I thought that this thread was about posters. You know, large pictures. Silly me.
There are plenty of A-A posters in my neighborhood. 
This thread would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
Peace,
mangeorge
A note about Amsterdam/the Netherlands and race relations:
The colonies in Suriname and The Netherlands Antilles WERE slave oriented. While the Dutch were more Traders than anything else, they did have Plantations in both places and they were one of the most important countries in the slave trade itself. At present there are several exhibitons about race relations and the salve trade both here in the Netherlands Antilles as well as in Holland. The fact that race relations in Holland at present are (apparently) much better than in the states probably has more to do with the character of the Dutch people and those of african decent who consider themselves dutch nationals. That is not to say there is NO racial tension in Holland or its former colonies, just that there seems to be less than in the states. - another point that always strikes me about american T.V. and that the NUMBER of African Americans appearing on T.V. is all out of proportion to their % of the total population (which I understand is 10%)Why are African Americans over-represented on TV? My guess is that it is a reaction to the time when they hardly ever appeared on TV or in films.
By the way, I am white of irish/english/german decent, my wife is from Suriname and is of african/americanindian/chinese&german decent. I love the internet and SDMB, she could care less. Go figure, it is not that she is not intellegent, in fact her IQ is far far higher than mine, it is just that computers/internet etc do not ring her bell, she is into quilting/ceramics/painting and other artsy stuff. She says she would rather do something than talk about it.
Hmmm, talk about making leaps…
Your defensiveness suggests much more than your OP though. My intention was to mildly let you know that you were treading a thin line with the naive assumption that, because you saw no black people on the SDPP, there were no black posters here. It wasn’t meant as an attack on your character and I apologize if it seemed that way.
-Demo
Maybe more African-Americans have lives.
Sorry, that sounds more Trollish than I intended (like, at all). What I mean is, most of my African-American friends and co-workers spend far more time with real people than I do. They seem to have a greater sense of community – perhaps it’s the ‘sameness of their difference’.
Thus, less time spent interacting virtually.
I was going to send in a real picture, but now I think I’ll instead have to dig out one of me in minstrel make-up. Hey, I do a mean “Kingfish.”
Retief:
Excellent post man, I couldn’t have said it better. Welcome aboard, by the way: I hadn’t seen you around untill now. What Antilles island are you on?
You are very right in saying that the Dutch colonial history was slave-oriented. We did exploit people in Suriname. What’s more: the trading of slaves is of course no better than the exploitation of them! During the Golden Age (17th Century), the Portuguese and the Dutch dominated slave trade and transportation the world over. Ships would leave Amsterdam with “colonists” (locally unwanted white trash that was told to convert or kill the blacks, really) to drop off in Africa. There, they’d load up a cargo of slaves. Sell the slaves in the New World, and sail back to Europe with a hull full of potatoes. Repeat ad infinitum.
As proud as I can be of my country as it is today, I try to make sure I always balance it out against our darker past. In a sense, we’re only making up for mistakes made.
seriousart wrote
In my experience there are very few blacks in the software development industry. However, the issue isn’t that jobs aren’t being offered. The issue is that people (black people that is) aren’t applying. In the past several years I’ve hired perhaps 300 engineers, which means I’ve interviewed over 1,000 candidates. Of that 1,000, I can only recall 5 who were black. (There may have been more; 1,000 is a lot of people). But even as a rough approximation, you can see that’s a massive under-representation.
I don’t know where the breakdown is, but I suspect education at all levels, culture, and the lack of computers in the homes. Ultimately, I suspect this like most problems is related more to the lack of money than skin color.
By the way, of the 5 I mentioned above, 2 were not born in America, so we’re really talking 3 native African Americans.
It’s quite sad. The revolution is passing by the most needy.
Moderator’s Notes: I’ve reviewed this thread quite meticulously and I see no reason to close it. We will, however, be monitoring closely.
From seriousart who, initiated the topic:
I couldn’t agree more. Carry on.
I’m Maori, does that count?
Not that you can tell by looking at me, but I am anyway.
I agree, this is a fascinating subject. I found this report from the US Department of Commerce.
Here is one quote I found relevant:
These figures are from 1998, BTW. Now, we just got to figure out how to get Internet and Computer access to everyone in America who wants it.
This is a subject I am particularly interested in, because I am preparing for a career as a school librarian. In most schools these days the library, or “media center” also functions as a computer lab. I have already noticed a big difference between the children who have a computer in the home and those who do not. I am worried that this gap might become larger over time, and affect the children in other ways. Especially as more and more subjects in school become “invaded” by computers.
(Sorry for going off on a tangent. I feel very strongly that all children should be given an equal playing field. Maybe one day…)
I live in Curacao and co-incidently my house is located on land that was formerly Plantation Damasco at Janthiel (I understand the original owner was Jan van Thiel? but that may or may not be correct) By the way many people in Curacao and Suriname ( my wife being one of them) have inherited former plantation land from the former owners who often turned the lands over to their slaves when the plantation system went bust with the abolution of slavery. Very often, of course the slaves who inherited the land were also children of the Slave owners.
Back to the OP, I am quite sure that there is a large number of African-decended people on the net. (I use this term as I am much more aware of the peoples around me than I am of African Americans per se) Most people in Curacao are coloured and the internet is quite popular here. Of course people in lower income brackets would be much less likely to be on-line, and even at work by the very nature of their jobs would not have access to the web. However I have visited very humble homes indeed and have found there satellite TV installations, home theater installations, video cameras etc and the latest models of computers. In these homes it is generally a high-school kid who has the computer, and who is probably much more proficent than you or I in web surfing. He/she is much more likely to be on MP3 or other youth related channels than on SDMB (The same goes for kids from higher income homes too)
What I am trying to say is that although African Americans may be under-represented on SDMB’s, I don’t think they are under-represented on the Web as a whole any more than other minority groups (native americans / esquimo / puertorican / dominicans)
I read Assata Shakur’s autobiographical story of her unjust imprisonment and resulting escape from prison. Shakur was (is?) a member of the Black Liberation Army, a more militany wing of the Black Panthers. Assata used both of the above spellings, when she was talking about the injustice and racism in this country, she referred to it as “amerika,” and when she was referring to it geographically, she called it “America.” So take from that what you will.
I started a thread with this exact same thought process.
I was accussed of being a racist, which is laughable.
This is serious deja vu all over again.
Anyway, I found out about one poster who was black, and though I do not wish to out this person (who is probably watching this with amusement), I will say that I don’t think you are a racist.
After all, I started up a thread bemoaning the lack of any Muslim folks here on another trhread, and nobody is accusing me of being anti-Arab.
Yer pal,
Satan
I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Three months, two weeks, one day, 13 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds.
4262 cigarettes not smoked, saving $532.84.
Life saved: 2 weeks, 19 hours, 10 minutes.
Well, almost nobody, you Muslim basher!
Of course, as the majority of Muslims in the US are African American, that’s the reason I attributed to the lack of Muslims on this board. (I think…seems I heard that in my media psych class. Could be wrong, I’m not emotionally attached to it.) I’m here for ya, Satan. [The Following is a Parody.] Gee, because you are willing to point out the seeming lack of minorities on this board, you are a racist. Because anyone who recognizes and celebrates the differences in diversity is a racist. It’s much better to pretend everyone is the same. [End Parody]
Who wants to hold hands and sing “Blowin’ In the Wind?”
I’m so glad to see a good sense of humor in the majority here. As to the OP, I can’t reall answer because I don’t know, but as for the other posts regarding whether it is some sort of racial issue, or symptom of discrimination, I can tell you that where I live, it can be attributed to lack of education. It’s not even racial here, it’s widespread throughout my entire neighborhood, where the public school system here is an abysmal excuse for the institution of learning. I tutor the children that are willing to learn on my block in using computers, and let them all have a go at mine. They are ethnically different, varying from south American, to Latino, to Indian, Italian and Black. All of them are American citizens as far as they are concerned, but the demographics probably show that as ‘minorities’ they outnumber the ‘whites’ of this area and thus have some negative impact. Whereas they are all associated statistically with the numbers that show the lack of whites in jail as compared to non whites…etc.
I doubt “conspicous” was the right word to use without expecting some sort of reaction like this in hind sight. I agree that seriousart was not being in any form racially discriminating though, and was simply curious. So am I now that it’s been brought up though, where are all the pictures? I wanna see 8000 pictures!
I found this
*
ISLAM IN NORTH AMERICA
by Dr. Aminah B. McCloud
Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Religious
Studies at DePaul University, Chicago
The largest single contingent of Muslims in America is African
American.*
I have to say it surprised me. I live in the Bay Area. And we have far more not African Muslims than African. But, that’s [robably cause we’re a metro area. Learn something new everyday.
By the way, I am curious, where do I click to see these pictures, If I click on “members” I am told “sorry, the administration has disabled members”, so where do you click to see the pictures, I would like to post mine too !!!