MovieChat Forums > 12 Years a Slave (2013) Discussion > Sorry for the ridiculous generalization ...

Sorry for the ridiculous generalization - but ....

posted 8 years ago by mel-holden
8 replies | jump to latest

I grew up in Michigan, and there are a lot of black people who live in that state.

And many are on welfare, and sure seems like they're not looking hard for work.

Now I know there are all kinds of people who live that way, but I am wondering if your ancestors were slaves, workin for the white man, if over time, generation to generation, there was an reluctance to work for the man, making a present day meager way, over a 40 hour work week, to just pay for the simple basics of life.

I could see this being true in some cases.

I'm a 55 year old woman, with three older brothers. They grew up working for our dad, making mens' wages when they were 15-16 yrs old. I wanted to work for my father when I turned 15, but was told "no, that's mens' work" and I got a job at A&W making 1/4 what my brothers were making.

They learned at an early age their time was worth a lot of money.

I learned at an early age 'my kind' weren't paid nearly as well, and despite working full time, 'my kind' couldn't expect good wages. So I've been resistant to work, and while I've gotten by with only being on welfare/food stamps for one period lasting less than six months, I kind of understand why someone raised to believe their times isn't valued much, will not want to 'be a slave to the man'

Could slavery be the reason many (not all, but many) black people in our country are resistant to working, and feel justified in living off the backs of others for a change?

[–] littlegeorgie 8 years ago

Could slavery be the reason many (not all, but many) black people in our country are resistant to working

The black unemployment rate is a whopping 10%. The means the image you have inside your head, of the overwhelming masses of "lazy" black people, all over America subsisting off of endless welfare, is an intentionally spoon-fed lie -- of massive proportions! Because, again, it's 10%! Said in reverse, that means 90% of blacks are WORKING for a living. Ninety.

So...

Now the ball lands back in your court. Why, at the ripe age of 55, do you suppose you've had absolutely no pressing reason, in all those years, to even remotely question that artificially reinforced image, that's pretty much been living inside your head for virtually your entire life. In other words, do you suppose there's something in it for you (and people like you) if black people are "nothing but a bunch of lazy welfare collectors"???

Because in terms of raw numbers: There are loosely just about as many whites on welfare, as there are blacks in America, period. That's a pretty interesting alternative picture.

No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.

[–] mel-holden 8 years ago

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=black+unemployment+rate+michigan

In 2014, the annual black unemployment rate was highest in Wisconsin (19.9 percent), followed by Nevada (16.1 percent), Michigan (15.8 percent), and the District of Columbia (15.7 percent), out of 30 states for which data was available.

Maybe I'm not the only one of us that could benefit from questioning?

Wasn't me that said "nothing but a bunch of lazy welfare collectors"

[–] littlegeorgie 8 years ago

Yeah, but you did start off by clearly stating that it was a "ridiculous generalization".

So, at that point, you really should have simply listened to your original instincts, and just stopped. Whom on Earth did you think was going to simply ignore such ugly "generalizations", and nonetheless, dignify -- what you obviously suspected yourself -- such a racially loaded question to begin with? That's kind of bizarre logic.

And NOW, on top of that, you somehow think that arguing that your state's black unemployment rate is a whopping 16%, instead of the 10 I quoted, suddenly makes your self-admitted "ridiculous generalization", suddenly a totally different and therefore valid question?

Ouch! Stop that! That hurts! A normal human mind can't do those kind of gymnastics! Cut it out! -LOL

You're funny. It's just that it's completely unintentional.

Bye now.

No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

ha you got owned!

[–] activista 8 years ago

@littlegeorgie

Thanks for calling the OP on her BS. I mean, she claims she's on welfare, then she wants to look down on any black person doing the same thing as her? As if her being a white person makes it okay or better? That's some ignorant,clueless, entitled,racist bull**** right there. She really showed her racism in her second post. I mean, I'm sick and damn tired of white people assuming that the only damn thing black people do is stay on welfare. Give me a fckg break. Who the hell does she think she is? I mean, WTF? She came in here with an ignorant racist generalization about black people to begin with, and then gets all surprised when she gets called the hell out on it? Fck all that. White people are just as much on welfare as some black people, yet you almost NEVER see anyone calling them out on it. That's why the OP came off as racist, because as usual, when it comes to the subject of welfare, they always act like only black people are on it. Give me a fckg break from that bull****,please.

[–] kolnoaMograbi 8 years ago

Who knows all the scars left by slavery, over generations? Generalization though it be, there could be something to it.

"When you think of garbage, think of Akeem!"

[–] activista 8 years ago

@mel-holden

I grew up in Michigan, and there are a lot of black people who live in that state.

And many are on welfare, and sure seems like they're not looking hard for work.

What an ignorant statement. Did you know each and every black person in the whole damn state of Michigan to even make a claim like that? And what part of the state are you from anyway? And you admitted to being on welfare, so who the hell are you to call anyone else a "lazy welfare collector" (whether you actually said that or not.) GTFOOH with that nonsense. Especially if you don't even know their situation,or why they're even on it in the first place. I'm sure you got people judging you on your situation, so don't even try to talk about others. Which county did you grow up in---Macomb, Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland, Livingston, Mecosta? You probably never knew any black people at all,and you're obviously not from Detroit,either. I'm a black woman who grew up in Michigan too, and most black folks I know (including myself, and my whole family) worked,whether they lived in the city or the suburbs (I grew up in the suburbs,btw.) Also, for the past five years, it's been made official that in Detroit, no one can be on welfare for more than five years anymore, or they'll just get kicked off. So that's becoming less and less of an option for anything. Black people have always worked, regardless of whether their time or labor was valued or not. And if a black person isn't working,that's because they either can't find a job, and they live in an area where there are no jobs, or no good-paying ones, or no transportation to get there. And the state of Michigan(as well as the rest of the country) is finally recovering from the big economic disaster of 2008, which caused most of the country to become economically depressed. Just so you know, those unemployment rates sure as hell aren't due to black people not wanting to work, which apparently is what the hell you think---which is really stupid, ignorant and racist. How come you didn't look at the unemployment rates for white people? I don't see you assuming a white person without a job is lazy and won't work. Wonder why. The unemployment rates on black folks you dug up sure as hell aren't because he or she dosen't feel like working---that's a luxury very few of us of have. It's maybe because a factory closed down and they got laid off,or because every other place is not hiring at the moment. Maybe if you actually TALKED to a black person about the subject you brought up instead of making stupid, racist assumptions, you'd get some answers.

Tired of white folks always assuming all kinds of stupid s*** about us, but never actually ASKING us about anything. What also kills me is that ignorant racist white people like you are always so damn quick to assume black people are always on welfare (which is an old,worn-out racist myth that should have died years ago) but when it comes to poor white trash people or any other type of white folks being on welfare, funny how nobody has s*** to say about that. That's some racist bulls***, and you know it. Black people in Michigan are 14% of the pop.---do you know every single last one of them? Of course the hell not---we don't all live in Detroit, you know,lol.

[–] mel-holden 8 years ago

Wow! What part of 'many' did you miss?!

I know for a fact many black people are collecting welfare.

You know what I'm saying has some truth to it.

I never said 'black people are always on welfare'

But hey, change my words around so you can get all high and mighty.