BLM protests ongoing in St. Louis...meanwhile, 144 murders committed all by blacks
- Thread starter Displaced Bama Fan
- Start date
i always love it when white folks tell black folks they need to start acting like mlk would have wanted
I'm glad to hear that. Sam Brownback's experiment with trickle down economic theories in Kansas has made it clear voodoo economics is just that.
It's not that outlandish honestly. My mother did a lot of work with children (mostly sexual abuse but children in general) most of her adult life with DHR, private practice, and other programs along those lines and has met plenty of kids that were told by their parents to do things such as attack their teacher so that they could go get a "crazy check" from the government.
This comment is not intended to try to illicit anger at any particular group but to point out that at least in some cases it is a real thing - not sure about the testing part leading to more money specifically but things along those lines.
I get the part about being overwhelmed and hitting a wall but I hope that you guys go through with your plans even if you pick just one or two niche problems to focus on and do what you can to help even if it is just to alleviate that part of the equation that factors into the cycle. Complex problems are usually best tackled in sections and if you found some good partner organizations you likely could do a lot of good even if it's on a much smaller scale than originally intended.
I have for years wanted to get to a point that I could do something like starting a non-profit so I applaud you for your efforts just in trying to get to that point. For now I'm having to settle for using my business to do what I can in donating - which isn't much yet but hoping it continues to grow. I haven't nailed down exactly what I'd like to focus on in the future just hoping I can get to a point of doing it.
What you and your wife and doing is awesome. I commend you for that. I agree with you that individual help is the best way to reach some people. As I’ve mentioned before, my wife and I give to several charities that we know do good work. We give tens of thousands of dollars to a Vietnamese program that pays the tuition of poor kids near in the area where my wife grew up. Schools in Vietnam aren’t publicly funded. If you are born poor you don’t go to school – at all. So, the opportunity to better oneself is rare. In this country the schooling is “free” and there are dozens of government programs that offer assistance. It’s up to the individual to exercise their free will and decide whether to take advantage of these handouts or not. In Vietnam, there is no safety net, and the government is so corrupt that international aid is blatantly stolen. Our help puts money directly into the hands of the schools as the kids are enrolled. The charity has helped thousand of kids get at least some education.
No, I didn't have any advantages. I spent my grade school years living in a travel trailer in the sticks of west Mobile County. We were poor because my father made a laundry list of financial blunders. He was violent, as my scars attest, so stability was nonexistent. (I’m convinced this violent upbringing is what eventually led to the deaths of my two youngest brothers.) I’ve seen the SOB once in about 15 years. I left home at 16 and bounced around the couches of various friends during my junior and senior year. My parents did not attend my high school graduation, paid for none of my college education, and didn't even know where I was going to college for a while.
Now, I have never denied that poor kids often come from horrible environments. I get it; I know it first-hand. But, while one’s environment has a tremendous influence, it does not trump one’s free will. Ultimately, the individual is responsible for their choices. I decided to go to college and then various graduate schools. I decided to move to various parts of the country and abroad to enhance or change my career path. If I would have had any kind of guidance I would have found my way sooner. But, it is what it is.
It is frustrating and depressing watching people make bad choices. My surviving siblings have made some colossal errors. My sister married a barner for God's sake! But, my two brothers have finally started to listen to me. Their business is on much sounder footing and they are making money for the first time in their lives. I will keep offering them guidance, but it is up them to make the right decisions.
But, some people will not change their ways. It's almost a badge of honor to be a failure. Trillions of government spending hasn’t done a whole lot to move the needle on the poverty rate. Some people will choose the path of underachievement. It’s easier to do so with the government encouraging sloth.
Last edited:
It doesn't matter the economic philosophy or how much or how little money is diverted to public use if government is incompetent.
This falls in line with stories I heard from girls I dated back in the day who were teachers. A government system exists to be gamed.
I’ve been involved with a ministry in the inner city of Mobile for about 10 years. Every time I find a solution to a problem to which we are helping about a dozen factors surface which make me want to throw my hands up and quit. It seems impossible to help but it does help although the results seem small. To your folks working on this- don’t let the cycle of poverty discourage you. If you help one that’s a major win.
Random note- I’ve been to Mobile dozens of time but only south of Ladd Peebles and north of I10. Worked in RV Taylor, Orange Grove, Birdsville, etc. When I tell folks from Mobile where I usually visit they say, “Why are down there? Trying to get yourself killed?!?” Frankly I’ve never felt threatened there and walked all over those neighborhoods. I was always treated respectfully. Much better than I would’ve been West Mobile.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
thanks. our church is adjacent to the pine street shelter that just closed (i think all of the shelter folks have been relocated as of last week). we have a long history of working with the homeless and there have been increasing numbers of kids showing up over the years. they have things like moms day out and other day care options for some of the homeless families, but they realized they are losing a lot of the kids once they get to school age. they are starting the fundraising for a free private school that will be located in the church and take 12 or so homeless students the first year (fall '18) and add a class each year going forward.
that being said, there have been and continue to be lots of "successes" over the years.
My recommendation is to start PreNatalAid and have a giant vitamin mascot bust through the walls of pregnant women's houses to deliver free vitamins.
So, I read through the entire thread linked in your post. Somehow I missed it when it was originally posted. I didn't want to revive it, so I thought it best to say what I had to say in this thread. I am deeply sorry if I have ever said something that made any of our black members uncomfortable or unwelcome. As I read through that thread, my heart sank. I began to try to remember, were there any posts I made or threads I started to could have contributed to this? I am sure there were. In fact, I remember one thread in particular that I started a year or two ago about the confederate monuments. This was long before Trump. I think it may have been after the little twerp murdered all of those black people in that church in South Carolina. There began to be calls for banning the flag and monuments then. And my thread was basically asking why it was immoral to look back fondly on people like Robert E. Lee and why did we have to compare the Confederate South to Nazi Germany. Again, I don't remember the exact time I posted this, but my first son was either not yet born or had just been born. It is fair to say that my outlook on life has changed drastically since he and his brother have come into this world.
I do not consider myself to be a racist person. I suppose that's easy for anyone to say about themselves. But I don't hate people because of their race or the color of their skin, and I certainly do not consider myself superior in any way because I am white. But I've no doubt I have said and done things that were racist in nature or bigoted, and I would take it all back today if I could. Life is too damn short. As I said, my worldview changed dramatically after the birth of my children. Suddenly I saw everyone in light of their childhood. How were they shaped as people by their parents or whoever raised them? What events occurred when they were still innocent and had no control over, and were changed dramatically by? I've come to realize I cannot begin to fathom what black people in this country have weighing them down from the moment they are born. And I'm not going to add to it by romanticizing a part of our history, no matter how factually correct this or that may be.
Crimsonaudio, about the charity you and your wife were considering... I recall not long ago reading an article posted on Twitter about a school up north, maybe in Philadelphia or Boston, where young black kids were all of a sudden doing very well after having had glasses donated to them. Glasses. These kids had been failing and it had always been assumed it was because they were just not that smart. Low and behold they simply could not see! And in this Twitter thread, out of the wood work all of these black people were saying they had gone through the same ordeal except all the way through school, and had always assumed about themselves that they just weren't smart. And in adulthood, were able to get their eyes checked and found out they just couldn't see the chalkboard when they were young. I was stunned as I read through this. I remember all the kids getting their eyes checked when I was in kindergarten.
I do hope you and your wife are able to see this through.
I assume there are many in the BLM movement who were born after 1964.
In fact, according to this report, over 70% of the black population is Gen X or younger.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...r-minority-groups-its-millennials-or-younger/
To some degree, your view seems short-sighted -- you seem to be focused on the disadvantages of the here and now but not the positive impact that the disadvantages can have over time as generations fight to improve themselves. The reality is that most successful people today have humble beginnings somewhere in the past. I am an example. I had dirt-poor grandparents (not to mention multiple dirt-poor generations beforehand), parents raised in abject poverty, parents who decided to leave the farm and head to the big city, parents who worked multiple jobs to earn technical degrees, and ultimately I am the first in my family to go to college. Yes, I started with more resources than those who came before me. But it's completely false to think that any success I have is based on generation after generation of advantages -- it's not. My success is based on generation after generation of poverty and disadvantages yet persistence in striving to do better for one's family.
Wow, you do live in your own little bubble world don't you? Before you can pick yourself up by your own bootstraps, you have to be able to afford the boots. What about children of all these non achievers?
I've spent a lot of time, energy, and money researching this - it's how I do things.
While I have great appreciation for your success and the hard work you built upon the foundation of hard work your preceding generations did to help you climb out of poverty, I suspect you overlook some of the advantages you were blessed with that other may not enjoy. While it's fun to poke fun at people here on NS, the reality is that many here are average or above-average in intelligence. I don't know how much time you've spent trying to educate inner-city youths, but I can attest to the fact that many of them are simply not equipped intellectually to climb out of poverty.
It is what it is...
So when someone like you or Bodhisattva climb out of the pit, it's easy to assume others with the desire and ambition can do the same. Sadly, from our time in the poverty stricken areas, many of these young people aren't intellectually equipped to change their trajectory. They don't see the big picture, they don't learn life lessons you and I do easily, they struggle to learn the basics to the point they can progress beyond the bare minimum.
That's the real world, and it's what my wife and I are hoping to combat through pre-natal care and education about food and how it affects development of the fetus / child. Someone with an IQ of 80 is very rarely going to have the intellectual horsepower to see the world around them for what it is, make long term plans that enable their escape, and follow through.
Perhaps you're correct - maybe we're not giving these people enough credit. But if that's true, how long do they have to live in poverty before they take advantage of the options that are available to them? We have literally generations of people who repeat the same life over and over - I'm not sure it's as simple as desire for more that's missing.
We have to figure out how to break the cycle and empower the people who are left behind. History seems to indicate that they are not prepared to do it on their own.
Last edited:
I try not to wear my religion on my sleeve, but I consider your post a very good example of Christian compassion and understanding.
Latest threads
-
SEC West Showdown Sends Alabama to Oxford to Meet with Ole Miss- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
Davis II Named to Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
Eleven-Run Third Powers Alabama to 14-5 Win over Samford
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
Maybe aTm's Pockets Aren't So Bottomless After All -- Layoffs In The Athletic Department
- Started by 4Q Basket Case
- Replies: 9
-
Time to un-vacate 2005-2007 on field victories and un-forfeit the 1993 season?
- Started by CmdrThor
- Replies: 24
-