kelpdiver 2 #51 May 27, 2004 Quote How are blacks not connected to africa if their ancestors came from africa??? Taken far enough back, everyone is believed to have come out of Africa. At what point is it irrelevent? How much "African culture" is really seen in black America, and it's part of the revival of late? Maxine Waters tried to tell my class that blacks form gangs because of their tribal past. One can only guess why every other ethnicity does the same, or how this instinct could possibly have survived so many generations since the slave trade ended. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KATO33 0 #52 May 27, 2004 QuoteQuote -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With that being the case, how is black culture in the US today related to African culture? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's not, that's the point. They are trying to re-establish that connection BECAUSE it was stripped away from them. Using the term African-American is one small piece of that. And I'm sure if there were any way for them to trace their roots to a tribe or region of Africa they would prefer to use Zulu-American or something to that effect. But, they don't have that ability because, once again, that history and knowledge was stolen from them. Beat me to it thanks Blue Skies Black Death Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydyvr 0 #53 May 27, 2004 QuoteThey are trying to re-establish that connection BECAUSE it was stripped away from them. Using the term African-American is one small piece of that. What would the bigger pieces of that connection re-establishment be? . . =(_8^(1) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nathaniel 0 #54 May 27, 2004 Quote It's not, that's the point. They are trying to re-establish that connection BECAUSE it was stripped away from them. Using the term African-American is one small piece of that. And I'm sure if there were any way for them to trace their roots to a tribe or region of Africa they would prefer to use Zulu-American or something to that effect. But, they don't have that ability because, once again, that history and knowledge was stolen from them. We are getting in the uncomfortable territory where culture blends with fad. That's fine and all, but we should recognize it's not entirely the same as the more common use of the word culture. Buzzwords are cool for a while, but "fixing" diction is the wrong approach toward shifting attitudes. The order is backward...shifting attitudes are how diction is changed. It's fallacious to assume that engineering collisions between words will conflate their meanings. If anything it hinders ordinary discussion (witness the threadjacking ). nathanielMy advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflygoddess 0 #55 May 27, 2004 Just so you know that the census isn't 100% accurate nor are statistics. Only the people that fill out those forms are included in these guess works. Also, regaurding unemployment, not everyone files for it. Some chose to not work, based on other income...some can not qualify for unemployment and some are just to stubborn to do it as well. Like my father, he would never ever file for unemployment, because he didn't want o be like the rest of his family mouching off the government. ( not that unemplyoment is but hat is what he felt) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nathaniel 0 #56 May 27, 2004 Quote Some chose to not work, based on other income... Just to nitpick: Not looking for work is different from unemployed. The definition of unemployed is looking for work. People often get mixed up about this. Also, there's other figures that indicate unemployment beyond enrollment in federal unemployment benefits programs (which are temporary) IIRC there's a federal survey sent out every month or so to a few thousand people asking whether they are employed, looking for work, or out of the labor market. from the BLS website How the Government Measures Unemployment: Quote Some people think that to get these figures on unemployment the Government uses the number of persons filing claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits under State or Federal Government programs. But some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed. [cut] Because unemployment insurance records relate only to persons who have applied for such benefits, and since it is impractical to actually count every unemployed person each month, the Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. The CPS has been conducted in the United States every month since 1940 when it began as a Work Projects Administration project. It has been expanded and modified several times since then. As explained later, the CPS estimates, beginning in 1994, reflect the results of a major redesign of the survey. but your point is not lost. Statistics come with margins of error. nathanielMy advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
