a permanent status, and can even be an incentive to become a winner. Also, no where is it written that winners are automatically people of good character.

i can't believe you asked that question. Of course slaves were losers. They lost everything, their freedom, their identity, their families, their culture. Just because they weren't responsible for this happening, doesn't make them winners. They were victims, and victims are the epitome of being losers because Life has kicked them in the ass. @Kalexander2 Losers are not necessarily bad people. They're hapless unfortunate people. A female abuser is a bad person but if he is in total charge of his life, in this cruel world, he is a winner because he has triumphed over what was keeping him down.

@Kalexander2What was your previous idea of what a loser was

@Troy I don't give a lot weight to the profound long term effect of a boycott. It would just pit black boycotters against retaliatory white boycotters inspired to show loyalty to those who cherish the American flag - as a symbol of white dominance. Black people don't attend NFL games in great numbers so that would have no huge impact, and whether TV advertisers dropped these games would depend whether their sales plummeted because of black consumers not buying their products; something that white consumers could again offset. Never under estimate white people flexing their muscles when it comes to those who mess with the revered symbols they associate with making America great. Currently, I don't think Kaepernick even cares about securing a spot on a NFL team anymore. To me, he scored a moral victory and became an award-winning folk hero and is in a position to take his concerns into another area. And, as courageous as the actions of Ali and Smith and Carlos were, I don't know that they had a great impact on change when it came to black men.... @Coach Michael Taylor I suggest to you, that there are millions of black males who have followed your common sense advice on their own, and are doing OK for themselves. They are who make up the black middleclass. But some things never change. While they are managing to survive in their glass-ceiling jobs and as business entrepreneurs, owning nice homes, maintaining 401Ks, sending their kids to college, their nice cars rather than being assets, can become liabilities in the "driving while black" zone that is a real, not an imagined victimization. Obama reached the pinnacle of achievement, but he was still the victim of racism. It ain't easy being black. Optimism can only take you so far.

While we're over here on this site bickering over mundane issues and sniping at each other, the rest of social media is in a growing state of consternation. Half the USA's population in on the verge of a nervous breakdown, frustrated by the idea of having to helplessly stand by while Donald Trump and all he represents gains momentum and the tide slowly turns in his favor. Daily his despotic power grows as he, with his finger on the pulse of those who represent what Americans really are, grow in numbers and trickle into his camp. And now with increasing opportunities to begin stacking the Supreme Court with right-wing conservatives, this incompetent, unscrupulous tyrant can place himself above the constitution and remain in office, maybe indefinitely like his heroes Vladimir Putkin and Kim jong Un. This is not hyperbole. It's what is happening right under our eyes where Fuhrer Trump will soon have it in his power to make this country over, a transformation which will last for generations unless there is a civil revolt. Planned Parenthood, Gay Marriage, LGBT Rights, Voting laws, Affirmative Action, are just a few of the liberal gains in jeopardy, not to mention the foundling fathers' instructions about the separation of church and state. Meanwhile, Democrats are scurrying around, wringing their hands, some mewing about civility, others gearing up for battle, placing their hopes in the ballot box, the traditional route for change, but a way which Trump forces now have the muscle to control. Chaos could be the winner. America is on the path to becoming a fascistic, theocratic, oligarchy. Some are apathetically all right with this. Others are vigorously opposed. A clash seem inevitable. Thomas Jefferson, flawed Aristocrat that he was, could never be accused of not being on point in his utterances. To wit: "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical." Ol Abe Lincoln, luke warm about freeing the slaves, observed that: "a house divided against itself cannot stand." Malcolm X thought change should come by "any means necessary". What does the future hold for the Divided States of America?

Colin Kaepernick may not have affected widespread change in the life of black America at large, but as i continue to stress, he DRAMATIZED a grievance and agitated the country. The fact that he is still a relevant topic of conversation is, in itself, is a victory! What he accomplished was to embarrass America into to realizing that its beloved flag doesn't live up to its promises. That is the implicit take-away from his bending a knee and this makes patriotic Americans extremely uncomfortable. That's a good thing in what is becoming a fascistic country. Nobody really believed his demonstration would suddenly turn racists cops into Office Friendlys, but without lifting a finger, Kaepernick became a thorn in the side those, who in all of their white law and order privilege, consider the boys in blue to be heroic paragons. Furthermore, NFL players and owners were all forced to do some soul searching and this may yet have a trickle-down effect.

Well A loser is a loser. An "incarcerated or financially broke" young brother isn't a winner. Victims of society are losers even if this isn't entirely of their own making. You become a winner when you find or are provided a way to successfully overcome your negative circumstances and go on to survive or even thrive. "Loser" can be interchangeable with being "unlucky". All losers are not people of bad character, just like all winners are not ones of good character. Whatever the case, Life doesn't give a damn because it holds no obligation to be fair. Society reflects life. (BTW, the Chicago Cubs baseball team was nicknamed the "Lovable Losers" because for 100 years a pennant eluded them. Then they underwent a remarkable transformation and became an extraordinary team, going on to win the World Series, and become acclaimed winners!) Certainly you don't think this is an original idea. It's a grandiose suggestion that never gets beyond the talking stage because people with foresight understand how the logistics of it would prevent its implementation. However, for years righteous black men in the form of community and church leaders, entertainers and athletes who give back to the "hood", even law enforcement groups have all embodied microcosms of this dynamic via of regular demonstrations and marches and wholesome social activities and mentoring programs. It's so common that it doesn't make the news. Also, "each one, teach one" has been the motto of many individual activists. All the bad that goes on in the inner cities is what is publicized because it's sensational. One problematic factor which has become a part of the underclass culture is the irresponsible breeding of children. Men like you who celebrate promiscuity and wallow in their testosterone can share the blame for this. And until birth control becomes popular in the ghettos, there will always be neglected kids who grow up to be losers.

Obama managed to preserve his black vibe when using correct grammar while eloquently verbalizing. A black accent does have a lot to do with phrasing and cadence. When i'm talking on the phone to customer service representatives, i can always tell whether they're black or not. i hate listening to black(usually college) girls who adopt a sing-song "valley girl" way of speaking, ending all of their sentences on a up note. Ebonics really do hurt my ears, but they are what they are. Nothing worse than a black person trying to talk proper when using the wrong grammar. Easterners and southerners tell me i have a midwestern accent. When i was young, i had a great speaking voice. Now that i'm old, not so much...

This is the introduction to your "dissertation" on gang life, which you have now abandoned in favor on another "dissertation wherein you offer "revelations" about a certain element of black youth, revelations that are news to no one. Black problems and what causes them have been discussed here and on all the other social media discussion boards ad infinitum, and everybody just parrots the same ol tired litany. As far as urban violence goes, one thing that needs to be acknowledged is that there are programs and resources available and 2-parent homes within the black middle class which turn out young black men who are not losers. Furthermore, until a way is found to put white, racist, trigger-happy cops in check, the personal profiles of black youth don't matter. Oh, really? This may be true in Detroit, but it is most definitely not the case in Chicago.

@Pioneer1The feud between you and Kalexander can go on forever, but Troy is who decides whether or not it will continue its run on this site.

How do you know the caliber of Kalexander's enunciation? Can you hear him speak??? He has never begged me to converse with him, and others here converse with him just as much as they do you. You can't make points when your statements are inaccurate and subjective. You need to stop assuming that others share your opinion about Kalexander and that you are our spokesman. (This is what pushes me into Kalexander's corner. ) Anyhoo, I'm sure everybody is glad you 2 have agreed to put a sock in your "debate". Nothing was accomplished by it, except that you both inadvertently revealed things about yourselves.

Because it is convenient for law enforcement, and routine for the media, the violence in Chicago is permitted to be referred to as "gang-related", but a closer look proves this to be less than accurate. Most of the shootings going on between young black males in Chicago are about personal beefs and slights, many of which originate on FaceBook and are committed by individuals for reasons others would consider trivial. Just as many of the city's murders are related to domestic violence or romantic entanglements, or felonies such as car jacking and armed robbery and even road rage! And make no mistake about it, white people and Hispanics also do their share of killing each other. The idea that all of the slayings in Chi-town are the result of gangs feuding with each other is misleading. It's more about a culture where individuals settle their personal grievances with guns, and this has gotten out of control. BTW, there are other cities whose violence quota is just as high or higher than Chicago's. Maxine Waters has taken on the role of "rabble rouser", doing this as a way to dramatically protest social injustice. Public officials have not earned immunity from being harassed by their detractors. Sarah Hucklebeast, Trump's lying mouthpiece, doesn't command or deserve any respect. All of this talk by Liberals about "civility" stems, in part, from the squeaky-clean Obamas prating about how when others went "low", they went "high". Puleeze. Doing that doesn't have an effect on the unscrupulous and victorious Republicians who couldn't care less about being fair and polite. That fool in the white house set the tone early on during his campaign and all of the squabbling currently going on between Americans can be laid squarely at his big smelly feet! His slogan should be "Make America Hate Again" because nothing about this country under him is "great".

i just never could get into the fairy tale scenario of Meghan marrying her storybook prince. In a fit of superficiality, I thought her wedding gown was a dreary affair, and her hair unkempt. And i was a little surprised at how sistas so eagerly bought into this scenario as if it were a romantic fantasy they had been secretly harboring. I have little or no regard for Brittain's Royals who i consider a family of dull-witted parasites, paid homage for absolutely no reason. During the frenzy over this marriage, some one mentioned that a black woman from Howard U had recently married an Ethiopian prince. That, I think is cool! Ethiopians are a handsome people. Harry is too fuzzy and ginger for my taste; i can just imagine his wet-dog essence when he sweats. Yes, Meghan is ensured a lifetime of luxury and a place in history, but if i was young and ambitious and given an opportunity to "marry up", i'd take a fione, smart, brotha from "old" money.

i could appreciate the feud if the barbs were witty and clever, but they were just silly and irrelevant. i stopped reading their posts because they became boring.

America is riddled with folk lore about larger than life heroes who sprang from the ranks (and imaginations) of the common man. And, of course, there are biblical characters who have been extolled in verse and sermon. Donald Trump is currently filling a need for resentful people fearing the status their white skin color guarantees is in jeopardy, thanks to the politically-correct and bleeding-heart liberal crowd. In every time of crises the masses look for a "man on a white horse" to appear and deliver them from impending doom.. Obama briefly filled this role for blacks but his sheen has gradually dulled. Colin Kaepernick stole a little bit of this shine but he has few successes to his credit. Also missing the mark are star athletes who marry white women and lend their names to a line of exorbitantly-priced gym shoes. So, as usual, blacks are floundering around looking for a Messsiah, but left with nothing but martyrs snatched from the populace of young males shot in the back while fleeing their misdemeanors. Or, embracing an irrelevant comic book figure like Black Panther whose alter-ego Chadwick Boseman was savvy enough to present the MTV Award he won for favorite movie hero to James Shaw, the ordinary Joe who single-handedly disarmed a shooter on a rampage, and just happened to be sitting in the audience at this TV event And so it goes. Black people continue to shuffle around claiming this one or that one to really be black, this place or that place to actually be the country of Mankind's black mama. Too bad we weren't "evil" enough to subdue our adversaries so we could enforce black supremacy and lie about how great we are. OK. Back to my perch, and the bird's eye view that provides me a good opportunity to spot any UFOs that decide to re-visit Earth and take me back home. I'm world-weary. Trumpism is stifling me.

@Kalexander2 This story has been floating around a long time since the 1980s and a couple of writers including the black female author of the book "Jubilee", sued Haley for plagiarism. After his death, material found among Haley's papers confirmed that his book contained lengthy passages lifted from other books and sources. The setting of Roots was fairlly authentic, but the characters and the plot were fiction. While alive, Haley didn't passionately defend himself against these charges but insisted that his intentions were good, and that he had no history degree but was rather a novelist who wanted to pen a book to make African Americans feel good about themselves. He accomplished this goal and can't really be villainized too much. Troy has touched on this subject a few times on this board, so may be he can't add to this. In the meantime, Google has a lot of information about it. Here's link to one site: moviechat.org/tt0075572/Roots/58c7326b5ec57f0478f7d7d7/...

@ChevdoveWhat do you think of those who have charged and backed up that most of "Roots" was made up by Alex Haley, who later in his life admitted that he just wanted to write a book that would provide blacks with their own version of myth and lore? Yes, there are griotes but he didn't acquire any personal history from one.

@Pioneer1at any given time, your "definition" of a troll applies to everyone on this site including me, as well as you when you trade antagonizing insults with Kalexander. "Troll" is not a relative designation on this board because posters here disagree as much as they agree with each other and things can get intense. So be it.

No wonder humans made up the story about Adam and Eve. All of this stuff is so involved and speculative, it boggles the mind. And it's almost like the more we find out, the less we know, because discovery is ongoing. ( This is my excuse for being too lazy to delve into research.) My Daddy told me i had an Africa great, great grandmother, born in slavery in North Carolina, and his mother was a full blooded Osage Indian born in Kansas My mother's father was half-white and blue-eyed, born of a slave owner and a slave in Tennessee. The only thing unique about this is that i have a Hispanic first name. (Consuelo) OK. Let the discussion resume.

Sometimes people who are trying to conceal their true identity inadvertently provide clues for a perceptive person to pick up on. A lot can be discerned by someone who can instinctively read between the lines of what someone else writes - or says. Who and what ideology an individual supports can indicate the political persuasion of an anonymous person, or at least narrow down the type he or she can be categorized as. Yes, people can pretend to be something they are not, but unless you are on an online dating site, what purpose does this serve? Most people conceal their identity on line so they can be their true selves without fear of repercussions. You tend to come across as offensive, and poised to get people before they get you. I think this is facade, an acquired persona. The real you is probably more filled with adventure than aggression.

Verrrrry interesting. It seems like language is just as influential in exploring evolution as appearance is. We encapsulate syllables and sounds into words and use them to refer to conditions. You might all be talking about the same thing but just using difference utterances or written symbols to express this. Words, words, words... (I put the words "good" and "evil" in quotations marks in previous post because they are just vibrations that refer to 2 different forces; the same goes for "strong" and "weak". Humans are the ones who subjectively decide that using "strength" to acquire "power" over "weakness", is "evil". In the over-all scheme of things, however, this is just a natural process.) The color black is non-white, non-white can be a spectrum of colors. Color aside, humans are mammals and all have 2 arms, 2 legs, walk upright, have opposing thumbs and forefingers which allowed them to pick up objects and fashion them into tools - and the rest was history. They also have tongues and vocal chords and use them to communicate. They have brains that give rise to intellect and ideas, instincts that encompass needs and desires. Curiosity also seems to be a dominate trait. Who are we? What are we? Where did we come from? We are unique entities who are made up of the exact same elements as stars. In the final analysis, i am me.

I can dig it. Happy Camping!

The revisionists say that African Lucy is not the source of all human life; that there were other sources elsewhere. The "Petralona Man" for one. ancient-origins.net/human-origins-science/human-skull... How did theses primitive blacks from a warm continent manage to navigate vast oceans to get to the less temperate North America before the continents shifted and provided a shelf that enabled the Eskimos to get here by foot. And of course, black is a loose term that can be used to describe anything other than pale white. I bring all of this up because people of all colors like to romanticize their kind as being the "first". Hence the claim that Lief Erickson preceded the native Americans. The truth is out there -- but we tend to embrace our own version of it. I've heard of the movie Promethus. I'm going to see if i can track it down on my premium cable channels. The trailer is compelling!

I repeat. What happened to these black people who preceded Native Americans and Anglo Saxons?? And with claims made by the revisionist white researchers, i don't know if we all came from Africa or not. Just sayin. i like the alien theory and that's probably because i'm an alien.

So what do the dueling researchers say happened to all of these blacks that fanned out over the world, and were subsequently uprooted by different looking peoples. Did the black-skinned ones just die out? Or were Natives Americans and Anglo Saxons invaders who drove these blacks into extinction??? Or are y'all suggesting that Anglo Saxon and Native Americans are descendants of migrating Africans? So many questions and what is more significant is there are so many "answers". Add to the mix what white revisionists are now contending about "Lucy" not being that ancestor of Caucasians. I continue to be fascinated with those who say we are aliens who ended up on earth via asteroids that crashed here and infested the planet with primitive forms of life from outerspace. Of course no body can prove this. But that doesn't make it a unique situation.