The Effects of Capitalism on Black Culture

America's black population, despite the civil rights movement, still has a long way to go in the United States before it is on equal footing. While the law protects blacks from overt racism, there is a litany of problems facing the black community, many of which relate to lack of opportunity for meaningful employment, absence of role models and very little political representation. Also as we will see, even though racism is frowned upon in polite society, it has not gone away. It has simply been replaced by a more subtle form, which is in many ways more dangerous.

It is important to point out that poverty is not unique to the black community.. Poverty is something our government must address despite color of skin if we are to live up to the ideals set down in the constitution of these United States.

Before even digesting the following information we must first acknowledge that if your goal is to seek to make a case that blacks are engaging in more deviant behaviors, and therefore have some measure of suffering coming to them, then you need listen no more. I do not believe racism can be cured with logic therefore there are some, who by having an agenda, will simply dismiss the obvious in fact of glaring evidence, to the contrary. The only reason I address this, is that it has come to my attention many times, that people feel this way and some even have statistics to back up their thinking.

As intelligent human beings, we learned long ago, that assigning blame in the face of a crisis is not a luxury any of us can afford. Right now our nation is facing a crisis, and even though some of us have it better than others, when there are those in our culture who are desperate and cannot meet their needs this becomes a problem for everyone. I am not calling for compassionate socialism. I am simply calling for a return to the traditional American values that our forefathers fought and died for.

Philosophical debates aside, the nuts and bolts of American life simply involve going to work and paying our bills. If we cannot do that than everything falls apart. The solution seems obvious. It is to get a good job. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation shows us that this can be nearly impossible for many, as exemplified by the Pease and Martin study of the Washington Post where only 8% of the jobs offered were available to poor applicants. Of these jobs most paid menial wages, offered no benefits and had an average of 21 applicants for each open position.(1) What should you tell the other 20 applicants? An even better question might be; what can we tell the 1 in 21 who actually land a job that pays so little that they still cannot make ends meet?

It is clear that we need more jobs in the inner city that require only a work ethic and not a degree. Unfortunately NAFTA allowed many of these jobs to be moved overseas and the American people are paying the price for it. Where there is lack of opportunity, there will be crime, as people will ultimately resort to any means necessary to make ends meet. We can all impact this situation positively by buying from companies that buy American. When we do this we create more jobs here in the United States and therefore more opportunities for our citizens who need them most.

Some might make the argument that we do not need more factory jobs for the uneducated but people should just become more educated. I do agree that education is a major problem in poor communities and this is due in large part to the fact that funding for public schools comes from local property taxes. So if you are wealthy and live in a wealthy area your children will go to a school that has many advantages over schools in poor areas. Not to mention that if you have enough money you may also choose to have your child go to a private school. Schools with inferior funds cannot afford to hire teachers who specialize in the field being taught, nor can they afford the proper books, computers, music and science equipment needed to educate the children. As a result the high-school graduation rates are much lower for inner city schools and those that do graduate are ill-prepared for college.

As is the norm in America it is the common opinion of the public that the victim is to blame.

"According to the annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup survey, the most recent of which was released in September, most Americans cite a lack of parental involvement, as well as problems in students' home life and upbringing and their lack of interest and motivation as the most important reasons for the huge gap between the achievement levels of students in upper- and middle-class neighborhoods and those in poor neighborhoods.

More than 75% of those polled said they believe that white students and students of color have the same academic opportunities.

In contrast, Teach for America corps members, who are in those poor neighborhoods every school day, say the key to closing that gap is to train and employ better teachers and improve the quality of the leaders who make decisions in schools and school districts -- while simultaneously ensuring that teachers, principals and parents expect the kids to meet challenging academic standards.

A system that allows black high school graduates, on average, to read at the level of white eighth-graders is an affront to our most fundamental ideals as a nation."(2)

The critical thinkers amongst us are no doubt asking themselves, "Who the hell is Teach for America and why should I care what they say?". Teach for America are top academic performers who volunteer to teach for two years after college in the lowest performing schools across the country. It is important to note again, that these teachers know what it takes to achieve academically and are on the frontlines. They are not theorizing out of their own opinions. They are in the trenches. They know what it means to achieve academically and they see what is lacking in our poorer public schools.

There are too many obstacles to gainful employment to mention here. Although affirmative action has helped level the playing field somewhat, this is not felt so much in the poorer areas, as many of the poor are not aware of their rights. Affirmative action cannot undo the collapse of public transit system either. After all if there is no way to get to work than having a job is not much good. And how can someone who is just making ends meet afford to pay for child care? I know these are problems we all face but they are felt more intently in poor areas where people have fewer options.

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