What Does This Prove?

Umm... what do these statistics say about the current state of African-American culture? I was reading and replying to posts on another site and noticed a lot of people stating that Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos commit most of the crime in America on any given day. Before I responded to these statements, I wanted to have some background information. Since no one reads this page, I thought that it would do less harm here than it would on a popular site.

The fist number is the percentage of a given race or ethnicity, the second is the murder rate for the given city and the last number is the overall rate of violent crime for each city.
Cities with the highest percentage of (----) and over 100,000 residents.

Black
Gary, IN............... 84%.... 8.75(x national average).... 1.31(x national average)
Detroit, MI........... 81.6.... 5.16.... 3.38
Birmingham, Ala ....73.5....2.33.... 4.63
Jackson, Miss....... 70.6.... 3.24 ....1.52
New Orleans, LA.... 67.3.... 7.54....1.62
Baltimore, MD....... 64.3....5.48.... 2.90
Atlanta, GA ..........61.4.... 4.52.... 3.30
Memphis, Tenn.... 61.4.... 2.52.... 2.64
Washington, DC... 60.0.... 5.75.... 2.63
Richmond, VA...... 57.2.... 6.08.... 2.07

Hispanic/Latino
East LA, CA......... 96.8 information Not Available on the same sites
Laredo, TX.......... 94.1....1.95....1.13
Brownsville, TX.... 91.3.... 0.68.... 0.83
Hialeah, FL......... 90.3 ....0.73 ....1.03
McAllen, TX......... 80.3.... 0.68.... 0.74
El Paso, TX........ 76.6.... 0.47..... 1.00
Santa Ana, CA.... 76.1.... 0.64.... 0.86
El Monte, CA...... 72.4 ....0.32 ....1.01
Oxnard, CA........ 66.2 ....1.60 ....0.75
Miami, FL.......... 65.8 ....2.53 ....3.14

White
Livonia, Mich........... 96.5.... 0.00.... 0.31
Cape Coral, FL......... 93.0 ....0.11.... 0.45
Boise City, ID......... 92.2..... 0.20.... 0.55
Independence, MO... 91.9.... 0.23 ....1.11
Scottsdale, AZ........ 92.2.... 0.41.... 0.37
Springfield, MO....... 91.7 ....0.52.... 1.14
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 91.9.... 0.43.... 0.53
Sioux Falls, SD.........91.9....0.30....0.50
Warren, Mich...........92.3....0.28....0.96
Manchester, NH.......91.7....0.48....0.46

I used to think that "White-Flight" was a ridiculous practice. After looking at how cities with a Black majority seem to be have more violent crime... I'm not so sure. The H/L cities seem to be at the national average. The predominantly White cities seem to be a lot more safe. Are economic and social factors also to be taken into account? Sure, but looking at these statistics, we only have ourselves and our culture to blame. We can no longer expect to give people (who may or may not have our best interests in mind) the blame for our situation without first looking at the deficiencies in our culture. I don't think that the problem is racial (genetic) as much as I think that it is cultural (behavioral) and therefore can easily be corrected. We just need to realize our faults and do the work to correct our situation. ~uglyblackjohn~

Sources; infoplease.com , cityrating.com , cbsnews.com

"I am what I am" - Pop-Eye

Even the animated, large forearmed, pipe smoking, "Olive Oil" loving simpleton "Pop-Eye the Sailor man" had it right.
I recently came across a video on You-Tube extolling the virtues of the "White" Mexican Supremacist movement of Mexico. The apparent view of this movement is that there are primarily three "castes" of ethnic groups in which most Mexicans can be divided.
-Indio - The indigenous Amer-Indians
-Mestizo - Mixed, indigenous and (usually) Spanish
-Castizo - Usually (mostly) Spanish
In an effort to more fully understand this movement, I had several e-mail exchanges with the creator of these propagandic videos. The exchange is as follows;

UBJ - Is the "White" Mexican movement similar to the White Supremest movement here in the states?
Vasilik83 - Yes it is but most of us are just proud of our race and heritage, without being offencive to native or foreign cultures. We are against race mixing but that does not mean we hate other races. We just do not have children with them.

UBJ -Oh... that's interesting. I'd just never heard of the movement.
V - Of course you have not... the only Mexicans who go there are the indigenous. But, I am sure you have heard of the Aztlans (* Aztlan - a mythical Aztec homeland, Aztlans - Those claiming to be the "Palestinians" of North America.) and Mexicas (*Aztec) movement or those gangster "Brown Priders".

UBJ - Yes, I've heard of those schools of thought here.
I've heard of the "Rat-Line" and the Germans in Argentina, the Portuguese settlement of Brazil and the Spanish in Mexico. Are most of the people in the "White" Pride movement mostly of Spanish descent. Are most of the people in power there White and therefore have no reason to stop the flow of illegals to our country?
V- Well as you say, the most predominant are the Spanish descendants. The second are the French, third Irish and many Romanians and Polish - who emigrated looking for a better life. And about your other question... yes. we have no problem with the immigrants. I'll tell you why. Because they are penniless and uneducated people that can not succeed and they kind of hold (us) back. Unfortunately for you, they are going to your country and as you know, most of them are criminals. The main "White Pride" movement here is Creole Pride. You may have seen these videos (You-Tube "Mexican White Pride") but I will send them to you anyway. (They are) about "Whites" in Mexico and what we think of illegal aliens in the U.S. .

UBJ - Well I can't say that they are all criminals but too many are. I've heard/read the word 'Mestizo" - what does this refer to.
V - Well, the coloured people who have European features or lighter colour are considered Mestizos when the Amer-Indian phenotype or colour predominate on the white. And Castizos are those who predominate the White phenotype and colour. You can see some man or woman who is blond with blue eyes but only one of their parents or grandparents are a Mestizo or something. That is the difference between light and coloured mixings. I hope that I make myself clear. Hahaha, but if you have any other questions, do not worry and ask.

UBJ - Oh, okay... thanks. So the Castizos are (let's say an arbitrary amount, 80%) mostly European and not necessarily entirely White? The titles are more about who is more white and not who is really white?
V - I mean, just like in the United States - most Whites have a mix from another culture but you can't really tell either because they are 80% White, as you say, or that happened some generations ago. Let me give you some examples: Kevin Costner, Cameron Diaz, Jessica Beil, Nick Carter, Demi Moore, Elvis Presley, Kim Bassinger, Megan Fox, Patrick Swayzy. can you say that they are not White? They are Castizo because they are as White as any European. That's how it works in every country on this continent.

UBJ - Oh...Castizo as in Castillian - from Spain - being their dominant trait. Okay, I think that I have a better understanding. Thank you for the education.
V - No problem. Good to help.

Hmm... that's a shame. this kind-of reminds me of the Southern Black mindset of the degrees of Blackness ("good" hair/bad hair, dark skin/light skin, etc). When will minorities ever be happy with what they are? It seems that only "Pop-Eye" understood this truth. ~uglyblackjohn~

(At Least) Two Schools

Many minority children are tought the axiom: "To be considered equal (with whites), one must be twice as good>" Not too long ago, I had a discussion on this topic with one of my oldest friends. Apparently his parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles had tried to inculcate this philosophy into his value system as well. My friend then proceeded to recite a litany of reasons as to why this school of thought wasn't true. We went back and forth on the topic and finally came to the conclusion that no idea/theory/philosophy was universal or applied in all cases. Even the generally accepted and simple "E=mc2" breaks down at the very micro and macro levels. The trick is in finding the philosophy that works for one's self (that does not harm or hinder others) and applying that theory or set of theories in any given situation.
I was first taught this old saying after a fight in the second grade. Mr. Anderson -the Vice Principal of my school- pulled me into his office and instead of the usual paddling - I had to sit through a long soliloquy about making one's self better than their situation. I understood and accepted most of what Mr. Anderson had said. He then ended this meeting with: "But I'll give you slack...because you're Black". I left this meeting feeling more confused than ever. One hour of; "You are better than your situation" killed by: "You're really not good enough to be treated equally, because of your race - but I'll let you go anyway". Mr. Anderson was a Black administrator so I don't think that it was intended as racism. I couldn't understand how a person could have seemingly opposing views. It was a lot for a seven year old to fully comprehend.
There have always been opposing views; God/the Devil, Sadducee/Pharisee, Catholic/Protestant, Malcom(activist)/Martin(passivist), Dynastic rule/Socialism (I think terms like capitalism, democratic rule, Republicanism, Communism, et. al. all fall somewhere in between these), Democrat/Republican (well at least in theory) and conservative/liberal for example.
Barak Obama's recent Father's Day speach brings up the even trickier dilemma of finding a cure while many refuse to do the requisite self examination to determine the cause of our social/political/economic malaise. Mr. Obama gave a similar speech in Houston while campaigning during the primary season. Some people heard the speech and understood the meaning - some heard the speech and wanted nothing to do with personal responsibility but instead settled into the old "Blame-Whitey" school of thought. The responses kind-of reminded me of Chris Rock's bit; "Blacks and N****'s" "What do you want... a cookie?"
I'm not sure how to solve all of our problems - in all of our communities. I'm not sure which answer applies to which situation. Maybe there are many answers.
Warren Buffet recently responded to a question in a USA Today article: "Someone once said that the word 'motivation' should never be used in the singular. Some combination of motives always exist and it's impossible for anyone to qualify the proportion of each that is involved in any given act".
To put everything that I was trying to get across into two quotes;
"We are not equally guilty but we are equally responsible". Rabbi Abraham Heschel
And from Matthew: 7, 1-5 (KJV) "...And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye...".
Admittedly, problems exist. How do we fix them? I'm of the school of thought that we start with ourselves. ~uglyblackjohn~

The Record Industy is Dead (part 1)

Okay... I think I've got it. Back when I was a kid, we had these 7 1/2 inch black discs called records (singles). We also had a 12 inch (album) version which was used to store about twelve songs. The size of these music storage formats hindered us from using them in our cars. Someone was smart enough to develop the cassette tape format. Not only could we play our selections, we could record new material (a small piece of scotch-tape placed over the openings on the top corners of the cassette would allow one to copy over a previously recorded store bought album) as well. Someone else thought that they were even smarter and came up with the short lived 8 track tape. Play-back was fine on this format (one could skip whole songs and not have to wait for a fast-forward). I don't think recording in this format was an option. In the early 80's someone came up with the compact-disk. This format boasted exact sound replication but somehow sounded stripped down. Personally, I miss the texture of the old black disk format. In the 90's, the mp3 format came into Vogue. Portability and ease of use (well... at least to the young) were this format's biggest selling points. The main problem with the mp3 format is the inability to easily acquire material. Well, not material so much as the material one actually desires.
In the new mellenium, the medium of choice is You-Tube. If one wishes to listen to -or even view- "Should I Love You Forever (Sould I, Should I)?" by Cee Farrow, it's there. "777-9311" by The Time, "I'm Beautiful...Dammit!" by Uncanny Alliance, even "Private Life" by Oingo-Boingo can all be found on this site. I think that that Yahoo bought You-Tube but can't figure out how to make money from the site. I had a solution that was looking for an answer. A "brick-and mortor" You-Tube owned record "store" liscenced by Yahoo. Storage, shipping and inventory costs would be almost completely eliminated. The pricing stucture would depend on degrees to and from the actual ownership of the intellectual property (poster-> site->record company->writer) This model would encourage record companies to add more direct content. The stores would be called "Mi-Music". Mi- with the emphasis on the lower case "i". ("I"-pod, Mi- as in "my" en espanol, and I just like how the "MiM" logo could be developed.) The problem with this type of loading store was the inability to acquire and sort all of this content. You-Tube has already done it.
First, go to the biggest "boot-legger" in a given area and encourage, train and licence them to be the store owners. Teach them how to sue boot-leggers for copy right infringement and that boot-leggers are in effect setting up an illegal business in their market (like setting up his fruit stand in the parking lot of your local grocery store). Theft of intellectual property could be fought by former thieves more diligently while having to split the proceeds from cases with the site and ultimate owners of the product.
Okay..I haven't thought of ALL of the details but this model actually makes sense (and dollars) for all involved. The record store model for this point foreword.

Whippin's (Bring Back The Belt!)

I've recently had cause to reflect on my childhood. The thing that stands out most in my mind were the butt whippin's.
My step-dad had old school country values. I'm not sure exactly what that means but it translated into plenty of the long drawn out old school tanning of one's backside. Didn't... I.... tell... you... too... stop... (fill in the blank).
*Hot Wheel tracks - they don't really hurt much. They're really not flexible enough.
*The big wooden spoon hanging on the dining room wall- they are too stiff and the pain doesn't really linger.
*The traditional switch (which one had to pick and de-leaf one's self)- they sting more than they hurt.
*Extension cords- probably the second best tool as far as efficacy.
*The strap one uses to sharpen a straight razor- now we're talking. This was the tool of choice. Hung on the bottom loop of my parents' staircase, it was a constant reminder of our fate if we were to mis-step on the tightrope my parents called discipline. We were whipped so often and so badly that we thought Kunta Kinte was a sissy. Denzel's character in "Glory"? Ne...ga...ro, please! After a while they became ineffective and something to be avoided but not necessarily feared.
Once (I must have been about six years old), Donny -my best friend at the time- and I stole little cowboys and Indians and those little green army men from a T.G.&Y. I had told my mom that his mom bought them for us, while he was to tell his mom that my mom bought them for us. This was our "master plan". We never thought that our mothers would call to thank each other for the "gift". His mother called us into her home (You know that feeling of foreboding - when something is wrong but you're not exactly sure what? This was one of those moments) to whip us. She then sent us to my house to get a second whipping. We then had to go back to his house and wait for his father to come home. A third whipping took place. We then had to go to my house. This was the forth plague of the Apocalypse. We cried the whole hour and seventeen minute wait. This whippin' would have made "masta' " proud. One crime - four whippings. My step-dad said: "I bet you won't steal again". "I won't get caught again", I whimpered, under my breath.
The most effective beating I received was from the neighbor across the street. I was playing with the children of the house that morning. I had skipped breakfast, in order to fit in as much play time into the day as possible. Being hungry, I reached around the corner and was stealing strips of bacon from the counter top. Pinky (the children's mother) watched as one piece went missing after another. After the third or fourth piece was taken, Pinky grabbed my hand. She whipped me. Back in those days, the neighbors could (and did) whip any child deserving to be whipped. Afterwards she made me sit down to eat breakfast. She told me that she would feed me if I was hungry but never to steal what someone would give to me. I remember this whippin' well. Not only was I punished, I was taught and corrected. To this day, I still kind of flinch when I see Pinky.
In dealing with all of these bad little "niglets", I have one thing to say. Bring back the belt!

Everone is racist

Everyone is racist- but not everyone is a Racist. When I lived in California- race was an issue but it wasn't the issue. Since moving to Texas- nine days out of ten, an issue regarding race comes up. Am I just more aware of race since moving? I don't know. It just comes up in everything.
Today I had a long discussion about the Black responsibility in dealing with racial issues and again was tagged with the "Uncle-Tom" title. The same people who cited a Tom Wise authored article on the white responsibility to race attempted to discredit my opinions. Earlier, I stated that racism in America (at this point in time) isn't a Black/White issue so much as it is a Black issue. In quoting a white person's message to white people - the same people made a stronger case for my message to black people. They don't see it that way. Personal responsibility only applies to white people?
There are so many "ist"s ; sexist, racist, fascist, ... . I'm pretty sick of the titles when many people don't understand their meanings. How can it be racist when a white person uses the term "those people" (in referring to others of a different race) but not when a Mexican, Black, Asian or whatever use it to describe whites? I'm not an apologist for whites. I just think that ascribing a higher standard for whites implies the inferiority of other races and cultures. I think that we need to get to the point where race isn't the issue, to where race just becomes incidental.
I may be inherently racist but I try not to let those judgements determine how I treat others. Some would argue that this example is just using prudent judgement predicated on race, culture or looks and since I don't mistreat people based on these judgements - I'm not really racist. It's still racist, just to an acceptable degree. I'm racist - not a Racist.

What the "F" is White Guilt ?

Recently, I was browsing different sites and blogs just to see who was saying what. I stumbled across a community on a blog site dealing with "White Guilt" Is this an actual phenomenon or is it the latest trendy new age malady? Did/do you own slaves? Did/do you oppress minorities? In my opinion, this is just the new mantra for white Obama supporting, "one of my best friends is Black" stating, Kanye West loving, Roscoe's Chicken-n-Waffles eating, well intentioned but ultimately condescending liberals.
My other question was "What/Who is White? (Capitalization intended) When did those people become white? Are Jewish people white. Are Italians white. Are Irish people white? What about the Spanish (from Spain)? I read an article about the problems Italy has with the Roma. From an American point of view, Both of these groups are Italian. Are the Sicilians, Italian? Aren't all of these groups considered to be white? How did/do the Irish make being Protestant or Catholic into a killing offense?
White guilt...Why? This is the most arrogant, self-important, and racist mind-set since..."White Trash". What the heck is white trash (or TPT)? How is it a racist statement? It implies that all whites are better by default. The anomalies are "White (or Trailer Park) Trash". What do those same people say about "the blacks"? What name or title is given them? Black, African-American if one is being polite. N***** if one is being more honest.
Barney the purple dinosaur has more credibility than the people suffering from "White Guilt". At least Barney knew that he was fake.

Home

"There's no place like home", according to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. "Home is where the heart is" states someone else.
I was on another site that lets one comment and give advice on the places they've lived. I always look at the Riverside/Inland Empire page. Most people hate the I.E.. I love it. "Why don't you move to L.A." they ask. I like going to L.A., The O.C. and South-Town but Riverside is home (even though I now live in Beaumont, Texas).
In Riverside, everything is brown. The dried weeds on the hillsides are brown. The people are various shades of brown - or at the least very tan. The sky is even, more often than not, brown. Crime has been on the rise since a nice house in a nice area became more affordable than a shack in "the hood" that is South-Central L.A. . Employment is mostly blue-collar and housing (by most standards not California) is over priced. The hills catching fire every summer is as reliable as the thick blanket of smog rolling in from the west most evenings. Not only can you see the smog, or smell it, you can taste it - even feel it (in your eyes and lungs). Mix that aroma of smog with that of the skunks that litter the roadways and you have true Riverside.
Delightful.
Okay, not really. Most of my childhood friends have left for the more glamorous coastal cities. Even I don't live there anymore. But I wish that I did. Why? For the same reasons I've listed for people not wanting to live there. The smog blows through to Moreno Valley at night. The smog on summer nights still hurts your lungs. But I miss feeling the warm cerulean sky on those summer nights. I miss the mix of hood and good. I miss eating tamales on Christmas Eve at Fernie's mom"s house. I miss the quick flight (or long drive) to Vegas on a whim. I miss Wednesday poker night - where there would be a Blood sitting next to a Crip sitting next to a prep sitting next to a stoner sitting next to an Esse' sitting next to a skin. I miss the Mission Inn, Mario's and T.G.I. Friday's (in San Bernardino). I miss going up to the snow in Arrowhead and/or getting drunk and kicked off the roof at the Hilton (thanks Turtle). I miss my pretty, smart, thin (not skinny) and nice female friends. (Everything really is bigger in Texas) I miss being able to date inter-racially without standing out in a crowd. I miss the potential that is Riverside.
Funny thing about Riverside-It's in the middle of nowhere... but in the middle of everywhere.

Hook Me Up !

I went blog-surfing today and discovered a few things.
Most Black-run blogs have a"Blame-Whitey" drift to them. ( Conservative- from a Black prospective). The more liberal (i.e. open to change- progressive) Black-run blogs are viewed to be more like "Chicken Little" than they are the kid in "The Emperors New Clothes".
It's funny that the same titles could mean different things, in different situations.
A conservative white is seen as racist while a "conservative" Black is seen as a victim.
A liberal White is seen as generous and caring while a liberal Black is seen as selling out.
According to Websters :
-conservative a. tending to conserve; disposed to maintain existing institutions; hostile to change; n.one opposed to hasty changes or innovations.
-liberal a.open-minded; generous; catholic; unbiased n.one who favors greater political and religious freedom from tradition.
If one refuses to change from an ideology that enslaves many of it's members but steadfastly holds onto the traditional "Blame-Whitey" mentality- would you call that person a conservative? Yes, I would. But go ahead, hold on to those dogma which hold you back, which keep you from reaching the full promise that America has to offer. "Keep it real".
Now, on the other hand - if one believes that our current Black culture is deficient in many ways and realizes that it is easier to change one's self than it would be to change society, isn't that liberal?
Another blog tried to point out that too many Blacks have a Master/Slave relationship. One of affirmative -action, welfare and a litany of other entitlements. I don't think that it's master/slave so much as a "Hook a Brotha' Up" state of mind. Not networking but "hook me up".
Don't get me wrong, I would rather help a beggar than to be a beggar. I'll help anyone who's willing to help one's self (even better to help someone who helps others). I'm just tired of so many Brotha's wanting the hook-up.