Stating the history of this country regarding Blacks is one thing, but I think that listing these as excuses for where a lot of Black people are TODAY is inaccurate.
I think that more than anything external, our attitudes about education have done us the most damage.Immigrants, whether they be from foreign lands or from southern parts of this country, go places seeking work..any kind of work.Ideally, they are to encourage their children to do better, learn more, and go further than they did. There's a direct correlation between cultural/ethnic/national attitudes about education and the progress of any ethnic group in America....with a few exceptions of course.The Irish, famously and smartly, rose through entering and dominating civil service and politics.
Black people who have progressed here are going to be those from families that stress education and entrepreneurship.
After the "Great Migration" of Blacks from the South, and accompanying waves of Caribbean Blacks...plenty of Blacks did what they had to do to provide for their families and encouraged their kids to take advantage of education and professional opportunities. There WERE plenty who did NOT though and generation after generation...people content to be doing the same types of things.Nothing necessarily wrong with that....BUT....when a lot of the manufacturing jobs dried up , people who hadn't been encouraged to see value in education or owning businesses were stuck.
Without formal education, vocational training, a union to protect your interests, or a business of your own....worker in this country is stuck. Big business will just hire the new immigrants and pay them a fraction of a living wage for an American worker.
You would think that the children and grandchildren of the VERY migrants who were the "new immigrants" decades ago that big business exploited, would not put themselves in such situations, but I'm not sure that this part of history is known to them.
Anyway, that's my take...was gonna add it to the great migration thread but thought it fit here.
