dagblog - Comments for "The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees"

I couldn't agree with you

Danny Cardwell — Mon, 25 May 2015 00:13:44 +0000

In reply to The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees

I couldn't agree with you more. The mass exodus of my generation has created a vacuum in my small neck of the woods. A lack of economic opportunity coupled with gentrification projects have turned some of the most historic black churches in our community into abandoned buildings in disrepair. There's no outrage because too many people need the suddenness of an atrocity to be snapped back to consciousness.

Here's an article about

HSG — Sun, 24 May 2015 17:48:42 +0000

In reply to The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees

Here's an article about gentrification in San Francisco's Mission District and how it is pushing Latinos out. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/us/high-rents-elbow-latinos-from-san-f...

Thanks Wattree - American

HSG — Sat, 23 May 2015 20:53:25 +0000

In reply to The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees

Thanks Wattree - American blacks suffer terribly from impoverishment - the direct outcome of racism and greed. My belief is that the only way we can reverse this is for poor, struggling, working-class, and the few remaining middle-class Americans of all races to unite against the forces of economic injustice and wealth privilege. You recommend that activists focus locally on issues like gentrification. While some see this as largely as poor black/affluent white issue, it really is more than that. Working-class whites are also largely being priced out of cities and inner suburbs as well. They too are being marginalized. We have to figure out how we can work together. I wish I had the answer.

Wattree, here is a story

rmrd0000 — Fri, 22 May 2015 18:42:24 +0000

In reply to The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees

Wattree, here is a story about rebuilding in Watts 50 years later. What is your take on the story?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/22/transforming-vacant-lots-_n_731...

Even now, Conservatives are

rmrd0000 — Fri, 22 May 2015 18:14:00 +0000

In reply to Thought-provoking post.

Even now, Conservatives are arguing to abolish disparate impact rules from housing discrimination cases. If housing practices have the effect of creating disparities, that would no longer be illegal if Conservatives in Texas win their case before the Supreme Court.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/21/us/texas-biker-shooting/

Thought-provoking post.

rmrd0000 — Thu, 21 May 2015 14:48:34 +0000

In reply to The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees

Thought-provoking post. Blacks get chased out of every community that is thought to have value. This has happened since the founding of the country. Travel to the area near Wall Street and you will find a museum that documents the African Burial Ground of NYC. The area around the museum served as the 6.6 acre burial ground for slaves for a century ( from 1690s to 1794). When the powers that be decided that lower Manhattan was valuable the black community was up rooted and the burial ground covered over by buildings. The cemetery was rediscovered in 1991 when the foundation for a federal office building ran smack into the bodies. The museum was created as a compromise. About 140 bodies were buried at the site. More slave bodies are under buildings in lower Manhattan. The museum exists because of community protest.

Gentrification is happening in Harlem. Iconic stores like the Hu-Man bookstore have closed, but the Schomburg remains in Harlem and receives honors. The entire country has access to library activities via the Internet. Renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson has restaurants Red Rooster and Streetbird. Sylvia's remains an institution. The Dance Theater of Harlem remains. The change is that the blacks who can stay in the major areas in Harlem have more wealth. Harlem still has the Harlem feel.

Travel to downtown Charleston, SC and you will actually see a church parking lot that has markers for graves of slaves. Travel further and you get to the area near the University of Charleston. You see housing for mostly white students and professors in formerly black neighborhoods. You hear of the university wanting to expand at the expense of the black community. The land grab battle has been engaged by the locals. The former home of Charleston's foremost ironworker noted for ornate gates, Phillip Simmons, has been converted to a museum and serves as a link to history. The community battles back against the assault.

The removal of minorities from valuable land is nothing new, ask the Native Americans. I applaud your efforts. We have never been wanted.

VincenzOH,

Wattree — Thu, 21 May 2015 14:05:04 +0000

In reply to I would have thought people

VincenzOH,

Perfectly stated - and I also love the line, "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you lay the blame." It's so right on the money.
.
What people fail to understand is, race was the last war. We are currently knee-deep in a class war, and race is simply a weapon being used by the enemy.

"it's not whether you win or

Lurker — Thu, 21 May 2015 13:43:04 +0000

In reply to I would have thought people

"it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you lay the blame".

Great line!

I would have thought people

VincenzOH — Thu, 21 May 2015 04:04:13 +0000

In reply to The Black Community Is Gradually Being Erased, And Black People Are Being Turned Into Nomads And Cultural Refugees

I would have thought people would have been falling all over one another to defend our cultural heritage, but I guess many Black people are not up to fighting for their culture. We only tend to REACT when something goes desperately wrong, instead of being PROACTIVE in an attempt to ensure that life and justice works in our favor.

It's my observation that this apathy isn't racial -- it's American. The one percent call the shots and the vast majority of the 99 percent follow. Very few of us have any interest in governing ourselves, preserving our culture and heritage, or even defending their liberties. We're too busy laying blame on "them" and watching reality TV to contemplate actual citizenship. We've been sold on individual impotence and scared of organizing. Organizations that have given citizens strength in the past have been broken or distracted. We have transformed ourselves from citizens to subjects; our unwitting motto has become "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you lay the blame".

If we want to change this, the first step is to take a long, hard look in the mirror.