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Blacks Don't Take Care of their Families (1343 hits)

... And More Black Stereotypes...

Blacks don't read.
Blacks aren't good with managing money.
Blacks are loud and get agitated quickly.
Blacks don't have a strong work ethic.
Blacks can't get along with each other.
Blacks aren't ever on time.
Most Black families are dysfunctional.
Blacks aren't willing to work hard for what they want.
Blacks blame their problems on White people.
Blacks only listen to Hip Hop and rap.
Blacks are good at sports because of the physical demands of slavery.
Blacks have bad credit.
Blacks are more interested in entertainment than taking care of business.
Blacks are dishonest.
Blacks make up the majority of criminals.
Blacks are mostly poor and live in the Ghetto.
Black children want to imitate thugs and video dancers.
Blacks waste most of their money on jewelry, clothes, and cars.
Blacks think being intelligent is acting White.
Blacks think dressing conservatively is acting White.
Blacks don't take care of their children.
Blacks make money by selling drugs.
Black men are secretly attracted to White women.
Blacks are less intelligent than other races.

These are only a fraction of the stereotypes that abound about African Americans. Why do we allow people to buy into these stereotypes (both Blacks and others)?

For the answer, join me for a powerful Webcast tomorrow, Wednesday, August 6 at 7:00pm EST. This dynamic presentation, entitled Black Media Culture examines how popular media (TV, music, movies, & publications) reinforce these ideas in the minds of many Americans... and what we can do about it

To participate in this eye-opening discussion, join the New Harlem Renaissance group to receive the link to this free webcast: http://blackinamerica.com/cgi-bin/clubs.cg...

Nothing will be sold or advertised. Just straight talk about problems facing African Americans, and how we can take the first steps towards solving them.

Posted By: Jon C.
Tuesday, August 5th 2008 at 4:46PM
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I agree with you Roderick. Stop playing 'pretend'!
Wednesday, August 6th 2008 at 2:37PM
g smallwood

Thanks for your input. There is a degree of truth to those statements. We spend more of our disposable income ($22.9 billion) on apparel, products, and services than other areas, such as education ($4.6 billion). We are also the highest-spending ethnic group in this area. We are spending far too much of our income on depreciable products (clothing, auto, consumables) and entertainment ($2.5 billion). A small point of good news is that Black consumer spending on alcohol and tobacco is steadily decreasing. My point here is not to contradict the obvious (that our spending patterns are harmful) but rather to question why our media reinforces those harmful behaviors.

As for our families, 68% of all Americans live in a "family household", defined as a household with at least two members related by birth or adoption. 68% of all Blacks live in a family household, so there is no discrepancy between Blacks and Whites in this area. 47% of those Black family households are married couple households, which is slightly below the national average of 53%. However, Black households headed by a single mother are three times the national average of 12%.

I wholly agree that we can't bury our head in the sand, and point to best case scenarios to make ourselves feel good. We need to confront these issues. A good place to start is by being aware of the trends, letting people know that these things are destroying our community. When our young people are inundated with messages about cars, clothes, and "baby mommas" we are sending the wrong message.

Thanks for the intelligent discourse. We shouldn't candy-coat our situation here, and that's not my intent.

Sources:

Target Market News "The Buying Power of Black America", 2003
http://www.targetmarketnews.com/Buying%20P...

US Census Bureau "Blacks in the United States", 2005
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-...
Wednesday, August 6th 2008 at 4:48PM
Jon C.