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Who do you blame for the problems of African Americans?? [W:98]

Who is MOST to blame for the problems of African Americans?

  • GOP

    Votes: 5 5.1%
  • Black Leadership

    Votes: 22 22.4%
  • Democrats

    Votes: 15 15.3%
  • Other

    Votes: 56 57.1%

  • Total voters
    98
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The title is evident. Who is the MOST to blame for the problems of African Americans today??

Ehhh it's hard to say, because it's such a historical and cumulative thing.

I guess I'd really blame Henry the Navigator, King of Portugal in the first half of the 1400's, for setting up that first Portuguese trading station in Africa.

Really all went down hill for the Africans from there.
 
Ehhh it's hard to say, because it's such a historical and cumulative thing.

I guess I'd really blame Henry the Navigator, King of Portugal in the first half of the 1400's, for setting up that first Portuguese trading station in Africa.

Really all went down hill for the Africans from there.

I blame the Africans that sold Africans they "Conquered and Owned" to Henry the Navigator. Truth is Africa had a slave trade even before Europeans arrived. Tribes typically enslaved the member of conquered tribes (at least their children and women) after they killed the men.

So who woulda guessed Africans are to blame for their own slavery.
 
I blame the Africans that sold Africans they "Conquered and Owned" to Henry the Navigator. Truth is Africa had a slave trade even before Europeans arrived. Tribes typically enslaved the member of conquered tribes (at least their children and women) after they killed the men.

So who woulda guessed Africans are to blame for their own slavery.

Oh, yeah, no argument there -- it's totally true, Africans had been enslaving each other for a long time before Europeans got there. Furthermore, the Arabs had been enslaving Africans and Europeans alike for centuries before the Europeans showed up in Africa.

I'm just saying that Africa's fortunes really took a nose dive after Henry showed up. They should probably hate Portugal more than they do.
 
And you want people that are able to make more money and move to nicer areas to what? Not do so and live in a poorer area and send their kids to poor performing schools for some reason? Seriously? Why?
Equalizing educational funding across districts would be a good start.

I'd also be for banning private schools. Gives the wealthy more incentive to make sure public schools are operating the way they should.
 
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you mean white people who work hard move to areas which have nicer homes and better schools and those who cannot afford such areas cannot move there?
I mean wealthy, often white, people who have never lived in the same area or gone to school with poor people and thus have no comprehension of what it means to be poor or, as is often the case, black, or what "hard work" gets you under those circumstances.

"Hard work" is only one factor in success. The others are intellectual ability, which is largely an acquired trait through good education, and social connections. It is not difficult to see how segregating the poor in neighborhoods and schools frustrates their mobility, or how allowing wealthy people to insulate themselves in communities where all their children get the best educations and know everyone who has the power to get them the jobs they wants, privileges them irrespective of their "hard work."

There is little to no social benefit to having rich people all live in the same neighborhood, never interacting with anyone else. I wouldn't advocate literally saying "you have to move here, you have to move there," but there are things that could be done to dis-incentivize that type of socially damaging behavior. Even just equalizing school-district funding and establishing programs designed to foster interactions between students and families in these various neighborhoods.
 
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Equalizing educational funding across districts would be a good start.

The federal government getting out of education would be the best thing that could happen.
 
The federal government getting out of education would be the best thing that could happen.
Doesn't have to be at the federal level.
 
Oh, yeah, no argument there -- it's totally true, Africans had been enslaving each other for a long time before Europeans got there. Furthermore, the Arabs had been enslaving Africans and Europeans alike for centuries before the Europeans showed up in Africa.

I'm just saying that Africa's fortunes really took a nose dive after Henry showed up. They should probably hate Portugal more than they do.
They still are enslaving each other as a matter of fact.
 
Equalizing educational funding across districts would be a good start.

I'd also be for banning private schools. Gives the wealthy more incentive to make sure public schools are operating the way they should.

I agree with the first but not the second. I would just modify the second to say that the wealthy have to pay more towards public schools whether or not their kids go there. That would get their attention and help out the nation as a whole.
 
Individuals are responsible for their own problems, whether those individuals be black, brown, red, white, or purple with bright pink polka dots.
 
Since there was no "all of the above" option I chose other.

Democrats and black leaders prefer to address symptoms rather than root causes and Republicans want to pretend there are no problems to begin with.
 
So the people who died on 9/11 caused their own deaths?
Only in the most extreme logical conclusion of my original statement. Those who died on 9/11 did not know they were going to die, but they were in that place and time as a result of their own decisions. None of them were forced to work in the Twin Towers. Likely none of those people did very much to raise awareness of the dangers of al-Qaeda specifically and terrorism generally with their political representatives over the previous decade. How many of those people voted for Bill Clinton's re-election? Had Bob Dole been president from 1997-2001, perhaps we would have taken bin Laden off Sudan's hands? We can go around and around with this if you want to take it to the extreme, but how's this...

...Individuals are responsible for resolving their own problems, no matter the (real or perceived) cause. Better?
 
Only in the most extreme logical conclusion of my original statement. Those who died on 9/11 did not know they were going to die, but they were in that place and time as a result of their own decisions. None of them were forced to work in the Twin Towers. Likely none of those people did very much to raise awareness of the dangers of al-Qaeda specifically and terrorism generally with their political representatives over the previous decade. How many of those people voted for Bill Clinton's re-election? Had Bob Dole been president from 1997-2001, perhaps we would have taken bin Laden off Sudan's hands? We can go around and around with this if you want to take it to the extreme, but how's this...

...Individuals are responsible for resolving their own problems, no matter the (real or perceived) cause. Better?

No, not really

People with heart attacks are not expected to perform CPR on themselves.
 
No you jackass, because getting murdered is not the same thing as living in poverty in a nation that gives you a free education.

You mean different things are different? Gee, who would have guessed!!!

Maybe that's why simplistic nonsense like "people are responsible for their own problems" are unrealistic depictions given the complexity of real life and their only purpose is to reassure the simpletons who can't deal with complexity (ie reality)
 
You mean different things are different? Gee, who would have guessed!!!

Maybe that's why simplistic nonsense like "people are responsible for their own problems" are unrealistic depictions given the complexity of real life and their only purpose is to reassure the simpletons who can't deal with complexity (ie reality)

Maybe he didn't expect anybody to be stupid enough not to realize that he was referring to this specific situation.
 
Maybe he didn't expect anybody to be stupid enough not to realize that he was referring to this specific situation.

If he was arguing that his simplistic little bit of folk "wisdom" (ie "people are responsible for their own problems") then he was "begging the question" The question is "Who is to blame for the problems of black people?" and to answer "Their problems are their responsibility because their problems are their responsibility" is a bigoted argument.
 
If he was arguing that his simplistic little bit of folk "wisdom" (ie "people are responsible for their own problems") then he was "begging the question" The question is "Who is to blame for the problems of black people?" and to answer "Their problems are their responsibility because their problems are their responsibility" is a bigoted argument.

Whenever someone becomes successful, regardless of what walk of life they come from, their success is due to their own effort, whether that involved fighting tooth and nail for everything they ever owned, or just taking the time to work hard and to use the assets that taxpayers were providing them automatically.
 
Whenever someone becomes successful, regardless of what walk of life they come from, their success is due to their own effort, whether that involved fighting tooth and nail for everything they ever owned, or just taking the time to work hard and to use the assets that taxpayers were providing them automatically.

Paris Hilton agrees

Funny-Paris-Hilton-Quote-If-somebody-ask-you-to-do-something-do-it-really-bad-so-you-never-have-to-do-it-again.jpg
 
That isn't relevent to the topic or even my post.

Sure it is. You spoke about people who became successful, so I responded by referring to someone who is successful but apparently contradicts your claims about the successful

It's the same thing I did with the other simpleton's adages that have been posted - provided examples that show how unrealistically simplistic they were.
 
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Sure it is. You spoke about people who became successful, so I responded by referring to someone who is successful but apparently contradicts your claims about the successful

I don't know about you, but being lucky enough to be shot out the **** of someone who owns a hotel chain doesn't meet my qualifications for "success."

edit) Paris Hilton has done nothing to increase the wealth she was born with, and as far as I know, hasn't sought out any form of higher education. As increase in wealth and education are the easiest tools for measuring a person's success, Paris Hilton is technically a failure.
 
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