Wednesday, February 08, 2006

The Musings Of A New Millennium Nigga: Rest In Peace

posted by New Millennium Nigga at 11:53 AM

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

orlando, you know unfortunately you share the name of orlando patterson. have you seen his editorial in the new york times about how the problems with black youth is their "culture" and that economic issues are overemphasized? i wrote a rant about it and thought i should share. would love to hear your comments and those of others who visit your blog

OPINION | March 26, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor: A Poverty of the Mind
By ORLANDO PATTERSON
Why do we ignore the culture behind young blacks' plight?

i've had longstanding issues with mr. patterson. he troubles me. if so-called liberal economists and sociologists base their analyses on structural economic problems --which are objectively real and measurable-- to the exclusion of other considerations, he swings way in the other direction and has consistently argued that whatever plagues black men in particular is attributable to culture; i.e., black people are their own worst problem. in response to economic analyses what has he got to put forward? an anecdote of a student of his talking to teenagers at a highschool. what a counterpunch. sure, young men ought to be more responsible about where they stick it and tying it up. of course, we live in a country where you can't talk about sex in public schools and condoms are not exactly cheap let alone readily available. he implies that young black men end up illiterate not because of bad education but because somehow after 10 years of schooling they just refuse to be able to read. that's simply bogus. unless a child as a learning disability, then s/he should be able to read by the 3rd or 4th grade, well in advance of gang and drug activity. in fact, bad education is responsible for illiteracy as is illiteracy of parents, and the fact that parents who have to work more than one minimum wage job to survive don't have time or energy to read to their kids.

And what the *!@#$ does patterson know about poor people in India? India is one of the most corrupt, crime ridden societies in the world. it just so happens that there is a burgeoning black market or in the parlance underground economy that enables poor people to barely sustain themselves, not to mention the number of people who participate in the sex and human trafficking trade. (i recommend "millenium city," by suketu mehta about bomby for a little insight into this world.) and many of the poor folks in latin america are growing the coca that is sold on the streets by these same "youth." meanwhile, in the streets of venezuela and bolivia the people are busy trying to change the structural economic problems that lead to their poverty.

sure, people can overcome their oppressive conditions and change and grow and succeed economically. but where exactly are all these jobs that are just there for the taking? Wal-Mart?

why do young black men kill each other? despair? lack of hope? no reason to get educated because at best you can hope to pour coffee at starbucks? because even if some small percentage get educated and go on to become professionals and have economic success that will always be a tiny percentage compared to the number of people in the population?

and, i'm sorry, but Jim Crow has been completely dismantled? has this fool heard of New Orleans? "most" black people have escaped the consequences of history?

the real question is: why are young black men killing each other and not trying to dismantle this economic structure?

2:17 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home