I took the following post off someone's wall this morning:
"I wonder what would happen to the economy if someone came up with a way to teach suffering black people enough self respect to leave the cocaine and the KFC right there?
I need to stop wondering them things yes"
I re-read the post about three times to ensure that I was not losing my ever-loving mind. Unless I am not mistaken this post implies that drug use, KFC eating, renting as opposed to house ownership, flawed child rearing skills, child delinquency etc are traits attached to a specific ethnic group referred to as "suffering black people".
In my mind the issues raised there belong to an income group and not so much an ethnic group...and it so happens in Trinidad and Tobago that the people who fall into that income group tend to moreso be Afro or Indo descended.
I'd love your thoughts on the matter folks.
I have attached a comment thread that followed my speaking out against this post.
Phillip Edward Alexander Rhoda are you saying that I was wrong or that I was out of place to say it?
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Rhoda Bharath
Phillip, I could care less what ethnic group other ppl think you belong to. You know me well enough. I have no problems with open discussions about race. The comment you made is imprudent or WRONG because the problems and ills you list do n...ot belong to an ethnic group...maybe they belong to an income group...but not an ethnic group...so don't try to reverse this to make it seem as if I think because you don't look black you can't talk about black ppl....that is never my position. You are free to talk about whatever plagues society but in a responsbile and balanced way. Your comment....not I refer to the comment..is RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!See More
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Rhoda Bharath *note I refer to the comment*
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Phillip Edward Alexander
This is my exact post - "I wonder what would happen to the economy if someone came up with a way to teach suffering black people enough self respect to leave the cocaine and the KFC right there?
To save and buy instead of rent forever?
To sta...y home and raise their children instead of letting them grow up to be grist for the Magistrate's Court, what would happen to all them lawyers?
I need to stop wondering them things yes"
These issues go to the heart of everything wrong in the black community and changes here would change the nation.
Where in this am I wrong?See Moreabout an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
Avi L. Calder PEA i know is Rhoda you asked the question but since I liked it let me just say your comment had merit to it...some of the ensuing responses to it...not so much productive as they should have been imo..but that is just me.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
Phillip Edward Alexander ANd you know I respect you so that is why I ask you
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Phillip Edward Alexander Avi, we need to ignore the ignoramuses and stay on point, haven't we learnt that?
The provokers?
The deflectors?about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Rhoda Bharath
the suffering black people part phillip...because your comment implies is only "suffering black peopl" that suffer these ills....Is not only black people that deal with these issues.....and since an ethnic group is being targetted with thes...e comments about issues that are not specific to the group, that makes the comment racist....
Your comment lacked merit the minute is specified an ethnic group instead of pointing to the fact that these social ills tend to plague an income group more than a specific ethnic group...if you can't see that truth then soemthing really wrong!See Moreabout an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 3 peopleLoading...
Avi L. Calder Well PEA in my defense your wall seems fraught with them...but I get your point and usually I do...but I was not a big fan of where that comment went last night...it happens with me...not often but it does
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Lisa D'Andrade Thomas *grabs popcorn*
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...
Rhoda Bharath
You could bend that comment, twist it and turn it all how is bullshit...that come like me blaming White people for all the ills that black people have to deal with.....it would be pure assness to say that...and RACIST.....for someone who ha...s a wall that impacts on such a wide group of ppl I'd have expected much more prudence and balance in your comments.....Do you know any Indians, Chinese, Whites or Syrians that deal with what the "suffering black" people dealing with? I do! Maybe not the entire package....but I know ppl from all the other groups who either dealing with poverty, drug addiction or does eat KFC on a regular....Come Again PEA....come again....See More
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...
Phillip Edward Alexander
Rhoda I completely disagree with you and I think you are woefully mistaken. This is not kindergarden and I do not write around sensibilities and piety. We have issues to deal with, and my poor suffering black brothers and sisters are in suc...h a state of disinformation that they make bad choices believing them good.
I had cause to remark that the boy who killed Ramon Sabga was doing EXACTLY what society told him a young black boy is SUPPOSED to be doing if he wants to mate with the choice females.
Steal a car, get drunk, jam some tunes, speed...
He is as much a victim here and you with all your knowledge and intelligence want to focus on the fact that indian and chinee and syrian have problems too, while the news tonight will have the vans outside Magistrate's court off loading little black boys.
I refuse to accept that that is the level you want the discourse to be at when you have to fully well know that i am right and that there is an absence of malice in me and the purpose of the post was as always, to find a way forward.
Let us stop making excuses or getting sidetracked with small things and work to elevate them nahSee Moreabout an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Lisa D'Andrade Thomas
Phillip ... with all due respect ... MY DAUGHTER is not black and certain fell headfirst into all of those pitfalls largely due to society on the whole .... she thankfully never reached the stage of having to be in a van at Magistrates Cour...t for a court hearing relating to any crime ............ BUT ...... I dragged her bodily MYSELF to Magistrate's Court, to Family Court, spoke to every counsellor and social worker at that time I could find to try and get her signed in MYSELF to St Jude's even as a last resort to keep her not just safe from herself but safe from the other no-goods she was at that time associating herself with ..... long story short she was not put into St Jude's, lots of drama played off, she is THANKFULLY fine now.... but note ... she most certainly is not black however had the SAME dire pitfalls.See More
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
Onika Morris-Alleyne I agree with phillip. It's of no use to insist on 'colorblindness' in a society where the legacy of our history is playing itself out every single day. 'Colorblind' doesn't happen because we stick our heads in the sand and try to pretend that the legacies of colonialism and racism haven't left their mark. 'Colorblind' will happen when those legacies are finally, truly eradicated in our society, when the echoes of slavery, indentureship and colonial racism are no longer.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Rhoda Bharath
Phillip, you dealing with emotion and I dealing with the logic of your statement. While it is true that afro descended here tend to be one of the larger groups dealing with the dysfunctions you identified, they are not the only ethnic group... coping with it. Further to that, your comments imply that it is an ethnic issue and I am saying it is moreso an economic one. What excuses have I made? I have made no attempt to say that it is not so for "black people"...what I have said is that it is not ONLY THEM that is is so for.... and calling people your "poor suffering brothers and sisters" does not make the statement any less filled with imbalance and bigotry, in fact, now I beginning to wonder if is just the statement that was racist.
My focus will never be on the ills that plague one ethnic group...it will be on the ills that plague our society as a whole....there is no social ill here that affects only one ethnic group..See Moreabout an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
Rhoda Bharath
Onkika, I am not advocating colourblindedness...are you reading ym comments carefully? I am saying that social ills that are more likely to affect an income group should not be attributed to an ethnic group.
I don't suffer loose arguments ea...sily...especially if the argument gives an erronneous impression of a situation. Anyone reading the post who is uninformed can easily assume that the ills being listed affect only one ethnic group...when this is simply inaccurate.See Moreabout an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 3 peopleLoading...
Rhoda Bharath PEA...whether you grasp it or not, I am working to elevate....my point is very simply....apply logic and balance to your arguments because you may well say imprudent things.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Onika Morris-Alleyne Rhoda, perhaps not only one ethnic group, but they are however disproportionately affecting one ethnic group, which I think is phillip's point that you are missing. And what you are saying IS a version of colourblindness: 'we all have problems' is simply not a useful response here.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
Rhoda Bharath
In short, what you saying to me is leave you to make inaccurate statements because you saying it out of sympathy for "suggering black people"?
Onika, I am not missing PEA's point.....and I don't believe that dealing with dysfunction only in... "black" communities going to get rid of dysfunction in T&T...you have to deal with the dysfunction...not just the community. Colurblindness means youcan't determine or see colour...and that is not what I am advocating. I am not discussing the issue in terms of race or ethnicity....because the issue transcends both areas...but maybe you don't see that....the dysfuntion that PEA talking about is a national crisis......so get rid of drugs in "black communities" and then what? because it will be in other communities too? Remove KFC from "black communities" and then what? because they in other communities too. OR do you believe that T&T set up inot race and ethno specific communities?See Moreabout an hour ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...
Lorraine Isava i am happy to be me
57 minutes ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
Janine Le Gendre I understand the "tough love" approach,but oh how we persist in falling into the trap of beating up a particular ethnic group for frailties and insecurities that also manifest themselves among other groups. Perhaps if we stopped looking at this as a "black problem" the solutions become more obvious...
56 minutes ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...
Janine Le Gendre or what Rhoda just said..
56 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
Rhoda Bharath
I going and talk to KFC bosses now and ask them to move all their outlets from "suffering black" people areas.....let's see what improvements that will bring to "suffering black ppl"....steupsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...ssssssssssssssssssssssssss
It's a national issue!See More53 minutes ago · LikeUnlike · 3 peopleLoading...
Onika Morris-Alleyne I see you have missed my point again rhoda. What I am saying is that each of these communities dysfunctions do not have the same basis or the same solution. To use a marketing term, we need to employ segmentation and targeting in some social issues to come to anything close to a national solution. There is no single fit solution for some of these problems
44 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
Oswald Long II
@Rhoda: switch to decaf. We have to accept what is going on in the country. Black people are holding themselves back...what with fatherless children, and single mothers of 5, 6, even 8, with different fathers! Cries of 'he wasn doin nutti...n wrong!', and 'he is a good boy, the police jus out for him because he from Laventille!' don't cut it with me anymore.
@PEA: you sounding more and more like Dr. Job. The message is right, but people have grown so used to others solving their problems that they will just sit back and hope for another handout. Your attitude will piss people off; which is, in itself, not a problem, as I think that you actually care. The problem is that, as with Job, they will refuse to take what you are saying to heart.See More8 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
Rhoda Bharath Oswald, ketch yuhself...I have not said these problems don't affect "black people" I have said they don't only affect black people and what PEA's comment does is promote a particular stereotype that is quite inaccurate. Leave me to drink whatever type of coffee I want to drink in peace!
about a minute ago · LikeUnlike
Oswald Long II
The problem is not a 'black problem', but the majority of the involved ARE black. It will greatly ease the national burden if we get an ease from this group. Learning from other ethnics may help us get back to the old ways; extended familie...s, not shirking responsibilities...etc.
I live at the beach, and on weekends I see families of one particular group coming there; with everyone from baby in diaper to granny in diaper! The 'other' group is mainly unrepresented. I may see a few families, but mainly I see 'de boys' coming out to drink beer and oogle the chicks, and on occasion, a guy coming out with his 'outside ting'. I even see guys coming on the street to wash their car..on a Saturday...for 3 hours...and I KNOW they have children at home! This is QUALITY TIME, ASSHOLES!See Moreabout a minute ago · LikeUnlike
Rhoda Bharath So, what about the black ppl who don't fit into the group that PEA describes? steupsssssssssssssssssssssssss!
26 seconds ago · Like
I can't begin to explain just how worried this type of thinking has me. Because basically the problems described are seen as belonging solely to the black community...so if we get rid of the ills in black communities what about other communities? These issues still remain national problems....not specific to one group but affecting all!
When they are written about in this way it only serves to add to the numerous stereotypes facing members of the black community.
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