Why are Black People the Way They Are? Please read for More Info!?

Question

Well I myself am mixed (75% black and 1/4 white) I have relationships and friendships with people of both cultures. My question is that why on AVERAGE (not all! please do not read my words wrong) do african americans have lower employment rates, higher welfare rates etc. Why are less in college? I understand that college costs money, but that is what student loans are for. I mean, black or white, who has 20,000 laying around the house to pay for tuition? I have been noticing such different parenting approaches as well. For instance I've noticed more white parents encouraging young children. For instance when a child is babbling they will ask encouraging questions- "oh yeah and what did he say?" "what color is this" On the other hand, I've notcied more black parents ignoring this opportunity for communication and enrichment. They are more prone to ignore the young child and even tell hem to "be quiet" I have many more examples, but what do others think? Is this right? What

Answer 1

What are you talking about.............i know alot of black families who encourage their young children, and about the welfare thing most black people on welfare live in low poverty neighborhoods, and you see white people  shooting down their young to also . it isnt a race thing, just depends on what kind of family you have, if u ask me. Most black parents be overly joyed when their child goes to college or does something good.....i dont know WHAT!!! your talking about

Answer 2

This is an excellent, thoughtful and thought-provoking question. There are sociological reasons for the statistical facts that you mention. Parents pass along to their children something called, "cultural currency", things like a good vocabulary or the expectation that the child will go to college. Parents can't pass along what they were never given. Blacks are often living in poverty, which has huge effects on their opportunities. Poor whites and blacks have more in common then they are different. Poverty is the great leveler.Blacks have been subjected to racism, which makes them face challenges that whites don't when trying to make progress. There are cultural differences in parenting styles that lead to the things you've noticed. As you said, these are generalizations, backed up by statistics. There are, of course, individual variations to everything I've mentioned. But when you recognize the realities, it's easier to understand why things turn out the way they do. We are all subject to learned behavior, because we are products of our environments. Black and white environments ARE often different. It's abhorrent to me, personally, but it's factual. It is not prejudice to recognize facts.

Answer 3

R U RACIST!! this isnt true

Answer 4

To throw a physiology answer into the mix.

Current theories on diet and the interplay of diet and brain composition actually answer this when combined with a historical perspective.

(This might all seem a bit unrelated, but bear with me)

Research at the London based Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition have shown that the brain is:

"…a fatty organ - it's 60% fat by dry weight, and the essential fatty acids are what make part of its structure, making up 20% of the nerve cells' membranes. The synapses, or junctions where nerve cells connect with other nerve cells, contain even higher concentrations of essential fatty acids - being made of about 60% of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA."

“Omega-3 DHA is very long and highly flexible. When it is incorporated into the nerve cell membrane it helps make the membrane itself elastic and fluid so that signals pass through it efficiently. But if the wrong fatty acids are incorporated into the membrane, the neurotransmitters can't dock properly.”

“[the] theory is that because the omega-6 fatty acids compete with the omega-3 fatty acids for the same metabolic pathways, when omega-6 dominates in the diet, we can't convert the omega-3s to DHA and EPA, the longer chain versions we need for the brain. What seems to happen then is that the brain picks up a more rigid omega-6 fatty acid DPA instead of DHA to build the cell membranes - and they don't function so well.” (1)

The normal diet of people in landlocked countries, or away from large bodies of water, is dominated by Omega 6 rich grains, cereals, etc. this has meant that for generations people of central African decent, central European decent and central American/south American have been getting a diet higher in Omega 6’s rather than Omega 3’s. (check out (2) for a discussion on differing IQs in differing races – key points being all populations having lower IQ’s historically come from landlocked areas (there is a separate discussion on Jews and selective breeding for intelligence)

(keep bearing with me)

Omega 6 rich diets in animals has been linked to higher overall mass and muscle bulk but smaller brain development.

(think ‘rhinoceros’ – a brain the size of a human fist – where as a squirrel eating nuts high in short chain omega 3’s and having smaller muscle mass and bulk has a higher brain mass to body size ratio that humans)

Which can be seen in the way that African children develop and reach adulthood faster as well as having higher ratios of muscle mass. The opposite effect can be seen in countries that consume abundant amounts of Omega 3 DHA (found almost exclusively in seafood) – asian countries. Asians are statistically physically smaller and have statistically higher IQs across the board.

The most likely explanation for “blacks [being] the way they are” is centuries of nutrition have led to different physiology and brain chemistry (this hasn’t been tested however – “NIH have shown that the composition of tissue and in particular of the nerve cell membrane of people in the US is different from that of the Japanese…” (1)

It’s only over the last century that the western diet has changed and over the same period of time people have been growing larger and experiencing a growing number of brain chemistry health issues.

So whilst there are definitely sociological issues “cultural currency” etc. playing into the situation – genetics and an extended history of a diet which alters physiology has created differences in brain chemistry.

Answer 5

I think you partially answered your own question. People tend to treat their children how they were treated, it gets passed along through the generations. I don't think there is really anything one person can do to change this.

Answer 6

as a black person you have to be responsible and not act stupid. I am noticing it's not cool being a N***er anymore. Remember in the 90's it was cool being all ignorant, now i notice white people acting like that still which usually nobody likes. like 9 years ago when i was a kid it was all cool to be stupid. "**** ni66a i don't even kno," u noticed that tho? ppl used to wear fubu and cheap ni99er stuff now us black people wear nice @sss clothes (true religion, ed hardy ect..) i remeber going up getting made fun of because i want to go to college. "what do u think ur white?"  idk u should tell them to stop living it up in minstrel land or something.  i don't like ni99ers who make me look bad as a black person. u notice black ppl aren't loud anymore ?? maybe it's only around my way.

Answer 7

The most important aspect of a people is "self". It's self image is everything to a people, good or bad. Since slavery the image of self has been tainted and destroyed, taken away in an attempt to to break the people. You should read "How to make a Slave". Do a search and you'll find it on the net.

here's and example.. when John a white student and Jamal a black student go to school they get the same historical education, correct? they both learn about all the good that whites have done, and how awesome they are and how they are the reason this country and the world are the way they are, all positives. What affect does that have on John, he gets a great self image of his people. What does that do for Jamal, he gets the opposite. His image of whites is great but that of blacks is not. he becomes ashamed and self hatred enters his heart and he will more than likely live his life that way.

When you look down at blacks for the situation they are in you also need to look at the past and current issues and barriers that restrain them. yes, we as a people need to begin to stand up as men and women and take charge of our lives. but that's easier said than done.

Answer 8

Wow, this is deep, ive often wondered this though too, why do certan races have stereotipically certian traits/nerighborhoods/lifestyles?

Answer 9

First of all, it is important to realize that African Americans (AA) have historically been oppressed and they are still oppressed in society today.  Poverty effects more AA's  because it is a difficult cycle to break.  They are not given equal opportunities from the time they are very young.  If you live in poverty, you don't get a great education which leads to a cycle of oppression due to discrimination.  

Perhaps the parenting differences you notice could be attributed to stress levels, not bad parenting.  If a parent (white, black, etc) is stressed financially or emotionally it will certainly effect the way they interact with their children.

Answer 10

to be totally honest i feel black people think that someone owes them something or everything is supposed to be given to them..or they are just lazy..not to say white peole arent lazy but people seem to focus on black peoples laziness more..but i feel that black people are on the rise in terms of education and self-worth..um for the parenting thing i really dont know because i wasnt raised like that and neither were my siblings..mind u i was raised by a single mom..for the college thing many black people feel that making money is more important than getting a good education..i currently go to University of central Missouri where i see a good majority of black but when i go home to St. louis there is alot of young black people doing nothing to advance our culture..I feel one day all the negative things about black people are goin to change, maybe we just need some positive black role models for the young people to look up to..

Answer 11

Well of course you're asking a very complicated question.  Speaking just from the statistics, many blacks at least in America come from low-income/single-parent homes; while that's an unfortunate reality for so many people, it's obviously not the best environment in which a child can be raised and nurtured.  Many of those kinds of living situations are also occurring in some pretty rough neighborhoods, and that makes for a demographic that tends to harbor more chaos than, say, an upper middle-class white neighborhood does.  Less chaos leads to better nurturing leads to better personal development leads to better resources leads to more opportunities.  

That kind of situation makes for a lot that someone has to rise above in order to "make it."  That said, many people in fact do rise above their circumstances and achieve.  I'm just speaking in very general, aggregate and statistical terms.  Again, it's a very complicated social question obviously.    

Of course, we also shouldn't be naive to the point of believing that racism no longer pervades modern society to a certain degree. While not the sole cause for problems in the black community, many blacks still contend with prejudice today and that of course can't be completely denied.