A quick story that is relevent to LJH's letter and this discussion . . .
Just for the record, I'm a 55 year old white guy who lives in Scottsdale, Az. But when I was 16 I was a cook at Casey's Fried Chicken in Midland, Texas. I got that job because my father told me I could either get a summer job or dig a 6' x 6' x 6' ditch in the back each day, then fill it back in. He meant that, so I got a summer job making fried chicken. He also told me during school season that I had to get A's or B's in every class or the belt was coming. He meant that too.
I played basketball back then for Midland High School. One of the guys I worked with played for Midland Lee and he was a black guy named Charles. Charles and I would talk basketball and chicks everytime we worked together and we got to be good buddies. Other than outside shooting, Charles was better at every phase of the game than I was and it wasn't close. He easily could have played on a Scholly somewhere. I'm not sure if he was D1 but he was close.
Academically, I was in quite a few honors classes but Charles was not . . . but he was every bit as smart as I was. But there was no pressure in his family to study and they didn't value education like my father did. One day I arrived at work and Charles was in the dining area visably upset. No one knew what was wrong with him so I went over and sat down and asked him what was up. Pay attention guys because the paragraph below will probably unnerve you just like it did me 40 years ago.
Charles told me that his grand dad was 'On Him'. He said his dad didn't 'come around' anymore and he lived with his grand parents. He said his grand father kept yelling at him because he didn't have any kids yet! Charles was 17 . . . I thought he was joking and started to laugh. He raised his voice and told me he was serious. My jaw dropped . . . He said that in black culture, most men have at least 1 kid by 17 and usually 2. His grand dad wanted him to quit school, get a girlfriend, get her pregnant, and get a job! My stomach turned as he told me that. What he was describing was tantamount to career suicide. This was the first time in my life when I realized black culture/family was very different than white culture/family.
I told him that he was talented and smart and could go to a good college, get an education and have a career. He didn't care because his family didn't care. He just wanted the pressure to go away and get approval from his family. Charles worked the rest of the summer and then I didn't see him again. When basketball season rolled around, Charles was no longer on the Midland Lee team. He would have started and probably been All District. Flipping unbelievable I thought. What a waste.
The last time I was in Midland I inquired about Charles and was told he was the assistant manager at an Arby's, or something akin to that, and had 5 kids. By contrast, I've gone on to have a very successful life and career and am looking at retiring in the Caribbean in few short years. Charles was every bit as talented as I was and could have easily been as successful . . . but he's not. Did America do that to him? Charle's decisions about his life is why he is where he is today. This 'White' built America LJH was talking about had nothing to do it . . . and Charles would tell LJH that too!
If Jordan Humphrey, when he says that America was built for White people to succeed, means that this country rewards education, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and stable family's and punishes the lazy, the uneducated, and out of wedlock children . . . Well then, he is absolutely right. Of course, the trouble with that thinking is trying to reconcile how Asians, Mexicans and others seem to do so well in this 'White' America while the black community still struggles. But hey, easy to blame others for your own problems . . . right LJH?
