Pitbulls have a bad rep for being a overly aggressive breed. I used to have a male pitbull who was the sweetest, gentlest dog there was. Wouldn't hurt a mouse. Why? He was taught that way. We gave him lots of affection and taught him to respect strangers. And so he did the same cause that's what he was taught and all he knows.
When I was driving with one of my black former co-worker, we gets stares by every cops we passes by. Him and another former co-worker was, and still is drug dealers (on the side, and small time). He even said nonsense like F the police.
That former co-worker's sons are now leading the same life style as their dad. Misbehaving and fighting in school and such. And he did not do anything about it, and he don't live with them either.
Cops approach blacks more cautiously because they have a bad reputation. Unfortunately blacks are born with more hurdles to overcome than other ethnics.
The Pitt Bulls angle is a false equivalency. If you look at the data on dog bites, they are the least likely dog to bite, with the fewest bites per dog/breed each year.
The stigma surrounding pitt bulls as aggressive and killers is pure sensationalism mixed with young men who get them and train them to be aggressive to feel powerful.
The statistics on black men and violent crimes is what it is, they are responsible for the vast majority of violent crime per capita. Murders, rapes, assault, etc.
At some point we do need to get to the why of this. A famous and hated Canadian Professor at the University of Ontario published a lot of scientific info on race and IQ.
His work is the subject of great ridicule and hatred.
I won't discuss that here or anywhere really because people will say "IQ is not a subjective metric of ones intelligence". Well, why can't those folks who say this come up with anything else to measure intelligence that is a subjective metric then?
It is the best metric we have, but people will deny it's use when discussing race and get very heated about it.
So let's discuss something else. Culture. A lot of folks in black communities (Not all of course) are indoctrinated with the culture of "Street Cred".
Street cred is a damaging culture to take part in. Regardless of skin pigment.
For instance- if you aren't "hard" and back it up with certain criminal or violent actions, you are then considered weak and ridiculed and targeted. So kids grow up thinking they have to emulate this "hard" attitude and it perpetuates criminal and violent activity.
Black folks who apply themselves and work hard are called all sorts of derogatory and hateful names, none I would care to speak of or write down other than "Uncle Toms".
They are ostracized from their community for working hard to better themselves and escape the rampant violence and crime ridden lifestyles.
See how this can be a bad thing for young kids growing up in these areas, seeing this type of stuff all day and having to pick a side. I think the side that beats the shit out of you unless you are like them definitely sways the opinions and choices of more than a few young folks who might choose better otherwise.
It's perpetuated by black folks in television, music and movies. Look at rap music- how much of it is about uplifting one another versus "bang bang, kill kill, cryps, bloods N this N that- whitey keeping you down", etc. It perpetuates the street cred and violence. Emboldens and glorifies the criminal culture.
And then they are also told by leaders in the black community (Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton-- et al) that all of their problems are systemic white racism based problems. That they are downtrodden because of white people making them that way.
Folks like Jesse and Al do much greater harm to their communities than they do good. They perpetuate the cycle instead of helping to break it. They keep other black folks down and make tons of money doing it. It's pathetic.
I don't think there is an easy answer to this problem. People want to put it in a single box based on their opinions and say "look this is it right here". But that doesn't work.
Racism is ALWAYS going to exist, it is a part of human nature.
But lets be honest, race relations were getting better and better for a very long time until the most recent administration came into power and started fomenting racial divide.
Today black people aren't treated like they were in the 1700's-1800's, or the 1920's-1960's. They have great opportunity, support and assistance from the state and they aren't being targeted for systemic demise.
If black leaders and folks focused more on bettering and changing their own communities, not buying into the street cred culture and perpetuating and glorifying hate/criminality and also worked on finding ways to lift each other up without blaming white people- they would be much better off.
I'll give an example that is specific to me and my experiences. I am 30% Cherokee/Native American Indian.
I've never used it to make other people feel bad, never to get ahead or hold something over someone else. I never use it to separate myself from others or blame them for stuff that happened eons ago.
I am proud of my heritage and I know what happened to my ancestors in this country- it was a terrible time and I will not willfully ignore it nor embrace it and use it against people as "Racism" or "hate". I simply know where I came from and what some people hundreds of years ago did to some of my ancestors.
I grew up in a bad neighborhood and was the second child of a single mother. I experienced the culture of street cred first hand. I saw people in my same situation perpetuate that situation and I saw others work their asses off and get out and make their situation better. I chose to work hard, read a lot of books and apply myself to better myself.
Some of my buddies from those times are still perpetuating their own shit situation. Still living in the same hood, still selling drugs, etc.
It's a choice. It can be a hard one to make and NO it isn't easy; especially when others make it even harder on you.
But you still have that choice. Especially here in this country where we have been given such a beautiful thing in a Constitutional Republic. The opportunity that exists in this country is amazing, one just needs to decide what they want to do, apply themselves and the sky is the limit.
My Grandfather used to tell me: "people do not walk on you, you allow them to walk on you, people do not suddenly find themselves in trouble, they get themselves into trouble, people aren't turned into saints or sinners, they make themselves into saints or sinners- you have the freedom to choose whatever it is you want to do and deal with the consequences of those decisions. Act on your ambition and the world will be what you make it."
Powerful words I have lived my life by. I think more folks need to hear such words and carefully consider them.
Everything is relative to the observer. We make the world what it is.
