I'm not the one saying I shouldn't have to pay my taxes because of slavery.

I have no problem with us continuing programs like magnet schools, etc...; I think there's a great deal of promise in them.

However, bullshit attitudes like Hill's stand in the way of that progress, as does the continuing decline of family bonds within the black community. The unbelievably high rate of unwed single mothers among young black women has nothing to do with 'the system'.

And it's going to be what keeps any of that progress from being more than drops in the ocean.

No amount of government intervention will act as a viable substitute for parenting and a stable family. Right now it sure looks like there is very little value placed on those things within the black community. You're just building on sand.

hahahaha

That's interesting. Does it take into account the possibility of repeat offenders?

Unless you're a trained genetics expert, your answer here means precisely dick.

Oh sure, we can try to take the kind, cuddly approach to it and say "well hell no!" but what the hell do I know?

Whites are more genetically predisposed to certain diseases and physical maladies. Blacks are more predisposed to others. There are physical distinctions as well.

There might be behavioral or cognitive distinctions as well. I don't know. I don't claim to know - I know exactly jack shit about the biological makeup of the respective races.

Which is why your question is clearly little more than a trap question. None of us are even remotely qualified to answer it. Everyone knows the answer they should give, but their basis for giving it is based on...well nothing really.

Personally, I think if you dropped 100,000 black babies on Mars and 100,000 white babies on Mars, after several generations you'd see some kind of split in where they excelled and did not. I don't think there would be a predisposition towards criminal conduct, no. I don't know what the differences would be - but I'm confident there would be quite a few of them.

I also don't think that's terribly relevant to this discussion. I don't think biology is the problem in this instance.

Don't know. But it stands to reason that if blacks are stopped and searched more frequently than whites (3x as likely) and arrested at higher rates (think this is also true), that would result in more priors for the judge to consider at sentencing.

It'd be a snowball effect.

Which proves my point, precisely!

The issues that have arisen do not have a basis in biology. They have a basis in society.

African Americans were not born genetically predisposed to being criminals and dead-beat dads. Those are learned behaviors. Nuture, not nature. It has everything to do with environment and nothing to do with genetics.

Now that we have agreed that (all things being equal) these issues would not arise in our society on Mars (ruling out biology) we can begin to analyze the reasons why they exist in America. I have asserted that it has to do with the previous ills of our society. Do you have any other ideas?

*Also: I have a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and know a fair bit about genetics. I can tell you with 100% certainty that blacks/whites/asians/hispanics are all members of homo sapiens (meaning our genetic makeup is nearly identical).

As long as you aren't saying that ALL of Black societal ills can be traced to slavery and racism, I'm with you.

I think we have some Black people on CP. What do you people say?

Slow down there, sport - this is where your leap in logic falls apart.

These things absolutely have a basis in biology but it's not biology that's exclusive to the black community.

They started in a hole - they've stayed in the hole. 'Society' has done its damndest to stop digging and I think by and large that has been done quite well. Additionally, 'society' has also taken steps to try to throw some dirt into said hole and help raise people out of it.

But the folks in it aren't doing a hell of a lot of scooping on their own. Had you taken whites out of Europe, tossed them into Africa, disenfranchised them for 200 years and then set them free - well they'd probably be in shitty shape in comparison to the 'native' Africans as well. I don't subscribe to an idea that white's would've done this any better (afterall, look at backwoods Kentucky).

What I am saying is that you're claiming that the system is getting in the way and that's simply not the case. The system is trying to take measured, reasoned steps towards leveling the playing field and all to often those people they are trying to help go limp and act as dead weight.

At this point, the efforts are being made. It's time to set down the axes that people like Lauryn Hill are grinding and help yourselves as well. The die has been cast; it can't just be undone. Sorry - just as I wasn't born into a the Vanderbilt clan - some people just have a shittier path than others. Such is the way of it.

Now take ownership of where you are, where you can be and more importantly, where your children can be.

Quit blaming 'society' for everything. Society can only do so much and at some point you're just going to have to help yourselves or {gasp} make hard choices and sacrifices for the benefit of your family.

Chinese and Vietnamese people come to this country with nothing and can't speak English. Within a couple of years they own restaurants, nail salons and laundries.

Indian people come here with nothing and also can't speak English. They go on to get degrees, become engineers and their children win spelling bees.

IT'S CALLED WORK ETHIC.

This is not a blanket statement, but more often than not it seems that some black communities are content with letting the government fund their lives.

So what does that make them? Slaves to the government. They complain about slavery yet they participate in it willingly.

We're on the same page, dude. I agree with you.

:doh!::banghead::banghead::banghead: Oh GOD, it's racial profiling :doh!:

Priors=Prior convictions which implys evidence presented before a judge or judge/jury. Of course that evidence and witnesses were a frame up, because of some lingering racial bias.

Tickets/Charges by Police Officers are just allegations until signed by the prosecutor and filed with the court. At that point it is a "charge" which is adjudicated and then if a finding of guilty is rendered it becomes a conviction. If the charge is dismissed, found not guilty or some other disposition it is closed to public scrutiny.

No, the point is that you either didn't know what you were talking about, or you were lying in order to further your argument. Since you claim you knew "exactly", that means you're a liar.

ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL

Rule of thumb....

Pay your taxes on time. Simple as that.

She won't pay her taxes and rails against the evils of the US.......... but didn't have any problems taking advantage of this countries freedoms and capitalism on the way to being a multimillionaire and reaching the top of her profession?? This slavery thing is just an excuse.

Oh yeah, no doubt.

Instead of taking responsibility of her own actions, she's blaming it on unsubstantiated claims that has no merit.

This is why I never had much, if any, role models growing up that was/is a celebrity.

:D

I think you would have 200,000 dead babies. Even if they survived being dropped, they couldn't survive on Mars.

JFC You are a ****ing dip shit. The people that start businesses have the means to start them. Banks don't give loans to people with no means to repay them.

India has a high rate of English fluency due to the British colonization years and Western dominance of international business.

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried.

This is an example of self-selection bias. The kind of people who are going to travel half way across the globe to a foreign country to try to find success are going to be very determined people.

Take a look at the contact situations between the different racial and ethnic groups in this country:

Blacks- Taken from their homeland and forced into slavery.

Native Americans- Conquered and basically eradicated. What little remained were forced onto reservations.

Various Asian ethnic groups- Came to the country willingly looking for a better life.

Middle Easterners- Came to the country willingly looking for a better life.

I don't think its a coincidence that black and Native Americans are experiencing similar economic issues while Asians and Middle Easterners have had quite a bit more success.

I'm still trying to figure out what you mean here...

Stupid, ****ing STUPID comparison.

What about the Irish, Germans, and Jews?

Nope.

You're an idiot.

Everybody is in a group and hates the other groups. Sounds like high school.

Lauren Hill and this thread need to impale themselves on an AIDS tree stump.

SOLD into slavery.

Let's not pretend that Indians weren't violent and weren't involved in fighting with and against the British..

you know why SOME blacks still struggle? SOME blacks refuse to forgive, and can't move forward.

Like Dante Hall.

1.) I thought we were on the same side on this issue. :(

2.) I'm very proud of you for using "you're" instead of "your."

Stevieray the authoritative source on black Americans ROFL

FYI, here's Bump's reference to Andoid = PC(microsoft)

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showt...43#post7994543

And with each other.

Basically the history of how the groups interactions began in this country.

Native Americans were already here, obviously. The Europeans came here with imperialistic motives and through disease and warfare damn near wiped out their entire race. Being in intense competition with them, the Europeans did everything in their power to destroy their society and painted them as dangerous savages while doing so.

The first blacks were brought here around 1519, I think. They were then subjugated for the next 400+ years, relegated to less-than second-class citizen status.

Then you have the Asian and Middle Eastern groups. They came here farrr later and under totally different circumstances. I want to say the first influx of Asian immigrants didn't touch down until well into the 20th century and Middle Eastern groups came much later than that. Also, as some others already pointed out, the types of people that travel across the globe looking for opportunity are a different breed of people and their situation is often more conducive to becoming successful in the end.

Do you really not see the difference?

Those white ethnic groups did face a shit ton of prejudice and discrimination. People fear what they don't know and don't understand. Then you throw in the fact that they offered a good bit of competition to those already living in America... The difference between those ethnic groups and blacks and Native Americans is that they're white and, being so, are able to assimilate much more readily. Its tough to tell a 3rd generation German American from a British American or French American, whereas you can tell who is black/Native American just based off easily identifiable physical feature.

I'm not interested in pointing fingers at who started the chain. All that matters is the outcome, really. Regardless of whether some blacks were taken by whites or sold by other Africans, the outcome in this country has been 400+ years of persecution. Slavery in America has fostered a great deal of prejudice and racism that we still feel today.

You really just have to sit back and think about it; open your mind. For over 400 years, most blacks in this country were either kept in outright slavery or kept from basic human rights. The Civil Rights Movement was less than 50 years ago. A lot of posters on this board are 50+! That means there are a shit ton of people that post here regularly that were either born in a time when black people had to use separate ****ing toilets or were raised by parents that surely do.

It's easy for white males to sit back and say "I don't know why they can't just get their shit together!". Well, no shit! We come from homes where education and success are not only encouraged but expected. We have family lines that go back for centuries accumulating wealth and building good values; blacks in this country (as a whole) were purposely kept from accumulating wealth and building status until very recently.

From around 1960 until now, that's what? 3 or 4 generations? We've come a loooooong ****ing way. A long damn way. But to pretend like racism, and, yes, even institutionalized racism, don't still exist is just being disingenuous.

I hope people know Africans had slaves from tribes they conquered as well. Don't act like this is an invention of white people. It's humans. Color doesn't even exist there.

Edit: And if Hill's ancestors never came here, she'd be a slave over there right now...what a crybaby.

haha

true dat

Interesting, but what conclusions can you draw from that? What conclusion can you draw from the fact that 12% of African Americans have used a payday loan as opposed to 4% for Caucasians and 6% for other ethnicities? Is it a function of a societal pressure or decision making or education? You can't draw conclusions from it. All you can do is give people an opportunity, which America does well, imo.

Can we get a Setsuna name change to Uncle Tom? LMAO Pretty please?

Get a new punch line. PLAYED OUT.