Ol’Otis
The Picasso of the Ghetto
Also the 80s was the decade of excessive greed
Crime all around was at all time high
Crime all around was at all time high
Where would the black community be had there been no 'Crack Era'?
- Thread starter Chubbs
- Start date
The Amerikkkan Idol
The Amerikkkan Nightmare
Dude, you just made our point. The crack epidemic is what made the violence skyrocket, not the lack of jobs.
There were more jobs in '92 than there were in 2009, but crime was much lower, even while everyone was going broke after the crisis.
They tried to wipe us out man smh
Ol’Otis
The Picasso of the Ghetto
Ol’Otis
The Picasso of the Ghetto
Yep if not crack
Something else
I can tell by a lot if these answers that some of you guys didn't live through the crack era.
First off yes there was always drugs in ths community and Blacks weren't afforded the same opportunities as other races despite that the Black median income was coming up in the 70's. You had a rising Black middle class. More Black people were attending college and getting better jobs. When crack went into full force in 83-84, it halted a lot of that progress. If crack never hits it literally changes the course for Black people. We don't become targets of the war on crime. The prison industrial complex doesn't get filled with Black bodies. Black children don't come out of crack addicted mothers. Drug induced crimes go down and the renmants of the Black middle class don't flee Black cities and I'm probably missing a couple of points.
Great points. Don’t you think a good amount of this stuff would’ve still happened due to Black men losing good factory jobs and the spike in Black children being raised without fathers starting in the 70s? Crack no doubt was a major blow but the late 70s and early 80s before crack were also terrible for inner cities as far as crime and poverty.
Rap probably would not exist, at least not in its current form
Hell much of hip hop culture would have been fundamentally different.
All for the better though.
The Crack Era was a crime against humanity.
The means to commit violence and other crimes lesson as there is no addictive drug on the streets to lure people into hell.
I would argue black americans deserve reparations off of the drug war waged by the us government with help from its cartel agents on the black race
Hell much of hip hop culture would have been fundamentally different.
All for the better though.
The Crack Era was a crime against humanity.
The means to commit violence and other crimes lesson as there is no addictive drug on the streets to lure people into hell.
I would argue black americans deserve reparations off of the drug war waged by the us government with help from its cartel agents on the black race
The Amerikkkan Idol
The Amerikkkan Nightmare
Rap already existed.
Run-DMC, Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Whodini, etc . . .all predate that.
Hip-Hop probably stays fun a little bit longer.
Crack made everything serious since the violence got real serious
Richard Glidewell
Yall done tore all the bottom of ya shoes w/me!!!
Before the crack there was heroin..........we can do this music by drug association game going back decades brehs.......if you got a problem with rap that's what it is, but history ain't on your side when it comes to drugs, eras, and music
You know what the crack era killed - the love we had for one another. I was watching 60’s and 70’s interviews and you could hear the sweetness people had in their soul back then. Of course there were exceptions but for the most part - we exuded love. Something about crack and Reganomics that changed a lot.
Crack did something that Jim Crow and even 246 years of chattel slavery did not: break the black person's SPIRIT and OPTIMISM
.Once Crack hit the streets, it made black folks turn savage against one another for quick economic gains. Thats why you can't find a single black public figure like Muhammad Ali post 80s that cared for his people like that.
And the generations of aftershock in Crack affected the way we look at one another. Sex is used as a barter instead of an enjoyable activity, violence is used as clout to be "real nikkas," and education was, for the first time ever in the 80s, was seen as "lame" and "white".
Amerikan Melanin
Veteran
Besides slavery, Crack and social media clout are the worst things we’ve faced.
Worst thing about crack was majority of our hustlers weren’t allowed to wash their money and turn it legal like other communities get to do. Every race has a criminal underground. Asians got whorehouses everywhere. They get to wash that money.
Worst thing about crack was majority of our hustlers weren’t allowed to wash their money and turn it legal like other communities get to do. Every race has a criminal underground. Asians got whorehouses everywhere. They get to wash that money.
In the exact same position we are in right now except without that 
/
excuse. Nothing about overcoming adversity, just excuses. Brehs can't say 
to drugs now? Sounds like an impotent mind. That mind should be in poverty.
/ excuse. Nothing about overcoming adversity, just excuses. Brehs can't say to drugs now? Sounds like an impotent mind. That mind should be in poverty.
Racism and Capitalism would still be in effect but overall more Black folks alive, healthy, and working in the legit economy. The main effect of crack was a lot of people becoming addicts and becoming net negative to the community, lots of death from drug use and drug selling, the illegal economy soaked up a lot of cats that would not have gone that route, stray bullets, and then the so-called "crack babies". And then there are knock on effects to the neighborhood in terms of schooling, healthcare, property theft, retail, and then property value (for the few owners)... Which in turn hits folks in the pockets later in life....
That said, the economic ladder for Black Men in America, has always been precarious. Black faces in high places is already a rat race - be it in university, fortune 500 employment, or entrepreneurship. For the everyday brother - de-industrialization, decline of unions - both of which were not black friendly to start - still happens with or without crack.
Compounded GDP earned by productive Black Members of Society - would probably mean more black wealth overall - in terms of housing - though black folks owning their own homes doesn't translate to property value.
DC specifically
That said, the economic ladder for Black Men in America, has always been precarious. Black faces in high places is already a rat race - be it in university, fortune 500 employment, or entrepreneurship. For the everyday brother - de-industrialization, decline of unions - both of which were not black friendly to start - still happens with or without crack.
Compounded GDP earned by productive Black Members of Society - would probably mean more black wealth overall - in terms of housing - though black folks owning their own homes doesn't translate to property value.
DC specifically
- Len Bias Lives
- Marion Berry is mayor for longer
- More of the homes in NW, NE, SW, and SE would be owned by Black people
- There might not be as much gentrification in NW.
- some of the 2008 financial crisis was property flippers getting loans to gentrify - and those loans were bundled into MBS's, and those mortgage backed securities were further gambled upon,,,,
- The level of crime went down in the 90s, and even now it's at all time historical lows - despite how people "feel" about crime (because the news contributes to fear). But there'd still be crime in DC...
