Pioneer1

ProfD It seems that as we get older, we pay more attention to certain things & develop strong beliefs/opinions & confirmation bias sometimes along with a dose of cognitive dissonance. But, at least we're still alive & alert & communicative. There will always be people who think [insert timeframe here] was better depending on their environment, conditions, circumstances, situation, etc. As I alluded to in my opening post, as we get older....the more qualified we are to compare and determine which generations are better in which respect. Unless somebody is suffering from some sort of dementia, being older allows you to see things in society through a BETTER lens. You have more knowledge and wisdom to weigh the positives and negatives of the generations you're comparing. Considering the fact that in most major cities in the United States you can barely find a good Soul Food joint today, as opposed to 50 eyars ago when they were pretty abundant....I'm not sure what that tells you. Troy 40 years ago (1986) I'd finished undergrad by then, shacking up with my girlfriend at the time, but I could afford my own place IN NYC - Shacking up? Not YOU....lol. You don't sound very religious but for some reason I took you as being generally conservative and reserved....even as a youth. I pictured you as being kind of like "Preach" from Coolie High. While your friends were busy running the streets and clowning around, I pictured you somewhere in a room buried in books and trying to study your way out of the ghetto. No time for shaking up and rolling around in the bed all day with females....lol.

Just what California needs......a White Latino governor, lol.

ProfD Back in the 1980s, I witnessed brawls between neighborhood gangs with 30-40 n8gglets throwing punches at each other. Later on, they started bringing guns. This was before Gangsta Rap took off.😎 Two questions for you: Did you see GIRLS out there fighting and scrapping in the street like so many are doing today? Did you see youth attacking and killing the elders and even their own parents like so many are doing today? You're right. Outside of Los Angeles and Chicago....I remember there were indeed a lot more street gangs in the community back in the 70s and 80s than there are today. Know why? Because a lot of these young people are so fucked up they don't even have enough sense TO unite with others in the same neighborhood and form a "good" street gang...lol. Back in the day gangs used to have CODES where they wore certain clothes, talked a certain way, respected and obeyed leadership. So if it's "going down tonight"....everybody was down and got involved. Half of these little niggaz running the streets today are too fucked up in the head to even get along with eachother. When was the last time you saw more than 3 young AfroAmerican men walking together? You may see a bunch of Africans sitting packed to a table or walking down the street, but you don't see a lot of AfroAmerican men with eachother today because a lot of the youth can't get along with eachother in a basic social way. .....let alone organize a gang with actual leaders calling shots that they'll obey. All of them want to be the leader.....so they end up falling out with eachother. The best they can do at uniting is these little flash mobs where nobody is in charge and everybody is doing their own thing. aka Contrarian Since you have no proof of that, it's nothing more than an opinion given in response to my opinion. The "proof" of my statement is in the very nature of the word "problem" itself. The antonym of PROBLEM is SOLUTION If it is actually a PROBLEM then one of the SOLUTIONS is for it being in the state it was before the problem developed. Again, we may not KNOW what the solution is or how to arrive at it....but we know it does exist. Name a problem that doesn't have a solution.

That would be terrible. For the political divisiveness to end and for things to return to and remain "normal" isn't a good thing. It means the people are going back to sleep. That would be an almost worse case scenario for Black America. Since the late 70s the racists are actively engaging in a SLOW ROAST. Sloooooooooowly trying to re-enslave the Black population and replace us with Latinos and Asians. We NEED divisiveness and struggle because that is a sign that Black people are actively resisting the racists and their agenda to stifle our political and economic power. It actually needs to intensify, not tamp down and calm down. A divide America is actually one of our best opportunities for success. Integrating with the devil was one of the worse mistakes our people made.

This is just for show. They'll announce THIS bust to deceive the gullible, meanwhile thousands of tons of cocaine are ALLOWED to flow in through other routes. ....not to mention the synthetic cocaine that they're probably growing in some lab.

May our dear brother rest in peace and power

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.

ProfD IMO, percentage doesn't matter because it will only be used to discourage &/or as an excuse not to do better. Perhaps in some cases. However knowing the percentage will also provide evidence that there is more to poverty and lack of success in a community than simple lack of effort. It may also be evidence of lack of opportunity or coordinated efforts to disenfranchise them. For example..... Say yu got a million Black people. The law of averages say that because these people are of average intelligence...MOST of them should be able to make a living for themselves. So if 50% are homeless and/or in jail....obviously something unusual and unnatural is going on and perhaps they are being mistreated and targeted for disenfranchisement. Again, statistics won't lead to action & productivity. True, but as stated before....it can be used as evidence of mistreatment. You're building a case. Like a woman who is doing a good job but not being promoted because she won't go out with her boss. She establishes a paper trail and collects evidence to help support her case of unfair treatment.

ProfD The USA has not put any boots on the ground in Iran. Whole war has been aerial. So, the chance of a draft are zero. Trump just sent nearly 10,000 troops over to the region a few weeks ago. You don't mobilize that many troops to a spot for nothing. All of the energy and manpower isn't going to go to waste. They're just setting things up for a much bigger operation. Most military strategists can readily see this. No different from Desert Storm & War in Iraq back in the 1990s & 2000s. No protests during those conflicts either. There were no protests for Desert Storm but I do remember massive protests back in 2003 for George Dubya's "revenge" attack on Hussein. There were protests all over the nation for that one. They didn't help, but they did make their point known. I would offer that people are doing well enough to keep a roof over their heads, food in the fridge, reliable transportation, alcohol, drugs, etc. & just enough access to money & credit to make ends meet. I'd say this applies to some people...maybe even most....MAYBE...but there's a large enough percentage of people who are going through some real hard shit right now but it's almost as if they're invisible in society because they're being drowned out by the giggles and smiles of the "haves" not just on social media but in society. America is so crowded that literal HALF of the population could fall into destitution/poverty but as long as the other half is prosperous it wouldn't even be noticed. All you'd see are people walking around with shopping bags smiling and pecking away at their cell phones. Another thing is that so many people who fall through the cracks are getting locked up that how do we know how well the public is REALLY doing? You're doing well and making a living....until you're not...then you end up disappearing after a few months because of doing something illegal to survive. Troy In addition to what @ProfD wrote what are you expecting Vietnam type like protests? Again completely different situations. Start forcing a bunch of poor people onto the front lines and get them killed. It will be a whole different story. I seriously doubt that would be the case today. I really believe the fake weed and social media has turned the masses into selfish zombies who could care less about their next door neighbor let alone world events. But I also think people are less informed. Distracted by a variety of things… dare I say it… social media. I agree. Infact, I posted the above about social media before even reading your next line implicating it. Most Americans are distracted and brainwashed....even for their own good. out of curiosity have you ever heard of democracy now before? Ofcourse. They cover protests and expose government cover ups and the like. However if I have to click on a website to see people protesting and outraged...obviously it hasn't reached the stage of being public sentiment yet.

Black Americans aren't masochistic. Most don't like the current situation but don't know of any BETTER options. What is an abused wife to do? Leave her abusive husband and go live out in the woods where the wolves and bears will be much nicer to her?

ProfD I'm a bit surprised at your view on the term. Given your strong FBA identification and stance, I actually presumed that you felt the same way I did about the issue...lol. That makes you guilty of using a derogatory phrase invented by white racists. Calling a foreigner who came to the United State illegally an "illegal alien" should be considered no more derogatory than calling a man who forces women into sexual encounters a "rapist". Derogatory names and slurs are often exaggerations meant to dehumanize whoever they are targeted toward. Calling someone who is here illegally an "illegal" is a statement of fact. Why should AfroAmericans fight for low wage jobs? I'll give you 3 valid reasons: 1. A lot of low wage jobs have traditionally been used as entry level jobs for Black youth to work on part time to earn money after school or for them to enter the work for right after graduating to learn basic work ethic. People have noticed around the nation that a lot of the McDonalds and dish washing jobs that Black youth used to occupy to earn money during the summer and after school are now occupied by Latinos who can't even speak English. Sometimes almost the entire establishment is staffed by them. 2. A low wage job is better than NO JOB at all. Unemployment in the AfroAmerican community is much higher than in the White community....for various reasons...so we're in no position to brush any field of endeavor off our shoulders as if they are dispensable. 3. Low wage jobs often lead to HIGH WAGE jobs. They are usually entry level and a means of access to the higher wages. If Latinos are snatching them up left and right...that's less opportunity Right. AfroAmericans should not be working in such a place. It's hard to avoid when the MAJORITY of work places in the region are like this or going in that direction. Latinos used to be focused on agricultural and seasonal work, but haven't been around this country and I can tell you that Latino presence in manual labor jobs have been growing tremendously fast these past 10 or 15 years. For several decades now, AfroAmericans have been educated to seek better employment opportunities. Some have. Keep in mind that everybody....not even the majority of people....will graduate from college with a degree. Especially with one that offers a great paying field of work. There are people with Master's Degrees working at Starbucks and Target....lol. The best thing that guarantees AfroAmericans decent employment is less competition from other groups....mainly Whites and Latinos. One of the reasons there are so many Black professionals in places like D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, and New Orleans is simply because of our numbers in those cities. There are so many of us and compared to the number of Whites and Latinos....that success HAS to come our way. But in many of the other cities where Black people aren't a majority....in many cased they get totally locked out. It only proves that AfroAmericans don't want to work for them. True. Some of it is the pay more so than the work itself. I grew up in a working class neighborhood where the majority of adults worked in factories and did manual labor but their jobs paid well enough for them to buy homes, buy new cars, and take care of entire families AND "outside women"...lol. I don't believe most Black youth would mind doing that type of work IF it paid $30 or $40 an hour today which would be the equivalent of what those jobs were paying in the 70s and 80s. White folks aren't beating down doors for manual labor jobs either. No, but they are doing them. Especially the poor and uneducated one. But you can't always believe what you see White folks doing. Like Neely Fuller Jr. said....they often have "mysterious sources" of income....lol. A White man can be slapping together tacos at Taco Bell for $14 an hour but have 2 cars, a stay-at-home wife, 3 kids with one on the way, a mortgage, and a summer cottage up north. ...AND has an opioid addiction, lol. And you're scratching your head wondering how is he able to afford all of this on a minimum wage salary. Because he's White and gets money from "other" sources....lol.