Troy

I've never heard anyone else describe the war between the states as an indication of white unity. It is like debating whether the earth is a sphere or flat. I don't even know where to begin. I get the focus on Brown people -- this site is a reflection on that. What I'm trying to understand is why you are so hard on Black people. White Americans rebelled from the British, then from the northern and southern states, and now between the republicans and democrats, the Jews and the gentiles, and communists versus capitalists. They have never demonstrated unity locally or globally, but you easily dismiss this in order to make an assertion that Blacks lack unity. Listen, I'm not auguring that Black people can not use more unity -- especially today. What I'm saying is that Blacks are far more unified than white folks. We had to be. We would never have survived the American Holocaust otherwise.

It is hard to square the fact that Chicago with a relatively high rate Black gun violence is also the National head quarters of the NOI. What does the NFAC plan to do in Louisville? No, I'm not aware of the organization until now.

During a conversation with an old buddy yesterday. My friend said that he did not understand all these so called Black activists who marry white people. He also said he was surprised I had not married a white woman 😲 We go back 40 years, so I was not phased by the dig, but it got me thinking... Would the founder of the largest website dedicated to Black books, a diehard advocate for black owned businesses, be a hypocrite for marrying a white woman? Would your impression of me change? Would my perceived support of the Black community be diminished? Is Clarence Thomas even more reviled by Black people because he is swirling, dissing a sister (Anita Hill) on one hand and marrying the white woman on the other? Maya Angelou married two white men. Harry Bellefonte and Amiri Baraka married white women. None of them lost their street cred... If you marry a white woman and are also Republican you'll certainly have your Black card revoked (actually being a Republican is sufficient) as Candace Owen, who married a white man, can illustrate. No white woman (save one in college 40 years ago) has ever expressed an interest in me. After being married most of my adult life, I'm now single. Ultimately, I'd like find a mate, but I have not only consudered Black women as a partner. I recognize that these are thoughts are racist. I guess I'm just a product of my environment...

I watch the movie last night, but will watch it again before i review it. Initially my impression is that the film focuses on the notion that Black people need to get an education and work hard to achieve in this country. We don't the government's help. Indeed government intervention has done more harm than good. Further it was Republicans not Democrats who have been responsible for enacting legislation that have benefited Black the most -- from Lincoln, who emancipated the enslaved; to Trump, who is not afraid to stand up to the liberal media and tell Black people the truth. Obama proved that the country is no longer racist, but ultimately was a profound disappointment because he ultimately played the "race card." I wonder why Thomas Sowell, who was frequently referenced and obviously revered, did not appear. Candace Owens was highlighted quite a bit. Perhaps the filmmaker perferred her optics over Sowell's. While the film will certainly inspire Black Republicans, it will fail at its obvious goal of getting Black Democrats to become Republicans. I will attempt to explain why I believe this when I write my review. But basically you'd have to largely reject the work of The Equal Justice Initiative and the writings of Michelle Alexander. You'd also have to overlook the fact that Obama began his presidency by being called a liar to his face during a session of Congress and the Republicans followed by doing everything in their power to make him a failed president. Trump continued this by reversing everything Obama did while claiming credit from Obama's accomplishments. And no I did not cry when Obama won. I do not blindly worship him as the film seems to indicate that all Black people do. @daniellegfny why do you think the film was shot in black and white?

Thanks @daniellegfny i purchased the video. I'm gonna work another hour or then settle down to watch the flick. I'll keep an open mind, but I'm probably more familiar with conservative positions than you might suspect.

There does seem to be some level of hypocrisy in our collective reaction to crime against Black people based upon the race of the perpetrator. Again, I assert that this difference is due largely to what white folks draw attention too. Not what the Black masses really care about. Sure there is a difference between a police officer murdering an unarmed Black suspect and a street thug doing a drive by. We hold police to a higher standard. But if the white-owned media focused on the black on black crimes rather than the relatively few police murders they'd be called racist. So rather than serve the Black community, they play it safe and focus on the bad cops. How many Black people were murdered in Chicago this year? How many of those murderers were Black. How many of those murderers were white cops? That should determine where we focus our attention and resources. I had not heard about the shooting, but I just looked it up. Fortunately no one was killed.

Wow! LOL, I can not resist an offer like that. I will absolutely watch the film under those condition, and in fact I will make an effort to review it. I simply can not guarantee it but I will try. You may send the payment to me at troy@aalbc.com via pay etc.

I just watched the trailer of Uncle Tom: The movie is $20 to watch online. So I'll pass for now. But feel free to relate the salient points @daniellegfny. By the way feel free to link to sites directly https://uncletom.com/ The only time I remove or delete links is when they are broken, spammy, or to Amazon. @Pioneer1 your use of "Uncle Tom" is the white racist's perversion of Stowe's original character.

Again there is nothing you've described that is inherent to Black people. You ignore white people expressing far more profound disunity, while at the same time conjuring up scenarios to dismiss examples of Black unity like Greeenwood. Was the civil war a sign of white unity? Over 600K dead. What about the world wars? White boys here, and abroad, killing each other by the millions... I'm not sure why you are so hard on people with Brown skin and easy on those with white skin.

Pioneer you just made my point, and amazingly fail to see your own contradiction. On one hand you reject the notion that the black and white races are a purely artificial constructs. On the other hand, you fully embrace the European's rules as they are applied all willy-nilly across the globle. You go as far as to write: You find THAT less confusing than acknowledging there is only one race of people on this planet.

Well culture is real and race is a subject construct, so your argument of who is Afro-American is purely subjective. As a result people will always have room to disagree with you, besides Blackness is a matter of opinion. What I'm saying is, so called "race mixing" decreases the number of white people more than it does Black people. That is why white racist were so against the "mongrel mixing of the races." Seriously, this is perfectly plausible -- especially if you are poor.

No but you can read about. There are plenty of 1st hand accounts. The people of Greenwood represented the very definition of unity. How about Rosewood? Less violently many coehesive Black communities were destroyed by white people. Usually building a freeway through the main streets of these communities.

You need help my Brother. I just spend two nights in the Navajo Nation and saw hundreds of what you would view as phenotypically native American. The racially ambiguous people come from Black and white people since these people are all considered Black your reasoning is nkt logical for it is white people who "lose" with race mixing. But no, there is no grand conspiracy here. However, I will acknowledge that I too have noticed - much more, disproportionately more perhaps, gay and mixed race imagery on TV. But there is also more Black imagery on TV too. Maybe I notice the mixed race and LGBTQ+ because it is relatively new to me. It is no wonder white folks in the bible belt are bugging out...

Well you already know the gentic differences between Black and white are insignificant, so much of what you describe as innate characteristics of Black people I ascribe to your prejudice and stereotyping. So no, I do not believe that Black people are any more genetically sociopathic than white people. I traveled in UT, AZ, OK, KA and CO the past two weeks and the number of white homeless people i saw begging for money was depressing. This juxtaposed with the extravagant homes owned by white people would suggest to me that it is white people who do not care about other white people. The apparent lack of caring you are observing is a human characteristic not a Black one. Man, you just mentioned Greenwood, OK, so how can you make this statement? I this country we will need white people to defeat white racism.

Ok it is clear you don't want to answer my simple question, perhaps because it will force you the confront the reason for the discrepancy. I understand. Magical thinking makes it easier to navigate the hostile environment we live in, but it comes at a cost. Are you holding up Newark as a great place for Black people? The Brookings Institute reported, pre-pandemic, that Newark's Black unemployment rate was a staggering 15.8% -- much higher than its white population. I believe the reason for the difference is directly related to systemic racism. Making believe racism does not adversely effect Black people is dangerous. The last the we need to do is arrest more people. The U.S. locks up way too many people -- disproportionately Black people.

OK I'll rephrase the question. Perhaps you'll find it acceptable since it is your wording. Your version of my question, presumes that there is a difference; I agree with that presumption. What I've been trying to learn us why you don't believe so called race is not the reason for the difference. So... Do you believe that skin color has played a part in the difference of percentage of arrests? Black Mayors or even presidents don't make a difference. Indeed the rise in Black incarnation rates coincided with the increase in Black political officials. Four generations of Black mayors, wow your hometown must be a Black utopia. Please share the name of the town.

I don't collect this metadata (Lexile, Fountas, and Pinnell Levels) for the chapter books in my database otherwise I'd be able to generate a list. I doubt these levels have been made for most of the books in my database. Go to this page: https://aalbc.com/books/category.php and begin typying the word "juvenile" in the box. You will be presented with categories of books if you fi d ones you like. I can try to pull the lexile level (getting the other two levels will be a challenge

@Pioneer1 you make it sound like Black are different than any other group. White folks have already stopped marching. We are working really hard to make the planet unihabitable for humans and no one really seems to care -- at least not enough to do anything about it... The problem is not one of a lack of caring. I think what you are observing is result of hopelessness. People feel, indeed may actually be, unable to do anything and are depressed as a result. When you go to any poor neighborhood what you are seeing is a group of people suffering. they have their own problems and if they spend more time at the liquor store trying to get through life than you approve of ... well try to show a little compassion.

I did not make a declaration; I asked a question. Do you think every Black person in jail is guilty. I do believe color has something to do with it. I thought it was obvious, and I'm interested in understanding why you think color is irrelevant.

...so you believe every Black person locked up is guilty of a crime?

Well that is good news @daniellegfny. While it should not natter to you individually, collectively it makes a very big difference that Black people are treated worse by tbe criminal justice system. We are not playing on a level playing field. If we fail to recognize this we put ourselves at a disadvantage.

The NYC conscious community does not use this language. Maybe things are different in your neck of the woods. Conscious people don't have potty mouths ... they are more articulate. I listened to video you shared. No, this Sister does not appeal to me on any level, nor does she strike me as highly intelligent. Come on Pioneer, who reacts like that to a social media post? She needs to stay off sicial media if that is that way she is gonna react to Black people who misunderstood her. She wouldn't last 5 minutes on lipstick alley.

Of course this comletely false on its face, but I gave Black Enterprise the benefit of the doubt and clicked through to see what they actually wrote. They did not cite a source to substantiate the claim, which would of course be difficult to do because one can not know the percentage of children with Covid19 in Florida unless they have tested all the children. Which has not happened. Now I already know BE likes to use click baity artcle titles to get more clicks (they even got me this time), so I soured on them long ago. I often lament the lack of Black-owned media and Black Enterprise qualifies, but they do not represent what I mean. I mean we need conscious Black media not media that merely duplicates, poorly, what white media does. Black Enterprise did link to The Griot, who in turn cited the Florida Sentinel who wrote: "Nearly one-in-three children tested for the new coronavirus in Florida has been positive, and a South Florida health official is concerned the disease could cause lifelong damage even for children with mild illness." This is a big difference from what Black Enterprise reported. Not only have they misled people they failed to relate the most important aspect of the article, the life long impact on children. I doubt they even took the effort to read the source material.

Sorry to read that, but without knowing what did I do know if you were white you would have been less likely to had been convicted and if convicted your sentence would have been less severe. That data tells us this. Anecdotally I heard white folks describe how they got busted for some crime and rather than getting roughed up and thrown in jail like we would be, they were driven home to their parents and given a warning. It does matter very much what white people do. It is not as simple as us just controlling our own behavior.

True. The same happened in Greenwood. After the destruction of Greenwood they attempted to rebuild. If you look at the photo to the right of the last green awning you'll see a highway. The highway took out a Black theater that was rebuilt after the massacre to make it easier for white folks to leave downtown to get to their suburban homes...crazy!