America Has Lost a Generation of Black Boys

[BearlyLegal]

I don't know that the African American community should be united.  When do we ever talk about "Whites" coming together?  We might if it seems Barack Obama will win the election, and the whites come out in masses to vote for someone else!  Kidding aside, it is a ridiculous notion that there is a black community.  Races of people do not view issues in the same way.

This is totally credited, but at the same time, ethnic subcultures do come together all the time, and achieve common goals. If not for the efforts of the "black community", de jure segregation would surely not be a thing of the past.

[Black Star]

My name is Phillip Jackson.

I wrote this article.

I thank everyone for their comments.

Some people have missed the main point of the article.

Black people in America, as a group, are in trouble, especially black boys and young men.

You may believe this or you may not believe it.  I only have stated and connected facts in a way to project a picture of the future. 

Please check with the Schott Foundation for Public Education for confirmation on the dropout statistics.

Please confirm or dismiss any of the other statistics by using research that is readily available.

But then, come back to what this article is saying, "we have lost the greater part of a generation of Black Boys." 

I heard lot of denial in the tone and voices of some of you.  That is expected.  But because you personally might be doing well does not mean that all is well.

We have much work to do. 

The work that we do, or don't do, today, will affect us 3 generations from now.

America is no longer in the Black people business.

We live in an "Educate or Die" world.

It is time for new thinking.

Good luck to all of you in Law School.

Phillip Jackson
The Black Star Project
773.285.9600 

[Sparkz1920]

My name is Phillip Jackson.

I wrote this article.

I thank everyone for their comments.

Some people have missed the main point of the article.

Black people in America, as a group, are in trouble, especially black boys and young men.

You may believe this or you may not believe it.  I only have stated and connected facts in a way to project a picture of the future. 

Please check with the Schott Foundation for Public Education for confirmation on the dropout statistics.

Please confirm or dismiss any of the other statistics by using research that is readily available.

But then, come back to what this article is saying, "we have lost the greater part of a generation of Black Boys." 

I heard lot of denial in the tone and voices of some of you.  That is expected.  But because you personally might be doing well does not mean that all is well.

We have much work to do. 

The work that we do, or don't do, today, will affect us 3 generations from now.

America is no longer in the Black people business.

We live in an "Educate or Die" world.

It is time for new thinking.

Good luck to all of you in Law School.

Phillip Jackson
The Black Star Project
773.285.9600 

Noted

I thought the article was very interesting myself. I wish everyone would read this, and maybe then we can change our ways, or at least teach our children the right way to go.

[pikey]

My name is Phillip Jackson.

I wrote this article.

I thank everyone for their comments.

Some people have missed the main point of the article.

Black people in America, as a group, are in trouble, especially black boys and young men.

You may believe this or you may not believe it.  I only have stated and connected facts in a way to project a picture of the future. 

Please check with the Schott Foundation for Public Education for confirmation on the dropout statistics.

Please confirm or dismiss any of the other statistics by using research that is readily available.

But then, come back to what this article is saying, "we have lost the greater part of a generation of Black Boys." 

I heard lot of denial in the tone and voices of some of you.  That is expected.  But because you personally might be doing well does not mean that all is well.

We have much work to do. 

The work that we do, or don't do, today, will affect us 3 generations from now.

America is no longer in the Black people business.

We live in an "Educate or Die" world.

It is time for new thinking.

Good luck to all of you in Law School.

Phillip Jackson
The Black Star Project
773.285.9600 

Noted

I thought the article was very interesting myself. I wish everyone would read this, and maybe then we can change our ways, or at least teach our children the right way to go.

You're mostly preaching to the choir here.

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

I don't know that the African American community should be united.  When do we ever talk about "Whites" coming together?  We might if it seems Barack Obama will win the election, and the whites come out in masses to vote for someone else!  Kidding aside, it is a ridiculous notion that there is a black community.  Races of people do not view issues in the same way.

 

if the AA community never comes together and try to fix this shambles that the community is in, we will further disintegrate at the same rate we are doing now.  ppl don't talke about whites coming together, bc for the most part, whites run everything so their status is secure.

[BearlyLegal]

I don't know that the African American community should be united.  When do we ever talk about "Whites" coming together?  We might if it seems Barack Obama will win the election, and the whites come out in masses to vote for someone else!  Kidding aside, it is a ridiculous notion that there is a black community.  Races of people do not view issues in the same way.

 

if the AA community never comes together and try to fix this shambles that the community is in, we will further disintegrate at the same rate we are doing now.  ppl don't talke about whites coming together, bc for the most part, whites run everything so their status is secure.

   

Yup. We use our whitie signals to communicate with one another, and keep the black man down. No white person ever has to work for a living, because we are in charge after all. It's awesome that I'll never go hungry because my status is secure by the virtue of my skin color. Booyah!

[Denny Crane]

I don't know that the African American community should be united.  When do we ever talk about "Whites" coming together?  We might if it seems Barack Obama will win the election, and the whites come out in masses to vote for someone else!  Kidding aside, it is a ridiculous notion that there is a black community.  Races of people do not view issues in the same way.

 

if the AA community never comes together and try to fix this shambles that the community is in, we will further disintegrate at the same rate we are doing now.  ppl don't talke about whites coming together, bc for the most part, whites run everything so their status is secure.

Whites may not "come together", but there is generally little need for them to get together.

On the other hand, Jewish people have come together in the past, and Jewish communities are among the most tightly knit communities in the country.  The same can be said about certain Asian communities as well.  That kind of unity has been instrumental in the success of both of those groups in the face of institutional racism and social ostracism.

[sc3pt0r]

Here is something that I posted during a discussion regarding Affirmative Action (on LSD site).  I thought that the words would likewise apply here.

"It is quite pleasing to me that a discussion board like this exists.  Too often discussion boards are bogged down by people making ridiculous comments, and the discussion tend to evolve into basic name-calling.  Contrastingly, our discussions tend to be civilized, and even though I win all the arguments, the insight gained from these discussions is quite valuable.

In a few years, most of us are going to be lawyers.  We are going to have an immense influence on lives.  We should not take these societal burdens lightly.  These discussion boards are a way to express our different viewpoints, and to gain more information about the burdens we will shoulder.

The issues regarding education have always been intriguing to me.  Intertwined with the issue of AA, a particularly fertile ground for disagreement arises.

I have tried brainstorming the issue, and suggesting alternatives to the application process, that might provide for a legitimately fairer system for the disadvantages, based more on class than on race.  I understand that for the black race, there tends to be a very high correlation between race and disadvantage.  I also understand that this is truly an issue that can be overcome with hard-work.  Hard-work is a quality that is first instilled by parents.  This quality is then heavily influenced by societal pressures when you begin your venture into society.  Parents need to provide a solid foundation for this quality, but we as a society need to ensure that this foundation is not destroyed by the other members of society.

Given our education levels, everyone on this board has the responsibility to every child in America to ensure that we will protect that foundation.  Let's advance our society."

I should make a brief note.  Many people are unaware of the severity of these issues.  At this point, everyone reading this has been duly informed.

[BearlyLegal]

I don't know that the African American community should be united.  When do we ever talk about "Whites" coming together?  We might if it seems Barack Obama will win the election, and the whites come out in masses to vote for someone else!  Kidding aside, it is a ridiculous notion that there is a black community.  Races of people do not view issues in the same way.

 

if the AA community never comes together and try to fix this shambles that the community is in, we will further disintegrate at the same rate we are doing now.  ppl don't talke about whites coming together, bc for the most part, whites run everything so their status is secure.

Whites may not "come together", but there is generally little need for them to get together.

On the other hand, Jewish people have come together in the past, and Jewish communities are among the most tightly knit communities in the country.  The same can be said about certain Asian communities as well.  That kind of unity has been instrumental in the success of both of those groups in the face of institutional racism and social ostracism.

See, this is where the argument seems to fall apart. "Whites" do not come together, because in general, "whiteness" is an extremely artificial construct. Jews come together, Russians come together, Italians come together, members of a given alumni association come together, members of a given neighborhood come together, but "whites" most certainly do not come together on any issue.

[Denny Crane]

See, this is where the argument seems to fall apart. "Whites" do not come together, because in general, "whiteness" is an extremely artificial construct. Jews come together, Russians come together, Italians come together, members of a given alumni association come together, members of a given neighborhood come together, but "whites" most certainly do not come together on any issue.

I'd agree that "whiteness" is an artificial construct (as artificial as "blackness"), but blacks of all backgrounds (African, West Indian, etc) do come together on issues sometimes.  I don't think whites coming together is precluded by the fact that "whiteness" is artificially constructed.  I do think it has more to do with the fact that there has been little need in recent years for whites to get together (though many whites did get together to oppose the civil rights act, etc).