I can site some examples from my past that make me feel the way I do. I would like you to address them and you tell me how I should feel differently classy.
In the first , I was a trainer for an OTR company. The student I had at the time was from Louisville Kentucky. While near his home and during the running of the Derby , he asked to swing by to see what was going on at his "crib". He stated that he had a house full of people in town working and staying at his house. As it turns out , they were all using his house as a hang while they went out and stole other peoples stuff. He and I got into a heated argument because he couldn't see the difference between "working" and stealing others property. In his mind that was "working" because that is how the people made a living. Example number two would involve another student. I can't go into the details that brought up the conversation , but it came down to a racial argument ending with this question and answer:
If you had a business and needed labor , would you go out on the street and hire the first 100 people you met in my neighborhood.
Answer: Yes
Would you go out in the street and hire the first 100 people you came to in your neighborhood.
Answer:" F^^K no! Them ni$$ers would rob me blind." Needless to say , he was black.
The point is that you know what the story is as well as everyone else does, You just don't want to admit it. I know hundreds of black people that would be welcome in my home at any time. I also know that they, by choice or not,relative or friend, associate with many others that they wouldn't even want to know where you live if you have anything worth having that can be gotten to.I have had them blow me off because they didn't want the person or people with them to come to my house. I can take you to a location in St Louis right now where the Man in the house is a cop and the Woman is a Sherrif, both black. They have to have a family member arrested several times a year when they have functions because they come in to the neighborhood to the families house and don't even have the decency to respect them enough to take the criminal activity back to where they came from. They have had family arrested for robbery . car theft , and in one case distribution on the same block on which they lived while visiting from out of the area.
It is typical to see a movie where the Grandma is telling ten year old boys to quit casing a car or other such activity. No I don't believe everything I see on TV , but the truth is the truth and in the case of blacks , the numbers don't lie...not the governments numbers , but the ones I see everyday. It is up to you to change the perception of yourselves. If you can honestly tell me right now that you live in an urban area in the US and don't know a number of people who make a living dealing ,stealing, or conning , I would be tremendously impressed. Hell, anymore they flash it in your face. You "the black citizen" live in fear of retribution for being "involved" in the prosecution of thes people which is the very thing that you must do in order to get respect. You must be the ones to change things , not the rest of the world. As my SIG says , you command respect not demand it. You (unfortunately this refers to a race , not an individual in this case) have to earn a better opinion by dealing with the issues or deal with the consequences of silence. As it is now , the black "nation" is opressed , both physically by fear , and financially by political choice. Change starts with you. I for one judge each and every individual for themselves , but I also have to consider who I may have to deal with by association before finalizing an opinion in certain situations where a business or personal commitment may be involved. This is a civil society , and it's about time the "black nation" makes a conscious effort to join it. I don't believe that has ever been an objective.