Racist or Realist 2895

Actually, one of the major problems for black communities is that that's often *not* the case. In other ethnic communities (Italian, Irish, Russian, etc.), it has historically been common for people to remain within the community even after they "make it". When this goes on for a couple of generations, it pulls the whole community up. In contrast, the historical pattern in black communities has largely been that when people find success, they move away, often to predominantly white suburban areas.

I think a lot of this does, in fact, have to do with the fact that "black culture" is buttociated with so many negative traits. If you're Irish, and you break into the middle-clbutt, you probably still identify with your Irish community, because there's nothing in Irish culture which says you can't be successful and Irish. On the other hand, a lot of people, including a lot of blacks, *do* see something like that in black culture. So, when they become successful, they stop identifying with that culture.

The black power movements were, in large part, about changing this aspect of black culture from within, rather than abandoning black culture outright, which is the solution the "white" mainstream typically advocates.

-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." -- George W. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005