How Black Middle-Class Kids Become Poor Adults

[beenz]

America is set up for black people (especially black men) to fail.

No if's, and's, or but's about it.

When we have no generational or collective wealth, and have had programs set up for us to make sure we never attained that that have been present for decades if not CENTURIES, aside from other macro and micro aggressions such as job discrimination, housing discrimination, amongst other things...why should anyone be surprised this is the end result? And this is SUPPOSED to be the end result. It's socio-economic engineering at it's finest.

this is the main problem I see. black people don't have generational wealth. especially compared to other races who have had 100's of years of ancestors working/saving/starting businesses. no suprise we're at the bottom of the ladder in this aspect.

 

[RiffRaff]

You had any convo's with him about his business ?

Always wondered how much money it would take to start something like that.

I interned with him one summer actually. I learned a lot about the inner workings of the industry as well as some of the pros/cons, what he would/wouldn't do the second time around, negotiations, and a plethora of others things about being an entrepreneur.

As far as financials go, like how much did it takes to start, how long did it take him to break a profit, how much does he make, etc. I have no idea tbh.

Let me just say this, he and his family are living VERY WELL. I'm thinking well over a quarter of a million a year if I had to guess.

 

[Wild self]

Yup, its why I'm not having kids

I have to agree, until I become a millionaire myself. No way I'm gonna bring kids to the world where I can't provide for them with a college education or making big money and not have time for them to raise them properly. Time freedom and money freedom is necessary to excel in today's world.

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

yeah I just read this article in fast company about being black in Silicon Valley and they had this round table interview with like 14 black folks working in tech. All of them spread thin amongst these companies. Im sitting here like "take your talents and voltron!"

smh they really should link up and forget about being that one black....im sure there are some brothas and sistas right now working together in Silicon Valley, we gotta find ways to fund them

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

real talk a lot of black parents i know my moms included will tell their kids just make sure you graduate high school when in all honestly it takes more than that to make it out here shyt getting a GED is really the same now a days that diploma means hardly anything anymore and thinking that just graduating is putting you in some type of advantage which it doesn't now a days and instead of focusing on building things like your credit and learning things like running a company and making business decision we rather get a diploma just to get a job to work for someone else

Real talk, my mom was like that, she pushed college though, but not in a real way. A lot of black people and their families got on due to manufacturing and trades. Something with a union. That is how most of us achieved middle class status. Growing up, I wanted to work at Ford because that is what everyone else did and I knew the money was good and it was easy as hell. Well, I did make it to Ford at the age of 19 and hated it until I left. One of the most profound things I'd ever heard was said to me during those days. The person that cuts your check always makes more than you. I hated the fact that I was a better worker than most and but we were bound by a wage scale, based on seniority as that is the real currency in those types of places. Work ethics and intelligence does not factor in. So, I said fukk that, went back to school, got my bachelors and masters and now I'm in the field of my MBA. Now, my merits are what I'm judged by when looking for a job. I drill my kids on this shyt. I think a lot of it is simply we didn't have anyone in our circle that could relate to the business world. Even now, I can't talk to my mom realistically about day in and day out struggles as a black man in the healthcare world and I'm not wearing scrubs. I'm holding a flag out here for us in my arena. Only four people in my family has graduated in college with a bachelors or above. The perspective in our society needs to be recalibrated to know what is really important. Stop with the bullshyt music fallacy, stop trying to own a club, start looking at the world you are in and try to find out where you can fit in. Start trying to learn as much as you can. If you think you know everything, how can you learn anything. Don't be willfully ignorant to the world around you. I've come to know that there are few things that most people respect. Money, Power & Intelligence. You know what the fukk you are talking about and how you can be the solution. If you plan your work and work your plan and the plan is sound and logical, you'll get somewhere in life.

Rant off.

 

[Dr. Acula]

delete

 

[↓R↑LYB]

I interned with him one summer actually. I learned a lot about the inner workings of the industry as well as some of the pros/cons, what he would/wouldn't do the second time around, negotiations, and a plethora of others things about being an entrepreneur.

As far as financials go, like how much did it takes to start, how long did it take him to break a profit, how much does he make, etc. I have no idea tbh.

Let me just say this, he and his family are living VERY WELL. I'm thinking well over a quarter of a million a year if I had to guess.

It it based in the US or Ghana?

 

[RiffRaff]

And make no mistake, I know what owning your own start up and business entails. I realize you're life doesn't suddenly get easier because you because you're own boss (if anything it gets harder). I realize that income isn't guaranteed and just because you own a business doesn't mean you are going to be a millionaire overnight.

But I also understand the potential one has whose an entrepreneur. In corporate america there is generally a cap level where you can't get any higher even if you tried. Most of us are aware on this board that this cap level is SIGNIFICANTLY lower for blacks in the corporate environment. And this might be alright for a sizable portion of our population, not everyone is built to run their own shyt. However, those who are able should strongly consider trying to be self-made because if you get into a field that is not over-saturated or something new and creative the growing potential is limitless. You are also given autonomy (A HUGE thing for me) to make your own decisions and for better or worse choose the direction of your company. Not only that, but you can now give back to your community by offering jobs to those who would otherwise have been passed by in a different environment.

Nothing is guaranteed, but I'm enough of a risk taker to try something that would elevate me above my preconceived destiny of painful mediocrity. Like Mark Wahlberg said in his new movie the Gambler (paraphrasing), when he stated he'd rather bet it all and die trying than to stick to the same mundane ordinary lifestyle he went on living. I wish more black people would take this approach, obviously not to that extent . I see it on social media all the time the shear creativeness of our people that if applied correctly, could produce awe inspiring results.

 

[RiffRaff]

It it based in the US or Ghana?

It is based in the U.S., but has an office in Ghana and a couple other places as well.

 

[El Bombi]

I think people don't understand that overall, the black community does not have the same cultural support networks other groups do. You're chinese, indian, African, etc and you come over here with parents who came from a culture that cultivated over 1000s of years or you're a white american who this country is pretty much tailored to in every extent. Not only that you are surrounded by a whole community that holds you and your family to that collective standard. Black americans do not have the same historical culture lineage as other groups. There was an active effort to make sure we have no culture and weren't even free to adopt one until 100+ years ago and that was even under extreme restrictions in society at large half that time. Our culture is fragmented and broken to some extent..

So...what I personally believe what happens is that there is not a societal expectation on black people in general and that trickles down to the individual level. If your boys are busy being not shyt and you see nothing but negative influences and expectations all around you that tell you that you're not as good as the next person, you're probably going to devolve to that expectation more times than not.

There has been research that has shown that when people have low expectations of individuals, they actually perform worse and perform better when those around them believe them. We know how american society views black... and we know that there are also a good amount of knuckleheads who want to conform to that unfortunately.

The ignorance in this post.

 

[ogc163]

Great video on African-American middle achievement gaps

 

[↓R↑LYB]

And make no mistake, I know what owning your own start up and business entails. I realize you're life doesn't suddenly get easier because you because you're own boss (if anything it gets harder). I realize that income isn't guaranteed and just because you own a business doesn't mean you are going to be a millionaire overnight.

But I also understand the potential one has whose an entrepreneur. In corporate america there is generally a cap level where you can't get any higher even if you tried. Most of us are aware on this board that this cap level is SIGNIFICANTLY lower for blacks in the corporate environment. And this might be alright for a sizable portion of our population, not everyone is built to run their own shyt. However, those who are able should strongly consider trying to be self-made because if you get into a field that is not over-saturated or something new and creative the growing potential is limitless. You are also given autonomy (A HUGE thing for me) to make your own decisions and for better or worse choose the direction of your company. Not only that, but you can now give back to your community by offering jobs to those who would otherwise have been passed by in a different environment.

Nothing is guaranteed, but I'm enough of a risk taker to try something that would elevate me above my preconceived destiny of painful mediocrity. Like Mark Wahlberg said in his new movie the Gambler (paraphrasing), when he stated he'd rather bet it all and die trying than to stick to the same mundane ordinary lifestyle he went on living. I wish more black people would take this approach, obviously not to that extent . I see it on social media all the time the shear creativeness of our people that if applied correctly, could produce awe inspiring results.

The bolded is exactly why I wanted to work for myself. Having that kind of freedom is fukking priceless.

 

[thenatural]

It's a multitude of factors. The ones that I can think of are laziness and believing that we're entitled to the type of life that our parents worked hard for. Also, financial decision making plays a big part. You get that job fresh out of undergrad and grad school and believe that you're going to have time to invest later. Living beyond your means. Now none of this shyt I said applies exclusively to black people, but it does show that we don't have the safety net/network that some other cultures have when it comes to a back-up plan.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

I actually think the problem lies in the fact that we have raised a lot of entitled suburban negroes. You see it more in the new generation but as we become more upwardly mobile, we begin producing children like white folks do. Produced a bunch of entitled brats who expect everything handed to them. Only we as black folks do not have the luxury to behave this way. Have to stay hungry, or else you will get lost.

This is why some of our hardest working, highest achievers started out without a pot to piss in. They get it.

This is so true.

I'll elaborate on this later.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

I have to agree, until I become a millionaire myself. No way I'm gonna bring kids to the world where I can't provide for them with a college education or making big money and not have time for them to raise them properly. Time freedom and money freedom is necessary to excel in today's world.

Same.

I would never bring children into this world unless they had a solid financial foundation...and that's what I've been trying to build up for myself first and foremost.