hate

[Flatulo]

20. In response to the OP... I'll hazard a guess...

I think that a very large proportion of white America has been segregated from their black fellow citizens. At work, at home, in the neighborhood - too many whites just haven't come to know blacks as fellow human beings. They think in terms of stereotypes - mostly negative - that they've been bombarded with their whole lives. Single moms, welfare queens, gangsta youth - that's the overarching image.

I only know one black fellow well enough to call a good friend, and I've been alive a fairly long time. My community is probably 98% white. Our schools have just a handful of people of color, and as more Indian and Pakistani families settle in town, the African-American families are becoming a smaller and smaller minority.

White flight from the urban areas has only exacerbated this long-running trend towards greater segregation.

I think blacks and whites have to be on equal economic footing for this to dissipate. Black families need to acquire real middle-class wealth, which requires that there be good-paying jobs available, which also require that there be good educational opportunities.

I'm not very hopeful that we're making much progress in any of these areas. The global financial crisis has hurt blacks the worst, and only increased the amount of ground that needs to be made up.

Anyone care to share their thoughts on this?