Comments on: The great black hope: Black Metropolises

By: EG

EG — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 23:19:17 +0000

Here’s a quote I found:

“Power may corrupt some, but is it more accurate to say that power attracts the corruptible?”

The issue we see in Atlanta, Washington, DC and other ‘black-hopolises’ is the joining of power and corruption, be it political, financial, religious or social power.

Few people question MLK’s concern for the poor and the disenfranchised and there’s little doubt about Jesse Jackson’s and Al Sharpton’s real concerns.

This blog has posted power issues found in some black and white churches.

The light-dark skin tone divide continues to plague Black America.

Where there is power of any kind, there are those who thirst to grab and abuse it.

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 21:38:34 +0000

I live in Sheridan, Wyoming right now – as white as a white town can get. And while crime rates aren’t insane, the entire state of Wyoming really throws in the face the idea that only black cities/towns have major dysfunction issues. For example, Sheridan’s business community is essentialy run by a cartel of millionaires who refuse to let any business they don’t “prefer” into town. It keeps the poor even poorer, while the rich get richer. There are similar stories all over rural America. The difference is, black folks aren’t stakeholders, even if they DO run the government, they don’t own the banks or have the clout of running the businesses – that also have an affect on the community. We’re not talking about all black cities here, but actual places where ineffective leadership – no doubt reigns because people get greedy – but black folks get a far worse rap because of the fact that people are already questioning what they’re doing.

I’d argue it means they need to work harder and do less underhanded stuff. But, to ignore that we’re not stakeholders enough in communities – rather than always thinking that having black faces in government changes things..I believe is a major problem that our communities face.

By: EG

EG — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:43:51 +0000

I dunno know. These same complaints could have been lodged against NYC 125 years ago (Tammany Hall, anyone?).

Different time, location and race but corruption is color-blind. And history isn’t a great teacher.

Politicians like to hear “yes, sir” and not “but, what about the consequences?”

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:19:21 +0000

Currently reading the Mis-Education of the Negro Awesome book!!! If you want to find

out why Atlanta is not working, read the book. This should be read every year

to check if any progress has been made.

By: doc

doc — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:17:58 +0000

” I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” -Dr. King

There’s the secret, content of their character. The problem with these cities isnt their blatent racism in hiring only blacks for highly visible jobs. The problem is that the people they choose are based on political paybacks and not on whether they can do the job or not. There are plenty of overly qualified black people out there (if the cities insist on black only) to choose from, they just arent considered. They arent considered because corruption has just been an accepted thing in black politics. Same goes for Louisiana politics, everyone just accepts the fact that the whole system is corrupt. It will only change when enough black people (and there are a lot coming around) realize that they can have so much better (and it’s not race traitoring to criticize black leaders) if they just start standing up and demanding reform. Actually (as you already know) it isnt just a black problem, it’s one we all have to address.