Being black..., ...Is no excuse for failing. Options

[Kontroll]

Listen, I'm not racist. I'm just bringing up a topic that I know is on alot of people's minds.

Everynow and then I see these movies, or whatever...people saying that black people can't get anywhere in life because they are lazy, or because they are black they can't get anywhere in life.

I was sitting infront of Jeremy's house waiting for him to answer his friggin door. I was thinking about Albany(Where I live for the most part) and how it's just run down. Most of the people that live there are black.

I was thinking about how I see all this crap about how black people always say they might as well as just give up and deal with what they got. In movies, or even in real life. It pisses me off because the color of your skin does not affect your brain at all. It's an excuse and not a reason...

...if it was a reason then every black person would be in poverty. Is this not true? And you can't blame it on your environment because there have been many black people who have over come it. So, why do some black people just give up and don't try to succeed?

I know not only black people do it, but I'm just bringing this one up first. I'll talk about white people some other time just to be fair.

Input please. If this is in the wrong forum, just move it. Thank you.

[fameONE]

If anyone actually buys into the notion that Black people are lazy, or that hiphop is the source of all suburban crimes, then think, "How many Black people do I really know?"

[*Uronacid*]

If anyone actually buys into the notion that Black people are lazy, or that hiphop is the source of all suburban crimes, then think, "How many Black people do I really know?"

Alright, this conversation isn't about black people... it's not about races. It's about the bullshit brought about by this gangsta' stereo type... The statement "Being Back is No Excuse for Failure" is not racist at all. It's true, and if it's anything it's definitely not racist. It's encouraging. We believe black people can do anything, and that being black is no excuse for failure.

Also, who stated that hiphop is the source of all suburban crimes? We are stating that gangsta' rap encourages crime, but we do not think that it's the source.

P.S: If you haven't yet read this... it's from my nigga dawg diggity da C-pilla':

Imagine a 3 circle venn diagram with the circles being society, media, and upbringing, and the space they all occupy being the person. They all contribute to creating the whole, but cannot be individually held responsible for the actions a person commits. In the end, the person has to be held responsible for their actions, but that does not mean they were not influenced.

Now, I haven't really gotten into this debate much, but as for "Black people are lazy," off the top of my head I can think of Tupac Shakur who was known as a workaholic. Supposedly, all the work and recordings he did while he was alive is why he's still selling records today.

Yeah, he did do a lot of work, but did he encourage the masses to work hard? Wait, did he encourage people to work hard, or did he encourage people to live the pimped out gangsta' life style...

[Simba]

Yeah, he did do a lot of work, but did he encourage the masses to work hard? Wait, did he encourage people to work hard, or did he encourage people to live the pimped out gangsta' life style...

Yeah, so Tupac may not necessarily be the perfect role model. However, he was still very influential and charismatic; the people listened to him. The point is, he gained the reputation of being called " the rose that grew from concrete," basically showing people that there can still be success even if you grow up in the streets with no father and very little luxury.

The stereotype is because of the association with Black people that lingers. In America, they have gone from the very bottom of social classes, as slaves. Slavery was of course, then abolished, and most everyone was set free. However, there were still negative associations made with Black people at the time, and thus segregation and all of that.

Many were living in poverty, and even though the races are much more equal today, the fact that those who were in poverty were in poverty wasn't necessarily going to change. The equality just opened the door for everyone to have a chance at success.

Of course, it's completely the person's choice to walk through the door or not. It's not like there haven't been people who haven't though. There's the CEO of American Express, Oprah, Barrack Obama, etcetera.

Some people just don't have the motivation to get out of the streets, but I know there are plenty of kids out there with dreams and enough motivation to be a super hero, but I've got to say, it doesn't look easy to come out of poverty, and I guess some people either get very desperate (crime, id est, pushing drugs, stealing...) or just don't see it possible for them to make it.