” Often, black 12th-graders can read, write and deal with scientific and math problems at only the level of white sixth-graders. This doesn’t bode well for success in college or passing civil service exams.” – W Williams
Though racial discrimination exists, it is nowhere near the barrier it once was. The relevant question is: How much of what we see today can be explained by racial discrimination? This is an important question because if we conclude that racial discrimination is the major cause of black problems when it isn’t, then effective solutions will be elusive forever. To begin to get a handle on the answer, let’s pull up a few historical facts about black
Americans.
In 1950, female-headed households were 18 percent of the black population. Today it’s close to 70 percent. One study of 19th-century slave families found that in up to three-fourths of the families, all the children lived with the biological mother and father. In 1925 New York City, 85 percent of black households were two-parent households. Herbert Gutman, author of “The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925,” reports, “Five in six children under the age of six lived with both parents.” Also, both during slavery and as late as 1920, a teenage girl raising a child without a man present was rare among blacks.
A study of 1880 family structure in Philadelphia found that three-quarters of black families were nuclear families (composed of two parents and children). What is significant, given today’s arguments that slavery and discrimination decimated the black family structure, is the fact that years ago, there were only slight differences in family structure among racial groups.
Coupled with the dramatic breakdown in the black family structure has been an astonishing growth in the rate of illegitimacy. The black illegitimacy rate in 1940 was about 14 percent; black illegitimacy today is over 70 percent, and in some cities, it is over 80 percent.
The point of bringing up these historical facts is to ask this question, with a bit of sarcasm: Is the reason the black family was far healthier in the late 1800s and 1900s that back then there was far less racial discrimination and there were greater opportunities? Or did what experts call the “legacy of slavery” wait several generations to victimize today’s blacks? Continue reading
Back in the Middle Ages in Europe, the popular path towards spirituality was to become a monk or a nun. Monasteries and convents were well funded as their local populations were compelled by law to, not only attend church on Sundays, but also to donate 10 percent of their incomes to the church.
Are you struggling financially? Is your monthly budget mapped out to the tiniest degree with nothing extra to spare? Have your money worries become a giant pain in the neck?
Let me quickly review Obama’s possible motivations for martial law. First, his administration faces the brunt of three separate monetary debts that they will default on: (1) the national deficit is $17 trillion dollars, which could be paid down in about 30-40 years if we tightened our financial belts; (2) the unfunded liabilities of such social programs as welfare, social security and Medicare to the turn of $238 trillion dollars; and, (3) the stagger derivatives debt that modern-day nation states have agreed to assume in the amount of at least $1 quadrillion dollars. Keep in mind that the sum total of wealth for the planet is only $65-75 trillion dollars. The derivatives debt, alone, for Bank of America is $80 trillion dollars which is more than the entire value of the planet. In short, these debt cannot be paid off and the interest alone will crush this country. When the United States cannot pay the interest on the debt, we will be in default and the system will come crashing down and we will not just have 50 million food stamp recipients rioting, it will be nearly all of us.