Your arguments are intelligent and compelling, but in my opinion they ignore one central reality. There is NEVER going to be a social awakening, a governmental change in policy, a ground roots revolution, or anything else that is going to add even on scintilla to what an individual must do to improve his or her own situation. Your article is laced with the idea that we need both personal responsbility, and social responsibility. When are we going to understand that there will never be any social responsbility to help the individual. The individual and the individual alone must take control of his own destiny, ignore any suggestions that some outside force will come along and make his or her journey easier, and proceed with the courage, and single-minded purpose — almost like a warrior — to work his or her own way through to whatever goals and achievements that they will ultimately realize.

How many people have died waiting for this outside force to come along and liberate us from this personal responsibility.

I understand something as a black male, this is a race, like a 5k run. Noone cares if I am out of shape to finish the race, noone cares if my hamstring locks up, noone cares that I might slip and fall over something the crowd throws onto the track. If I get any unfair advantage, then the other people in the race will get angry, and then try to bump me off of the track, because they feel that the race is just as hard for them as it is for me. Maybe I will get a tail wind that will help push me across the finish line, maybe there will be a head wind that makes my race harder, but ultimately it is my calf muscles, the strucutre of the bones in my legs, the own endurace or lack thereof, which will determine how I actually finish. The good news is that to win, I don’t have to finish first. I just have to cross the finish line in one piece.

Although I applaud your choices while condoning those of your convicted felon brother, I must disagree with you on your comment:

“in our economy where low-skilled work is all but gone, all the right behavior in the world won’t create better jobs for the poor; And personal responsibility can’t lower the unemployment rate.”

Statements like these help shine a bright light on root causes of problems; a mere statement like this is alarming.

If one doesn’t practice the right behavior or personal responsibility, then the results will most certainly be grim.

I would suggest that all communities practice right behavior and personal responsibility; once people are held to these standards, you won’t have to worry about jobs, unemployment or minimum wage.

Some of you are missing Prof. Dyson’s message. The races (Black & White) are both committing crime, but most white are less likely to be incarcerated due to favoritism from white cops- simple. The argument is not that when a black man commits crime he shouldn’t spend the time, but the same should be for the white men who are most likely let off the hook by the majority white police who think less of them as criminal.

So RB and Mr. Critical Reader, please read critically before responding to the learn professor.

The number of black men who are now being set free after years of spending time in jail for crimes they didnt commit is un-nerving. My brother is serving a life sentence for a crime he didnt commit. The only crime was we couldnt find a better lawyer. They looked at my brother as if he was gulity before the trial even started. The only crime my brother has ever been convicted of was parking tickets.

Oh my goodness there are so many boots out there only people aren’t taking advantage of them. Case in point the kid who re-registered for school and then dropped out again in last night’s documentary. He had the opportunity to get a free education and if he took it seriously (personal responsibility) he might’ve gotten a scholarship for his grades and moved on to college. Instead for whatever reason he dropped out and turned himself into a statistic. We’re not living in some 3rd world country where the opportunities are few and far between.

Dr. Dyson:

I appreciate your perspective but I disagree with you, and in fact believe Bill Cosby has a more functional perspective. There are a wide range of mechanisms in the black culture that continue to propogate the very values and behaviors that lead these young men to crime, and you and others should take a stronger stance against these. Hip-hop celebrating/romanticizing violence, drug use, materialism, etc. does absolutely nothing but harm, and the harm is done to one’s own self and culture. It’s certainly easy and self-serving to blame others for misfortune, but the truly wise person looks within. And while I’m sorry your brother is in prison, there are appeals that can be made if the evidence warrants. Occam’s Razor would suggest, however, that while you can’t believe your brother would have done such a thing (most family members don’t), it is in fact a very plausible and probably correct explanation.

We can’t be demised by self hatred or being influenced by social and political policy. One being that a biracial man is the exception in the black community. I went to school with my brother who is not biracial, but a lighter dark complexion. Each of us were called derogative things and experienced in our first experience of the world in preschool and first grade what it means to be black in America. As we got older into middle school it seemed that everything the white students would call us was divided among negros in the school who shared the same burden. So out of strife the names were called amongst our own kind by our own kind. White teachers would tell the “troubled” black students to drop out, your 16 it is legal. The path for a white student was less difficult with opportunities that waited on them at any time they were ready. Black students were held back in grades and ultimately life. I don’t take this talk lightly as the black community is not waiting for an audience, but a shift in direction and a partaking in action towards our own independence. Not just for our immediate now, but generation to generation in a society built on white supremecy and not equality.

Race is not the issue for people in prisons. If you break the law, go to jail. Regardless of color or nation origin, obey the law, and stay out of jail. Case closed.

I read your commentary on CNN.COM and one part struck me:

“There is a vicious prison system that hungers for young black and brown bodies. The more young black and brown folk are thrown in jail, the more cells are built, and the more money made. It has been well documented that we spend far more money on penitentiaries than university education for poor black and brown males. During the 1980s and 1990s, state spending for corrections grew at six times the rate of state spending on higher education.”

I have to disagree with you about how the government spends more money on prisons than for the black and brown males for education. Would it also be true that they spend more money on prisons than they do for white males? Doesn’t the black community have NAACP??? I sure cannot find a NAAWP!!

I don’t have a PhD. I don’t even have a BA. But I do have knowledge. I learn by watching and studying people. My 4 years in the Marine Corps, I studied people from all over the world. I still study people even though I have been out of the Corps for 20+ years. I qualify for MENSA. I think that will speak for itself.

What I have observed is this:
When I hear a loud car stereo, it’s 99% chance, it’s a black person. At work, the black/brown people are not dressed for success, but rather dressed to play basketball. When you talk to a black person one on one, you can have an intelligent conversation. However, when they are around their friends, you can’t understand a single thing they say.

They feel they are due respect, even though they have not earned it. I don’t respect you unless you have earned it. At the same time, I don’t dis-respect you, unless you have earned it.

The story of these two brothers as presented by Soledad O’ Brien does not make any sense. I know as a journalist she has to report what idiots say and what reasonable people say. What I mean is that the light skin black man with a Ph.D from Princeton still has a brain captured by whites and left in slavery and plantation days of the past. He has a total disconnect with reality.

The darker skin Black man, his brother, though without a princeton Ph.D. was capable of real analysis than a Ph.D. He said that he made wrong choices and so ended up in prison to serve many years, and he did not attribute his fate to his skin as his foolish light skin brother. These light skin black men in America, some of them, arose anger because they are foolish. Many of them still carry Jim Crow and slavery in their brain. It is true that in Slavery and Jim Crow days that slave masters after making babies with their servants or slaves deny them to suffer in their shadows. These black men later during slavery and Jim Crow felt they looked more like the white men who refused them as fathers, and because they were the oppressors took joy that they were like them. That solely was their pride, a fool’s pride.

This Ph.D holder had forgotten as far back as a hundred years ago that dark skin black men, self confident in themselves had college education. Also I am sure that among blacks dark skin blacks have more Ph.D’s than light skin blacks as a percentage of their respective population.

His younger brother did not like what he said, I could see that in his twinkling eyes. The light skin guy saw the moment as a time to tell his very brother that he was better than him because he was light skin. Maybe Soledad like his goofy reason for his success because she is mixed too; thereby feeling that moment was redemptive. But he was just goofy and idiotic. Many dark skin black men have made their marks in this nation than light skin ones anyway. Think Martin Luther King, Malcolm X etc. They were more charismatic than many goofy light skin blacks whose brains are for ever locked up in the plantation days.

Well said Albert! It is the blatant double standard that is so maddening and the uneven ability “to pay ones debt” to society. We seem to never be able to pay enough or to rise above any previous indiscretion, regardless of how innocuous or far in our past it occurred.

Albert @ 6:14, The sooner the ‘black’ community gets off this victim mentality - the quicker they will get out of the predicament that they are stuck in.

I have lived in 3 cities with significant black populations and you can pretty much chart out a 100% correlation between the black concentration in a given locality and the crime rate there.

Why? Why should that be. You may point out that black communities tend to be poorer. But are you inferring then that poor people are criminally inclined? What does poverty have to do with homicides and drug dealing?

And I also disagree with the ‘lack of low end employment’ statement. If 25 million illegal immigrants can find a way of earning their livelihood as well sending money home, all the while climbing the social ladder - sans any welfare handouts and living in the shadows, it is an utterly farcical argument to claim that native born citizens cannot take on the same job given all the advantages that they have compared with that poor illegal immigrant.

Sorry, that argument doesnt cut it.

The only reason that Dyson is finally actually talking about personal responsibility is because Obama brought it up and is being hailed for it. Before Obama, Dyson was (and still is) the biggest blamer of the so-called system for the woes of black people. Read his work, no personal responsibilty is ever mentioned pre-Obama.

The black male needs to wake up. You are victim in todays world only if you want to be. I just went with my daughter to college registration. I was very pleased how easy it is for any minority to get a good education at the expense of the taxpayers. Don’t get me wrong, I too would rather pay for the education than a prison term.The black male must take control and clean up their own house. I saw 50 to 1 black female college students to black males at the recent college day! Where were you? After this trip I no longer feel that I owe any color anything other than friendship and respect. This white anglo saxon male has come full circle thanks to Dr. King and others. I ask you My black brothers will you do the same and help yourself out of prision?

What about the videos, the rap. I sit with my children and try to watch music videos on T.V. and can’t. RAP music about Killing Police, Robbing stores and harming women. Gangster RAP. Who is promoting this and making money? Who is getting rich. What message is this stuff sending. I see it EVERY day, the gangster want to be’s ( White and Black) Most of the upcoming youth want to be like the folks on the videos, a gangster or a pop star/gangster. I dare you to listen to the lyrics and not just the beat.

@Scot: I agree with you 100%.

@Phil: I am white and my friend is. After seeing all the advantages for the blacks and minorities in trying to pay for college, my friend is now checking the African- American box on the FAFSA and other forms in order to not lose her house to pay for their college education. At this juncture, her family is $100,000 in the hole trying to keep up payments for college. Three kids is $$$$$$$.

Minorities: the money is there for the taking for your college education.
There is NO excuse for you not to go to college. As Phil said: ” I was very pleased how easy it is for any minority to get a good education at the expense of the taxpayers”

I agree with some of the readers/bloggers here who point out a potential bias in police forces around the country toward the suspicion of black males regarding potential crimes. All suspects should certainly be seen in the same light. Unfortunately, and all too often, police officers naturally rely on their experience and past history, which so many times lead them to suspect wrongdoing in the appropriate places.
The problem with the youth in the country (black and white) is there is no SHAME. I remember a day when it was shameful to be pregnant and not married.
But let me bring up another entirely different situation in two words: New Orleans. I didn’t say Katrina, I said New Orleans. Sorry folks, that was a crime-infested hole long before Katrina. What is the demographic data on the New Orleans police force? Likely over 70%. Criminals of all colors should be treated as such and locked up. Personal responsibility is the key concept that has never sunk in for so many communities like New Orleans. Reliance on federal handout programs leads to dependency, dependency to poverty. Federal programs were not conceived as careers - only a helping hand to those who need it until they can get back on their feet.
How many unwed mothers are there in New Orleans? Why are they unwed? Surely not because the black men who knocked them up are intimidated by them! That’s absurd! Single mothers have baby after baby, not for love or want for family - for the federal check they receive for every one they have! Good Lord, my mother is an elementary school teacher in Georgia and has kids in her class talking about getting themselves a baby. Unbelievable.
Put a moratorium on how many babies will be covered under welfare per mother. “As of September, if you have 2 already and aren’t actively pregnant, we’re not paying for any more.” Certainly 9 months from September we’d have a huge baby boom, but you can bet the baby train would come to a halt.
I see no other way to stop it.

This country has never totally embraced its darker hued brothers/sisters and insisted upon superiority in order to justify the slavery institution. Even though the country was founded on the premise of the free and the brave. Nonetheless, we believed in the American dream, even when we were thrown out with the bath water. Please remember that the majority of buyers of hip hop music are white people. Please remember that that criminal behavior is statistically about even in the races, but police focus more deeply on its darker hued citizens.

America streets are paved in gold, but its full of potholes, if you don’t believe me please ask a young African American, Hispanic, Native American or anyone entrenched in poverty.

After watching Dr. Dyson’s segment about the possible correlation between the shades of our skin i.e. the lighter skin the more opportunities one has to future success. I find it interesting that of the black men who were not entertainers or radio commentators interviewed for this special were all considered to be light skin. Can this be due bias of the producers of this story?

Are there no examples of white brothers where one chose the “wrong” path? I think there might be……………

I am engaged to a black man who was raised in an unhealthy environment, who was expose to family members hooked on drugs other family members selling drugs, gang involvement and basically raised in ghetto poverty. Thus, he has a felony on his name and now he has realized that he wants a better life, but with that felony he is rejected by basically every career path he desires. What is a black man suppose to do when they want to be something in life, but cannot because of past mistakes? He does have a job that pays well, but he wants a career. He is trying to become a fireman, but the felony prohibits that . I am afraid that he will soon give up and go back to his old ways because no one is willing to give him the chance to become a positive contributor to his community.

My comment is goes toward to the political labeling we (black folks) tend to get or be given. We are not “African American” people, we are “black people” just as the program’s label. i white person can be born in South Africa and then live in America. Does that make then African American? If a black person is born in China or Japan and then live in America, does that make them a Chinese or Japanses American. It is just like Smokey said ” black is our core”

@ Phil and Teresa
As a black third generation college graduate I must have missed the “advantages for the blacks and minorities in trying to pay for college”. I took out student loans the same as my parents, and my grandmother.
“Minorities: the money is there for the taking for your college education.
There is NO excuse for you not to go to college.”
Are you serious? I had to take a 2 year hiatus from college because my parents could only finance one child in college at a time. Since my older sister is 2 years older than I, I had to wait. I received no extra financial aid or special treatment because I am black. As I write this my parents, whom are both graduates of an ivy league college and graduate school, are trying to figure out the $30,000 that is needed to send my younger brother to a private college. This is after academic scholarships.

Secondly I would like to address the following comment. “You are victim in todays world only if you want to be.” I guess this should be applied to women who “let” themselves be paid 75 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. Just as sexism still exists racism does as well. For use all white, black, whatever we will not move forward as a society if we at the minimum do not acknowledge that racism exist.

this special had me in tears. it is sad that often African Americans as a whole down grade themselves. you hear “oh i can’t get a job because am black” yes it might be true but have you tried upgrading yourself so that others see a different person?
We as a people have been labeled with the “gang bangers, robbers, murderers and etc” so we just stick to those stereotypes and that is not helping.
Also it is sad that within the black community a dark-skinned black person is looked down upon and a light-skinned black person gets praised…so technically the odds are already against a dark skinned black person!….
We cant just change the world…we have to start from within us first

I think the coverage Soledad did was surficial but glad at least some of the most threatening factors were uncovered. My light skinned brothers, in a predominately white area, were wrongly identified by a little white boy on a school bus, as carrying a gun. The little boy told a police officer at the school and the officer just took the word from the boy and searched my brothers in front of the entire school. My brothers are preppy and light skinned, and are Christians. It is just something that constantly happens to us black people. The principal apologized, but the damage was done. It is not only true of dark skinned, but light skinned blacks as well, that we all are targeted. It is frustrating that when you explain stories like these to non-blacks, especially whites, they act like racism, discrimination, and hatred are still not a part of America, but it is. I wish they could understand us, because we’ve spent an eternity trying to understand them and fit in and assimilate into white America just to progress to the heights they have made on the free labor black people gave over 400 years due to slavery. White people got a head start and blacks are still struggling, reason we need reparations.

Mr. Dyson,

Please explain to me how this systematic racism caused the current CNN.com front page story where a black man wounded three college students. If you can reasonably explain to me why I and others of my race caused this then I will give the rest of what you say credence.

Further, on the skin icolor issue, one must delve into history, as President Thomas Jefferson (I believe -one drop African blood makes the product black) created the ingenious but negative idea of race as it relates to skin color. No other nation in the world classifies people of their own region in this way. America has a problem with race, and maybe South Africa because of the belief in “skin color ” classification instead of nationality. Europeans are Europeans, Asians are from Asia. Why aren’t Americans from America?

***To Krystle ***

Don’t give up. Your fiance’ may have to start his own business, like a car detailing, or a service of some sort. Many go this route and don’t even have social security numbers. There are small business loans or grants for some ex-cons even. God bless.

Until so many Black people quit blaming present whites for past problems, little individual economic progress will be made. Most negative things that happen to people are the result of their own doing. Keep that in focus.

(i am paraphrasing the economist magazine)
if businesses could pay black men 78 cents on the dollar instead of white men, there would be a near zero unemployment rate for
black men.
this is bunk.

your article is compelling; this is just one FACT that i want to point out.

Melissa –

Why do you have to depend on your parents to go to school? My parents said they couldn’t afford to send me to college, so I did it myself. I paid my own way by getting student loans, grants and working full time in order to pay my tuition. Why does your brother have to go to a private college? I ended up going to a state school where the tuition was lower and still received a good education.

Also, why do parents think they have to start saving/paying for school once their children graduate high school? My wife and I have set aside money in a 529 plan so that our 3 kids will have college paid for when the time comes for them to go. Our 6-year-old and 4-year old already have college paid for, and it wasn’t as painful as it would seem. It just takes good money management from the time your child is born. It has nothing to do with opportunites, race, or economic status. Just about anyone should be able to go to college if they really want to.

I think black americans need to stop blaming others for their failure. blame yourself first for everything, then you can blame others. if the system is set to fail you then work arround the system. Be smart think outside the box. Nobuddy is forcing you to sell drags on your corner to your owne people. Think big….
thankns

Surely black Americans have struggled. I have a part minority granddaughter. I would about the challenges she will face. Everyone has their own personal struggles. There is another struggle that I and so many older Americans face, that of age discrimination. This is a form of discrimination that most ignore or dismiss as non-existent. Our own federal government of one of the biggest problems. As a 22 year veteran of the United States Air Force, and a Vietnam veteran, I am to old (5 to apply to be a janitor at a federal prison. Men and women over 37 1/2 years of age are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, but cannot apply to protect own own borders as a border patrol agent because of their age. Discrimination based on race, ethnic values, age or any other form is wrong and until we stand up and wipe it out, it will continue. How do we do that is the great question. As for me, as a law enforcement officer in Pennsylvania, if you have an emergency and I come to your home, you aren’t going to ask me my age. Sincerely; Ralph Moerschbacher, Captain, USAF Retired Vietnam veteran

Dyson.. this man is a real piece of work. I am so sad for all of the young minds he has poisoned with his brand of racism. Until people like Dyson are ushered out of the conversation we will be creating legions of haters and racists skeptical of every white person they meet.

@ Teresa

Your friend can check whatever box she pleases on the FAFSA, but it will not make one bit of difference. The FAFSA is based on combined family income and number of children in the household in college. Financial Aid in this nation is need-based and color-blind, right or wrong. So, unless your friend can find a way to hide some income somewhere, the increase she is seeing in the Student Aid Reports for her children is based on the fact that she now has 3 children enrolled in college, not on the race she checked on the form.

There are certainly numerous programs, mostly private, that target minority students for scholarships (and there should be), but those programs are all but a drop in the bucket compared to what the federal government invests in financial aid. How about we flip an age old argument on its side and tell you that your friend shouldn’t have had so many kids if she couldn’t support them. Would you agree with that argument? I doubt it. So then, why do we tell poor families, of any race, that they should not have kids if they cannot support them? College is a privilege, not a right, but the more people who go to college the better.

College is expensive, but financial assistance is finite and reserved for those in our nation who need it most–the working poor. We all benefit from having an educated citizenry, so those of us in the upper and middle classes who can afford to invest in our children’s education should. We do this so that those who are less fortunate can have access to the assistance they need to go to college and improve themselves and our society.

Eddie: Your attack on Soledad O’Brien is unwarranted and inappropriate.

I have no idea why you are sure that “sure that among blacks dark skin blacks have more Ph.D’s than light skin blacks as a percentage of their respective population.” Though I do not know the relationship between skin tone and highest degree earned, I can say that at every institution I have attended or taught at, the school has looked very hard for qualified African American students to attend in a serious attempt to increase diversity. I have NEVER, in any of these discussions, heard anything about distinctions of skin tones within the African American community. Furthermore, many students are accepted to undergraduate and Ph.D. programs having never been interviewed in person, so I do not see how there could be a bias towards accepting black/African American students with lighter skin tones.

One of the very problems with our racist society is that someone biracial like Obama is automatically classified as black by society because we seem to need to classify people as either black or white. His own evidence of this point is that he has as much trouble flagging down a cab in New York, as African American men do.

Dr. Dyson makes some good points. Note I said these schools were looking for qualified applicants. If students coming from inner city schools received substandard educations (that is, the percentage who actually graduate), this would not prepare them to succeed at these schools and so they are not given a fair chance to compete for jobs that would bring them and their families out of poverty. So yes personal responsibility is important, but as Dr. Dyson alludes, providing a fair chance to compete is important as well.

Amen!

I am a single parent and a minority. I have struggles everyday with my children. I did not graduate high school and I have to take on dead end jobs to make ends meet. their father does not help me financially and we have four children together ages ranging from 14 to 2 years old. I was in an abusive relationship for twelve years with this man. I could go on and on with my complaints of life and blame my growing up in the ghetto or because my mother was a drug addict and my father was not around as to why my life turned out to be what it is or why I became a statistic. The thruth is that I dont agree with that I also strongly believe in we choose our own destiny. We cant go on blaming society for our misfortune because we make the wrong choices in life. In my neighborhood people complain about how our children arent getting a good education in public schools and poor people dont get paid enough and so on and so on, but when its time to get out there and vote not even 7 out 10 go and vote, and that would be a start to being heard. We have to take a stand and take responsibilities for ourselves.

Teresa - you are sadly mistaken if you seriously believe that educational money is simply there for the taking by minorities. I myself am a female African-American (i.e., I fit into two categories of minorities), and yet I paid for my own undergraduate degree out of my pocket (and I am by no means wealthy or even middle class). Moreover, I am now almost $100,000 in debt with law school loans because the only thing I am awarded by filling out a FAFSA is fixed rate government loans. Lastly, please be reminded that minorities are also taxpayers, so the money SOME minorities receive from the government is not taken solely from taxes paid by whites.

Sp, it is just that simple. Dyson, undermines his own accomplishments by simply saying that he is a professor/author just due to the fact that he is not dark skin. His brother is a convicted murderer(not saying he wasnt set up)-but sometimes the younger brother and a person out of the military -will end up in trouble. Dyson, is blinded by his own emotions.

Great article Mr. Dyson.
Your views mixed with your experiences and insight are always on point and by me they are appreciated. If you are black in America I think it is safe to say that you have experienced racism in the school systems, community, criminal justice system and in your work environment but it always brings me back to this one question. Now that we know this NOW WHAT? I think we have stopped at the now what.

We know that the playing field isn’t level and when you look at how American began with the sweat and blood of Africans it never will be. So now that we know this NOW WHAT? Dr. King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and many others in the civil rights movement made great strides and made great sacrifices but the reality is they are no longer here to continue… Now that we know this NOW WHAT?

We do have to take more responsibility for our well being because no one else is going to. History has taught us this. So while we have breath, which is the most precious thing any of us truly have, because without it, we’re dead, what are we doing to get past the NOW WHAT? I have a few suggestions…

Educate yourself so you can better educate your kids. While knowledge is powerful, it isn’t powerful unless you put it into action. Because as a single black woman, raising three sons from the same father, I do know that when you change your mind you change your life and that begins with education and education is everywhere.

Blame hip hop, but ignore The Godfather, blame hip hop, but embrace Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,, ignore history, integration happened in the 1970’s, make blanket statements, ignore reality. It must be nice to generalize, and ignore history. where is this free ride to college because I stupidly got student loans? What rappers, please name them, the specific song and specific line you are talking about. Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, must have been making up that they were unarmed and now dead or had a broom stick shoved up their butt. The mostly black and hispanic men that have been released from jail after years serving time for a crime they didn’t commit, it must be nice to ignore reality and not LISTEN to 13% of the population or 43 million people, yeah they must be making it up

fScotL Where I live (Tampa -New Tampa) When I hear loud music coming from a car or truck it is 99.999% of the time a white person.

Dr. Dyson,
I have read many of your books and I applaud you effort to address the struggle of poor black folks in this country. I think many here misunderstood your points and rightfully so because I doubt they have conducted the kind of research as well as real life experience you have had to have that kind of understanding. I view your points differently from many here, because when you talk about social responsibility I think about leveling the playing field. People in this country do not know about black histories and yet they think they are in position to make educated assessments of our struggle. We have been playing in a field where everyone from the top all the way down to the referees is against us. If you go back to slavery, I think it fair to say that we were 100 runs behind before the game even started. A game that is obviously unfair to any objective person. They are calling foul balls home runs, while they are calling strikes for balls that are miles away from the strike zone when it is pertaining to black folks. How do you win a game in those conditions? We know we can’t win even if a few of us manage to hit a home run here and there. All we want is a fair game, in terms of social responsibility. No more and any less and I bet we will level the score no matter how long it will take. That scares a lot of folks. Keep up the good work Sir!

I’m a dark skinned black male who’s been degraded,antagonized and everything else because of it,mostly from lighter BLACK people! I can honestly say that i have NEVER had to deal with that with my WHITE counterparts. Coming from where I’m from where all you seen was drug addicts,dealers and harlots, isn’t much anybody can tell me about what’s going on we know what’s going on(what are WE going to do about it!) I mean something as simple as the street it self has special treatment in the ” better” part of town. On racism (oh yeah it exist!) and it probably won’t go any where. It’s not as obvious as it once was but it’s there, even “McD’s has a book that describes each RACE and what they symbolize and mean to the company (Ie: Whites=Power,Blacks,hispanics just pretty much answer to ever has the power!) “Control the MIND, let them have the body”! I will NOT conform. P&L

The FAFSA does not look at race. You can check whatever box you want, but the federal government is run by friends of Bush, and Bush does not favor people of any minority for any purpose whatsoever.

You can get into college with a Pell grant if you are poor: black, white, native, Asian, take your pick. The Pell grants only apply to income.

There are some diversity grants–but, people, they apply to white folk too. If you want to go to a historically black institution, just your race will get you in. If you are a male, then applying to a nursing school or other “female” profession will get you in.

In fact, colleges are having to handicap the male student’s ACT and SAT scores already (yes, white males) because they are being outperformed by females. There is too high a percentage of females on most college campuses compared to males.

I do not think that Dyson is waiting for a white knight to save the black people. He is trying to get well-to-do black people like Cosby to quit blaming black people for their own failure to rise. Cosby (who has radically benefitted from the work of other blacks in the Civil Rights movement) and other people of color use this excuse to fund their own lavish lifestyles and turn their backs on other people from the circumstances they rose from.

Cosby likes to pretend that he got where he is due to his own “specialness”–just like Clarence Thomas. It is really a form of egotism. There are plenty of middle class and well-to-do black people who have plenty of resources that they could use to help others–but they don’t. They are “special” and don’t have to help anyone. Dyson is asking that they use their resources to push for equity for everyone (and I do think it should be for everyone and not just “black brothers”) rather than talk down to those who are suffering and tell them that if they worked harder, the world would open up to them.

The world won’t open up if they don’t work hard, granted. People do have to work. But, they can work hard, and the world still well might not open up. If you haven’t been there, you don’t know this equation. I have, and it is true.

Brilliant Tim….what a fresh perspective and one that I’ve never considred before.

Thank you professor Dyson for speaking out about the truth that surrounds us. Black youth do not want to go into the American Gulag. Let Bill Cosby spend a day as a young black man with an inadequate education, no job experience and perhaps a criminal record. Lets see how easily Mr Cosby would raise himself above the fray. Lets see him figure out how to approach an employer. How to find a job and how to actually get hired. Let him try to go to job interviews only to be turned away becaue of his record or just because the culture he is obviously part of is percieved as dangerious and antisocail. Then, lets just say Mr. Cosby is able to find employment. Then let him figure out how to get to work in a typical city where round trip bus or subway fare may cost him an hours wages. Let Mr. Cosby then find an apartment to rent where the rent is anywhere near affordable given his minimum wage job. And then, after having accomplished these miricles lets watch Mr. Cosby leave his ghetto apartment (where else could he live?) and make the treck to work every day to a humiliating devalued job and return home with almost nothing in his pocket.
We are not acting loving toward our children! Subjecting them to this horror show and then preaching personel responsability is pathetic and hateful and is a big part of the problem. We are sending tax payers money around the world to help people in desperate situations (though not nearly as much as we should) and meanwhile we are incarcerationg our own young people at an unprecidentd rate. We should feel deep shame and we should use our resources to fix the problem The solutions are not obscure. Quality education, financial help and help with child care. Decent paying jobs (governmewnt supported if necessary), meaningfull skill training and follow up for those unlucky enough to be in prison. The foundamental premise should be that we love our children and are willing to use our our smarts and our money and our caring to bring them into a mainstream of happy, productive life.

As a teacher in a poverty-ridden inner city school, I still believe that education is absolutely the key to changing the lives of all children, regardless of race. What I see in my school is appalling. The students, by and large, do not care to get an education. The parents do not care if their children are in school, let alone learning anything. The parents who do care are the ones who’s children are going to be the ones getting to college and escaping the generational welfare.

You can’t tell me that throwing more money at schools is going to fix this problem. What needs to happen is the parents need to care. The kids need to care. They need to see that life beyond the projects is possible and attainable. They need to see that the teachers in the school aren’t there as glorified babysitters.

Students and parents have very little respect for the teachers. Students are still being passed on from one grade to another because the administration is tired of dealing with problem children and want them out of the school.

It boils down to if the students showed up, cared, and did the homework, the students would have a much greater chance at success in school and life in general.

We have one school in our district that is defying the odds. The students are predominantly black and on welfare. The school is churning out high performing students. Yet on paper, it’s staggering the educational disparity between it and the top performing school in the district. What makes this school special? Parental involvement. Schools where parents are involved, regardless of funding do better.

I am a teacher, junior high, and I see a continuum of behaviors toward getting an education among my African-American students- some strive all they can, because they have total support from parents (note the plural). Others are already falling by the wayside into the uneducated morass of low or no wages caused by low or no skills. Those students are predominantly from single parent households. I will be blunt; a culture that encourages disdain for achievement and responsibility is a failed culture. My young black male students overwhelmingly have no idea of what being an adult male is really about.

Mr. Dyson has come along way from his younger days in Detroit. It is safe to assume maybe even a few light skin folks helped him along during his journey yet you wouldn’t know that from his teachings.

I remember seeing Mr. Dyson in a debate with Pat Buchanon on another network and Dyson was basically comparing Michael Vick’s actions (killing dogs) to Don Imus’ stupid comments. Dyson put those two in the same category.

I don’t listen to Dyson anymore.

I am a black woman (born in the Caribbean), now an American citizen. My parents came to this country legally and worked two to three jobs each, to support us. They wanted more for us than they had and made sure we knew what was expected–education, education, education—first and foremost.

Instead of defending Rap, Baby Daddies, unwed mothers and so on, how about admitting to the harm it’s brought to our communities? Also, black churches –where are you? Instead of spewing hate and looking at the “Man”, how about looking at the man in the mirror?
Let’s keep it “real”. How many years do we continue to wait for the rescue package? The fact is, it’s not coming. As scary as it sounds, each and every one of us MUST do for ourselves. We have to own our situation and work to get out of it. I know, easier said than done, but the first step is to recognize your situation. Then and only then can you take steps to change and eventually improve your life.

Folks, we have to get back to the basics. Start by having kids in a family structure (mom & dad), promote education and hard work, and foster the desire to give your children all possible opportunities for a successful life.

There are more racist white people now than there ever have been. That is because the black race has more excuses than ever for their lack of advancement. I dont feel guilty as a white man for what has happened to blacks over the years. I havent had it easy just like so many other white folks. There are more whites doing poorly than their are blacks, but you dont hear CNN doing a piece on what its like to be White in America. I wont even consider voting for that Herman Munster Obama just because of this story.

everytime i read something from a black writer when talking about race, it always has

“when ______ happens to whites its always better/easier/less punishment, but when it happens to blacks its worse/more difficult/more punishment”

how about stop focusing on race and how much black people are ‘discriminated against’ and focus instead on NOT SCREWING UP IN THE FIRST PLACE.

there is a reason there are more black people in prison per capita than white people. how many drive by shootings have you seen involve a white person? what about gang violence? it may just be coincidental, but many of those things ONLY happen within the black community. perhaps its time to look inward instead of focusing the blame outward.

it’s so strange to me to see all these comments about opportunities waiting for whites to take advantage of without any effort while none await those blacks who do work hard.

But if one compared the average SATs & GPAs for the white portion of the student body with the black portion of a student body at most universities, there is a HUGE gap. Lesser qualified black students are accepted in the name of ‘diversity’.

Blacks have access to scholarships and tutorial programs at universities that whites and Asians don’t.

No. There are plenty of opportunities for black America but black culture seems to believe that preparing for them is not cool.

Prof. Dyson: While I agree that you and Cosby have differing points of view on emphasis, your goal is the same, improving the lives of black men and women in this country. This being said, I would look at the audience you speak to when deciding what to emphasize to accomplish this goal. The goal is to motivate them from where they are. So, if speaking to someone who already highly values personal responsibility (Cosby), I would speak to him of the oposite view (that you personally espouse) to help balance his point of view to what you also see that he does not see as well (social responsibility to those who struggling). However, when speaking to those who do not value personal responsibility, I would not emphasize your own emphasis of social responsibility, because that person will simply get riled up about how unfair it all is and tend to take the focus off what they can do personally. I know this effect occurs because one of my friends who does not have a job (his mom and I float him along when he really needs money ) is sitting around waiting for some politician to come along with a program of some kind. Meanwhile he sits around and plays video games or gets intoxicated. Both his mother and I try to get him motivated to go out and get work, but he has not worked since Hurricane Katrina and recieved quite a few payouts from programs in the aftermath of the storm. He watches and listens to news shows all the time that complain about the injustice of the system ( and I know there is plenty of it and it should be discused with people who are out of balance on the personal responsibility/Cosby side), and is ready to spout off about it all the time, but I feel it chisels away at the sense of initiative when a person who already struggles with self-motivation to hear how the people at the top need to fix it for him. He walks around angry at the system instead of getting out there. He is a good hearted and honest person, and it pains me to see him so influenced into a frenzy about injustice instead of improving his own situation. I have other friends who are personally motivated and successful, but have no concern for others, and these are the people who need to hear what is in your article, but I fear that not very many of those who don’t care would be reading your article, they are probably checking the sports scores and stock market tickers. If that is true, then you may be hurting the cause of improving the lives of black men and women by pushing people out of balance in one direction further in that direction. The message needs to be flavored towards the truth of both sides instead of being polarizing and stirring up resentment. The truth is somewhere in the middle, but who is the reading audience for you? Do you know who is reading this?

Tamra said,
“I wish they could understand us, because we’ve spent an eternity trying to understand them and fit in and assimilate into white America just to progress to the heights they have made on the free labor black people gave over 400 years due to slavery. White people got a head start and blacks are still struggling, reason we need reparations.”

Well said.

To Tamra, RESPECT

Oneness people

Swdrasta

In regards to Scott’s comment, I do have a BA and an MBA and I am an African American only 27 years old. Your comments were sort of ignorant to say that blacks are the one’s pumpin loud music and do not speak correctly. My friends and I find it very frustrating that when two caucasion people are talking with each other, their diction is normal, But because I am black, when someone caucasion speaks to me, I am usually addressed as “Girl !” and all of a sudden this perfect speaking individual has a slang tone of voice with me because I am black and it is assumed that I must speak ghetto. And to say that Blacks/Browns do not dress for success is rediculous. My husband went for an interview right after graduating from college dressed to kill with an Armani suit and Gucci tie on and when the interviewer came down to meet him, layed one look at him and said “There must be some mistake” that is what we have to deal with. My husband spoke to this man several times and based on the color of his skin for the executive position, the man excused himself from the interview. Did you ever stop to think about who is at the head of all of these music company’s that produce this hip hop, white executives. But I digress,

I am intrigued with the direction of this discussion. As I read Dr. Dyson’s message above, it seemed to be primarily a message of hope, guided by religious teachings. Dr. Dyson suggests we as a nation must turn from obsession with finding reasons to blame and condemn individuals, and look toward ways in which we might help those in need. Social responsibility is the assumption that we have a role to play in making our communities, and those of our children, healthier. Dr. Dyson argued that our nation seems to obsess on blaming individuals for their circumstances, but fails to recognize the role of unhealthy social environments in shaping the lives of children. He argued that we as a nation might become more healthy, more humane, if we would devote more attention toward taking social responsibility for helping our brothers and sisters in need. Blaming those who experience inhumane living conditions, and blaming them for developing otherwise irrational responses toward their inhumane living conditions, does not make us on the outside more humane. It confirms us as supporters of the inhumane conditions our American brothers and sisters, and their children, must suffer daily. To not act against injustices is clearly an act of complicity.

In the Old and New Testaments, the Torah and the Qu’ran, as well as all other religious teaching I have known, there are a few consistent, basic commandments. These commandments demand that if we wish to call ourselves a good society (or a Christian society), we must BE a good society - we must perform acts of social justice - we must serve the least among us. If we read these religious texts, we will see that we are commanded to assume social responsibility for helping the poor - the widows and orphans in our communities. Today, these widows and orphans are the single mothers around us, in too many cases trying to raise children in the absence of fathers.

Most of the comments I have read here suggest to me that the writers do not believe they have any social obligation to care for these children who need food, adequate shelter, guidance and support. Most of the readings suggest that Dr. Dyson’s point regarding the need to assume social responsibility for reducing poverty either went right over the readers’ heads, or that the readers disagree with the assertion that we are called to serve each other, and especially, those who experience poverty. Perhaps for too many Americans, social responsibility means a responsibility not to impose on others. Perhaps social responsibility means to some a responsibility not the need help from others. Unfortunately, these are not examples of social responsibility. They are examples of irresponsibility toward others. If we wish a healthier world for our children, then we must work toward creating a healthier world for our children.

After reading many of the above comments, I think that many people confuse poor w/criminal. The victims here are the children that are already here, the children that are already experiencing the poor education, one parent households, parents working hard to keep food and a roof over their heads. Parents that are not parenting these children. We are in a vicious cycle and social responsibility is necessary to break this cycle.

Some of you say, just stay out of jail. To whom are you speaking. Certainly not the children who do not have control of their situations. And if you are speaking to their parents, what happens when they do not stay out of jail or stop having children or stop using. We have to reach them where we can, which is at school, show them something better, provide them something better. That means improving the schools (books, teachers etc) That is social responsibility.

Krystle……………………..Felony Records not only follow blacks. My son and I are both white and he has the same problem at 20 years old. A felony does not care what color you are………. Neither does the person who won’t hire a felon. I told my son when he was growing up he is responsible for his own actions when he is old enough to know better. He was old enough to know better. Was your husband over 13 years old when he commited his ? Tell him to live with his past he created himself.

Ok, I have been watching this series since it began and the bottom line is this. African american people can’t continue to blame the world for our woes. The answers will be found within ourselves and in our communities. I will tell you that i am black 33 year old female that was born to father that that was one of 16 kids,poor from the south. my grandma was beaten and disrespected by my grandfather. Out of all of those kids, some turned out to be very successful,highly educated and some got into drugs,bad men/women and crime. They all grew up around the same people. My dad mad a CHOICE not to be uneducated when neither of his parents could read or write, He made a choice not to leave his kids,get into drugs etc. We need to stop making excuses. I believe in rehabilitation and assistance for those who need it and those willing to give something back. For example, if you have fallenon financial hard times and you have to apply for government assistance to get your life back in order, you should have to do something in return. (volunteer, go to mandatory parenting, job search something.) KNOWONE should get something for nothing.The other problem is we have too many kids.Love doesn’t pay the bills and if we can’t afford the ones we have, Why do we have the right to continue to bring kids into the world. I work in the correctional system in the city that i live in. I have worked with juvenile offenders and adults. Coming to jail has become a routine for many of our people. Its said to say that some of them continue coming and they will tell you that. Alot of the men and women of my age group want instant gratification, willing to do anything for the love of a man/woman and don’t even love theirselves. Bill Cosby is Right on<No more excuses, we need to stand up. To my fellow black women, Stop chasing these good for nothing men(whether black,white or other) There are good men out there but you have to be right by yourself and your kids first. God will deliver the right man when HE thinks you are ready. Love yourself. You be in control of you and set a the best example for your children. It starts in the mirror. One person at a time. Spread the message of responsibility and be ready for a little backlash from people that aren’t ready to hear the truth. Trust me, I get it all the time.

You know everyone has an excuse to fail. I could say that because I got my Ph.D in chemistry at USC (which is ranked 60th in chemistry) I will never get a great job. Or I could say that because I am only 5′8″ I will never be a good basketball player. As long as you keep living with these excuses and accepting them you will fail and then you will justify it so it doesn’t look so bad. However, if you quit blaming others and just focus on what you need to do to succeed even if it means you are highly disadvantaged your chances of success increase dramatically. I am not saying that growing up i the ghetto is not depressing and leads one to empathy. You have to quit justifying your failures and make it appear that failure is not option. I mean the middle class is getting squeezed out, but I can’t sit in pitty and blame the rich by saying that the big oil men are killing with the oil problem and the Iraq war, or blame the rich for the housing crisis. I just have to keep plugging away and work harder than the next guys to get into that upper class system. YOU CAN’T GIVE YOURSELF AN EXCUSE TO FAIL IN LIFE.

Fellows- CNN hit the nail right on the head, period! the issue with blacks in America should no more be racism, it should be SELF RESPONSIBILITY. Let me state why; i am African who flew here (US) with less than $200.00 to my name in the year 2000 and between then and now i hold a master’s degree! I attended a private college @ 26.000/year and paid my way thru with hard work and perseverance.gradaute school was a free ride with assistantships. i am not an isolated case, i no most of my friends who went thru the same route. so where’s the excuse for those born and bred in America?? with all the opportunities avaialable to us, yet still refusing to take advantage of them, and have the nerves to blame “white America.” we’ve blamed them enough, now let’s rise up and take on the mantle of SELF RESPONSIBILITY and we’ll change our lives around for the better.

As a black man I know and hear all the things that we as black men have going against us. I can look at those negatives (and God knows they are many) and justify to myself why I should be a failure if someone doesn’t come along to give me a boot or a boost. I, however, have chosen not to rely on anyone but myself and to work as hard as it takes to realize the success that I dream of.

While doing so, if anyone wants to drop off a boot in my path along the way, that will be fine. I believe and know that my success will always depend on my own, pure, burning desire. I have also resolved that I will not allow any person, nor society or government to dampen my desire or to abscure my goals.

I know many who have a similar mindset, and thank God, we are not doing too badly at all, even though we came to this country twenty one years ago with very very little. Anyone who know that he/she has some distance to walk but doesn’t have a boot, just get up and start walking, you might just be surprised how many you will find along your route.

I read Professor Dyson’s article with interest, as well as the comments. One of the things that I don’t see here is that in order to move forward, we must understand our past. Do any of you recall ‘grown folks’ saying “you must know where you came from to know where you are going”?

I am a black divorced mom of 3 sons. I have educated my sons to ensure they know ‘where we have been’ by taking them to the library and reading select books to them constantly when they were young. I did not wait for the schools to teach them about thier history or ancestors - the braveness of Black men, the strength and the intellectual courage and strength it took for the disparate group of people brought here on slave ships to survive. And for those of you who believe I raised militant children, no, I didn’t. I raised my children to never treat people in such a way as negative as others treat them or treated their ancestors. I am happy to say that my 2 college educated, gainfully employed sons and my youngest son who is in college are good men. The work hard, they are respectful and they live by the words of Christ “Love One Another” - even though they are no longer church goers.

My point in this is that it is much easier to see the future when you know the past & you deal with it constructively. (Deal with your past so it won’t mess up your future).

And for those of you who think that there is a lot of money for Black children in college, can you please send me that information? My sons and I both took loans to put them through college & we are still paying them back. My youngest is taking loans to make his way through school and will pay them back. We qualify for NO governement grants or aid. While I agree that some Black children get grants and other types of aid, I find it no different than some of my friends children who received scholorships to schools because of their sports ability (rowing, tennis, track), whose grades and SAT scores were not as good as my sons. Life’s not fair - but I would never let that stop me from providing the best education I could for my children.

Let’s get real people. How long can we keep denying the fact that blacks are at a disadvantage when it comes to almost every aspect of life? The education system in the inner cities where most blacks attend school is horrible. The lack of certified and quality teachers are at an all time high while the resources needed to educate the most needy children are at an all time low. Success starts with education and until we can begin to educate all children regardless of the socio- economic status they where born into, then it will be a never ending cycle of poverty and violence!

I truly believe when the black community decides to stop the very things that get them in trouble, the rest of society has no reason to change the way the act or don’t act. I find it hard to feel sympathy to any part of our society that idolizes rap lyrics that call women b****** and degrade them over and over. I find that the arguement that it is okay for blacks to call and use the word n***** and whites can’t to be so outlandish that it takes away any credibilty to the black cause. I also find it distressing that whites are blamed for all the black persons whoes and sometimes unproven allegations. When the black people quit finding reasons to separate themselves from the rest of society and say we just don’t understand them. When they quit using slavery as a catch-all and when they get the point they are generation from being an african-american, the are American. And when any racist or bigot gets over their hatred and intolerance, maybe there will be a chance for change.

Here, here…Plenty of $ out there for minorities to go to college. I myself was incarcerated at age 18 until age 27. Now, at age 33, I am a fully funded doctoral candidate who, interestingly enough, studies judgment and decision-making. In deed, if you don’t make good decisions, then someone will eventually make them for you. Point is, there needs to be a clear deterrents and swift justice to those who are set on making bad decisions, black, white, or whatever. However, there also needs to be an alternative path that nurtures and encourages those who want to make good decisions, even if they may have made some bad ones. Some of our convicted felons are, in fact, redeemable.

I in many respects agree with Mr. Dyson. However in respect to Mr. Cosby and those like him….I feel its very hipocritical to speak down on the same class of people that supported his career from the very begininng. He and so many others whom after reaching the arrived
status, they become judgemental of those who are still where they have come from. It may be good for them donate large sums of money to colleges and universities, but they for the most part dont have any dealing with those of the so called poor and disenfranchised. We must not forget on our rise to social and economic acceptance, from we came….

I understand that there is a huge gap in pay, social status, and fairness when it comes to the black community. However, I also see many hypocrisies.

When I lived in an urban, low-income area of the city (I was paying my dues and working a low-waged job to get on my feet), I noticed something strange every time I went to the grocery store. Me, the white-as-wonder bread working boy would walk the few blocks to the store (because I didn’t own a car) and I would see individuals drive up in very expensive cars with a lot of chrome and other frills. Those same individuals would get out, walk into the grocery store, fill a cart, and then pay for it using their welfare card. Then, they would break out a huge wad of cash, and buy their cigarettes and booze with that.

I had to wonder, how is it that they can afford to drive a brand new car, wear shiny new nikes and half-pound of gold around their neck and still get welfare. Yet, I had to shop at Payless and K-mart, not drive any car, and still pay for my own groceries while making just over minimum wage. I’m not saying this is a norm, but I saw a lot of it. I can tell you, that type of behavior often leads others to believe that somehow these individuals are milking the system, and my tax money goes to support that behavior.

I grew up as a poor military brat, and understand what it’s like to live off of a small salary with a big family, but I don’t understand taking handouts and living above your tax-reported means.

Where’s the balance? I’m not trying to be mean; I just don’t understand the mindset.

The best thing that has come from these specials is the conversations I’ve been reading on the blogs. What I sense is that there is a whole other Black America that feels tired of the stereotypes that should be associated with poverty, ghetto culture and modern nihilism which is always pinned on minorities, especially blacks. As a first generation American with latino roots, I have always loved the story of Black America — my heroes growing up were MLK, Malcolm X, George Washington Carver, W.E.B. DuBois, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, John Coltrane — where are these superstars now in the minds of America? No where. In a similar way, the picture of Latinos the majority of Americans have is not one that talks about Cesar Chavez, Arturo Schomberg, Luis and Walter Alvarez, Rudolfo Anaya or any of the many Americans of hispanic and latino descent who have made positive contributions. No, instead all we ever hear is BANG, BANG … another one of us dead; another one of us imprisoned.

It is amazing the lack of education and self-reflection that is exhibited in the comments made on this board. People are forgetting that the state of black males in our society is part of a vicious cycle that began decades , even centuries, ago when blacks really were treated like garbage and were subsequently forced into destructive lifestyles. The subjugation of blacks led to lack of education and crime. This is where it all started.

It is completely invalid to say reference one’s personal experience of the majority of black people being lazy, disruptive, or dysfunctional, because this dysfunction is a product of American history, NOT the product of a genetic disposition.

Do you really believe that the quality of education in an inner city public school is the same as in a suburban public school? That is a simple example of the discrepancy between opportunities afforded to various strata of society.

Believe me, I despise most rap music, the materialist culture perpetuated by black celebrities, and so on. I think personal responsibility is absolutely paramount to not just blacks, but all Americans. But the problems is that white people see things they dont like about black people, and rather than analyzing the situation, they relegate those things to being an effect of skin color…which is truly a misguided and ignorant perspective.

“As a black man who is also a professor, preacher, media commentator and author, I routinely write and talk about issues that affect the entire black community, from class warfare to the debate over hip hop. ”

Why should we take the opinion of an Author/professor/teacher that sees race before accomplishments?

Also, it seems racist, or at presumptuous, that debating hip hop affects the entire black community. Are you saying that I can ask the next “black” person I see about the recent sale of Death Row Records for the affects on the entire black community? I am sure that would be seen as racist.

I found your essay interesting but a view point based on race. Views based on race are never productive. IMO. I guess you dont share that opinion.

Thanks

It may be a difficult concept but accepting responsibility and ownership for ones own life is not transferable, regardless of skin color. Just like a newly stricken blind man, quadriplegic or amputee we ALL have difficulties to overcome. There are no guarantee’s of special consideration or privilidge. There are no promises of an obstacle free path as we journey down lifes road.

It is not the varing hue’s of black and white skin that limit our abilities to a successful and happy life but rather our own tunnel vision that allows our minds to blame our failures and difficulties on everthing other than our failure to make good life decisions.

So get over it. We are what we are. Come together as one vice you fill in the blank American. If you think the other guy has it better make that pronouncement AFTER you’ve walked in his/her shoes.

To Jim, Phil, Theresa:
Please let me know where I can sign up to let the government pay off my nearly $200,000 in undergraduate and proffesional school loans. I must have missed that seminar on free money for black people at my public high school. You all sound like people who blame 10% of the population for why you never got the break or promotion you felt you deserved. The policies that have been put into place to give minorities access to higher learning were not put there because black people needed to be encouraged to reach higher. They were instituted because of institutionalized (city, state, and to a certain extent federal) efforts to restrict blacks from being able to have not just education but careers and professions. Today, the laws do a great deal to level the playing field but they do not change people’s hearts as you all clearly show. Black individuals do have to look in the mirror to ascertain what part they play in their own lack of acheivement. But because of this country’s recent history (yes, the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s still qualify), you can’t say that starting the 100 yard dash with one participant at the starting line (white competitor) and another (black competitor) starting in the locker room with combat boots on have the same opportunity or challenges to reach the finish line. Things are not equal but they are much fairer. To deny either of those realities would be to lie to yourself as a white person and as a black person in America. People may have been looked down on because of Irish or catholic backgrounds, but no one else has been defined as three fifths of a person by the Constitution or had to have mention of their color or race specifically to say they were included in the rights supposedly for all.

Some may have heard of a level playing field. But do they really know that some can even try to speak of a level playing field. In the government and corporate America sure there have been some leaps and bounds but for a few to attain high levels of acheivement but the vast majority that is kept out of those positions and any positions at all is a result of a non-level playing field in those entities.

There is so much insidious and hidden racism and assaults that plague those institutions that they affect black people the greatest but particularly black men since the dominant culture or society still finds it easier and more easier and more comfort in hiring and tolerating the black woman over the black man. Which is why there is such a disproportionate amount of devastating conditions that continually confront the black male. The systematic methods of discrimination, alienation and degradation that the black man faces continues to allow the words of Dr.MLK to resonate home, “the last hired and the first fired!” It’s quite real.

I am sorry but most of the people who comment on here regarding social responsibility are IGNORANT. Did someone reallys suggest that poverty has no impact on crime??? The more I read these comments the more I realize that racism will always exist because white people have this attitude of superiority. The common and apparent theory of whites seems to be that black people are irresponsible and are only poor because they lack values. This is BS! The plain truth is is that in this society most people are not going to get degrees and the further away you are from the norm, the less likely it is that you will get one.

People who say racism doesn’t exist in the US are blind. Racism is alive and well in the US. However, I firmly believe it’s getting better. To blame the white man only for the problems is wrong. Years ago I had a young black man in class who wanted to take Latin, but he was learning disabled so his counselor didn’t want him to take the class. In the parent meeting, the counselor told him if he took such a difficult class, he might fail and then he wouldn’t be able to play football. His mother stood up, leaned across the desk and told his counselor she had a son who played football, and he was in prison. If this son wanted to take Latin, he would take Latin. The young man not only took and passed Latin, he continued to have a successful football career and ended up going to a Division 1 school on full ride, not because of the color of his skin, but because of his dedication and determination. He went on to graduate from the university with a degree in communications. This young man was from a poor family. He grew up with a single mother. He lived in a southern city that fully believed its poor citizens were disposable, especially its poor citizens of color. But he was determined to take advantage of the opportunities out there for him, and he changed his life. I’ve seen the same thing happen again and again. And I’ve seen other incredibly smart young men make different choices. Choices like gang involvement and selling drugs because of easy money. And I’ve watched those young men die in drive-by shootings or go to prison. Some of those young men are children of gang members who were brought up in that culture, but others have strong mothers and grandmothers who fight to keep their boys off that path and lose. Rarely are their fathers in the home. Often they’re not involved in their children’s lives at all.

I believe the whole report was a joke. Its nothing I did not know. Why didn’t you report on the companies found guilty for discrimination. I didn’t you show undercover investigations. Why did you not report on the racist universities and the hiring practices of major corporations.

Dr. Dyson

I think your article is well-written and insightful, but I have to respectfully disagree. I take exception to this line:

“And personal responsibility can’t lower the unemployment rate.”

Please explain how personal responsibility is not one factor that affects if a person is hired/keeps a job. If a person (black or white or yellow or red) is not fully prepared for a job interview and is not hired–whose fault is that? If a person (black or white or yellow or red) is hired for a job but constantly shows up late, or is not prepared, or is not professional, or not dressed correctly, or simply doesn’t do the work required—whose fault is that? Personal responsibility can lower the rate. Now, I understand there are other factors that play into employment figures, but to argue that P.R. has no factor is simply irresponsible.

Finally, to Melissa: Why do your parents feel the need to send your brother to a private college? If they don’t have the money, send him to a public college. I had to take out loans for all my college tuition because my parents (both college educated) didn’t have the money. That’s life. A public college degree is better than nothing, no?

Dyson has spent his entire life blaming history, whites, economics, culture, fate, and the host of intangibles for the plight of individuals who make bad choices and are held accountable for them. This is moral cowardice and Dyson is part of the problem.

Mr. Dyson, as a white, female, non-traditional college student, I have to applaud you whole-heartedly for your efforts in trying to enlighten the public about the plight of the poor, but that of the black poor specifically.

I have read your book on Hurricane Katrina and the information in therein was not only eye-opening for me, but also for my classmates.

Please don’t ever allow yourself to be silenced by the majority. We won’t be the majority for long, but most white people have closed their eyes to that fact. I can only hope that when our current minorities become the majority, that we don’t find ourselves facing the same racial discrimination that we continue to blindly subject minorities to now.

@ Krystle - my mother has been an academic advisor for over a dozen years, and sadly, over the years, she’s experienced more and more cases like your boyfriends (just google “felony employment”). In addition to the employment challenges, if a person has a drug-related felony, they can’t get federal assistance for a college education; so much for helping former convicts - people who have served their time - rehabilitate. I wish you both the best of luck!

@Melissa - regarding the color/gender similarities - I completely agree. I was thinking as I read all the previous comments about all of the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) discrimination I have experienced as a female. While there is overt discrimination of blacks, I think the most damaging discrimination is the aggregate of subtle discrimination. For example Mat@7:37 highlighting the correlation between the concentration of blacks and crime - while an element of that is the black culture, there is an element of that that is not the black culture but American culture’s treatment of blacks. Dyson summed it up well, “But we must not only demand responsibility of the poor; we must also discuss our responsibility to the poor.”

Well how do you explain the Kenyans, Nigerians, Ghanians, and Jamaicans that come to America and take success to a higher level?

To the person named “Eddie”…I’m not sure why i’m even responding your post, but since I absolutely can’t resist the urge…here it goes.

I believe it to be quite apparent that you have a “color” complex which has seriously clouded your ability to stay grounded in reality. I hope you understood what I just wrote.

Second…You mentioned that there have been plenty of ….(ahem..i dare quote) “Many dark skin black men have made their marks in this nation than light skin ones anyway. Think Martin Luther King, Malcolm X etc.”

Pardon me as I step down to your level to make you realize your blunder…..Malcom X was not “dark skinned”.

Phew…I will step back up now. It was hard for me….but I tried.

You are exactly the type of brother that would benefit from a well funded education, and perhaps you are a product of one that local, state, and federal funds forgot. So sad to see you fall victim to the what also divides people in the black community.

Yes, the good ol fight between Light Skinned black and Dark skinned blacks. How sad that you subscribe to such a petty, uneducated, childish, ignorant, prejudiced thought. You claim that Dyson has a plantation mentality? Brother you are the living breathing and somewhat thinking reality of what some slave masters did to divide us in the first place! So who’s still on the plantation? You.

Peace “Eddie”…..realize that the “noose” never cared about what shade of black we were….realize that the policemen’s “Baton” doesn’t either. Malcom caught hell just as much as King did.

Well as a black women in her mid 30’s this special is valid in that it is always interesting to read the comments and ideas of others. While I feel alot of what we are responsible for as black americans does come from within ourselves….to a degree I do see the social responsibility….somewhat. T