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Why aren’t Condoleezza Rice, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, and Tuskegee Airmen looked at as role models for the African-American community, but rappers and athletes who’d never be in college if they couldn’t play sports are. If they looked up to the above-mentioned individuals, everyone would be in a lot better shape.
This issue is not limited to African-Americans
Do most white kids grow up wishing they could be the next Madeline Albright, Antonin Scalia , or Milton Friedman ?
To add to what meno was saying
Why don’t we look up to gedolim to aspire to be like them as opposed to singers
The reason to both is because one takes more work than the other
Dr Ben Carson
Since white america reveres african americann athletes as well.
One of the people in my life I am most honored to have met was Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., who was the commanding officer of the Tuskegee Airmen. He was long retired when I met him; he lived across the street from me in the 1980s. I met him through his wife Agatha who was a Democratic election judge in my election district when I was a Democratic Committeeman. Lt. Gen. Davis campaigned for Walter Mondale in 1984; I think he may have been a Democratic National Convention delegate. Later he would get a fourth star and be promoted to General.
He had been the first African American to attend West Point in almost 40 years; his father was the only African American officer in the US Army at the time and his nomination was sponsored by the only African American in the US Congress, Oscar De Priest from Chicago (a Republican!). Every other cadet at West Point was racist and they gave Cadet Davis the silent treatment, refusing to speak to him for almost the entire time he was a student there. After he was commissioned they prevented him from commanding white soldiers, assigning him to teach at all black Tuskegee Institute. His father had had similar experiences. He tried to join the Army Air Corps but was rejected because of his race; only World War II opened up the opportunity. Then Lt. Col. Davis (promotions happen quickly in wartime) was forced to serve under a white racist and only became the commanding officer at the very end of the war. The pilots were denied admission to all white Officers Clubs and some were arrested and court-martialed for making an issue of it. (This was not unique; Lt. Jackie Robinson, later famous as a baseball player, was court-martialed for refusing a bus driver’s demand to move to the back of a bus — over a decade before Rosa Parks.)
We cannot comprehend the humiliation Gen. Davis must have experienced. He wrote that it made him stronger and more determined. I found him to be an inspiration.
No one is deflecting. You implied that this is a unique problem in the African American community and everyone pointed out that this is a problem in society at large and not isolated to one specific group.
Charlie,
What you have mentioned is sad and unfortunate, there is no denying that racism exists, and as a Jew, I can attest to that.
However, to accuse a country of systemic racism and people that are not black that they need to apologize for whatever problems the black community is facing is wrong.
In fact, what you wrote is inspiring that despite the obstacles someone that is considered a minority was able to persist and climb up the ladder, instead of playing the victim card.
these athletes are often more well known than important politicians, which gives them a platform to support, or to condemn event/protests etc. more so then politicians who also are percieved as less trustworthy and not truly
representing their ethnic,religious etc.groups the way these popular athletes are percieved.My role models are Booker T Washington and George Washington Carver, they had a goal of education, its a shame this goal is lost on today generation of African Americans
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That is a question better asked of African Americans than a bunch of White JewsMost of us have no idea who most African Americans consider role models…………………
But you glaringly left out
Barak and Michelle Obama
Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King Jr.
Langston Hughes
Booker T Washington
George Washington Carver
Harriet Tubman
and the list goes on and onThe education issue is the fault of the UFT and the Board of Education. You have all these black kids trapped in inner city terrible schools. The parents know this and desperately try to get their children into public charter schools. The black and Hispanic kids in charters typically grade out at the high end state wide in English and math and this year all the graduates from Sunrise were accepted to college. So, why dont more kids go? There’s no room and the union and Deblasio fight against them .
Who cares?
I hope our kids are looking up to gedolim, not singers. Do yeshivish kids (only community I really know) look up to singers over gedolim? They spend all that money on gedolim cards.
Re who you look up to-it depends on how you are raised. I taught high school social studies in the public school system for a year as a student. The first half year was in a heavily minority program. When a black kid would say how “we blacks are better than this” the other kids would say “who are you? Rosa Parks?” Then I switched to a much better school. I had one black kid in my class-straight A student. On PTA night his father told me how they talk politics every night at the dinner table and come from a long line of politicians. This kid played guitar was cultured etc. Funny thing was he once took out a bottle of Kedem grape juice and this jewish kid said where’d you get that!I do want to add imagine you are a poor black kid in the inner city. You have relatives who have been in jail. You would understandably have a lot of anger. You have two options. Rappers from your neighborhood who sing angry songs. And they wear the chains, caps, of all the people on your block. Then you have Condoleezza Rice former Provost of Stanford University which you never heard of all coifed up in the White House. Who would you relate to better? We also forget that there actually are a lot of religious blacks in the inner city who really are turned off by rappers.
@Anonymous
Not all Blacks are in NYC schools, most aren’t and the UFT has nothing to do with their education.
Our little town is 15% Black and the role models mentioned above by me are all taught in US History and Current events classes. NOT ALL BLACKS LIVE IN INNER CITIESNOT ALL BLACKS LIVE IN INNER CITIES
But the violent riots are started by the blacks who live in the inner cities.
Why do the other blacks follow their lead?
As far as I know, I am the only African American on this website, and I must tell you that ctlawyer was right that this is not an sensible or appropriate forum for discussing African American role models. How many commenters have discussed role models face-to-face with African American acquaintences? Show of hands, please. If most of your information comes from Fox News, you likely have no idea of what you are talking about. (My apologies for ending a sentence with a proposition.)
Art Rust, Jr., a sports reporter and radio talk show host, and an African American, was asked by a caller about his role models. His answer was, my mother and father. On his radio show he played the best bumper music on radio, (almost) always by Duke Ellington.
(And for those of you who do not understand my fabulous sense of humor, the second clause of my opening sentence contained a falsehood.)
Huju- that is an excellent point. Any information i have on this topic was information i requested or picked up during conversations with african american coworkers or clients. I would have no reason to believe many others here have not had the same opportunity. I
Huju:
I am a visibly chasidish man [ beard yalmuka etc.] I use to work for the City of NY, one February we all took a Black History quiz on a lark, and guess what? I was the high scorer, ahead of 3 African Americans.
One of black guys [ who I thought was a bigot] said, very well that’s the way it should be white people need to know black history so I told him, Carl, here is what is the difference I study history, white, black, Asian or whatever and you just focus on black historyI did not mean to suggest that none of us know what we are talking about. There are actually a few things I don’t know.
huju,
Being that you are an African American, I hope I haven’t insulted you. Do my comments earlier ring true to you? I am honestly curious.To yitzmo: I did not understand what you posted, as your English is atrocious. So, no, you did not insult me, as far as I know. And by the way, are you a teacher? Really?
General Colin Powell is a role model.
It says that when Powell grew up in NYC, he was a shabbos goy to orthodox jewish families.
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