I'm not sure what you mean by self-destructive. It sounds like you're just making up words. How exactly is encouraging people to learn a trade or to get educated consider self-destructive?
Don't get me wrong I think its a very good thing that we have the civil rights we have today. I don't think it should absolutely be Booker T Washington or absolutely WEB De Boise. We should focus on both. But I think it would be better if we put more of an emphasis on Booker T Washington's stance of furthering ourselves by learning skills so we can be functional members of society. Now that we have followed De Boise and his call against racial discrimination, what have we accomplished? When is it going to end?
You realize racism is never going to end right? Of course you do. So its pointless for black people to sit and cry about how they're being discriminated against left and right. What sense does that make? If there is ANYTHING that will reduce racial discrimination to an all-time low, it would be by the process of blacks becoming successful in this country so any stereotype someone tries to make about black people would be seen as outdated and absurd. Right now you can make lots of stereotypes about black people that, although do NOT apply to every individual, are often true about most blacks.
For instance if someone sees a black female with a baby they can make a reasonable assumption that the child will grow up without a father. Now does this apply to every individual, no of course not. But it DOES apply to 70% of black children out there, and so the generalization has some merit to it.
Another example is if someone is walking home at night and they see a black person walking toward them in the middle of the night with a hoodie on and sagging pants. This person might become frightened and walk to the other side of the street, for fear of this black man robbing him. Now this black man may get offended because the white person stereotyped him instead of getting to know him as an individual (lol). But at the end of the day, there is some merit to this generalization when you consider the fact that blacks only make up 13% of the population and account for half of all murderers.
So these generalizations aren't fabricated out of thin air by the white man, they're basing it off what they see in statistics, in real life, and what's on tv. Oh so then you may say ok anything you see on tv is obviously propaganda that people shouldn't take seriously. Ok well then if that's true then why do you have all these forms of entertainment like music, movies, and reality tv shows where black people EMBRACE this kind of degenerate culture? They don't speak down on it and say "hey that's not what black people do." They take pride in breathing life into what SHOULD be age-old stereotypes.
I think in the future, these stereotypes will be outdated but if and only if black people manage to rise above to something greater. I wouldn't necessarily say that hip hop entertainment needs to go away. But rather people should understand that it is nothing more than entertainment. Some people seriously don't understand that. They think the ultimate goal in life is based off materialism and objectifying women. But we can't have this dialouge anywhere. We can't criticize the black community in any shape or form without being accused of racism.
And if you don't believe me, name ONE person who criticizes the black community who does not come across as a racist. It can not be done.
I understand some of what you are saying but there are few things I want to discuss.
First you say that we have to become successful to end the discrimination and stereotypes, The issue is that right now there are more successful African Americans then there has been at any point in time of our history. And that is a pretty awesome feat seeing that Blacks were held captive from 1619 to 1865 and beyond. So imagine the businesses and corporation that could've been birth during that time period. A Black company that rivals Coca Cola, or GE or Ford. When you press you foot on somebody's neck for centuries, you can take your foot off and they will still think your foot is on their neck, they will still feel the pain and the reluctance to get up. I know slavery was a long time ago, but let me illustrate this for you, if we are in a race, and you get a 300 year head start, how long do you think it will take for me to pull even with you let alone surpass you. Especially when you're running in straight line and I have to jump over hurdle after hurdle that was set up to hinder me, not by my own doing, but by those who hate me.
And in terms of whining about discrimination, what is the alternative, to tuck tail and run on some type of "I'll show them" narrative? Nope. Mechanisms and organizations and laws were set up to give power to low power people. I was discriminated against by a large corporation that I worked for. I have 3 degrees and still was called derogatory names and moved around to different departments and finally fired after they fired the lady that called me the names. I fought back and I won. It wasn't about the money, it was about showing them that I was willing to fight for my right to be treated fairly and with respect. I can never change being Black and whatever stereotypes come with that, nor will I ever be ashamed of being Black even though there are some that embarrass us as a race, those are still my brothers and sisters. I'm the same ****** in suit and tie as they are in a hoodie with sagging pants.
Another thing is that you have to understand who controls the media, and its not Black people. They took the only Black news program off of BET and now the station just shows junk for the most part. Same with the music industry, we don't own distribution companies. You think white people really want uplifting pro Black music. It was popular for a brief time in the 90's but all of a sudden here comes the popularity of gangsta rap. Who decided that was going to be the popular music? white executives. And yes, rap is a reflection of reality, some of these rappers were in gangs, some sold dope, some have shot people, so you cant say that it's just entertainment and has no bearing in reality. Al Pacino and Deniro and Stallone are actors, yet they have killed more people in their movies then any rap song. But you don't hear anyone talking about how they advocate violence. 99% of your mass shooters are white men, but they don't draw a correlation between movie violence and real violence.
The truth is that there will always be factions of the Black community that does not place us in the most positive light when it comes to how other races perceive us. But so what, we need to get past the idea of placating the white man so he can except us. I don't care what a white person thinks about me, I know who I am, no white person can ever dictate that. They mock and ridicule the President of the United States, who is a Black man, what the hell you think a white person is going to feel about you? You can were the nicest suits, speak the King's english, get you a blonde haired white woman on your arm, drive a foreign car and become an executive. And the white janitor in that building will still call you a ****** to your face in any situation.
Integration was one of the worst things that ever happened to Black people. But it wasn't about Civil Rights, it was about money and capitalism. The only color that matters to white people is green.
