Have You Ever Wondered.....

[bella_morena]

Why is it that Hispanics/Latinos.... (I apologize if either of these terms are "offensive" or rather "politically incorrect") who similarly undergone enslavement, were/are able to come together under the guise of ONE VOICE...although they come from differing cultures/backgrounds?

And, we as Blacks (collectively) are not able to do so?! http://www.haitinetradio.com/board/images/smiles/017.gif

Why do you think that is? And, how do yo think we....may emulate them, so that we may be heard and "respected" as well?!

-- Many of the Spanish speaking countries, had a large population of "Africans" (and even some maintain this population til this very day!--Even those one "might be surprised as having "African presence.") So, I do not think that is a reason....?!?!

Please share your thoughts as to why this may be.

[JackDaniels]

It's been my experience that the unification that you speak of only exists when it comes to issues dealing with citizenship in the US. Try calling a Puerto Rican Mexican and see if you make it out the room alive! Most Spanish speaking countries have something horrible to say about the other (Mexicans are slow, Brazilians are hoes, Spanish are stuck up...these are just a few I've heard in conversations with my Spanish speaking brethren).

Most Black people really do get along and I can say from experience seek out "our kind" when we enter a room to know that it's kind of safe. I keep hearing people equate Black people to a barrel of crabs (i.e. "There's no need to put a lid on a barrel of crabs as they will pull in the ones that try to get out") and in some instances I can agree. Last month my White supervisor left for another organization and now the place is entirely under Black leadership - one of my coworkers told me that this place is about to implode as you can't have too many Black people running anything (sadly she was right).

I have no real answer for this one or even the ability to form a complete thought about this topic... simply put everybody tries to knock down everybody but it is displayed in different ways and not always visible.

[Soul]

It's been my experience that the unification that you speak of only exists when it comes to issues dealing with citizenship in the US. Try calling a Puerto Rican Mexican and see if you make it out the room alive! Most Spanish speaking countries have something horrible to say about the other (Mexicans are slow, Brazilians are hoes, Spanish are stuck up...these are just a few I've heard in conversations with my Spanish speaking brethren).

Yup.

[j_da_que]

Exactly what has the Hispanic community unified on? Like Jack Daniels said, unless it's about US citizenship, they are as scattered as black people seem to be.

[Bishop]

I have to disagree with you bella_morena.

African-Americans are no more messed-up than any other culture. Our issue is that we feed into the perception that we are the worst of the worst. Perception is reality! What is perceived does not have to be true.

We have problems as a people. Very serious problems but nothing that can't be resolved with just a simple mindset change.

If you have the perception that there are no good men then you will not find one. If you believe you can't do better - then you won't.

Our problem is that we believe everything that is said bad about us (by everyone else) and get stuck in the rhetoric.

Examples of perception:

"This group consistently scores lower than most others taking the IQ test"
- White American consistently score lower than any other group when taking the Dove Counterbalance General Intelligence or Redden-Simons IQ test. These test are culturally slanted toward African-Americans in the same manner as standard European IQ test are slanted towards those of the same culture/race.

"They receive all the Food Stamps"
- The 2000 Census found that White women were the number one group receiving food stamps. This group is growing due to younger mothers and divorced households. African-American's receive the highest percentage of food stamps by group. The 2000 census listed 3.1 million White households received food stamps compared to 1.9 million for African-Americans

"He benefited from Affirmative Action"
- White American Women have been the #1 benefactors of Affirmative Action. Stats from the US Dept. of Labor Support this. African-Americans have benefited only in the percentage of income earned. In 1959, African-Americans only earned 44.6% of what their White counterparts earned. By 1994, that figure had increased to 74.1%. 2001 saw the best year at 83% but this figure has started to slide backwards. For 2007, the figure was 81%.

Yes, we have many problems and I wish we were more together in some regards but are we worst-off than any other group regarding unification? No!

Look at it this way, consider all of the racism we encounter as a group? DWB, inadequate pay, last hired first fired, horrible representation on televison, unequal healthcare, all past history in this country...

It's amazing we have any success at all. We have moved forward inspite of evrything around us.

How many other cultures could have endured this and still produce college graduates, politicians, educators, engineers...

When you think of lack of togetherness remeber the Jena 6. That protest was highlighted and challenged by African-American students. They organized and brought this to light without any real support from any establishment - Black or White. It wasn't until that the powers-that-be found the movement real and started airing the dirty laundry.

There's more unification than you may think.

[WhyBe]

You can't compare cultures unless you objectively look/compare each culture's history. African-American culture is unique as well as other cultures having a unique experience. It's pointless to try to explain "they did it, why can't we?"

If Blacks would seek to enlighten themselves of the world around them (not conspiracy theories, but TRUE academic knowledge) and evolve out of the "culture of poverty" in huge numbers, the perception of African/Americans would greatly improve.

I think Obama is going to inspire alot of black youth to get on the right track and cut out the dumb shit they get caught up into. We need more intellectual blacks to be in the spotlight--not just athletes and entertainers.