Black Myth Bustin' Time. (welfare rich)

Great Debates
1

This is the second time I have overheard members of the program seated next to mine at the call center I work in, spouting racist garbage.

The last time, I stood up and told them to shut their yap before we take a walk to HR. This time, I just wearily let it slide. But I think I should speak out on this particular myth that they were on about, because eventually, my own people begin to believe this nonsense, and that aint good.

Most of the young black men you see driving down the street in Escalades and Navigators, 20inch chrome rims shining, are not on welfare.

They are not mostly drug dealers. They are not mostly men who have tons of hungry children all over the city, collecting food stamps.

They are mostly hardworking men that like to spend their hard earned dollars on trucks and rims.

How do I know this? Because I live amongst them. I work with them. I know enough drugdealers to know that they wish they could afford even a decent 1990 Honda Civic, let alone a freakin’ Escalade.

Now these men that drive big Cadalac trucks may not own their own home. They may not have a college fund set up for Jr. (though many do, I am sure).

They may not have stocks and bonds and good investments. But they are not welfare kings and drugdealers. If I hear one more person say otherwise at work, or anywhere else for that matter, I am going to snap on them.

The next time you hear someone say, “It’s funny they can afford big fancy cars, but they can’t afford to keep Sha’niqua off the welfare line with their 10 kids”, you can say, “Nzinga, Seated says this is an ugly myth. Please don’t spread it anymore.”

2

There is much truth in what you have written. There is nothing to force people to make responsible financial decisions. I have seen some very expensively tricked out cars parked in front of houses I wouldn’t let my cats live in.

3

I personally don’t have a car at all, and I don’t get all excited about fancy cars. ‘Tricked out’ cars strike me as corny.

But I don’t understand why it bothers some that certain people would rather have a fancy car than own a home?

And I really don’t understand why they assume that those that do have a fancy car can’t just like fancy cars enough to spend their hard earned cash on it. Just because they live in the inner city doesn’t mean that they bought their beamer with drug money.

4

I’ve never heard anyone use the phrase “Welfare King”.

I would like to bust the myth that just because the boys in the bright white sports car are honking at all the girls that does NOT mean that the car was probably stolen.

5

Me either. I was using that term as a short cut for the attitude of, “This young black man in the fancy car is a drug dealer. He has a fancy car, so he probably lives in the project with a girl who is on welfare and has lots of kids and no one in that house works, they just sponge off of the system, and he uses his drug money for cars instead of for paying the rent that is paid with our tax dollars because his baby momma is on welfare”

So yeah…I thought welfare king would be quicker.

6

It bothers people because it often shows misaligned priorities. I don’t consider myself a snob and I don’t go tsk tsk tsk at every ridiculous purchase I see (I’d be tsking till Kingdom come, if that were the case), but I do think it shows a lack of common sense and class to invest in something that depreciates in value (like a car) rather than in something that can build wealth for you and your family, like a house.

There’s nothing more pathetic than seeing a run-down home with a fancy car parked out in front. In fact, it sometimes infuriates me. I’ve lived in my share of bad neighborhoods up and down the East Coast to know that this isn’t really a myth. If I’m a snob for thinking this is a tacky, then call me Miss Snobby McSnobberson.

That’s true. And the inner city guy doesn’t hold a monopoly on obstentatious consumerism. Tis the American way. But if someone’s buying a new Beamer and living a crappy apartment or in their mama’s basement and they have zero savings in ther bank account and they have a baby’s momma to support, I’m not going to withold judgement of that person when evaluating them as a potential mate or friend. They may not be a drug dealer and may have bought that car with their hard earned money, but they have still have a mentality that I find to be destructive.

7

Moved from IMHO to GD.

8

But why? Do you judge as harshly those that would buy a house and owe the bank for years? I know of people who have lost their homes because they were unable to pay the mortgage. I wonder if their decision to buy a house when they could not afford to keep up with the mortgage was influenced by people looking down their noses at them when they decided to do other things with their money, instead of buying a house.

What of those people that like to travel, have no children, and like the convenience of apartment living? They may very well have a fancy car parked in front of their run-down apartment. Why is that a bad thing?

9

I personally think it’s stupid to make blanket statements about the housing market as a viable investment vehicle, and snap-judgments about someone’s financial status solely based on the kind of car he drives or the house he lives in. Buying real-estate without any thought of market or economic conditions or a careful cost/benefit analysis just to avoid the social stigma of being a renter is no less ostentatious and tacky than Escalades.

After all, in the US, one typically needs a better credit history to rent an apartment than to buy a house. :smiley:

10

You’ll need hard evidence to support that. I don’t doubt that most welfare recipients aren’t driving Escalades and buying lobster with their food stamps, but having worked in a grocery store and delivered pizza, I rather quickly came to understand how easy it is to work the system.

One time a person tried to buy dog food with governmental assistance and when we told them that was ineligable, they just went back and bought steak with their remaining credits. Steak. To feed the dog.

One woman I met who was on WIC told me about all the milk she was allocated that there was “no way in hell” she could drink it all. Nonetheless, she was getting every single gallon allocated and throwing away or giving away the rest. I laid into her for such blatant waste, but I don’t think she really “got it”.

And you wouldn’t believe the size of some of these TV’s in governmental housing.

Am I bitter? A touch, yes, why do you ask?

11

You do know the difference between a depreciating and an appreciating asset, don’t you?

Regards,
Shodan

12

looks at shoes shamefully

I actually do, but I confess that is about the extent of my ‘financial knowledge’.

The point I was trying to make was that I know of people that have lost their houses because they were unable to make the mortgage.

13

Sorry to continue with the Hijack, but they haven’t “lost their house”, it was never “their” house to begin with. That’s the thing about buying stuff you can’t cart off to the Bahamas, with borrowed money.

14

Well, they probably bought too much house for what they could afford. Banks are happy to loan people over what is prudent for them. But your questions raise an important issue. One of the things that benefits the non-poor is that they amass wealth (even $50,000) and pass that on to the next generation. It turns out that over time, assuming you do the expected amount of research and work, that a home will provide a very good, safe return—to yourself. Rent helps the other guy amass wealth and pass it on to his offspring.

The black community, or any community that finds itself stuck in cycles of poverty would do well to get into home ownership almost any way they can. The usual caveats, of course, applying.

15

People can spend their money however they see fit, but I simply find the way some people spend their money ridiculous. A friend of mine said they knew a guy that lived in a trailer but drove a Dodge Viper. Dude what the hell are you thinking? I’m a guy but I don’t get excited about cars really at all.

16

Hmm. You may have a point here. I have no intention of buying a house. I just simply have no desire to do so. My daughter will do well to study hard and work hard if she wants to be a homeowner, because I am not going to be handing her down any ‘wealth’.

Of course, I will pay for her education, that goes without saying.

Pool, what if the guy doesn’t mind living in a trailer park, but really loves driving that Viper? Isn’t that ok?

17

Sounds like he knew what was important to him and what wasn’t. Now if his kids are missing a good education or he’s using the free clinics instead of paying for decent medical care, then screw that guy.

But come on. Cars are fun and most of the time spent in your house is spent unconscious anyway.

18

Is it okay in the sense that it’s his money, to do with as he pleases? Yes. Would I encourage my hypothetical kid to do the same? No way. Then again, I don’t really get the concept of not wanting to be a home-owner. I do understand not wanting the headache, though. My feelings are the same as montstro’s.

19

This should clarify things for you. The short version is that some of us plan for the future instead of caring only for the present.

20

Want to summarize it for me? I’m on dial-up here.