SwiftVets.com

[Guest]

The dark side of black people.

from my notebook, Leighton Levy:

LET ME START by saying that if I had my life to live over a thousand times, the one thing I would not change would be my race. I am proud to be a black man. There are times however, when I wish that certain people and I did not share that trait.

For the past few days, the whole world ... well, at least those who have access to satellite and cable television, have been seeing pictures of the virtually total devastation of the cities of the U.S. Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. An estimated 90 per cent of homes in New Orleans have been destroyed by flood waters and more than 100 people have been confirmed dead.

We see people standing on the roofs of their submerged homes desperate to be rescued, others being airlifted to safety, and we have heard tear-jerking stories of families losing their loved ones. But in all of this, we have also seen the really dark side of black people.

The day after the hurricane passed, there were reports of looting but network reporters had been saying that people were looting out of desperation, in search of food and water. A lot they knew.

The pictures I have been seeing are of people - black people - stealing shoes, diapers, and television sets. Not food and definitely not water. Not unless the armfuls of clothing, shoes, and appliances I see people wading through the streets with count as food and water.

Now, if all the looters were looting out of desperation, how desperate were the guy and girls I saw toting several boxes of size 13 Nikes? How desperate was the fellow with the stack of diapers? What, is it that he has several babies at home suffering from loose bowels? What am I talking about, what home? Everything is under water and what isn't, has been totally destroyed.

Plasma TV?

And just what are those guys stealing the plasma television sets going to be watching when there is no power in the entire city?

Desperation? Yeah, right. I am beginning to believe that black people, no matter where in the world they are, are cursed with a genetic predisposition to steal, murder, and create mayhem.

The entire firearm department at a Wal-Mart department store, for example, was cleaned out and the looters used the stolen weapons to rob people. How low is that? Everybody is suffering and the black people would seek to rob people who are suffering just like themselves.

No white looters?

And it has nothing to do with poverty. Where are the white people in all this? I am sure there are poor white people living in New Orleans, Biloxi and the other towns affected by what has been going on. Is it that the media are not showing pictures of them looting and robbing? Or is it that they are too busy trying to stay alive, waiting to be rescued, and hiding from the blacks.

And you know what? Even if the poor whites were looting and robbing, wouldn't it be nice if the blacks could have made them the only ones doing it

Just once, I would like for us blacks to take the high road in situations like this, where instead of showing our darkest side, we put our best foot forward. But I guess that would be too much to ask, too much of a case of wishful thinking.


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Generational welfare robs people of essential survival
skills. People who have never had to take care of them-
selves won't and will wait until death for someone else to
save them. -- William Fortner 2005 ---

[witchywoman]

How we raise our children is of real importance to society. We all live in American together. As Barbara Jordon said when she is alive, sub cultures is not what America is all about and should not be tolerated.

There are those that see the problem as the author above, Barbara Jordon, Bill Cosby and others. Hated by the black community for being out of touch.

Perhaps the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are right. Perhaps it is about race. Could it be that that demanding attitude is "a black thang", that we just don't understand?

[LewWaters]

Let's face it, low class is not restricted to any particular race. All races have those who just want the free ride and aren't willing to do anything to contribute to society. Thanks to the welfare mentality brought to us by bleeding heart libs, we have way too many today.

While the news may have focused on Blacks looting in New Orleans, don't forget that it was a Black 17 year old that took an abandoned bus and drove over 70 people to Houston, Texas, out of harms way.

[DLI78]

Are you sure a black person wrote the initial article you posted?

I'm sorry, but that is highly offensive to this glow-in-the-dark white guy.

Yeah, I know some really crappy black people. But the vast majority of the blacks I know and have worked with for the last 30 or more years are NOT crappy people. Like the black guy I know who got an Army Achievement Medal for saving two white privates who managed to get themselves caught in a fire. He didn't have to rush through the flames FOUR TIMES (in and out for each guy he saved) to save two white kids. He did it because it was the right thing to do. He did it because he is a man of honor. He wasn't thinking about getting a medal out of it and he was embarrassed by getting the medal.

I know just as many crappy WHITE people. Like the neighbor I had a year ago who just could not accept the idea of a white guy married to an Asian woman. Or the phosphorescent supervisor I had who got off on the idea of screwing with people.

Yes the TV showed us people who looted, and the best clips they had were of black people. And even if the majority of looters in N.O. were black so what? You cannot blame or stain the majority of black people from that city as criminals just because a few highly photogenic ******** got themselves caught on camera. The majority of blacks I saw on TV were refugees.

I refuse to believe that most black people, or even most poor black people are like that. A good friend of mine is from Mississippi. Lots of blacks there. Did any of them loot? Probably not. Not enough of them to make the news. They're trying to put their lives back together like everybody else.

OK, so a few losers in New Orleans deserve a bullet in the head. It really bugs me that a black person equates looters with black people. I don't think crime is racial. I think it is due to losers who can't think of a better way to make a living.
_________________
DLI 78
Army Linguist
1978-1986

[GoophyDog]

I too have to question that first post. The premise its based on or intimates is that ALL of the blacks in the area that were looting.

Let's check some numbers shall we? Lets grossly underestimate the population at 400,000 and again, lets just say there's a 60/40 ratio so we have 240,000 as a black population. Now, lets be overly pesimistic and say there were 1000 looters shown on the video. POINT 4 percent were looting!

Was it despicable to see? Yes, no argument. But what we really have is a main stream media that focused on .4% in order to garner headlines and ratings. What about the 99.6% who were law-abiding and simply trying to stay alive and pick up the pieces.

Is it a race thing? You won't get me to believe that - ever. You could put any color you choose in the same situation and you would be dreaming if you think there won't be a portion of a percentage doing the same ugly things.

The crux of the matter, as posted in this thread and elsewhere, is we as a society are cultivating a mindset of low self-esteem and lack of responsibility through our own egocentric desire to show ourselves as charitable. Don't give a person money with no strings, give a person a JOB. New Orleans is a shining example of the failure of a welfare state. Unfortunately, it is also a shining example of political corruption and the utter devastation that it can create.
_________________
Why ask? Because it needs asking.

[blue9t3]

Be sure to tell lieghton that I'm prouder than him that I'm white, and I could'nt care less what he thinks.
_________________
MOPAR-BUYER

[LewWaters]

I read that article before it was posted here also. It indeed does appear to have been written by a Black man, in Jaimaca. I guess what you feel is how you perceive the article.

I would have preferred he wrote it, if he really had to write it at all, from the standpoint of SOME, which every race has, some low class persons.

http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20050902/cleisure/cleisure1.html

Admin note: I didn't intially notice it, but in the future, if posting an article that not is your original words, please include a url to that article.

[blue9t3]

Sometimes I think that if you live long enough, you get to hear all of it!
Not quite sure if its worth it?
_________________
MOPAR-BUYER

[Deuce]

[MrJapan]

[Me#1You#10]

"Black" and "poor" are, to a large degree, synonymous in the lexicon of our culture and, until a destinction is clearly drawn between the two, those modern-era muckrakers who have a vested interest in creating disharmony in our society will continue to ply those "muddy waters".

[wwIIvetsdaughter]

I think the criminal element purposefully stayed behind in NOLA hoping for a chance to loot when a majority of the city's population (that includes black & white) decamped. The opportunity, however, exceeded their wildest expectations when the levee broke and chaos ensued. NOLA officals knew full well this element was about, hence the search if you recall of the first group that took refuge in the Superdome prior to the Hurricane hit. I live in along the coast and we had a graze from Hurricane Emily in July. Shelters were opened for folks for feared their homes were not up to withstanding Emily. I do not recall nor does anyone else I've spoken to, body searches being carried out at all for weapons, drugs, etc. I do recall PSA that alcohol, drugs, except prescriptions would not be tolerated at the shelters and that was the extent of it.