The Source of Black Poverty Is __________.

[Jermyn Davidson]

FROM THE ARTICLE

There exist three options for that persistence, if we assume that culture might play a role.

(1) There is something about black culture that prevents black Americans from escaping poverty. We'll call this the black culture option.

(2) There is something about the culture of being poor that prevents the poor, regardless of race, from escaping poverty. We'll call this the culture-of-poverty option.

(3) There are no internal cultural forces at play. We'll call this, partly for the sake of stirring the pot, the racism exists option.


http://news.yahoo.com/source-black-p...141630375.html



I want to discuss and analyze this subject in the context of this article-- but I am too tired tonight and I have work in the morning. Personally, I think the article really is a good read, regardless of my opinion on the subject discussed.

[justlookin]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

FROM THE ARTICLE

There exist three options for that persistence, if we assume that culture might play a role.

(1) There is something about black culture that prevents black Americans from escaping poverty. We'll call this the black culture option.

(2) There is something about the culture of being poor that prevents the poor, regardless of race, from escaping poverty. We'll call this the culture-of-poverty option.

(3) There are no internal cultural forces at play. We'll call this, partly for the sake of stirring the pot, the racism exists option.


http://news.yahoo.com/source-black-p...141630375.html



I want to discuss and analyze this subject in the context of this article-- but I am too tired tonight and I have work in the morning. Personally, I think the article really is a good read, regardless of my opinion on the subject discussed.

Whatever it is, it's not just black Americans, it's also prevalent in equatorial Africa too.

[n david]

The Source of Black Poverty Is.... "George W. Bush hates black people." Kanye West

[MissBrattified]

While I do believe that racism exists, I do not believe it exists at a high enough level currently to truly affect the huge numbers involved in different races being poverty-stricken.

There's an interesting graph at this link: http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-17.pdf

The largest number of Americans in the poverty bracket aren't African Americans. American Indian/Alaska Natives constituted a larger percentage from 2007-2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So what is the source of American Indian/Alaska Natives' poverty? What about the large numbers of any other race who make up the citizens who are living in poverty?

It IS plausible that past racism or, less maliciously, a lack of empowerment for minorities, contributed to the current culture of poverty within minority communities. Once a cycle is set into motion in a particular community, I believe it's hard to break out of that, whether it's due to dependency, lack of work ethic, high crime, lack of opportunities, lack of education, ignorance of the opportunities that are available, or any number of other factors. Frankly, within the numbers of people who are poor and dependent on the government and community to care for them, there are people who don't WANT anything else. Maybe it's because the unknown is scary and they can't fathom caring for themselves or doing anything different, or maybe it's because they've learned to be lazy and like someone else paying the bills.

Personally, I lean towards the idea that people who are raised in poverty, raised dependent on the government and the community or raised with a poor work ethic will tend to repeat that cycle far more than they defeat it. I would think that high crime areas also contribute to poverty in communities for many reasons, as well as other socio-economic factors. In my observation, poor communities aren't usually made up of one race. Usually it's everyone in a certain area that's poor, whether they are white, black, hispanic, or other races. For that reason, I don't think you can pin the culture of poverty on any particular race.

[FlamingZword]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

FROM THE ARTICLE

(1) There is something about black culture that prevents black Americans from escaping poverty. We'll call this the black culture option.

Reading many books is acting white
getting good grades is acting white
behaving in school is acting white
going to college is acting white
saving money is acting white

[deacon blues]

In my opinion the #1 factor? 70% of African American babies born to single moms.

[Praxeas]

If it's racism, how do you explain successful blacks?

If it's racism, how do you explain many poor whites?

[Hoovie]

I was going to respond to this, but then read that Ms Bratti had said it - and better than I.

But yeah, it's cyclical and hard to break. Dependency on Government, lack of work ethic, fractured homes... These are "taught" by default, and the issues grow rather than shrink.

[TJJJ]

Laziness?

[ILG]

I grew up probably around the poverty level. I always had a roof over my head and food to eat and clothes on my back. But that's about where it ended. I always felt like I had less than my friends. We were on food stamps for a while (which my parents hid from us kids...they didn't want us to know, but I found out from snooping.)

I remember the poverty thinking. There is a type of thinking that goes with poverty. It was many years of retraining my thinking. My husband was not a poverty thinker even though he grew up with not much money either. He's an entrepreneurial type. I think we balanced each other out. But he taught me not to think like an impoverished person and I taught him to squeeze every penny until it bled. Between the two of us, we are doing quite well and are on our way to hopefully doing even better.

So, there is poverty thinking that keeps people in poverty, for sure. Like anything else, people have to want to leave it and find a better life.