To be a REAL AMERICAN...and lose your identity

[geechiedan]

If you could choose for Black America would you choose to assimilate completely into american society and garner the benefits therein including no or significantly less racism and bias, Blacks UNDERrepresented in prisons rather than over, a significantly increased middle class (a poverty rate of less than 10 percent of our population...like whites have) and TRUE sky's the limit opportunity in all areas of life...BUT lose that something that makes black people unique along with Black History Month (because its INCLUDED in american history) and anything else that's unique to us.

OR

Keep our uniqueness BUT have no significant improvement in any of the other catogories mentioned above.

Its ONE OR THE OTHER..no admendments or compromises (watch at least ONE nigga try to do it anyway )

Either FULLY assimilated and have the "american dream" but lose our identity or NOT assimilate, KEEP our identity but everything stays the same.

 

[goldtree5]

Its ONE OR THE OTHER..no admendments or compromises (watch at least ONE nigga try to do it anyway )

Either FULLY assimilated and have the "american dream" but lose our identity or NOT assimilate, KEEP our identity but everything stays the same.

Sorry if I’m making you roll your eyes, but you're asking a loaded question + some would argue that we already have assimilated and tried to become as white washed as possible without plastic surgery. We speak their language, pray to their god, straighten our hair, etc.

Even if you don’t believe we have assimilated there is still no proof that it will lead to less racism, seems like it would probably lead to more, since it would just make them feel more superior than they already do.

 

[geechiedan]

Sorry if I’m making you roll your eyes, but you're asking a loaded question + some would argue that we already have assimilated and tried to become as white washed as possible without plastic surgery. We speak their language, pray to their god, straighten our hair, etc.

Even if you don’t believe we have assimilated there is still no proof that it will lead to less racism, seems like it would probably lead to more, since it would just make them feel more superior than they already do.

yes its loaded...it has to be that way otherwise whats the point..

its make a deal with the devil and lose your soul in the process or don't and continue to struggle.

 

[geechiedan]

bump

 

[AgentCreed]

the answer was already given when integration was forced upon us.
integration was the worst thing to happen to the race.
nowadays a lot of people have chosen to do like question number one b.c integration left them with no real option otherwise.

 

[osirianprncpl]

no black person is considered 'american' by most whites any way, proof, we have been in this country just as long as whites but our nationality is hyphenated and theirs is not. We (African-americans) are the only people on the planet that reject their heritage, so most of us have no identity in the first place.

 

[Zero]

The question isn't loaded, it's just poorly thought out. The question assumes that if WE would just come around white folks would welcome us with open arms. The question also implies that the issues in the black community and racism are products of a lack of cooperation on our parts and have nothing to do with white people themselves. If we COMPLETELY assimillated into white society, which we pretty much already have, we'd still be marginalized, which we pretty much already are. So your question doesn't serve much purpose when you consider that we've already done what you are asking and we have already seen the end result of that decision.

There isn't much of anything black people can do in the context of whites to make things better, it's pretty much 100% on them, they created this shitpile. We can do a lot outside of the context of whites, but even that would be limited, like Madbarron, for example, and his desire to turn back the clock and resegregate. Only problem with his idea is that it's idealized and not rooted in reality a lot like your question. There wasn't a time when black people were segregated AND free. That's just not how it worked and there is no evidence that it would play out any differently this time around. So sure, you could have your black businesses and your black schools, but you also, most likely, will have to deal with the reality that any white man at any time can sweep through this segregated black utopia and burn it to the ground. That was the trade off back then, now if you can find a way to resegregate within the United States and NOT have issues like night riders and Jim Crow going hand-in-hand, fine, but that's not the way shit WAS then and wouldn't be the way shit is now.

 

[Conspiracy Brutha]

To answer your question Geechiedan, I would elect that Black America assimilate and I'll tell you why.
1. First off the uniqueness that you refer to was manufactured by us in order to counter the dehumanization, encountered by our forefathers and whatnot. Even though we excel in atheletics and entertainment, as a unified ethnic group we are weak and our viable numbers are declining. When it comes to achievement outside of those areas, we are just regular. Black CEO's are not necessarily better than White CEO, just not as prevelant.

I mean, pick a poison: prison, drugs, death, broken homes, and self destructive habits, summarizes to many aspects of "Black Culture". Let me be clear, Black Folks have too many pathological shortcomings as an ethnic group (our contribution to this is another topic of debate, so don't even take it there) and the name of the game is survival.
We have become so desensitized to Black suffering that we no longer realizes how deep the pain goes. For most upward minded Black Folks, those stuck in the hood have been chalked up to be collateral damage in the struggle for freedom and equality. That means a large percentage of the Black population are lost.

So I say Assimilate and at the very least we can have material opportunites to heal Black families, and be properly included in American History.

 

[geechiedan]

The question isn't loaded, it's just poorly thought out. The question assumes that if WE would just come around white folks would welcome us with open arms. The question also implies that the issues in the black community and racism are products of a lack of cooperation on our parts and have nothing to do with white people themselves. If we COMPLETELY assimillated into white society, which we pretty much already have, we'd still be marginalized, which we pretty much already are. So your question doesn't serve much purpose when you consider that we've already done what you are asking and we have already seen the end result of that decision.

There isn't much of anything black people can do in the context of whites to make things better, it's pretty much 100% on them, they created this shitpile. We can do a lot outside of the context of whites, but even that would be limited, like Madbarron, for example, and his desire to turn back the clock and resegregate. Only problem with his idea is that it's idealized and not rooted in reality a lot like your question. There wasn't a time when black people were segregated AND free. That's just not how it worked and there is no evidence that it would play out any differently this time around. So sure, you could have your black businesses and your black schools, but you also, most likely, will have to deal with the reality that any white man at any time can sweep through this segregated black utopia and burn it to the ground. That was the trade off back then, now if you can find a way to resegregate within the United States and NOT have issues like night riders and Jim Crow going hand-in-hand, fine, but that's not the way shit WAS then and wouldn't be the way shit is now.

I know its not a scenario or question rooted in reality...it wasn't suppose to be. I'm not looking for a REAL solution or something to our real issues..this is just a scenario of what kind of deal would you take IF you HAD to make a deal with the devil..and why

 

[Zero]

To answer your question Geechiedan, I would elect that Black America assimilate and I'll tell you why.
1. First off the uniqueness that you refer to was manufactured by us in order to counter the dehumanization, encountered by our forefathers and whatnot. Even though we excel in atheletics and entertainment, as a unified ethnic group we are weak and our viable numbers are declining. When it comes to achievement outside of those areas, we are just regular. Black CEO's are not necessarily better than White CEO, just not as prevelant.

I mean, pick a poison: prison, drugs, death, broken homes, and self destructive habits, summarizes to many aspects of "Black Culture". Let me be clear, Black Folks have too many pathological shortcomings as an ethnic group (our contribution to this is another topic of debate, so don't even take it there) and the name of the game is survival.
We have become so desensitized to Black suffering that we no longer realizes how deep the pain goes. For most upward minded Black Folks, those stuck in the hood have been chalked up to be collateral damage in the struggle for freedom and equality. That means a large percentage of the Black population are lost.

So I say Assimilate and at the very least we can have material opportunites to heal Black families, and be properly included in American History.

But what exactly would be assimilation? You'd have to be accepted into the majority society to be assimilated, don't you? What could black people do to get white people to accept them? Haven't black folks tried this before and whites simply kept changing the rules? Maybe it would be better if there was less crime and drugs in our community and we all spent the majority of our time wondering what the white majority wants us to be, but aren't many of us already doing that? Aren't many in the white majority just as fucked up as we supposedly are? Which whites should we aspire to be like? What if, after all our efforts, whites still don't like us, what's the alternative, mass suicide? So basically, instead of rejecting the "Uncle Tom" role, we should embrace it and make it the new definition of blackness? I mean, it all sounds well and good, but there is an "X-factor" in all of this and it is white people. You'd have to believe ALL of this is on the backs of black folks and white folks are patiently waiting for us to "act right" for ANY of this to even work.

 

[geechiedan]

the answer was already given when integration was forced upon us.
integration was the worst thing to happen to the race.
nowadays a lot of people have chosen to do like question number one b.c integration left them with no real option otherwise.

intergration wasn't forced upon...we demanded it. Whites came up with "separate but equal" which we know wasn't.

 

[Zero]

I know its not a scenario or question rooted in reality...it wasn't suppose to be. I'm not looking for a REAL solution or something to our real issues..this is just a scenario of what kind of deal would you take IF you HAD to make a deal with the devil..and why

If it's just a plain yes/no hypothetical, I'd have to say no for me personally because I've already pretty much established my life where I want it by just being who I am. There are other people who spend every day of their lives trying to take the other route, if that makes them happy, so be it. But I just can't apply this hypothetical question to the entire race because it doesn't fit. There are enough white people out there that would ONLY be happy if we left the continent or left the mortal coil for me to not even entertain the thought of trying to assimilate into/ be accepted by them.