I just came from an Irish bar/club in a predomenantly white section of Boston. Why did I see a least 20 black men ALL........ ALL dancing/grinding with white women, and only one or two black women were there? HMMMMMMMM.....Interesting?

By Kansascity (209.242.125.78) on Monday, May 28, 2001 - 12:03 am:

"The Poor Will Always Be With Us"...so it is said..who said it, I do not know.
However, you cannot stop nature from taking its true course. That is why we have so many young unmarried parents who were not really ready for children due to the fact they have slim to none good job prospects long term. That is why I sometimes think that young women should be chaperoned and not left alone with young men. The family should facilitate the arrangements of true courtship. And society should back that up. This would help to build stronger,longer lasting families. It is a system of courtship, marriage, and family that our society is fast losing.
And if it is true that the poor will always be with us who and what will benefit the most from their labors? Could it be the administrators of the poor industry: Social Services, Church pantries, Penal System, Special Education Programs, Salvation Army, Nursing Homes, Daycare Centers, Foster Parents, and on it goes.
If we want better lives for people, this structure and way of doing things has to be changed somehow...but how?
All the things that a whole family use to do have been parceled out into society and capitalized on by those who do not mind being a part of the oppression of others under the guise of helping them.
Self-Sufficiency is not all it is cracked up to be referring to welfare reform. What happened to those people. I heard that no one cares about what happens to them because they are most unlikely to vote. They are referred to as the working poor. Who is taking care of their children?

By Roberto (152.163.204.178) on Friday, May 25, 2001 - 11:49 am:

CMA:

You are a very wise and perceptive young black man. It's unusual to see writings from someone like yourself (there are others here like Hector, Mad Scientist) who see life for what it is and has the courage to express it also. Too many black men relish in the "sex machine image". Whether they give a damn at all to the image that they garned for the world to enjoy as comics, ignorant tools for exploitation, unfit fathers (the world media has played this up with young Nathanial Brazile) and poor masters of their own fate, then what can be done for them? The answer from me is nothing. I say let them phase themselves out of this existence. It is most important what YOU do for yourself, take care of that sweet lady you will someday find, and create a beautiful and loving family to be proud. That is all that should be important for you. Plus, set the example for others to follow, as they look up to you. Be a leader. ~ Roberto

By Roberto (152.163.204.178) on Friday, May 25, 2001 - 11:30 am:

Ishvara:

I can only assume that much that we continue to see in the world today to "color one group as undesirables as oppose to others" comes from images that are played out in the powerful media. Image is everything in this world of power politics. It shapes us all. The media can take a historical fact and twist it and bend it so that it can turn truth to all shades of gray. The Taliban Muslims in Afganistan are doing this to the non-muslims (forcing them to wear arm bans to identify themselves) as an example, and spread misinformation and destroying priceless treasures of its non-muslim past, that is a reminiscence of what the Nazi's have done to the Jews sixty years ago to wear the "Star of David" and the book burnings of Jewish contributions to German society.

Will we ever learn or be aware to these things? I do not know. The Japanese are trying to revise and whitewash their history to look favorable to the world, despite their "Rape of Nanking" and the mass murder of chinese. This is what driving the chinese to become a superpower, because strength is a deterrent to aggressors. But its these things that drive stereotypes, fear, anger and beliefs that one group is unfit as compared to others and need to be pointed out and set aside. This is the reason that the Asians (Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese) are fanatical about image and a "lost of face". They know if others disrespect you, then you are worthy for conquest. ~ Roberto

By Roberto (152.163.204.178) on Friday, May 25, 2001 - 11:09 am:

Kansascity:

If we are programmed from birth to be a certain something, to act a certain way, can it be said that we are what others make us to be forever and that there is no way to change that, "the lockbox analogy" that you used? If this form of programming is so prevalent in the culture, then can it be assumed that we are never what we could have been in truly knowing our geniune selves? ~ Roberto

By Kansascity (209.242.125.120) on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 09:19 pm:

Roberto: I know that there is a viable black community of good decent people out there...who care desperately about what is going on ..and so too, a viable white community of good decent people who care just as much!
As for hustling women, young men are more prone to do that in any race...the older a man gets...well they generally settle down..The movies that came out depicting black men in the past (such as "Shaft" etc...) promoted this steriotype..and alot of people fell for it. I do not even go to movies anymore, unless it is really special. I liked "Save the Last Dance."

By Cma (216.249.87.34) on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 06:18 pm:

Roberto, as to the U.S., I would suggest that it is the 70% out of wedlock birthrate in the black community that is responsible for this. Black men have garnered a reputation for getting women pregnant then running off, and the stats don't do much to repel that stereotype. So until that rate goes down, I don't have much hope for the stereotype going away. From what I've observed, the black guys have always been the smooth talkers to women. You rarely saw a black nerd in high school I am not aware of what is said in Germany, UK or Korea, maybe they are getting much of their information from the U.S. I also have heard that there is a LOT of sex going on Africa. LOTS. That is largely the reason that AIDS is a pandemic over there. It is considered acceptable for a man to have many sexual partners besides his wife. I was looking at one of those sites for women in other countries that want to marry American men. Almost all the African women were dressed in a way that was showing off their bodies, or with their legs wide open or something that was sexually inviting. All I could think is that they must be raised in a society where they're taught that a woman's legs must be open in order to attract a man. Because when I went to pages of women from other countries, I didn't see it to that extent. Also, Jamaican men are notorious for being womanizers, so maybe that is the reason that the perception exists in the UK.

By Kansascity (209.242.125.104) on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 11:05 am:

Ultimate Hustlers :-) when it comes to anything...

By Ishvara (38.163.112.88) on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 10:59 am:

People are always trying to color bm as unfit partners. Why this is still so prevalent, I really have no idea. That it is a sentiment echoed throughout the world, I was clueless. Do you have any thoughts on how this stereotype originated and from where it gains power?

By Kansascity (209.242.125.7) on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 09:34 am:

The real reason a black male would not make a good mate: husband and father is if he is emotionally grouded, unable to bond with anyone. Bonding isn't just for mothers and babies.
When black males have been programed to think certain things of themselves...the steriotypes...it can be difficult to step out of that "box"..."lockbox"...like chains on the mind. They can often become their own worst enemy if they believe that is all they are good for (same goes for the women).
Even if the women around them give off signals...a black man need not respond to the wrong approach. Alot of children who were abused carry that pain and low expectations into their future. People who were abused when young always find each other....and subconciously keep trying to work out in some perverse way the rational for what and why it happened.
That can happen to any of us...if we are programed from birth to believe all that we hear and are told by those around us.
Yes, sex is used as a weapon, but black men certainly are not the only ones who do this...for sure! Men who conduct their sex lives this way...do not bond. They are hardened and conceive kindness as weakness. A man ...any...like that is affair material not marriage material.
Everyone should live right and then we would have less problems like this...even in wartime.

By Roberto (205.188.195.42) on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 07:59 am:

There is a deeply ingrained belief in this world that black men in particular are the ultimate hustlers when it comes to women. I have seen and heard this for years and around the world, particularly in Germany, Korea, and England. Many academics believe that some black males are conditioned by society to consider their prime value as sexual, become successful hustlers of sex, making a career of women, be they black or white. Is this the prime motivator for the type casting of the black male as superior sexual hustlers? Do you think there is a grain of truth here or not, or it just be another attempt to color the black male as unfit partners for life? ~ Roberto