S. L'Gree
2004-07-15 23:17:07 UTC
WHINE FOR US AWHILE, BROTHER EARL! I'm sure Larry Elder finds you most
entertaining! HAHAHAHAHAHA
The Bad Mood of Black America
Earl Ofari Hutchinson
In June Newsweek magazine boasted that many African-Americans are living
better than ever before in America. They are better educated, make more
money, live in better neighborhoods, and own more businesses. The message is
that since things aren't nearly so bad as many blacks make it out to
be---stop complaining about racial ill-treatment. But many do complain, and
complain loudly. And there are good reasons why they do and should.
Public places: Many blacks are subjected to poor (or no) service, bad
seating, long waits, special cover fees and prepayment requirements in
restaurants. Even if the lousy service has nothing to do with race since
it's difficult to determine whether it is deliberate discrimination by
management, inattentive waiters, or short-handed help, the experience is
deeply unsettling for many blacks who suspect that the mistreatment has
everything to do with race.
Then there's the perennial problem with cabs. Many blacks shake with rage as
cabs ignore their signals then stop a few feet in front of them to pick up
whites. Some cab drivers privately admit that they won't pick up blacks.
They claim they fear being robbed or assaulted. But when was the last time a
cab driver was assaulted by a black business person dressed in a suit and
tie or designer dress with an attaché case in their hand?
Retail stores and residential neighborhoods: Black customers are often
followed by security guards and ignored by clerks and sales personnel. Many
are frequently required to produce ID's or drivers licenses to verify checks
and credit cards even when they have accounts. In residential neighborhoods,
black contractors, plumbers electricians, gas and telephone service
employees are often watched and followed by residents and, harassed by
police.
The Glass Ceiling: Corporations issue glowing press releases, brochures,
assorted hand-outs and annual stockholder reports that boast of their
commitment to diversity. Yet ten out of ten senior managers in corporations
are white, and the majority of middle level managers are white, and the
number of black CEOs can still be counted on both hands. And many blacks
still insist that they receive less pay, fewer promotions and or subject to
greater harassment on the job than whites.
Business: The biggest problem for black business owners is still securing
capital. The majority of black businesses receive little if any capital from
financial institutions, and many of those that do pay higher interest rates
on their loans than white-owned businesses. While black business has grown
steadily in sales and volume of business it still is a poor stepchild in the
corporate world.
Net Worth: Nearly nine out of ten adult blacks in the work force depend
almost solely on their wages to live on. They receive little or no income
from stocks or bonds. While about one out of three black professionals have
incomes that exceed $4,000 monthly, they have few tangible assets in stocks,
bonds, and savings. The median black household net worth was one-seventh of
the median for white households in 1992. That figure has not budged much
higher since then.
Housing: During the 1980's and 1990s about one in three blacks fled to the
suburbs. However, they quickly discovered that the suburbs they moved into
soon looked like the all- black neighborhoods they had left. In every major
metropolitan area the majority of black suburbanites were resegregated. And
many blacks including affluent black families that live in predominantly
white neighborhoods still complain that they or their kids experience
insults or social ostracism. Even more incredibly in Detroit, Patterson, New
Jersey, Gary, Indiana and a few other cities, blacks are more integrated in
the central cities than in the suburbs.
Many real estate agents have an arsenal of tactics to evade the fair housing
laws. They tell black buyers that there is an advertising error, the price
was misquoted, the listing has been withdrawn, the owner has pulled the home
from the market or the offer was rejected (if presented at all). Despite an
ocean of federal and state laws that prohibit redlining in lending and the
heated denials from banks and savings and loans that they discriminate, many
banks still reject far more black housing loan applicants than whites. Their
explanation: more blacks had bad credit, shaky work records, and little
collateral. In many instances, these were dodges or flat out lies. Many of
those turned down had stable work histories and good credit records.
Education: More black students are trapped in crumbling, dilapidated public
schools with more ill-prepared teachers, indifferent administrators, and
outdated texts and equipment than two decades ago. Worse many of these
students are in urban public schools that are even more segregated than
those schools were two decades ago. Even President Clinton at the
commemoration ceremony in 1997 marking the fortieth anniversary of the
Little Rock school desegregation battle shamefacedly admitted that the
schools in Little Rock and other cities were nearly as segregated as they
were forty years ago. These are the towering obstacles that no amount of
cheery talk about how much progress blacks have made can erase.
And that's why many blacks are still in such a bad mood.
http://www.afrocentricnews.com/html/ofari_bad_mood.html
entertaining! HAHAHAHAHAHA
The Bad Mood of Black America
Earl Ofari Hutchinson
In June Newsweek magazine boasted that many African-Americans are living
better than ever before in America. They are better educated, make more
money, live in better neighborhoods, and own more businesses. The message is
that since things aren't nearly so bad as many blacks make it out to
be---stop complaining about racial ill-treatment. But many do complain, and
complain loudly. And there are good reasons why they do and should.
Public places: Many blacks are subjected to poor (or no) service, bad
seating, long waits, special cover fees and prepayment requirements in
restaurants. Even if the lousy service has nothing to do with race since
it's difficult to determine whether it is deliberate discrimination by
management, inattentive waiters, or short-handed help, the experience is
deeply unsettling for many blacks who suspect that the mistreatment has
everything to do with race.
Then there's the perennial problem with cabs. Many blacks shake with rage as
cabs ignore their signals then stop a few feet in front of them to pick up
whites. Some cab drivers privately admit that they won't pick up blacks.
They claim they fear being robbed or assaulted. But when was the last time a
cab driver was assaulted by a black business person dressed in a suit and
tie or designer dress with an attaché case in their hand?
Retail stores and residential neighborhoods: Black customers are often
followed by security guards and ignored by clerks and sales personnel. Many
are frequently required to produce ID's or drivers licenses to verify checks
and credit cards even when they have accounts. In residential neighborhoods,
black contractors, plumbers electricians, gas and telephone service
employees are often watched and followed by residents and, harassed by
police.
The Glass Ceiling: Corporations issue glowing press releases, brochures,
assorted hand-outs and annual stockholder reports that boast of their
commitment to diversity. Yet ten out of ten senior managers in corporations
are white, and the majority of middle level managers are white, and the
number of black CEOs can still be counted on both hands. And many blacks
still insist that they receive less pay, fewer promotions and or subject to
greater harassment on the job than whites.
Business: The biggest problem for black business owners is still securing
capital. The majority of black businesses receive little if any capital from
financial institutions, and many of those that do pay higher interest rates
on their loans than white-owned businesses. While black business has grown
steadily in sales and volume of business it still is a poor stepchild in the
corporate world.
Net Worth: Nearly nine out of ten adult blacks in the work force depend
almost solely on their wages to live on. They receive little or no income
from stocks or bonds. While about one out of three black professionals have
incomes that exceed $4,000 monthly, they have few tangible assets in stocks,
bonds, and savings. The median black household net worth was one-seventh of
the median for white households in 1992. That figure has not budged much
higher since then.
Housing: During the 1980's and 1990s about one in three blacks fled to the
suburbs. However, they quickly discovered that the suburbs they moved into
soon looked like the all- black neighborhoods they had left. In every major
metropolitan area the majority of black suburbanites were resegregated. And
many blacks including affluent black families that live in predominantly
white neighborhoods still complain that they or their kids experience
insults or social ostracism. Even more incredibly in Detroit, Patterson, New
Jersey, Gary, Indiana and a few other cities, blacks are more integrated in
the central cities than in the suburbs.
Many real estate agents have an arsenal of tactics to evade the fair housing
laws. They tell black buyers that there is an advertising error, the price
was misquoted, the listing has been withdrawn, the owner has pulled the home
from the market or the offer was rejected (if presented at all). Despite an
ocean of federal and state laws that prohibit redlining in lending and the
heated denials from banks and savings and loans that they discriminate, many
banks still reject far more black housing loan applicants than whites. Their
explanation: more blacks had bad credit, shaky work records, and little
collateral. In many instances, these were dodges or flat out lies. Many of
those turned down had stable work histories and good credit records.
Education: More black students are trapped in crumbling, dilapidated public
schools with more ill-prepared teachers, indifferent administrators, and
outdated texts and equipment than two decades ago. Worse many of these
students are in urban public schools that are even more segregated than
those schools were two decades ago. Even President Clinton at the
commemoration ceremony in 1997 marking the fortieth anniversary of the
Little Rock school desegregation battle shamefacedly admitted that the
schools in Little Rock and other cities were nearly as segregated as they
were forty years ago. These are the towering obstacles that no amount of
cheery talk about how much progress blacks have made can erase.
And that's why many blacks are still in such a bad mood.
http://www.afrocentricnews.com/html/ofari_bad_mood.html