Live Blog from the Anchor Desk 7/24/08
We are on at a special time again tonight 11p ET, after the "Black in America" documentary. Anderson will talk with CNN's Soledad O'Brien and several of the people profiled tonight.
We'll also have tonight's headlines. Check out what else is the program in Evening Buzz.
Be sure to check out Anderson and Erica on our live web camera from the 360° studio. We’ll turn the camera on at 1045p ET and turn it off at midnight ET. LINK TO THE BLOG CAMERA
We’ll start posting comments to this blog at 11p ET and stop at midnight ET.
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Good Thursday evening. I found reading the live blog tonight very interesting. Lot's of opinions.
great show tonight
good night everyone
Listening to your show I heard Anderson say that the thought behind the harsher laws of crack vs cocaine is that crack causes you to perform more heinous crimes. While drugs have no appeal for me, I am pretty sure that if the crack users could just buy the stuff without committing other crimes, like many cocaine users apparently can, they would also go that route. Again it all comes down to money and the lower economic status of the crack users.
Good night Anderson, Erica, best bloggers!!!!
Have a great night!!!! Sleep tight!!!!
See you regular tomorrow night!!!!
Congrats Soledad!!!! Thanks for reporting Black in America.
Fast but great show tonight! Loved the focus on the Black in America topics. Thanks. Nite all!
Excellent program Anderson, lots of dialogue!! Let's keep talking and maybe someone will listen...Good night!
Great conversation this evening. Thank you for a job well done, 360 (and Soledad). I'm a little more enlightened. Good night Bloggers!
I feel that the fact that the Black "men" leaving their children to be raised only by the mothers are being portrayed as just simply "not getting it" because of .....what? is not fair. These are kids! They may be 18, 19, 20 or whatever, but they are kids! What 18 year old, white, black, whatever, ever made a responsible choice when put in such a major life changing position?
Erica: I enjoyed reading the blog posts on the Black in America topics. By putting them on the blog, it created an avenue to start the discussions and hopefully come up with solutions.
Anderson, I thought the show on Black America was great. Soledad did an outstanding job considering the time limitations. I particularly enjoyed the segment of M. Dyson and his brother. I wish she would have spent more time on Corporate America and what Black men and women face...just recently we heard about the N word at one of our defense industries. I personally investigated hanging nooses to intimedate blacks who were making their way up the corporate ladder. I also investigated may layoffs where blacks were let go because of their race. There is much work to be done. I am so happy that CNN has started the conversation.
I agree with Tara Wall. These laws were not created to purposely discriminate.
Correcting the sentencing guidelines should not mean reducing sentences for crack cocaine. It should mean increasing sentences for other types of drugs. If you are a drug dealer, you should go away for a long time period.
Law discriminates according to the people who implement it. When there are "crooked" individuals who are enforcing the laws how just can these laws be?
After watching the segment tonight, I am even more determined to finish my college education, but I can't help but wonder if a black man whom chooses to go to an Historically Black College or University has a smaller chance of getting that dream job/career because the name on their degree is not that of a predominately white university? And for that matter how does it affect the white people whom choose to attend HBCU's, and does the black community still value these institutions of higher learning like we once did?
I hope BLACK IN AMERICA will cause Blacks and Whites and other races to open a dialog that helps each of us to better understand the other. That would be a beginning. We have to start somewhere and what better place than on this great piece of work by Soledad and her team.
Erica, I checked Black in America blog...... these blog are so amazing blog today!!!!!
Erica...I read the blog posts and they were great! But there were a lot of racist remarks left that I found sickening!
Cindy...Ga.
360, thank you for using statistics that contrast black americans as well as other groups. When the stats talk strictly about black americans, it's hard to understand any benchmarks or comparisons.
It was sad to hear, that in some black neighborhoods you find a gun faster than getting a piece of fruit. I am sure that is the same reality with drugs.
Awesome job, this series was incredible.
In regards to the part of Black in America the part of missing fathers. Brandon truly needs to grow up. Brandon knew that it was his daughters birthday. Brandon seems to have a bag full of excuses of why he wasn't there on time. Men should be more responsible in not getting anyone pregnant.
Tara Walls is absolutely correct women have to stand their ground. Women should take more responsiblity in not becoming pregnant.
jolene
you are right but also because they didn't have fathers to do the same for them so they don't know how to go about doing it.
Much of the problem within the black community didn't just start this generation. It has been an ongoing and growing problem for several generations. I would argue the biggest issue was during the late 60s/70s, with the mandatory draft in the Vietnam war, COINTELPRO and the introduction of Heroin and Cocaine. Since this time, the Black Father and the Black Man has been under attack from every side. Thanks for the discussion.
Good job Soledad! This entire series was excellent. Please do it it again with follow up on some of the folks featured. I thought the piece tonight on black men hit home. I am a single mom, but not by choice. My son is 22 and his father has not been around in a very long time. He was a holiday and birthday father and as time pass, he graduated to an absence dad. My son attends college and is expected to graduate next year. I still do not know why these men run out on their families and never look back. If they know it hurted them, then why inflict this pain on their children. Pleas black man help a sister to understand.
Depression among Black women is real Is like the weight of the world on your shoulder And it ends up as There is no love like a childs love So 2 keep from being lonely – more children Its hard 2 stop the cycle
I think I'm not the only one that will say that as an adult who lost a father as a child, it's not necessarily the importance of physically having a father present, but it is essential to emotionally have a father. I have no recollection of my father, but know that he loved me. I feel bad for these kids who have a father, but don't have that emotional connection with him. That emotional connection is what makes the difference in a father-child relationship, and it is personally hard to see this happen to these families and these kids.
I disagree with D.L. Hughley. If you've got trouble sometimes the best thing you can do is call the police. But, is there discrimination? police brutality? inappropriate use of force? Yes there is. I'm courteous and respectful with the police and was taught by a lot of people to be so.
I don't blam Brian alone. Tina, pregnant again so soon by another guy?? Birth Control...try it!
These young men and women do need to learn to act responsibly–there is no reason to continuing bringing children into the world when you have no means of supporting them or when both parents aren't going to take an active role in raising them.
Emotional support is what Brandon has to learn, yes learn, or the cycle will not be broken. Remember children learn what they live...
Obama is acting like the man he projects himself to be. He is not a resident of the present. Our next president will have to take bold steps to fix this economy and end this war. He took a bold step.
I'm totally in agreement with D.L.'s belief in teaching your children, specifically your Black male children, on how to deal with the police and authorities. Both of our sons were taught the same thing, and my husband and I have been in law enforcement for 25 years.
Our sons have both been stopped by the police and questioned, just for "driving while Black". The respectful attitudes that we instilled in them helped to save them from situations that could have been made more difficult.
if you havent checked out the "black in america" blogs, i highly recommend them. powerful stories
Tinu,
The "Village raising a child" concept is fine if that community is strong . This theory no longer exist in these poverty stricken areas. We must be realistic that everyone doesn't have the same length boot straps to pull up and continue to face life challenges.
I completely agree with Soledad as well. A lot of men who have never had a male influence or father in their life have no clue how to be a father. It is something they have never witnessed. Its really sad and a lot of these problems come from the lack of education.
most younger people that have children do not understand the responsibility that comes with it....not knowing how to parent is not an excuse...educate yourself...reach out to the community..friends..family..churches...programs...they will help you learn positive parenting skills....no one is a perfect parent...it is a learning experience....but it does not seem like they are "Learning" much!
In a sense it goes both ways, I think the girls/women are searching for love (and some would say on all the wrong places) and some of the guys don't know how to be fathers because they maybe didn't grow up with a father in the house.
If Brandon doesn' t "have the first clue about being a father" why didn't he take precautions? He doesn't deserve a pass and neither does his girlfriend.
Soledad brings up a great point, these fathers don't know how to be a father or they think the role is financial only.