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1.5 Million Missing Black Men

nytimes.com

111–120 of 375 posts

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#111
post #34

Unbelievably sad. This is your drug war success.

Nixon declared drugs public enemy #1 in 1971. Also in 1971 the US Supreme Court ruled that Brown required active desegregation and mandated busing as a means of achieving it. [1] That's more the 100 years after the Reconstruction Amendments. [2] Racism is the weft upon which much of US history has been woven. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swann_v._Charlotte-Mecklenburg... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recon…

That's a good point. Everyone always blames this on conservative policies like the war on drugs, but in reality liberal policies like school integration have also contributed to the issue, e.g. by creating gangs and balkanizing communities.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This dynamic has always frightened me about China's "one child" generation coming of age. Instead of a group of disaffected Jihadists, you have a large and influential political force in an increasingly belligerent and powerful nation.

> increasingly belligerent I'd argue that China's belligerence is lower now than it has been. They've moved from a very communist that strongly distrusted and arguably even hated the West, to a semi-capitalist one who mostly just wants to compete with the West (and makes oodles of $$$ selling to us). The US has been drum-beating against China a lot recently, but frankly that seems more about the US losing in the "tra…

Have you seen them build islands in the south China sea recently?

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#113
post #46

Sorry to be the voice of Bill Cosby but my read of this is that black men are killing each other and then going to prison for it (drug charges are responsible for maybe 20% of people in prison - ie stats would still be largely same without the drug war). And somehow that's everybody else's fault?

Whenever I ready “Sorry to ____, but...” I wonder to myself: 1. Is the speaker truly appalled at saying the thing that follows, but it's a radical, earth-shattering insight will cut through the Gordian Knot, e.g. “I’m really sorry to question the Bible, but maybe the Earth actually is older than 6,000 years?” Or: 2. Someone’s warning detection is working, but the connection to the brake has been severed, and the spea…

The 'sorry' part referred to my comment sticking out like a sore thumb. Every other comment goes on about racism, etc - while I see a problem inherent in the subset of individuals themselves.

It's a social thing - to prepare the reader for what may strike them as an unpleasant (yet I believe is true) perspective.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#114
post #44

Historically this was solved by polygamy. (The cause of the missing men back then was usually war and travel danger on business expeditions.) Polygamy is still occurring, except without the official status of wife. Makes me wonder if the benefits of outlawing polygamy in the US might not outweigh the harm - especially because it happens anyway.

One thing that has always bothered me is that almost any argument against polygamy works just as well as an argument against banning extra-marital sexual relationships.

As you said, polygamy already exists, just without the legal framework calling it a marriage.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#115
post #62
post #13

> The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce, while men, who face an abundant supply of potential mates, don’t need to compete as hard to find one. As a result, Mr. Charles said, “men seem less likely to commit to romantic relationships, or to work hard to maintain them.” Interesting, I never thought about this side-effect of mass incarceration. Another aggravating factor in…

[deleted]

Wait, what?

Are you claiming that gay men don't have stable relationships?

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#116
post #58

Black women are unapproachable. Not sure why is that. Are white males not attractive in black women eyes? The effect is the reverse with white women as they tend to flirt with black man, hence the interracial children are mostly from black males and white females. I don't have a study to support this, but I do have personal experience.

There are a lot of reasons for this, perhaps even more important reasons, but yes, black women are unapprochable as a white man. While other people interpret my normal social awkwardness/aloofness as just what it is, black women tend to take offense and think it's racist. There's nothing I can do to change that aspect of myself. I don't know why this doesn't happen with black men, it just doesn't really seem to, though.

However, I am concerned that my sample size may be too small to draw any valid conclusions.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#117

Moynihan in 1965, writing at the Labor Dept.: "The steady expansion of welfare programs can be taken as a measure of the steady disintegration of the Negro family structure over the past generation in the United States." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Family:_The_Case_For_... The welfare state and the drug war have had devastating effects on the U.S. black population. To take just one statistic, when Moynihan…

The other reply is completely correct. You are misinterpreting what Moynihan meant when he wrote:

>"The steady expansion of welfare programs can be taken as a measure of the steady disintegration of the Negro family structure over the past generation in the United States."

What he meant was that, as we see a crumbling of black family structure, they will require greater help, which came through welfare. Here is the heart and soul of his argument: "at the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of Negro society is the deterioration of the Negro family"

I don't think he would have argued that reducing welfare would help these people, and to imply that is disingenuous at best.

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#118
post #13

> The black women left behind find that potential partners of the same race are scarce, while men, who face an abundant supply of potential mates, don’t need to compete as hard to find one. As a result, Mr. Charles said, “men seem less likely to commit to romantic relationships, or to work hard to maintain them.” Interesting, I never thought about this side-effect of mass incarceration. Another aggravating factor in…

[deleted]

Re: 1.5 Million Missing Black Men

#120
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Gay suicide due probably to social pressures. Hopefully gay rights will lessen these problems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_among_LGBT_youth

Are you citing suicide as a violent tendency?
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