[Orion27]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

I stumbled across this story in the Washington Post. The article posits a shortage of eligible black men. Black women are being encouraged to move outside their race to secure a future.
As a man this article upset me. I can imagine as an underachieving black man the premise is another blow to the black male.
We know males in general are falling behind the education curve. Black males, especially urban low income blacks have fallen off the the chart.
I think we can agree, education in the United Sates has disenfranchised men. Government initiatives in government hiring over the past decades have mostly favored women within the bureaucracy. Table 11. Employed persons by detailed occupation and sex, 2008 annual averages
I'm interested in what others think about this article. I'm particularly interested in a black mans perspective. We know the stereotype of the dominating smart black women. I think this stereotyping has just been validated by the liberal white Washington Post. And lets not forget Harry Reid's comments about violent and abusive unemployed men. Who would want to hire a man anyway?

Edit: My wording above: "I think this stereotyping has just been validated by the liberal white Washington Post." was not meant to convey the stereotype was true, but that the stereotype exists and the Washington Post has succeeded in propagating this stereotype to the benefit of no one. A truly troubling caricature.

[OAW]

This is a complex issue. The numbers are definitely discouraging. Having said that, part of the issue is the definition of "eligibility". If the single, college educated African-American woman's primary criteria for "eligibility" are A) African-American, B) college educated, and C) earns as much or more as her ... then the pickings will indeed be quite slim. Something will have to give to expand her options. That said, I disagree with the premise of the article that the only option is category A.

OAW

[Big Mac]

There was a very similar report on 20/20 months ago, and as a Jewish man it was disturbing for me to see. The numbers are indeed troubling for one, but aside from that I thought race wasn't as important in today's society as these types of reports imply with their heavy emphasis on race. I thought we'd moved farther than that.

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

There was a very similar report on 20/20 months ago, and as a Jewish man it was disturbing for me to see. The numbers are indeed troubling for one, but aside from that I thought race wasn't as important in today's society as these types of reports imply with their heavy emphasis on race. I thought we'd moved farther than that.

I think the news makes it about race but the people themselves make it about "staying with their own kind". And that attitude is much more common. (I think it is safe to assume that you, as an orthodox Jew, will be or are married to an orthodox Jew.)

The point being that most individuals date and marry within their own "kind" where the unifying factor is race, or language/ethnic background, or socio-economic status, or religion, etc. And people can transcend certain of those boundaries while not crossing others. Such as, you will find mixed-race marriages occur almost exclusively within the same socio-economic strata. A poor black person is more likely to marry a poor white person than either a rich white person OR rich black person because in this country socio-economic status trumps almost every other status marker. Whereas, for the heavily religious, beliefs are the key unifier. A hardcore Catholic will marry another hard-core Catholic from a different ethnic background before they would marry someone who is not a hard-core Catholic but of the same ethnicity. The same goes for orthodox Jews and orthodox Christians, for them religious beliefs are *the* determining factor in selecting a mate.

[Orion27]

I think there is a deeper issue. Why are women so disproportionately succeeding where men are failing? I think there is a societal trend that transcends race. Boys are currently being prescribed medication for any symptom that my suggest ADHD. Drugs which are intended, in my view, to make them more compliant. Women are more likely to be their teachers through early education. Physical education is either being eliminated or made effeminate. I happened to Google "Directory of National Women's Organizations". It returned many thousands of sites. I then Googled "Directory of National Men's Organization and I was asked: Did you Mean Directory of National Women's Organizations"? When I Googled "Directory of National Men's Organizations" the related links at the bottom were all Women's Organizations. All I'm saying is there is trouble in the black male community and given the overtly negative caricature of the black male in the article, why would the black community leave education and socialization primarily up to women? Especially black women?

[Hawkeye_a]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy 

socio-economic status trumps almost every other status marker

I am inclined to agree with this statement (not just pertaining to N.America). Had a discussion a few years ago and the conclusion was...irrespective of race, if people know your socio-economic status they treat you differently.

To put it bluntly, people(very general) have gone from being racists to prostitutes. imho lol