A father's perspective: Raising a black son in America

Civic Justice

(870 posts)

1. I recall ...

Sun Jun 17, 2018, 11:36 AM

Jun 2018

When attending colleges, I saw and experienced something even more pronounced then, as was present when Public Schools were first integrated. We were not expected to know what we know as black kids, nor regarded and supported the same as were the white kids.

For a long span of time, seeing the disregard and even the push back, and the lack of follow through support. I remember in classes, I always read ahead. When it was time to respond to teacher inquiries, I raised my hand... often to be passed over, and as time passed, I watched other raise their hand, and not have the perspective answer, so.. I'd raise my hand to respond. Over time... I was asked to "give the others the opportunity to respond'... So... I said, I waited and no one raised their hand, so...it forced me to generally wait, until no one raised their hand. When there were no other hands raised, then I was allowed to respond.

I was called after class by one professor, and asked... why was I in this class, he said, you should be in a JD program, I said, that would be great, but how do I go about that when the prerequisites exist. He was an Attorney, who was a teacher. I found flaws in the cases presented in class, and he often deferred to me to state my views, and continued to tell me, that I should be in a JD program. Yet, he never took any measure to write a recommendation or present a proposal that I be advanced to the level he felt I performed.

For a long time, when I'd pose inquiry, in a number of classes, the Professors would say... "we've not got to that yet", or we will get to that later... and later never came. Then, the professors began to acts as if having knowledge was a personal challenge to them, rather than to embrace the interaction to help advance and expand the subject material. it was quite frustrating...

Eventually, I got tired of that along with the shallow indulgence of structured process and habit of the classroom, and decided I'd self teach myself, by continual research on my own. I did not place the value on a piece of paper that proclaimed a degree, but on learning... (unfortunately, this society only wants to pay according to the piece of paper, not the capability of the individual, in that sense I likely should have stayed in and gotten the paper, but I work with people who have degree, and I find unfortunately, many were simply trained to be "script followers". )
in our system today, Only the ones who had a true passion for their field of study, are the ones who actually stand out, those who just followed the script to get a degree, become often times lackluster, and many never even work in the field of their degree. They simply use the degree as a "get a job certificate'. Often such ones bring nothing new to the table, because their training was to be a 'script follower". Tech industry recogonized this, but the rest of American industry still lags in not recognizing this, because tech industry, stopped solely relying on people to have a degree, but to rely on people who have a passion for the field.
We know this is true in Bill Gates innovations with computer software, we saw it with the creation of many of the dominant tech business of what we have today. Some had to leave the university setting, to achieve what their potential could provide them. They went on to change the world. the woman who heads You Tube, had to go get a certificate in tech, because her university degree was useless in advancing her in her degree field. There are many many examples if we only pay attention and actually research this stuff out.

We've seen the decline and destruction of American Industry in every level, because of "degree labeled script followers"... and everyday, we see them create job losses, and prop up companies on fiction and false valuation, while they diminish the workforce and make choice to produce inferior products and diminished service, as they hail themselves the "champions of industry"... and industry continues to fall and become decimated. Resulting in million upon millions of American people loosing jobs, loosing job benefits and result to have decimated pensions to having no pension programming.
Its not a problem that should be blamed upon the "actual workers in American", its a problem that belong squarely upon the system in American of promoting "degree riders", into fields they have no information, understanding or knowledge of. Yet, they are given decision making positions. They are taught to be 'name slinger's", and "script followers", who are trained in the art of submission to the head names, often having no voice to speak up or address the changes that truly need to be made to advance the business as well as protect the industry and protect the workers who make the industry work.

One might ask why and how this happened: Then go back and look at what was done to education by the Reagan Administration, when he made it so that college and university was unaffordable to the average america white person who did have passion for specific fields, but did not come from wealth, and for minorities whom university was made unaffordable who did have a passion for a specific field. Then too, look at the Nixon Administration and the acts to move Industry out of America, with his programming that resulted to send Ore Processing to China, followed by other key industry, and if one studies it, they will find, any and all industry that had strong union structure, was ultimately outsourced, and the outcome was 'weakened union" and finally devastated unions, and Industrial decline combines. All this can be attributed to the retribution against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, because it not only made avenues for minorities to advance, it made avenues for women, and for poor whites to advance. This was not to be allowed in America by the people who control and wield power over ideology and societies course, because America was driven in its ideology by white men, who saw a world with only white men on top. It made certain that minorities were not to have opportunity, that women would not have opportunity, and poor whites would not have opportunity to meet and live the American Middle Class Dream, which existed when White Men were afforded every avenue to create and be a part of the Middle Class. In that concept, white women were not expected to work. because the white male was paid at a rate to ensure he could afford and maintain the middle class standard.

Result: Job Reservation maintained and held for the well to do whites who could afford to pursue the degree program, but may not have had a true passion for a specific field, but were given a degree and allowed to use it as a "get a job certificate in unrelated fields".

I've excelled in corporate businesses, without a title, in multiple areas, and had direct ongoing interactions with leadership, as well as given a test they told me was designed by Harvard Business School, I found it to contain nothing I'd not already been doing for more than 20 yrs in the workforce. I continue to advance programs and create programs, all while being surrounded with a array of people sporting degree, often as they express how confounded they are by the challenges, while the challenges beg for innovation, to advance the programs to be and become of better performance and efficiency. I'm often his with a similar question far too frequently, of "how do you know this stuff". Its because I invest to want to know. its really that simple.

I was asked many time to train various white people, and they were given promotions ahead of me, and some themselves say, they did not know why I was not selected, because they did not know what I knew about the business. I have been asked to step aside to allow a white person to have a job, because it was said, the white person needed it on their resume for something they were pursuing. All too often having the same people who were given the job, to directly tell me, they don't know what I know about the job, and ask if I will help them. I don't decline to help anyone !!!! i'm often ridiculed with questions of why am I helping someone, when I was passed over. My response is, Its about getting the objective met, not about who gets credit for it. Although I know in this society, credit is tied to who get's paid and how much. for me, money is not the main goal... achieving what is desired to be achieved or what is needed to be achieved is what matters, because what matters benefit "the people". That is worth more than money to me. Yes, I'd like to have the monetary means to do more, but ... even still, I am not suffering for anything, I can meet my expenses, and I have had money beyond the basic needs, and I found, it does not make me happy, what is happiest is being functional and beneficial to others and the systems that benefits others is what truly matters. We have far too many wealthy people, who are only concerned about being wealthy, and gaining more wealth. even when they can never in a lifetime spend what they already have.

Being known for only for being wealthy, creates people like "Trump", who has no ethics, no morality, no respect for humanity, only and insatiable greed lust for more money. Such imbeciles of Avarice demonstrates daily that he will damage and destroy 100's of years of American peoples self investment and developments, all for the sake of "money". He has no respect for the environment, nor for the masses of working class people and he detest the poor, and he exhibits a level of racist bias, that is incurable in one who's life is based on Avarice Driven Lusting for Money. He swindles everything from Charity, to Cities to the IRS and any agency of Governance, and has no respect for the system of Justice and the Rule of Law, or the Declaration of Independence of this Nation, and has absolutely no understanding or concern for its United State Constitution

I've innovated and transformed departments, and had the credit for the work given to white men, who not only could not advance the program they were given credit for, but the same ones, came back and asked for help to move the program to the next step and phase.

If anyone has watched the movie "Something the Lord Made"... it is representative of how many black people have been marginalized, when their work has advanced much. While all the credit was given to white men.

What drives us... is the will to "get it done"... not to seek with a single focus on 'credit", but to get it done, and advance the endeavor to a level above and beyond.

This is symbolic on American historical truths, that only since the Internet has much of this come to light about the black people who are and were instrumental in advances in this country.

The Movie, "Hidden Figures", also reveals what was never taught in schools of the contribution of black people. Many people to this day, don't know the names of some of the black people who worked with Einstein on the Manhattan Project, or the work done by black people who advanced key aspects of the computer revolution, or the cell phone revolution.

History has much to tell.. and the blessing of the Internet will continue to expose what many have never been taught in schools about the countless contribution by black people in the entire spectrum of American innovation.

People may see it in sports and music, because it can't be ignored or hidden. But in many other areas it is not presented, and certainly not taught. Many won't research to find out such information, but the tools of technology will be great in bringing light to much.

The Current Administration would like to diminish educational history, but their aims will be futile, because one can't erase history, nor can its truths be buried forever.

All this tells why the continue fear of black men in society is ongoing, because it helps assure the white man, that his competition will be diminished as long as he can label and find means to push negative concept of black men, and find means to hold black men back, be it, by elevating the cost of education, diminishing the public schools and using police tactics of the segregation era, and incarceration, and promoting poverty, while ensuring drugs flow from international location directly into minority and poor white communities, as being the promoted concept means of gaining any economic holdings.
Gang violence is promoted and supported to be sustained, because the system has every means to bring an end to gang violence, but for it to remain, also keeps the means to have a negative stereo type placed upon men of color. One it diminishes and bring means to disenfranchise them as voters. When fact is, anyone who does their time in prison, once released should have their voting rights restored across America.
The 13th Amendment was written in a way, to promote means to disenfranchise minorities and poor whites.

All this tells why the continue fear of black men in society is ongoing, because it helps assure the white man, that his competition will be diminished as long as he can label and find means to push negative concept of black men. In the process, it too damages poor whites as they are considered as disposable collateral damage...

When working poor and poor white people figure out, that every element of act to marginalize the black man, has a collateral impact on diminishing many of the same opportunities, as well as bringing many of the same challenges upon the working poor and dire poor white man as well.

The Democratic Ideals seek by Platform Ideals to change this.. but it has to be made vocal in and through continual public narrative by and through all of the Democratic party, from each individual, to each and every political figure of the Democratic system. It has to be "overt".... in how its done.

The structured gaming of disrespect placed upon and against the black man, is in direct relation to the cycle of economic and political disrespect that is upon the poor white man.... and it is in direct relation to how women are considered secondary, because it is of design based on history, to keep the well to do white men on top.

When society as a whole can see the thread this is weaved with, it will understand what is needed to change America.