Why can't Black people get their shit together. I mean they've had almost 150 years

Also entitled one of the stupidest questions ever asked. Actually, let me rephrase. The question is more ignorant than stupid, especially if you don't have the benefit of good info. I myself used to hear this and think that there had to be a reason that African Americans hadn't made the strides the whites had in this country. I knew it wasn't reasons like they were lazy, or welfare moochers or any of the stereotypical reasons, but I still didn't have a good come back for those who insisted that they had had enough time.

Well many classes and books later and I have found a lot of valid reasons. A couple of which I would like to discuss here. My info comes from various sources, and I am of course, as always, writing as a white man. I cannot and will not speak to the black experience in this country. There are several excellent African American authors that do it better than I could ever pretend to. I encourage you to look them up on your own. I know that Toni Morrison is a name that comes up often in disccussions of race writings. But I digress onto the examples.

1. "Black people in this country haven't really had almost 150 years"- In fact they have never really had a period of time that they were ever given anything like an equitable system in which to compete. The main problem with the ignorance that I and my fellow White brothers and sisters have in this misunderstanding is that we were never properly educated. The history books that we, and others, learned from were done in a linear fashion. That is looking at history as always improving. Slaves were freed, things kept getting better after that for everyone. Well, all of that is complete nonsense.

Recently, thanks to James Loewen's book, Sundown Towns, I have read about a period of history regarded as the "Nadir Period of Racism." this was mainly from 1890-1930, but the affects are still felt today. See, after the Civil War things did get a bit better for the African Americans in this country. There was a real sense of national pride behind being anti-racist and many towns were integrated and proud of it. In fact there were black postal carriers, factory workers, and even black people in politics. Hell, up until 1933 we had black professional football players and even a black coach. Not to say that the African Americans were the White's equal, because they weren't given the opportunities to move into real positions of authority on the whole. However, things were heading in the right direction. By 1890 the Civil War had been over for some time and most of the people in the United States hadn't been alive during the war while even fewer had actually participated. That, along with the Democratic parties almost constant attacks on the Republican party to shut the hell up about integration, which finally did get the Republicans to shut up, ended us up in the Nadir period.

During the Nadir, African Americans were chased from towns and cities all over America. Forced out of jobs that they previously held as well as communities that had until recently welcomed them. "All White" communities became the rule rather than the exception. Whole counties were "Sundown." The South oddly enough was the exception, of course they wanted to make sure that their supply of cheap, exploitable labor didn't stray off, and so most Southern towns and counties weren't sundown at all.

OK, so there went almost 30 years of trying take at least small steps in the right direction. Add that to the 40 years of the Nadir and you have 150-70=80. So maybe they have had 80 years to get their shit together. Except that isn't true either. Without going into a detailed history of what happened to further screw all of the non whites in this country lets just assume that things didn't make much progress until 1964. 5 years before I was born, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and the Civil Rights bill became a law. So lets see 1930 to 1964 is 34 more years, so 80-34=46.

I doubt that any truly educated person believes that even since 1964 that the black people in this country have been given a fair shake and an equitable system in which to operate. Let's assume though that you do find someone who says that racism isn't all that bad and uses the 150 years argument. Well let them have the 46 years, and then ask them how long the white person in this country has had to get their shit together. Well, let's see, White folk have been kicking around in the USA on a regular basis since, lets say Jamestown in 1607. Quick math and 2007-1607=400. So white people have had 400 years to get their proverbial shit together. As compared with the pitiful, inequitable 46 years that the African American has had. Not really such a great reasoning point after all, is it?

2. "The Bootstrap Myth"- Also referred to by some sociologist as the "Horatio Alger Jr Myth." Horatio Alger was this author who wrote several books whose main theme was people rising through the ranks to become these powerful people. There are many things very wrong with this myth, but the biggest one is that if you don't have bootstraps to begin with, you can't very well pull yourself up by them.

Now again, I can cite volumes of examples as to how African Americans and other non white people in this country have gotten the short end of the stick. These would include unequal access to resources that allow a person to be successful (e.g. decent education, safe living environment, health care, etc). That is really just a start, and I encourage you to do your own research in this area. There is tons of info everywhere on the unequal distribution of resources in this country. Read one or two of the articles or books, and this theory falls apart.

So my answer to the question itself of "Why can't Black people get their shit together? After all hasn't it been almost 150 years?," is this...They never were given any real opportunity to do so. That's why African Americans like Oprah, Barrack Obama, etc.. stand out in our minds so vividly. Because they beat the ridiculous odds, they are the exception that proves the rule. Black people that I know, in my estimation as a white male, would do every bit as well for themselves if not better than their white counterparts if they were ever given any real and equitable opportunity to do so.

Think that last part is crap? Name two major inventions that changed the course of human development aside from electricity and steam power that a white person is responsible for. Even those two were built on from previously existent concepts. All of it adds up to this, no one has an equal chance to rise up and be something if the moment they are born they have a boot in their back. Later.

Books I've Read and Books I am Reading

The biggest way in my opinion to start on the path of equitability is to inform yourself. Fortunately social justice is getting a lot of attention and so there are some good sources of info. I'd like to discuss a couple of books I have read as well as some I am working on.

White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son by Tim Wise- Tim Wise is the guru of White Privilege. He has written tons of articles on the subject as well as this book. If you want an inside look as well as an extremely eye opening book on the subject of white privilege, look no further. I found many fantastic examples that I hadn't thought about in this book. His book is approachable, and easy to read. I barely put it down as each page seemed to have a new revalation for me to think about. If you are serious about change than you have to read this book.

Race Manners for the 21st Century: Navigating the Minefield Between Black and White Americans in an Age of Fear by Bruce A. Jacobs- If you have been doing reading already, some of this book may seem repetitous. However, if you want a first good book on the subject of race relations this is a great one. Not that the book offers nothing to a more seasoned reader of social justice issues. I found many fantastic examples, and Jacob's offers excellent summaries at the end of each chapter to help get the ideas across

Working Toward Whiteness, How Americas Immigrants Became White: The Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs by David Roediger- You know we haven't always been classified as white, who knew? Well Roediger does and that is what his book is all about. Now this one reads like a textbook. Lots of facts, figures, and relevant dates make it for slower reading. What I like about it is the amount of info in here. I am still working on it, and it sheds light on the history of white people in America and how it took awhile until we came to this melting pot that became the white race and how we lost a lot of ourselves in the process.

Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American History by James W. Loewen- Oh my what a proud tradition we white folks have, and Loewen brings up yet another one. Sundown Towns are those lovely little towns and cities that had the "Don't let the sun set on your black ass in _______" signs outside of them. Think they're a thing of the past, think again. Loewen is adept at bringing out into the open a rarely talked about part of American History. I just started this one, but it is quite good. For those who want to take the road that things have gotten better and why are we dragging all this ugliness up again, I would say read this book and answer your own question.


So there you have it. On later posts I will give some links to excellent sites for educators as a well as anyone interested in furthuring the cause of Social Justice. Happy Reading.