You are absolutely right James. There are some people in this country born into a social situation that is ill-suited for success, to say the least. South Central LA, for example. I can understand a young black male growing up in such a circumstance seeing the walls which are constantly put in front of him as being "whitey out to get me."
So called black leaders constantly lobby for more welfare money, more hand outs, more special previleges, without the understanding that this is the very reason their communities are unable to escape the generational cycle of poverty. The very programs developed in the past 60-odd years to alleviate poverty actually condemn people to poverty. Social welfare programs encourage young women to have children and keep on having children (cash and tax incentives for children) while remaining a single parent (HUD and other welfare programs which dictate single parent homes for some benefits), for example, while studies have shown that 1.) a child raised on welfare is 90% more likely to live on welfare itself 2.) male children raised without a stable father figure are more likely to develop what is called "hyper-masculinity" which is a compensation and results in greater than average violent and misogynistic tendencies.
The fact that welfare regulations actually make it easier for someone who is dead-pan unabashedly not willing to work than for someone who just needs to "get over the hump" is testamony to its counter-productiveness (no one argue this as I was in the same room with someone who was refused benefits because they refused to quit work). I lived in Memphis, TN in a very bad neighborhood for awhile (Jackson) where young women had broods of children to collect cash assistance, and made more than I did working for RPG! And they did not spend this on the children, every first of the month these women had new gold jewelry and new gold teeth, which one woman told my girlfriend (who sold gold jewelry in the mall) that it was insurance for when they get old because they know their sons will be in jail.
Our education system is crumbling as it is, but it is even worse for poor communities where money is tight, violence is high, and teachers are unwilling to work. This doesnt help things much for these children given that education is all-important in todays society (hell I have a college degree and grad credits and I have a hard time getting a quality job).
In short, its a very tough environment for people to grow up in and succeed. But it can be done if you try hard enough. The problem is it takes a lot of hard work and its so easy to get discouraged when you think the best you can hope for is McD's. I dont have any easy answers... |
