[BluffTHIS!]

The phraseology of that poster clearly indicates racist attitudes. Nonetheless he does describe somewhat accurately many of the evident failings of black americans to prosper in their own country, a country in which many of their forbears were already living here in a state of slavery before those of many whites whose ancestors came over in colonial times (first slaves to US came to Jamestown colony aboard a Dutch slave ship).

This topic is very important to America's future though. Although many of the ills and failings of blacks to prosper in the US have to do with the legacy of racism which still continues to some degree, there are also evident defects in the dominant black culture.

So many black political leaders just ascribe everything to racism without having the courage to look inside their own coummunities for a large if not in fact majority cause of their problems. And when an influential black such as Bill Cosby does dare to make such criticisms, he is derided as little better than an Uncle Tom. Also those same black political leaders always reject such comparisons to the the Jewish and Asian minority coummunities which have thrived here so well.

The cultural defects that are most evident are young girls barely past puberty having children and having to raise those children mostly without a father around. And the drug and violence culture which is always blamed solely on poverty is also a large defect and accounts for the high proportion of black males in the 20s and 30s being incarcerated. The lessening influence of black churches has contributed to these problems. And too often when even black leaders fall prey to such problems like Marion Barry, they are partially defended by blacks who always see a racial attack, when they are the ones who need to take repsonsibility for corruption and cronyism in majority black cities and expel those leaders who are found guilty of such actions themselves.

And there is nothing to mind mind that greater exemplifies the cultural failings of the dominant black culture than the gang rap phenomenon. When you look at the contribution of black musicians to almost every genre of music from Blues to Rock, Soul to Jazz and even Country, then the true bankruptness of the so-called music that is rap is seen for what it is. And especially when it is a vehicle for promoting a gangster drug culture and one that encourages the abuse and degradation of women.

But there are two larger issues, and which are shown by those derided comparisons to other minority coummunities. The first is simply that there does not exist now in the black community an entrepreneurial business spirit and high regard for higher education. Although such comments run the risk of providing fodder for racists who like to batt around stereotypes such as "lazy N", they also need to be seen to have a kernel of truth.

The paradigm for the prosperous Asian immigrant is to come over to the US get a job and rent a bed in a shack with 10 other immigrants, and then get another job. And live cheaper than dirt and save money for a few years and start a business. And only then start a family. And once one or more families members are on this track, bring in more family members into those businesses and help others start new businesses. And then when they have children, insure they get a quality education in science or business with advanced degrees.

Part of the reason of course that blacks have not done this historically is indeed because racism limited their opportunities, but there is little reason such a paradigm cannot be adopted today.

The second issue is the black community's failure to build up themselves economically by concentration of their own resources. And it is the Jewish community which best shows this paradigm. Every Jewish friend and acquaintance I have had over the years has always to my knowledge used Jewish insurance agents, Jewish lawyers, etc. So economically they build themselves up. This is partly a stereotype as well, but it is true from what I have seen. And again as with the Asian community, a high priority is placed on education.

Yet so many racial problems in black communities have stemmed from a perception by blacks that Jewish and Korean retail store owners are "preying" on the black coummunity and offerring little in return. But the real question is, why doesn't a black man or woman own that large pawn emporium down the street or the neighborhood grocery? And why isn't the closest TV repair shop owned by a black? And why doesn't the black coummunity then support such black businesses even if it means paying a little more?

The black community needs a moral crusade (doesn't even have to be religious based) to evict and condemn the teen sex/drug & violence/rap culture that is killing their community. And they need to adopt the successful paradigms of other successful minority communities who came to these shores long after them and have prospered while their community as a whole is mired in economic deprivation.

Now I know that what I have suggested, as have others, will be challenged by the dominant blame-it-all-on-racism political position assumed by most black leaders, partly becuase they will say and have said that the black minority in the US is in fact so large that such measures cannot be adopted. But they can in fact be adopted a block and a neighborhood at a time. And it is important to America that they succeed in these things if they are willing to take on the challenges.

Anyway, that's one white man's long opinion.