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Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 199
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 04:41 pm: | 
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The overwhelming absence of black men has always been one of the most distressing facts about life in America's public housing developments. In Chicago, for example, black women are the vast majority of lease holders in the Chicago Housing Authority; men are like ghosts in the projects.
Besieged by poverty, disease, violence and mass incarceration, African-American men are conspicuously missing in action. At one time, this gender imbalance afflicted mostly lower-income neighborhoods. But as we limp into the 21st century, that gender gap is rending the fabric of the entire African-American community.
"Where have all the black men gone?" asked the headline on a story by Jonathan Tilove for The Star Ledger in Newark, N.J. The article examined the New Jersey city of East Orange, where there are 37 percent more adult women than men. Tilove wrote that most of the missing men are dead, and many others are locked up or in the military.
"Worst yet," he wrote, "the gender imbalance in East Orange is not some grotesque anomaly. It's a vivid snapshot of a very troubling reality in black America." Tilove noted that nationwide, adult black women outnumber black men by 2 million. With nearly another million black men in prison or the military, the reality in most black communities across the country is an even greater imbalance -- a gap of 2.8 million, or 26 percent, according to Census Bureau figures for 2002. The comparable disparity for whites was 8 percent.
In some cities the gap is even higher. There are more than 30 percent more black women than men in Baltimore, New Orleans, Chicago and Cleveland. In New York City the number is 36 percent and in Philadelphia, 37 percent. As the black population ages, the gap widens. "By the time people reach their 60s in East Orange, there are 47 percent more black women than men," Tilove wrote.
This growing gender gap has enormously negative implications for the future of black America. And there are nuances in the statistics that make the prognosis even bleaker. For example, among well-educated, professional black women -- a group that is growing rapidly -- the gap is a chasm. Surely, that progress for black women is good news that shouldn't be overlooked. However, as black women advance, black men are falling even further behind.
In fact, the more successful a black woman becomes, the more likely she will end up alone, Walter Farrell, a University of North Carolina professor, said in a March 2002 Washington Monthly article. As a result, professional black women are having fewer children, meaning that a growing percentage of black children are being born into less educated, less affluent families.
The recent edition of the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education warns that "a large and growing gender gap in African-American higher education has become a troublesome trend casting a shadow on overall black education progress." The Journal reports that in 2001, there were 1,095,000 black women enrolled in institutions of higher education and only 604,000 black men. The gap, which is even wider at professional schools, has increased since 2001.
It's also important to note that despite unprecedented gains, black women are the fastest growing group of inmates in the nation's prisons. And they still bear the brunt of urban poverty as single parents in the commercial wastelands that too often are their neighborhoods.
Unless we make some dramatic changes in the way our society tracks black men, all of these conditions will worsen, with increasingly nightmarish consequences. The primary culprit is the tracking of black men into a criminal justice system that a growing number of critics have dubbed the "prison-industrial complex." Many are there because of the so-called war on drugs and its accompanying mandatory minimum sentences.
The tracking process begins in elementary school, where African-American males routinely are assumed to be academically deficient and then demonized for their angry reactions to those biased assumptions. Resentful of a system that blithely dismisses their potential, many black boys eventually become alienated from scholastic activity. A recent study found that only 38 percent of Chicago's black males have graduated from high school since 1995.
These uneducated youth are the raw material of the prison-industrial complex. Lacking marketable skills, they flock to the ruthless underground economy of drug commerce where they are easily siphoned into the "injustice" system--victims of the drug war. Some also become victims of lethal gun violence --homicide remains the leading cause of death for young black men.
Unless we strenuously intervene to better the prospects of African-American men, who incidentally comprise about one-eighth of the earth's entire population of prison inmates, we may just be accomplices to a process of genocide in our own country.
Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor of In These Times, and an
Source: http://www.alternet.org/rights/22283/ |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 785
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 05:06 pm: |
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Yes Boo Boo, this is all true as painful as it is. Nice post, thanks. Unfortunately, it is a reality we have to live with. Question: Do these articles bring you some type of glee or satisfaction? I have no problems with you pointing out the tragic condition of so many of our black brethren but you seem to be on a roll with negative commentaries and salacious accusations about black men. Just curious.....
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Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 202
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 05:16 pm: |
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Ntfs: I love black men just as much as you love black women. |
Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 3226
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 05:26 pm: |
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The overwhelming absence of black men has always been one of the most distressing facts about life in America's public housing developments. In Chicago, for example, black women are the vast majority of lease holders in the Chicago Housing Authority; men are like ghosts in the projects.
I don't know about that. When I ride past the projects, all I see is a whole gang of black men--young and old, some even senior citizens--sitting around drinking forties or liquor from out of a brown paper bag. In fact, if you didn't know any better, you'd think these projects were comprised of mostly unemployed black men...because that's alllll you see. So, yes, they are there--they just aren't the lease holders...they're being supported by black women who are mostly welfare recipients, but, trust me, they are there. |
Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 207
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 05:43 pm: |
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I'm not sure what is worse. them not being there at all or them being there and just sitting around drinking forties out of brown paper bags |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 786
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:24 pm: |
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"The overwhelming absence of black men has always been one of the most distressing facts about life in America's public housing developments. In Chicago, for example, black women are the vast majority of lease holders in the Chicago Housing Authority; men are like ghosts in the projects."
Sad. Very sad. I've seen the same thing and it is very depressing.
"I don't know about that. When I ride past the projects, all I see is a whole gang of black men--young and old, some even senior citizens--sitting around drinking forties ......they're being supported by black women who are mostly welfare recipients, but, trust me, they are there."
Well, to be honest, it doesn’t disturb you as much as it disturbs me. I find it extremely un-nerving. And your comment about this men being supported by welfare moms is gut wrenching. What message does this behavior send to the children raised in these cess pools? I have no idea how anyone could hope to change or alter this sub-culture of pathology and apathetic nihilism. Good luck to anyone who tries. No one has succeeded yet.
"I'm not sure what is worse. them not being there at all or them being there and just sitting around drinking forties out of brown paper bags."
Hmmmmmm....good question. I guess this qualifies with which came first -the chicken or the egg.
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Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 1623
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:32 pm: |
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Oh Lord, not another one of those woe-is-me-I-just-can't-seem-to-get-a-Black-man threads. The reason you can't find any Black men in the housing projects is because they are tired of hanging around you broke bitches. And they're tired of every female that they have sex with trying to pop out a baby. A man doesn't necessarily want to procreate with every woman with whom he engages in sexual intercourse with. Has that thought ever occurred to you? Black women need to take control, exercise some restraint, stop getting pregnant, get it together better than living in the projects, and stop sitting around crying about how they can't get no man. Black women need to become property/home owners. I promise you won't be having any man shortage once that occurs. A Black man wants a woman that can hold her own, stand on her own two feet, carry her own weight and not be so dependent upon him. A Black man wants a helpmate, not a ball and chain. Ya dig??? |
Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 3228
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 6 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:38 pm: |
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It seems you're the only one worried about getting a man -- which is telling….I'd try to suck every black man's asshole dry too, if that were the case.
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Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 789
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:00 pm: |
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"Oh Lord, not another one of those woe-is-me-I-just-can't-seem-to-get-a-Black-man threads. The reason you can't find any Black men in the housing projects is because they are tired of hanging...............carry her own weight and not be so dependent upon him. A Black man wants a helpmate, not a ball and chain. Ya dig???"
Wow! Talk about a harsh reality check. Well, ya won't get argument from me about the aforementioned, that's for sure. |
Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 214
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:05 pm: |
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"Oh Lord, not another one of those woe-is-me-I-just-can't-seem-to-get-a-Black-man threads. The reason you can't find any Black men in the housing projects is because they are tired of hanging around you broke bitches. And they're tired of every female that they have sex with trying to pop out a baby."
Um, Shitty-Anus, I don't actually live in the projects, am not broke, and do not date or seek broke-down black men or indeed anyone who sits down drinking a 40, rather than getting a job. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 1625
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:40 pm: |
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Gawd you're so stupid IgDooDoo and I hate to insult you but you leave me no choice. I was responding to your post, not addressing you directly. I really think that you need to take your whiney behind back to the sandbox because you simply aren't ready to engage in adult conversation. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 1626
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:45 pm: |
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And another thing that just occurred to me - if Black women were in a position to help a Black man, as opposed to being a needy dependent clingy whiney naggy drain upon him, perhaps he could think straight and devise a legitimate money-making venture - as opposed to resorting to hustling a quick dollar (for milk and diapers) by dealing in drugs and the other criminal activities that lands the Black man in prison. How about that? |
Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 215
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 09:30 pm: |
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Shitty-Pant, remember to remove that fecal crust from your ass too and not just from your brain. How's it going today, stool-wise? Had another accident? Shit your pants again, you naught crusty poo-smelling girl, you.  |
Shemika
Regular Poster
Username: Shemika
Post Number: 201
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 10:36 pm: |
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Tonya, you ain't never lied!!! LMAO!!!
I don't know what planet some of these people are on but I'd like to go to that one where the black men are so concerned about bw that they would actually deal drugs or do anything else to support them.
We all know that as soon as a bm has two nickels to rub together or thinks he's successful the last thing on his list is a bw. Bw can't get a successful bm because they are the only women bm DON'T show respect for. Black men would rather run to pull a white or Asian woman out of the gutter then one of their own kind.
They have all this compassion when it comes to ww, Asian women, and everyone else, just the fact they are white, Asian, or anything but visibly 'black' is all that's needed to gain their admiration.
But when it comes to bw they're always critical, harsh and judgmental. They've all got a checklist they use to justify the dismissal of bw. She's got to be well off according to their criteria, kiss their azz, and meet all sorts of standards that they don't even live up to. It's a world full of Bobby Browns..
And I've met bm who were over in the Philippines before bragging about giving strange Pilipino women money to start a business or purchase a home. And these same men would have children by bw back in the states that they wouldn't even help support. |
Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 230
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 10:49 pm: |
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"And I've met bm who were over in the Philippines before bragging about giving strange Pilipino women money to start a business or purchase a home. And these same men would have children by bw back in the states that they wouldn't even help support."
Wow. They are living foul. |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 796
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 03:39 pm: |
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"And I've met bm who were over in the Philippines before bragging about giving strange Pilipino women money to start a business or purchase a home. And these same men would have children by bw back in the states that they wouldn't even help support."
That's pathetic and sad. I have no use for black men who do not support nor take part in their children’s lives. I have met Filipino, white and black women who have to deal with this irresponsible and unforgivable behavior. Again, I detest it. It is one ongoing behavior that a number of black men indulge in that I take personally. I can honestly say that every single black male friend that I have did not walk off and leave their children. Their children are an active part of their lives.
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Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 250
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 04:07 pm: |
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Down through the ages the more the Black woman was soiled, the more the white woman was deified. And so the white man’s relationship with the Black woman, and his protection of the white woman, created an appetite of vengeful lust within Black men, and a dawning interest in Black men by white women. After seeing the white man ravage the Black woman, it is only natural that the Black man wants to reciprocate. Whether to get even or just out of curiosity, inevitably a journey toward the white woman will sooner or later be embarked upon...
Many white women rationalize their jealousy of the sexual relations between their men and Black women by calling them “dark temptresses” that “seduce” white men. A notion that overlaps into the mind of Black male. Consequently, Black women spend much of their lives vainly fighting for acceptance. They often end up adoring those who don't really much care for them, giving every last bit of themselves to men who come with nothing more than slight interest.
And so Black women embark on an epic search for something that cannot be found, while the Black male and many others benefit from all she has to give. Too often she becomes part of a half-ass relationship that caters only to the whims of her ‘man.” In the end, as Ken Singleton in "Broken Silence" observes, many Black women “tolerate poor treatment hoping that if they hold out long enough, the negative behavior will stop... Women feel unworthy of love and stay in abusive situations trying (desperately) to make themselves more appealing.”..
Frantz Fanon in "Black Skin White Masks" describes the Black man’s inferiority complex. “Out of the blackest part of my soul, across the zebra striping of my mind, surges this desire to be suddenly white. I wish to be acknowledged not as black but as white...who but a white woman can do this for me? By loving me she proves that I am worthy of white love. I am loved like a white man...I marry white culture, white beauty, white whiteness. When my restless hands caress those white breasts, they grasp white civilization and dignity and make them mine.”..
The history and circumstance that has soiled the Black woman’s image continues to direct the Black man’s mind away from that desperate sight toward that which he has longed to be recognized by. His goal is to be loved and accepted by those he was designed to worship, in order for his dignity to triumph. He sees himself as a historic failure - failing to provide for his family, protect his woman, and secure a livelihood.
He finds it hard to connect with the Black woman, outside of sensation, since she serves as the symbol of his failure. By giving birth to him she represents the synthesis of his circumstance, the precious gift of life once cherished now become a curse, her womb a graveyard as life became death. As a result, he will chase the white woman to the ends of the earth, and will stop only when he catches his mind...by Rajen Persaud from his just released book "Why Black Men Love White Women"
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Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 801
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 05:05 pm: |
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"Down through the ages the more the Black woman was soiled, the more the white woman was deified. And so the white man’s relationship with the Black woman, and his protection of the white woman, created an...........As a result, he will chase the white woman to the ends of the earth, and will stop only when he catches his mind...by Rajen Persaud from his just released book "Why Black Men Love White Women"
Ho hum! Boorrrrrinnnggg...!
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Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 262
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 05:26 pm: |
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You are such an embarassment. I feel sorry for your mother and any children that you have. |
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