The Burdens of Reparations, Taxation, Education, and Hip Hop (a long editorial of sorts) (725 hits)
Category: PoliticsRating: 0.2 on 7 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <ann_landers.at.abortionstickle.com> (View user info) at 2003-12-25 18:34:44 EST
Good and evil. Right and wrong. The hip hop culture is a bastion for both, it brings both positives and negatives to the table. Both of which cannot be ignored while one demands attention daily in the form of thugs commanding attention through shameless acts of selfishness, ignorance, and disrespect to themselves and others. Sadly though, hip hop is something created and perpetuated by African Americans, and the huge influx of poor decisions on the part of young black males have drawn negative attention to hip hop and thus black people on the whole. I live in New Orleans, one of a few major U.S. cities in which I find that this situation is out of control, a situation that is defended by many black political leaders by their choosing to ignore such problems in lieu of their attempts to promote themselves and their own crooked agendas.
It is 85% black in New Orleans. I work for an international company holding several smaller companies with well over 2,000 stores under it's belt. I have been all over the country within in many different stores of the corporation. The ones in New Orleans find themselves upon the bottom rungs of the corporate ladder. Their employees are 95% black in New Orleans, and I have worked aside them. I have worked in New Orleans for over 9 years, both managing and serving in many different stores, and I must say that there is good reason for the poor performance throughout New Orleans locations when compared to each corporation I have served. The reason is clearly highlighted in the percentages given above.
Many of the black employees I serve seem apathetic and void of a sense of urgency regarding the tasks assigned to them. Of course no one likes work, but this is ridiculous. I am left with the sole conclusion that they are the cause for each company finding their New Orleans stores upon the bottom rung of each ladder. Of course hip hop and "urban" fashion clothiers would spin a different tale, as they take advantage of these people and sell overpriced and gaudy clothing to them. Names splayed across the attire as if the people intended to be paying a company so they might advertise for them. An excellent business move, or the exploitation of a very misguided group of people who seem to have few long term goals in sight and no desire to seek something more for themselves. Complacent do they seem with the meager lot which has been laid at their feet in this life of opportunity.
On to the educational system...
Fact: New Orleans has by and large one of the worst education systems in the entire country. Students are bumped and "LEAP tests" (Louisiana Educational Assessment Programs) are given although they do not serve a purpose since ignorant students are still elevated grade after grade based on the simple fact that they become a threat to other children as they age. Besides, a passing mark on LEAP examinations is that of 40 percent. That means the bottom forty percent won't make it. But, if a child is in the 40-50% range, that's okay. I find this highly disturbing and an insult to the attempts at progress within the educational system. This is not the fault of the black people, but rather the educational system and the government. In a move which I whole heartedly applauded, our state government recently decided to raise the percentage requirements for LEAP tests. The idea was accosted by local and state educators and various educational facets of government. The people who hold these governmental positions are by and large a majority Afro Americans.
Children here who dedicate themselves to their studies are limited in their opportunities for advancement as 17 year old eighth graders distract them and the nervous instructors from their tasks at hand. The tasks of furthering budding erudite students who are restrained by the ignorance of young Philistine men and women who should have long ago departed the educational facilities they haunt. Local government regulations dictate that they remain there until age seventeen, at which point they may pursue whatever course they choose. We also have more school shootings, stabbings, knifings and violence in New Orleans, it goes unreported because we have frequent incidents, never massacres... as Columbine was. Our murder rate seems to draw more attention anyway. Yet our acts of violence upon school premises occur extremely often. Students must travel to school in fear as do their instructors. Students don backpacks made of soft see-through mesh so that all their instruments of knowledge must be exposed, they are also scanned with metal detectors prior to entering buildings, and policemen are sometimes paid to patrol the school grounds...
Prisons offer a similar level of security and privacy of possessions to their inmates.
If you think this is a fair educational system for children who want to learn without bullshit hindrances such as the ignorance of their peers and those who are their peers in grade level and not age group, then may you, find the error of your ways as you age and attain more wisdom. Because for now, you lack foresight and wisdom into the reality of the situation facing America as hard working education desiring people are pushed further into minority status on a daily basis. Pushed by the existence of belligerent piles of wasted flesh, devouring the offerings of working men, these parasites make their lot from the sweat of yours and my brow.
If you think that's a decent way for anyone to live, then you're blind to the slow, festering deterioration that these peoples' way of life brings to all members of society... As we speak, a few hundred million U.S. dollars of tax payers' money (federal) is being poured into a housing development which was once made fresh, clean, and new for all publicly housed inhabitants. It looked like a fair hotel, but nonetheless was a nice and inhabitable place complete with green grasses, sidewalks, recreational areas, and nearby middle and high schools. None of the residents paid a dime for any of the facilities made available to them. In a matter of 20+ years, the place is an eyesore, a landmark to the failure of a group of people as well as the group who tries to help those people. More money is being approved to safely relocate all of those individuals into surrounding areas until the city is finished with the demolition project that was the living area for these people.
In the past few weeks since their relocation, we have seen crime rise dramatically in the areas they were placed. These areas are less that five miles from the home that my family has worked so hard to provide for themselves and their children. A home in a nice neighborhood that pays for both the threat that these people bring and the protective forces that are supposed to eliminate the threat. The sheriff made a statement regarding the fact that it was no coincidence that crime has ascended as the result of the presence of these people, and he apologized to the citizens on behalf of these parasites.
In February, I get to drive to work past these projects and see government paid individuals go back to work rebuilding another facility which the police will avoid and the inhabitants will destroy. Police will drive near but never through it, and they will go there to collect bodies as they always have so methodically done so. At this point in time, I believe that I will see the buildings destroyed and rebuilt twice more before I die. My only hope is that a time comes when this monolith to failure and unwarranted theft of hard workers' contributions, when this phoenix finds itself crippled and without another rebirth...
Personally, I feel that education could resolve all of this, but I guess that school just isn't for everyone.
User Reviews
Submitted by ann_landers (user info) at 2003-12-25 23:50:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
It's just an editorial, nothing more. My own little "state of the union" regarding New Orleans, if you will.
Submitted by ann_landers (user info) at 2003-12-25 23:49:49 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
"I find the topic of this piece extremely interesting, but you made it boring, and i didn't learn one god damn thing from this. It didn't say anything."
I couldn't agree more, I wasn't looking to say much, I was just really pissed off about the whole thing after reading the paper a few days ago and I hadn't had time to sit and get it off my chest until recently. That compounded with holiday stress bullshit just gave me the reason(s) I needed to write it. I was more or less seeking to just start a discussion on the topic and get shit off of my chest. It makes me feel powerless, and I know when writing like that, it ends up sounding like shit, so in pondering solutions, I can find none that lead down a road of fair resolutions for all parties involved. For in this town, if you mention changing something that favors giving things to black people, then you're a racist. Fuck that.
And to the guy who mentioned replacing the bad people with good, you don't understand the situation around here. It's mostly bad to choose from, slackers get promoted and hire when they see themselves in someone else. Sadly, this equates to African Americans being more inclined to simply hire more and more African Americans, and white managers being pressured to do the same for fear of backlash from the existing majority black work force. Trust me, I see many young enthusiastic, intelligent, outgoing, and wholly capable Asians, Hispanics, and White mutts (aren't we all nowadays) applying for these positions which are doled out to the most afrocentric black peoples. My problem with this is that noone considers the education levels or social skills of these people, let alone the fact that most people with a row of gold teeth that spells something in their mouth, are not welcome by most any other consumer walking into an interactive sales environment.
Submitted by Hairsphincter (user info) at 2003-12-25 23:42:21 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Sounds like a final solution.
Submitted by bargled (user info) at 2003-12-25 20:04:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Oooh lookie what Santa is pulling out of his bag:
a +2!
Submitted by Yogimus (user info) at 2003-12-25 19:56:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Main problems with social grouping is the fact that you stop thinking of people as individuals. The failure of stores due to the apathy of employees is directly related to a failure of leadership. Fire the slackers and promote the workers. Shit gets fixed real quick.
Submitted by Zeccs (user info) at 2003-12-25 19:41:49 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
I find the topic of this piece extremely interesting, but you made it boring, and i didn't learn one god damn thing from this. It didn't say anything.
"The same people that control the school system, control the prison system, and the whole damn social system. Ever since slavery." -Dead Prez
Submitted by tuesdaydelay (user info) at 2003-12-25 18:46:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Merry Xmas. Here's you top of the "Most recently reviewed" league.