re: Greg Popovich: "We live in a racist country that hasn't figured it out yet."

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Some of the responses in the thread are indicative of the problems that exist until today.
There’s folks saying “why are the blacks different in a socioeconomic sense from other minorities?” and “slavery ended 150 years ago, the blacks today weren’t slaves”.

Those echoing these sentiments aren’t taking into consideration a few societal issues that exist in their own areas when making these statements:

Sure, slavery was legally ended in the 19th century. However, there were social constructs that were in effect well into the 20th century (ex. Jim Crow). When we speak of Jim Crow, that’s not something that’s far off from society today, but there are many black people amongst us that have live through that period. If your great grandparents were around as slaves/sharecroppers; your grandparents were around during the Jim Crow era; parents were in Jim Crow or caught the end of it (CRA of 1965) —don’t be surprised if you’re in certain. If you’re poor, don’t be surprised if you’re uneducated, due to neglect of the public schools(particularly in LA, i.e. White flight). Poor people+uneducated+80s/90s drug epidemic=Major problems. While there’s been plenty to break that cycle, that’s a situation many blacks are in.

Further, there are still constructs that existed up until recently, that have to be considered. For example, Louisiana folks, you may remember that even in the 21st century, there are still communities that have had a separate prom for blacks and whites. As surreal as that situation sounds, there’s merit that racism propagated these actions. Almost all black folks nationwide have roots in the rural south, and these situations and folks that experienced these things are still alive.

As far as the comparing blacks to other minorities, I’m unsure of what the point is. Just as there are some blacks who have overcame their situation, there’s other minority groups that have the same. Sure, the Asians, specifically Vietnamese, have had their success in LA, but there’s a lot less of them, so it’s easy to point to the successes, if you don’t see the unsuccessful ones(there are plenty unsuccessful Asians in BR, NOLA, and the Acadians area).

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Further, there are still constructs that existed up until recently, that have to be considered. For example, Louisiana folks, you may remember that even in the 21st century, there are still communities that have had a separate prom for blacks and whites. As surreal as that situation sounds, there’s merit that racism propagated these actions. Almost all black folks nationwide have roots in the rural south, and these situations and folks that experienced these things are still alive.

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