4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


Comparing African American History with the Present


are more children being homeschooled than there are in private school. I homeschooled my child from first grade through high school and we never purchased a text book. Everything she needed was online. She never had to worry about being called a N-word or being bullied by her classmates. She attended art classes and summer camps outside of the classroom but the camps were at an HBCU where the majority of people attending were African Americans.


BY ANGELA JONES


are better off now than we were sixty years ago, raise your hand. Now that we can sit at the same lunch counters, the view from here looks pretty over-rated. The food does not have as much flavor and the ingredients seem to be of a lesser quality. For some, they are just happy to have a seat at the table even if one of the legs of the seat is missing. In the categories that really matter, like education, employment, housing and safety, are we really, better off now than we were sixty years ago?


years ago, I can only speculate from accounts that I have read or been told regarding what life was like for African Americans before the “Civil Rights Movement.” I heard that schools were segregated and text books were older or nonexistent for African American schools. With the invention of the internet, textbooks are now obsolete. Most textbook materials can be read online and students download the material so they can read it anytime from anywhere without lugging around heavy books. Today, many college students do not need textbooks.


In North Carolina, there Because I was not born sixty If you think African Americans


My daughter now has a 4.0 grade point average in computer science in college. I do not believe the lack of text books or spending most of her time with people who look like her has hurt her in any way. In fact, I would say she is more successful than most of her peers and I attribute that directly to not having her self-esteem or IQ lowered in public school. She has worked with several major companies


and has adjusted quite well to interacting


people. Children can get a better education today, but not from most public schools.


much worse for African Americans in 2016 than it was sixty years ago. During the great recession, many African Americans did not just lose their homes; they lost homes which had been in their families for generations. During the fourth quarter of 2015, the percentage of African European Americans (Whites) who owned a home was 72.2 percent; the percentage of African Americans was 41.9 percent and the number of Hispanics owning their own home was 53.3 percent.


Access to better jobs was one of the aspirations of those who marched in the civil rights movement. I believe that


compare the career opportunities for African Americans today to options for African Americans in


if we The housing market may be with


during internships all


types of


the 1960’s, it would be difficult to conclude that there are more opportunities now. I believe in


opportunity by becoming business owners.


that of African


A report in 2013 revealed the


gap in


(EPI) noted that this gap had not closed since 1963. Back then, the unemployment rate was 5 percent for African European Americans and 10.9 percent


Americans. In 2013 the rate was 6.6 percent for African European Americans and 12.6 percent for African Americans.


having one’s own business is the


employment.


Being an entrepreneur only way to ensure


were able to get hired, African Americans do not feel safe in many positions today. Teachers were sent to prison in Atlanta for trying to right a broken federal system that was failing the very students it was put in place to help.


on becoming police officers. In one city in Hampton Roads, Virginia with a more than 53 percent African


the percentage of sworn African American police officers is 18 percent. With numbers like those, an African American almost has a better chance of getting struck by lightning than becoming a police officer. Many municipalities are going to military bases such as Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, NC to


the police department rather than hiring


recruiters prefer to hire people with special skills that can only be acquired from participating in combat.


having a difficult time securing jobs as police officers, at least they are being protected in their neighborhood, right?


much. Many people believe that “Black-on-black


reason it seems that more crimes are committed in neighborhoods that are predominately


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


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PO Box 10414 ● Norfolk, VA 23513


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Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


American. The term “Black-On- Black crime” should never be used, especially by African Americans. It is a term that was created to give law enforcement and politicians an excuse for not doing their job and to make the African American victims, of the officers’ and politicians’


doing their jobs, feel guilty. Crime is crime no matter what the race of the perpetrator or the victim happens to be. All crime should be


vigorously without regard to where it takes place.


hear


Why is the


term it


that we never White-On-White


treated equally and fought indiscretions of not African crime”


Not so is the


Since African Americans are


recruit for open positions locally. Obviously these


in American population, African Americans can give up Even if or


secure they


for African Economic Policy


African European Americans had not changed in fifty years. The


Institute Americans and unemployment people making their own


crime? It does exist and in alarming numbers. crime


FBI, African European Americans accounted for 766,440 DUIs while only 113,928 African Americans were charged with the same crime. Another 815,181 African European Americans were arrested for drug abuse violations while the number of African Americans arrested for the same charge was 365,785. For liquor


European Americans were arrested compared Americans.


violations, 222,201 African to 40,665


African


When it comes to property crimes, a staggering 855,225 African European Americans were arrested as opposed to 363,952 African


category of Larceny/Theft, 677,173 African European Americans were charged as well as 284,352 African Americans. Even for a violent crime such as rape, African


American arrests outpace those of African Americans at a rate of 8,946 to 4,229.


European


compiled by the FBI; they are not the opinions of a mainstream media organization with an agenda. The skewed media coverage of crime is why it is so important to be careful where one gets their news. If we watch or read local news reports, we would think African Americans are the only people committing crimes.


statistics, it is difficult to understand why such a high percentage of African Americans are incarcerated. According to the US Census, African American make up approximately 12 percent of the U.S. population; however, African Americans account for almost 40 percent of the prison population, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.


in education, housing, and safety, are we really better off now than we were sixty years ago? In the 1950s, African Americans actually supported each other and supported African American owned businesses. Today, the mainstream media has made many of us suspicious or even afraid of each other. Not only did we own our own houses, we owned mortgage companies and insurance companies.


Sure we have an African American President in the White House today, but was he put there to give us hope or a false sense of security? Look at the data and ask yourself “Have African Americans received believe


of opportunity, now that we know the game, to stay in it or get out of it. I got out of the game in 2001, when I left my last job and started a business. Being an entrepreneur is spectacular and it is the only way to gain true freedom. With the internet at our disposal, anyone can start a business today.


in?” We have a window change that we can If we compare apples to apples Knowing the actual crime These are real statistics Americans. For the statistics


According to 2013 released by the


Volume 10 Number 6


February 2016


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