Pioneer1

ProfD There are several avenues for making the case. There may be several avenues, but if they're all leading to the same location....does it matter which one you take? When Rome ruled the entire world, there was a reason why people said "All roads lead to Rome"....lol. Violence & war is how white folks get down when diplomacy fails. Sounds like the Mafia. White folks have been using violence to conquer & dominate using sticks & stones. Long before advanced weaponry which is just an extension of it. True. But THEY actually graduated to now using ballistic missiles and Apache helicopters; meanwhile...... For whatever reason, you give white folks credit for being intelligent when they are barbaric more than anything else. Well.... If they're NOT intelligent but rather stupid barbarians.....what does that say about the intellect and status of the people THEY'RE ruling over?

ProfD Most higher paying jobs require a certain amount of education. Back in the day....before racism broke up most of the unions....there were plenty of good paying factory and government jobs that required little more than a highschool diploma. Adults are responsible for fixing their own mistakes. While this is true, it must be kept in mind that a lot of people don't have the intellect or knowledge TO fix their mistakes. Regardless of how it looks, classes exist for a reason. Most def.... And for GOOD reason.

ProfD It could last forever if someone was willing to keep it going beyond him. I don't see that kind of movement among the MAGA base. These people will enjoy the BS POTUS OJ is creating & when the proverbial picnic is over, they'll get in their pick-up trucks & go home. In fact, the MAGA base is already becoming jaded. In 2 years or less, they will fade away like the Tea Party. If I may, allow me to use YOUR OWN WORDS to push back against this belief.... Don't think out of 74 million people none of them will try to take advantage of the atmosphere he's made by keeping the flame burning and keeping the momentum going long past his presidency. They're using him and his presidency as the "pilot episode" for a long term series. POTUS Obama was the 1st of a kind that we'll never see again in our lifetime. If we don't, trust me...I won't be shedding any tears over it. We needs a full fledged FBA brutha (or sista....but preferably a brutha) in the White House. No more funny ass niggaz with funny names of questionable racial backgrounds. We needs a JEROME JACKSON up in that Oval Office. I believe starting with the 2028 election, the next few POTUS will be plain in terms of their personality & actions; rather dull & boring. The fact that you believe there will even BE a 2028 election gets you marked as "Optimist Of The Year" in my book....lol.

Now I know why the doves were crying.........🤣

ProfD As a Gen-Xer, I did not act a fool but I had plenty friends who did the same sh8t & in some cases much worse. Back in the late 1970s/through mid-1980s, DC had gangs. Many of them graduated to become drug dealers & killers. Those same Gen-Xers are either stretched out in the penitentiary or no long longer with us. Some of them managed to reproduce too. In our generation them crazy ass "down for whatever" niggaz were actually only a few and far in between. That's why they stood out. Because most of us....the vast majority....were NOT like that. Today is different. Today nearly EVERY kid wants to be a thug, clown, somebody nots to be fucked with. So the vast majority are smoking weed, getting tattoos and clowning in the streets. So the difference isn't so much the behavior as it is the PERCENTAGE of those engaging in the behavior. These young people are doing the same dumb sh8t as their parents (Gen-Y) & in some cases...grandparents (Gen-X). That's another thing. They grew up hearing stories from their parents and grandparents about how crazy the 80s and especially the 90s were and they have a distorted image that every young Black male was walking around like Tupac. So they want to make a name for their generation too. Cynique In reality, not all problems have solutions when you're dealing human with beings. All problems DO INDEED have solutions. We may not KNOW what those solutions are, but they do exist. If it doesn't have a solution, it's not actually a problem. Efforts to turn homosexuals "straight" , come to mind....lol.

ProfD Perhaps you're right. When I go back to Detroit or visit places like Chicago and Atlanta, I see plenty of wealthy Black people. But I've also seen far more dysfunctional Black people today than in the past growing up. Maybe I weren't as aware of them as I am now.

ProfD Lol, that's like going to the local police station and filing a complain over police brutality against one of their officers. Actually, knowledge and intelligence is the VERY THING that will help AfroAmericans not only face but overcome that very system! Knowledge and intelligence allows you to build the tools and effectively use them to get what you want accomplished in nearly any human endeavor. That's how White folks were able to get dominate others....through knowledge and intelligence. They were intelligent enough and knowledgeable enough to develop sophisticated weapons that allowed them to conquer and dominate.

ProfD No, he won't be around forever but the foundation of socially accepted racism and fascism as well as the fascist restructuring of the government that he's attempting to lay COULD last for decades to come. For more than 10 years he's been busy making openly racist and hostile language "acceptable" in the media and in society in general. The things he's said and has encouraged his followers to say was unthinkable just 20 years ago for any private citizen to be allowed to say let alone the President. When the media reported him saying "when a man has money women will let him do anything including grab them in the pussy".....and folks still voted for him by the millions, I knew it was down hill from there....lol.

Prof......YOU were a teenager before. Did YOU run out in the street with a pack of other boys blocking traffic, grabbing your crotch, and throwing up a finger at the police and passing drivers with a big grin on your face? Did you get together with other boys AND GIRLS by the dozens and go out invading liquor stores smashing up shit and snatching liquor and snacks out of the place with big grins on your faces? These kids are different. The Crack Babies have grown up and have produced children of their own....lol. Perhaps the previous generations saw the next generation of youth as being worse because they actually ARE worse.

ProfD AfroAmericans have decades worth of data & evidence to make the case for current circumstances, conditions & predicament. True. Continuing with the analogy... The question is when are AfroAmericans going to take action by 1) taking that case to court & 2) changing the conditions. Analysis & studies work up to a point in building a case. Nothing changes without action & effort You make good points as usual. I'll give you 2 things to consider in direct relation to your 2 questions.......... 1. If AfroAmericans DID decide to take their case to court, which court (or legal body) would AfroAmericans plead their case TO? What court (or legal body) in this world has the power to gather and verify the facts concerning our treatment and render a verdict? More importantly, who has the power to ENFORCE the verdict and any penalties and restitution that may accompany it? 2. Changing the condition of a person or people usually involve increasing their level of KNOWLEDGE in order to effectively bring about that change. You exchange a shitty job for a better one by KNOWING how to get and perform that better job. You exchange a raggedy home for a better home by KNOWING how to either purchase a new one or how to properly repair your raggedy one to improve it's conditions. Improvement comes from KNOWLEDGE....either yours or whoever is trying to help you. Knowledge comes from INTELLIGENCE -the ability to comprehend and retain information enough to put it to use. Here's the question............ You ask when will our people "change" their condition. Given what you have observed of our people, do you believe that our community COLLECTIVELY (not as individuals) has the intelligence to ascertain the knowledge needed to change our condition for the better? "Hey there bud...... Let me ask you a question........ You've been living here in this park begging humans for food for years now. Why don't you learn how to build a house and grow your own trees and nuts for food instead of relying on humans?"

I'm going to presume that most of us on this site are over 50 years of age, so we've been around and have observed atleast 2 if not many more generations in order to make a comparison. How many of you think the OVER ALL financial and social conditions in the United States....especially for AfroAmericans...are better today than they were in the 70s or 80s? Whether you say yes or no, please state your reasons.............. I'll go first by honestly saying: I'm not sure. Houses and cars are nicer today than they were 40 years ago.......but homelessness itself seems to have increased. I'm not sure if homelessness has increased relative to the size of the population or if the actual percentage itself has increased since the 70s or 80s. However I believe the percentage of homelessness indeed HAS increased. I think jobs are more plentiful today than they were back in the day, but the relative wages aren't paying the same. It's harder for the "average" person without a college degree to make a decent independent living today than back 40 or 50 years ago. I think dating and finding intimate relationships is either harder or trickier today than 30 or 40 years ago. I'm not determining this based on myself, but based on a lot of the younger men and women I'm seeing and hearing and the problems they are experiencing. A lot more people are dealing with personal trauma, baggage, and even psychiatric issues like autism and ADHD than back in the day. While social media has made it easier for those who ARE attractive to hook up with eachother, it seems as if there are a lot more people with "weird" problems....both men and women....that take them out of the sex/dating pool all together. I also believe that incarceration is far higher today than it was 40 or 50 years ago. Even much higher than the 90s during the so-called Clinton Crime Bill era that has received so much notoriety. Even in the 90s you didn't see or hear about so many private prisons as you do now. Again, I'm not sure if the increase in incarceration is due to the increase in population....or if the percentage has risen.

ProfD If you steal a house & fix it up & other folks show up as squatters...are they illegal aliens? They are certainly illegal as well as accomplices to YOUR theft....lol. However whether they're aliens or not depends on their citizenship status. Individuals don't have the power to dictate that they get a livable wage. Unions even have a hard time getting pay increases. That's why I can't be too hard on adult AfroAmericans who are working these low wage and minimum wage jobs. Many of them are taking what they can get to survive. If they could find jobs with higher pay, they'd take them. Feudalism never really went away. Like Slavery, it just transformed itself. And most Central Americans are streaming into the United States to go right along with it and take their place as good peasants for their "lords". The government tries to create rules & safeguards to make life bearable for citizens. Ultimately, politicians end up working within the interests of those who control wealth. The labor market is controlled in such a way to enrich the wealthy while providing the average person with just enough to survive And even THAT is tricky, because who is actually "average" and how do they decide who is average and who is not? Do they factor expensive medical and legal issues into their "averages"? Average people often make stupid and expensive mistakes, do they factor those in? A lot of average people are falling through the cracks because average from their perspective often looks like PERFECT from those in the working class.

We're living in interesting times..... People are firing missiles at eachother and destroying buildings during "cease fires"....lol. First you saw it with Israel and Hamas. Now you're seeing it with the U.S. and Iran. The entire war is carrying on as usual, while both sides are accusing eachother of breaking the "cease fire"....lol. Like Ned the Wino would say: Now what does that tell you? Huh? Huh?

Lol....it just COULDN'T be their brains.

ProfD However, I don't think it's right to call another human being an illegal alien. An alien simply means a person not from the land. It's just been used colloquially these past 100 years or so to mean Beings from outter space, but it originally meant humans from another nation or region. Forcing someone into a s8xual encounter does make the perpetrator a rapist. If that's the case, doesn't being in a country you're not from illegally make you an illegal alien or atleast an illegal migrant? Whichethnicity comes to mind when you hear the term illegal alien? Lol...that's obvious. But it applies to any ethnicity or race. That's like asking what ethnic group does the word "slave" remind you of. We know. But there have been White and Asian slaves for thousands of years. Right. Low wage jobs aren't meant to be careers. It should be a stepping stone whether summer employment or part-time to finish school. Not to build a life &/or raise a family. It depends on a person's quality of living and ambitions. Maybe that's all they want to aspire to in this world. A low wage job is no good for an adult if it doesn't cover shelter, food, clothing & health insurance, etc. And that's an issue that the government and society itself should be addressing. Why do we have ANY job that a person can't cover the basic necessities of life like food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare from a normal 40 hours of work? They SHOULD pay more...so why don't they? The failure lies in AfroAmericans depending on someone else for a job instead of creating them. While you're right that COLLECTIVELY AfroAmericans should be producing jobs for ourselves, as INDIVIDUALS most people period aren't qualified to actually go out and start their own successful business and work for themselves. They must go out and find a job to get paid and support themselves. They should have the right to do so. Most factory jobs have been out-sourced to other countries where labor is cheaper &/or replaced by automation. Not only have they outsourced many of the jobs but now they're been importing cheap labor in the form of illegal immigrants and intentionally preventing them from having any legal or political power by not making them actual citizens. They've started a literal "peasant class" in this nation. It goes back to our government and them allowing it to happen. The same politicians who allow jobs that pay BELOW minimum wage in places like the service sector and agricultural industry are the same politicians who are fighting openly and behind closed doors to bring illegal in by the millions to displace American workers.