[Autocratic]

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This would seem like a good counter-point if it wasn't for the success of Asians.

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Yeah, but Asians don't have quite the same history of slavery/racism as African Americans. There wasn't quite as much legislation (to my knowledge) keeping them separate from equal conditions.

And people (not all, but it happens) most definitely look at skin color when hiring. Me, as a white person, saw this first hand when my mother resigned from her job when her boss demanded that whenever there was a black applicant she write a circled 'B' in the top right hand corner of the application. Who knows how often this happens? Spending 8 years in Georgia (high school and college) I found out just how badly racism is still alive.

African Americans had basically no decent education or opportunites up until around 40 years ago. Then affirmative action. Someone made the claim that the black middle class is exploding. Maybe there's a connection?

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40 years ago is probably giving it too much credit. That's really when institutionalized racism eased up (think COINTELPRO). Blacks had already been left in inner cities by a rapidly evacuating white middle class, and, being poor and crowded in cities, the cycles of poverty and violence have perpetuated, certainly not helped by black pop culture.