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Yes everything is a choice but when you are taught that what is right is actually wrong then all the right choices are blurred.
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Some individuals lack the requirements to make choices. Very broad article but applies in a socioeconomic context.
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And @theregothatman I'm not gonna call you a troll or anything because I get your sentiment but I just really need you to understand that sometimes a young negro just has absolutely no chance.
Many of us here are probably from the hood or "made it out" but I promise you there is at least ONE circumstance beyond our control that allowed for this to be possible.
Many of us here are probably from the hood or "made it out" but I promise you there is at least ONE circumstance beyond our control that allowed for this to be possible.
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NYC had the gangs, but the Black communities in NY had a different dynamic going due to the Police presence and corruption in government. Also, Black and Latin gangsters that were a part of organized crime ruled our streets. Numbers runners, drug runners, NYC was different from Cali because of that. Dudes like Bumpy Johnson knew many of the young dudes who were at risk back then, and they would have had you working for them, instead of running with a gang recklessly. One of the gangs were named the Jolly Stompers, out of Brooklyn I believe. But most of these gangs worked along side of those gangsters like Nicky Barnes, and provided protection where it was needed. During the Blackout in NYC in the sixties, John Lindsey was the mayor. He was White and rich. During the Blackout, he decided that he was going to walk the streets of NYC, Harlem, to make sure that everything was alright. The police were not around to protect him. He was not a disliked Mayor, wasn't an outright racist, but he was white. Walking around in Harlem back then was dangerous for anyone. So Bumpy Johnson got wind of this. Bump sent his daughter out to meet the mayor on 125th during this Blackout. Mind you, there was no electrical power at all in NYC. No street lights, no stop lights. So people turned on their car headlights in order to light the streets. Once Bump's daughter got with Lindsay, Bump's other people came out and acted as the bodyguards, when the police could not. They were busy protecting the rest of the city.
EDIT: My bad, Bump protected the Mayor after the King assassination. Wrong event. There was still a Blackout in Harlem due to all of the fires and such.
Black and Latino gangs in NYC, were under the control of people like Johnson, because stupid gang violence was bad for business.
Of course all of that changed once crack came on the scene, because that made all of those who wanted money and then got it, powerful.
At the root of all of this is White supremacy. Once that is addressed, gangs should focus on the real enemy. it isn't the person in the mirror that is oppressing you.
They want you to think that, but it isn't true. You cannot pull yourself up by the bootstraps, if someone else owns your boots.
EDIT: My bad, Bump protected the Mayor after the King assassination. Wrong event. There was still a Blackout in Harlem due to all of the fires and such.
Black and Latino gangs in NYC, were under the control of people like Johnson, because stupid gang violence was bad for business.
Of course all of that changed once crack came on the scene, because that made all of those who wanted money and then got it, powerful.
At the root of all of this is White supremacy. Once that is addressed, gangs should focus on the real enemy. it isn't the person in the mirror that is oppressing you.
They want you to think that, but it isn't true. You cannot pull yourself up by the bootstraps, if someone else owns your boots.
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I mean they ask you the highest level of your parents education when applying for college.
It creates a divide before your accomplishments can be measured.
It creates a divide before your accomplishments can be measured.
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Exactly. I lived in the hood until I was 14, but I was one of the fortunate ones who had educated parents. They spent hours tutoring me because my local public schools were absolute garbage, and because of that, I was able to get into a good private school in the suburbs.
A lot of kids in my neighborhood were from working class families with little to no education. Many kids were born into families where the parents were addicts or dealers. When your schools aren't teaching you @$#@ and you have no role models to put you on the right path, it's easy to fall into this type of life. @$#@, I had strict parents and I still got into trouble frequently throughout most of my youth, so imagine how bad it is for kids who have parents who don't care or aren't even present.
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This is a huge assumption resting on plenty of variables, one of which being the ability to even recognize that the way you're living is wrong.
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Like teenagers grasp that living in the projects or in the hood is weird....that’s all they’ve known their whole life.
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100% facts! Wish more people saw it this way. You get it.
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i like your thinking, sometimes thats all it takes for you to change your whole environment.
NYC is very sterile in that respect. If you wanted to be completely low profile and not draw attention towards yourself, you can.
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LOS ANGELES AINT NEW YORK. And you are black.
Nebraska. King of corn. You get nothing.
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Ignorance
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The very thing that gets in the way of you being aware of other choices, is white supremacy.
How racism works is to make you think that you are less than human, not worthy of respect. You are taught by society that you should not even respect yourself. You look at the entertainment that they make for you, you look at the things that are marketed in your direction, you pick the white doll over the Black doll, you kill your brother/sister, but you turn the other cheek when a white person calls you the Nword. The way that you speak reeks of tactical stupidity.
They taught the Black people to love a white god, more than they love themselves. They taught Black people that if they got an education, that they would have chance in this world, YET! You have white people, rich white people, stacking the deck for themselves by paying for the admissions to these universities under the table. Yeah, a few Black people slip through, but they can't even kneel during silent protest in the NFL.
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You’re right in regards to accountability. But when you are dealing with trauma while growing up in poverty, it affects the choices you make. It’s not so black and white
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Whole lot of excuses being made in here, but no mention of solutions.
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There are other threads for that, like the political thread for instance.
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Respectfully, Nah man (fortunate to go to school in midtown and see other ****) by 10 I knew this wasnt "right". My home was stable but outside that building was a dead *** warzone, west farms/east tremont 80s-90s
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The solution is to destroy white supremacy. There isn't a problem that Black america is facing, that was not caused by White supremacy. Not one.
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I think people know by the time your adults the way you’re living isn’t right even in a bad neighborhood because it’s not like everybody around you is some bad person. You see good people who are doing the best they can without doing bad so that excuse doesn’t hold weight past teenage years to me. I’m willing to say a young kid don’t know but as you get older I’m less willing to let that same excuse fly.
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I find it funny, you can tell when these devils show up, forcing a refocus upon personal responsibility.
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Lots of blaming and finger pointing for your own downfalls and mishaps. I gotta check out of this thread too much ignorance going on.
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Are you white?
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how is personal responsibility not a corner stone in making sure your success is saw through thou? cats learn this when they gotta submit HW in school...
new flash folks, if you don't care about yourself, don't expect no one else to.
new flash folks, if you don't care about yourself, don't expect no one else to.
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Yes I’m white. But you have no clue about my background and how and who I was raised by. I’ve seen it and lived it from every angle. Because I’m white don’t mean I don’t know what is going on in the black community. I was raised by a black man from Jackson Tennessee who’s parents were slaves. I’ve seen and lived it all.
