# There are black people, then there are...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-black-people-then-there-are/302031>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 2, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-black-people-then-there-are/302031 "2005-05-02T05:41:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![orbitingio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@orbitingio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orbitingio)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-black-people-then-there-are/302031/41 "2005-05-03T23:44:20Z")

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> [@holmes](#):
>
> …and the term “hood” went out of style many, many years ago.

What are you talking about?

This year alone there’ve been like a dozen very popular singles that make reference to “the hood” or things being “hood” (adj.) in some way or another.

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**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-black-people-then-there-are/302031/42 "2005-05-03T23:52:14Z")

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That’s the point. popular. watered down…reduced to cliche for the mass market to understand. “urban” dialogue and descriptions aren’t used in popular songs, by the time it reaches that point, it’s no longer “in style”; it’s just popular.

YMMV, of course

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-black-people-then-there-are/302031/43 "2005-05-04T00:24:31Z")

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> [@brickbacon](#):
>
> Or more likely because we were denied access to education, job opportunities, and almost everything else for generations. Sure, most of the judicial barricades are gone, but the racism that existed in the Jim crow days is still with us. Are you saying blacks are inherently lazy?

They are…but no more or less than the rest of us. As Chris Rock also said in one of his skits, we are a nation of B and C students. B and C black students don’t get to run companies or be president.

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**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-black-people-then-there-are/302031/44 "2005-05-04T01:30:52Z")

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> [@brickbacon](#):
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> You act as though blacks were rich before crack came around and dried up all the wealth. I’m not saying everyone is out to get blacks people, just that the economic and social inequality came far before some black guy acted in a self-destructive way.

Not at all; I was quite careful to start off with a caveat: “People are poor for many reasons, and some of them, including discrimination, are beyond their control.” If you want to change that “some” to “most” I won’t argue.

Indeed, IMO the whole root of the problem is that slavery cut off American blacks from traditional African cultures.

> [@](#):
>
> I’m not giving anyone a pass for being a criminal, but for people to act like blacks culture is solely responsible is wrong.

No one is saying that. We are saying that culture, behavior and choices bear _some_ responsibility. Perhaps more importantly, they are the things African-Americans have the most power to change.

> [@](#):
>
> Also, your comparison between voluntary immigrants and blacks is faulty for a number of reasons.

Flawed, yes. Completely invalid, no.

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