<p>Talk about sweeping generalizations.</p>
<p>It's the saddest thing I've seen in a long while...</p>
<p>I'm disgusted by it, I go to a school that is 95% white, and I have never heard such blatant generalizations.</p>
<p>Um...hmm...</p>
<p>I'm an oreo?</p>
<p>Most of the problems arise from vague, sweeping generalizations such as those made in this thread. You cannot put an entire race of people into one category, I'm sorry. I've been called all kinds of names because of the way I talk and act, mostly because people have this all-encompasing idea of what a certain group of people should be like. We'll move past this one day. I hope.</p>
<p>That said, I definitely agree on the education part. However, I would definitely expand that idea to include all peoples of the world since it is a problem that is facing people of all races.</p>
<p>If you are going to criticize black people's ignorance of proper English, then you should use correct punctuation.
I live in Mississippi and have witnessed these disturbing trends in low-income blacks, especially in this state. However, unlike you, instead of criticizing my fellow African-Americans I look for ways to help them. It's funny, that the "elite" blacks forget that if we are going to change the status quo in the African-American community we need to band together and look for solutions since we are so adept at identifying problems.</p>
<p>read "a hope in the unseen" by ron suskind, everybody</p>
<p>you cant help somebody who doesnt want to be helped</p>
<p>sydertennis is just a racist ******* that will probably be shot by one of his beloved white people</p>
<p>Since when does music define the type of person you are? Some of you are going to be in for a rude awakening later in life.</p>
<p>personally, I've been exposed to far more intelligent, thoughtful, and all around wonderful black people than those you are talking about. The problem right here (in this thread) is not that the world around is racist but that, it seems, you are. Yes the world has problems, but instead of being angry about those who perpetuate them, celebrate those who are helping to change it.</p>
<p>Foe shizzle my nizzle.
What about Mexicans? We're ghetto, I guess. Now as I speak, smartmexican is an oxymoron.</p>
<p>Ya'll shull chek da ghetto streetz of LA</p>
<p>Good point, Berry.</p>
<p>What an asinine thread.</p>
<p>Reminds me a lot of the things Bill Cosby has said about the black community:
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/11/cosby/%5B/url%5D">http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/11/cosby/</a>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cosby#Political_views%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cosby#Political_views</a></p>
<p>I was just about to say the same thing just<em>forget</em>me
My english teacher showed it to us last fall and it sounded very simular.</p>
<p>HOLA ......just wanted to say that</p>
<p>Wow, I have no idea how to respond to this but I think I should. First, don't assume anything because as you know, it make an a** out of u and me. I should know I learned the hard way. Sure after watching the news and t.v. it's easy to assume that all black (African American) people are ghetto, loud, and uneducated. However, that's not always true, which has been stated over and over many times. I am a black women who went to a predominately white private school so I speak proper english. Now I go to a high school that was mostly white students. And on the weekend I go to church in a black ghetto area. Weird combination. I'm not going to lie. I thought I was better than them without even talking to them. But after we finally started talking I realized these are really smart people. So it's not like they're dumb they just may not pursue what is thought to be society's perception of "educated". Another thing, you can't assume that a black person who speaks proper english is white or trying to be (which is something I go through at church). It's the same thing as thing as saying loud black people are ghetto and stupid.</p>
<p>I really don't like when people use the word "black" instead of African-American. Or say things like black community, black mentality etc. This should all just be "african-american" whatever.</p>
<p>I'm not black but... I don't like when people use the term "African-American", because some black people are NOT African-American. For example, native Jamaicans shouldn't be called "African-American" since they're clearly not African. Similarly, African natives are not "African-American". I know a very intelligent girl from Chad (in Africa) who does not like being called African-American. She is not American... she's just African. She would rather be called 'black' than African-American, because it's an inaccurate term (according to her, anyway). </p>
<p>Anyway... in response to the original post, that's pretty ignorant. Those generalizations in the first couple of posts are pretty darn sad. Try not to insult and degrade, rather, look at the accomplishments. Intellectual black people are not rare, but if you don't acknowledge their existence, then obviously, there's something wrong with you. </p>
<p>I live in NYC, so I know a lot of black people... they're awesome. Sure, some are tough, but so are some white people, some Asians, some Hispanics, etc. Musical preference has nothing to do with race, and knowing all the words to 'Lean Back' doesn't make you any dumber than knowing how to play Beethoven's 5th Symphony on the piano. I know a lot of non-black people who prefer listening to r&b, hip hop, & rap. It doesn't make them stupid... Everyone has different tastes, so generalizing is pretty darn stupid. Hip hop is not destroying anyone. Blacks fought for freedom, and trust me, they have it! Because you're categorizing 'hip hop' music as [basically] 'black' music, you're helping prove how free blacks are. Do you think that in the 30s there were black radio stations funded by rich white guys? True, nobody is 'truly' free yet, but it's better than it was...70 or even.. 10 years ago! </p>
<p>Whether or not you'd like to admit it, the hip hop music industry is 'mother' to a lot of successful black people. You might think it's "destroying black youth", but I really don't see it that way. A lot of underprivileged black kids are given hope through music... and hip hop is the music they learn to love. Nas, for example, is a pretty good example of a successful guy with good, inspirational lyrics. Sure, he's not always on the radio.. but he's still pretty 'hot' (not physically).</p>
<p>emmared718, what I meant was that I'm... African NOT African-American. And when people say "black' they're generalizing about all black people, when they should just be generalizing about African-Americans. Saying "black" assumes that all black people share the same culture/motivations etc, which is not true.</p>
<p>but African_American is so darn long, its much easier to type or write black...</p>