Post by JohnHall on Sept 21, 2014 18:33:59 GMT
At one point in time, a persons color or status didn't matter. Everyone had an equal opportunity to make a good life for themselves. Now, for one reason or another, the system has taken to oppressing people for the sake of profit. It all started back in the days of the slave trade where people were kidnapped from their homes, chain and shipped out to be sold and/or put to work. The irony in this situation is that those people that were brought here built this country from the ground up, and yet they and their descendants aren't allowed to reap the benefits. They were treated poorly the whole way through, whipped and locked down, raped and murdered just because of the fact that they're slave owners could do it and get away with it. Unfortunately the situation hasn't changed, they've only seized power through currency and lawbooks so they could give themselves an excuse to do it.
I grew up in the city and suburban area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the major bustling cities of America, and it is very, very wealthy. The top business executives set up shop there and some of the best universities in the country are there. It is also home to many, many impoverished colored folks. I left the area in December 2013 to explore the country and meet new people. What I noticed is that the urban areas of the US are traps and "land prisons" for the colored folks. I am the only black person almost everywhere I go. If you have had a chance to be in the cities, you've probably noticed that they are packed with what the system calls "minorities", or races other than white people. It's a laughable term, when clearly they make up the majority of the population of the cities, and most of the whites are just visiting, either to go to school or to go to work and leave.
Taking a look back into the history of the building of the cities, they are remnants of the slave trade and large centers for immigration. The italians, the hispanics, and the blacks (africans and islanders) are the ones who made them into the prosperous p-laces that they are. And you can see it in the aftermath of whats happened. When I lived in West Philadephia, I would frequently take walks around "the hood". They call it the slums or the ghetto in other places. There are so many boarded up stores that people worked hard to get. Mom and pop shops, restaurants, and other places that gave flavor to the culture and boosted the cities economy. All to make room for the "bigwigs" and the corporate entities. I went to a community meeting with the locals where they were discussing ways to get their home back. When the corporations come in and buy everything up, the politicians and police force included,the price of everything rises so that its only suitable for wealthy people.
The local were in distress. They couldn't pay their property taxes, they can't provide a good life for their kids, and they were angry with what was being done to them. Its sad to see that these large entities will not only crush the people financially, but they forcefully impose their will on them. The legal system and the jails make a profit everytime they arrest someone, everytime they seize drugs or anytime they bust an "illegal operation". It has become acceptable to treat people of color poorly, so they target them specifically. I can't count how many times I've heard stories of someone who was around one day and gone the next. I have personally been arrested illegally and got out of jail solely because of my wits and knowledge of the way the law works. I fired my public attorney at the court hearing and testified for myself, and since they had no evidence and no cause to arrest me, I got out. Yet they won't drop the charges, and they even put out a misdemeanor arrest warrant when I refused to show up for my THIRD court date. Its all a mess.
It doesn't end there. The news is filled with horror stories about the robberies and crimes committed in the cities. And it is almost always blamed on the young black males. So they die in front of the guns of police officers all the time, and nobody questions it. The jails are packed with blacks and hispanics. It is packed so full that they can't make room for the new inmates and they have to build new jails to keep up. Because of the way they are viewed, it is almost impossible to get a job, and getting a good one isn't even in the thoughts and dreams of the young colored folks. They are forced to find another way to survive.
I lived in the impoverished neighborhoods along the outskirts of Philadelphia until I was 8 years old, then my family move to a rich, Jewish neighborhood. Although there aren't as many problems with crime there, the prejudice is still there, albeit more hushed. We lived in the only black town in the whole county, where there was just enough room to fit all of us. And hearing the way people talked about it was sickening. The whites were warned not to go to North Hills... Those wild blacks in North Hills can't be trusted... And yet nobody was dying in that town, we actually had a lot of fun and we were great to hang out with. The few of my white classmates that would actually go there enjoyed themselves. As a matter of fact, most of the major drug dealers in the area were out in the Jewish section of the county. I know because I was hanging out with most of them.
When I hit the road, I had to deal with problems from people who might have never seen a black person, and felt the need to call the cops just because they saw me walking through town. Its a problem that I still deal with today. The cities are all along the coast with most of the coloreds, and I saw almost NO black people when I went toward the center of the country. There were times where the cops were pulling up on me 3-5 times a day to run my name, find out what I was doing, and even check my bags, regardless of the fact that I hadn't done anything wrong. I also saw the aftermath of the Native American oppression. They used to occupy all of the United States. It was there home originally, and now they are squeezed into the northern part of the Midwest, or whats left of them at least.
Its ashame that people are taught to fear and abuse a certain group of people. Instead of finding out for themselves what these people are like, they'd rather listen to the news and their peers about all the aweful things that group of people has to offer. These people are trapped in little bubbles. They are left with no way out and drained of everything they have. They have no help, so they kill, they rob, they sell and use street drugs of the worst kind, they go to jail all the time, and they've given up hope, because they don't care anymore... And it looks like nobody cares about them. Meanwhile the whole of the country sits and watches and does nothing.
I grew up in the city and suburban area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the major bustling cities of America, and it is very, very wealthy. The top business executives set up shop there and some of the best universities in the country are there. It is also home to many, many impoverished colored folks. I left the area in December 2013 to explore the country and meet new people. What I noticed is that the urban areas of the US are traps and "land prisons" for the colored folks. I am the only black person almost everywhere I go. If you have had a chance to be in the cities, you've probably noticed that they are packed with what the system calls "minorities", or races other than white people. It's a laughable term, when clearly they make up the majority of the population of the cities, and most of the whites are just visiting, either to go to school or to go to work and leave.
Taking a look back into the history of the building of the cities, they are remnants of the slave trade and large centers for immigration. The italians, the hispanics, and the blacks (africans and islanders) are the ones who made them into the prosperous p-laces that they are. And you can see it in the aftermath of whats happened. When I lived in West Philadephia, I would frequently take walks around "the hood". They call it the slums or the ghetto in other places. There are so many boarded up stores that people worked hard to get. Mom and pop shops, restaurants, and other places that gave flavor to the culture and boosted the cities economy. All to make room for the "bigwigs" and the corporate entities. I went to a community meeting with the locals where they were discussing ways to get their home back. When the corporations come in and buy everything up, the politicians and police force included,the price of everything rises so that its only suitable for wealthy people.
The local were in distress. They couldn't pay their property taxes, they can't provide a good life for their kids, and they were angry with what was being done to them. Its sad to see that these large entities will not only crush the people financially, but they forcefully impose their will on them. The legal system and the jails make a profit everytime they arrest someone, everytime they seize drugs or anytime they bust an "illegal operation". It has become acceptable to treat people of color poorly, so they target them specifically. I can't count how many times I've heard stories of someone who was around one day and gone the next. I have personally been arrested illegally and got out of jail solely because of my wits and knowledge of the way the law works. I fired my public attorney at the court hearing and testified for myself, and since they had no evidence and no cause to arrest me, I got out. Yet they won't drop the charges, and they even put out a misdemeanor arrest warrant when I refused to show up for my THIRD court date. Its all a mess.
It doesn't end there. The news is filled with horror stories about the robberies and crimes committed in the cities. And it is almost always blamed on the young black males. So they die in front of the guns of police officers all the time, and nobody questions it. The jails are packed with blacks and hispanics. It is packed so full that they can't make room for the new inmates and they have to build new jails to keep up. Because of the way they are viewed, it is almost impossible to get a job, and getting a good one isn't even in the thoughts and dreams of the young colored folks. They are forced to find another way to survive.
I lived in the impoverished neighborhoods along the outskirts of Philadelphia until I was 8 years old, then my family move to a rich, Jewish neighborhood. Although there aren't as many problems with crime there, the prejudice is still there, albeit more hushed. We lived in the only black town in the whole county, where there was just enough room to fit all of us. And hearing the way people talked about it was sickening. The whites were warned not to go to North Hills... Those wild blacks in North Hills can't be trusted... And yet nobody was dying in that town, we actually had a lot of fun and we were great to hang out with. The few of my white classmates that would actually go there enjoyed themselves. As a matter of fact, most of the major drug dealers in the area were out in the Jewish section of the county. I know because I was hanging out with most of them.
When I hit the road, I had to deal with problems from people who might have never seen a black person, and felt the need to call the cops just because they saw me walking through town. Its a problem that I still deal with today. The cities are all along the coast with most of the coloreds, and I saw almost NO black people when I went toward the center of the country. There were times where the cops were pulling up on me 3-5 times a day to run my name, find out what I was doing, and even check my bags, regardless of the fact that I hadn't done anything wrong. I also saw the aftermath of the Native American oppression. They used to occupy all of the United States. It was there home originally, and now they are squeezed into the northern part of the Midwest, or whats left of them at least.
Its ashame that people are taught to fear and abuse a certain group of people. Instead of finding out for themselves what these people are like, they'd rather listen to the news and their peers about all the aweful things that group of people has to offer. These people are trapped in little bubbles. They are left with no way out and drained of everything they have. They have no help, so they kill, they rob, they sell and use street drugs of the worst kind, they go to jail all the time, and they've given up hope, because they don't care anymore... And it looks like nobody cares about them. Meanwhile the whole of the country sits and watches and does nothing.