an overview:
Beginning in the 17th century and continuing until the early 19th century, black people were brought to the American Colonies against their will to be held in slavery...
these people, coming from dozens of different tribes (many of whom had nothing in common with the others except for skin color) were thrown together on the slave market and ended up somewhere where there was a very good chance that they lost track of others from their ancestral tribes... as a result, bonds to tribal mores and customs were lost over time with each generation of offspring slaves that came of pairings between blacks of different tribes...
Slave owners encouraged male and female slaves to pair off and make baby slaves... but, in many cases, there was no guarantee that the resultant family would be held together...
after the War Between The States, blacks were ostensibly free to go their own way and make their own choices… but they were impeded by the inherent bias against them in both the North and the South…
in spite of that, blacks were largely able to attain some sense of normalcy in forming families… even though many lived in poverty conditions… and had essentially no connection with their tribal roots…
then came the Great Society and the War on Poverty (and subsequent similar “well-intentioned” federal programs), which inadvertently encouraged black fathers to stay away from their families... and black mothers to make more babies to got more benefits… which, combined with the lack of legitimate economic opportunities in low-income areas and the War on Drugs, has resulted in the epidemic of black grandmothers raising their grandchildren and young black guys being held in prison... and black folks generally being pissed off about the way the system works…
Beginning in the 17th century and continuing until the early 19th century, black people were brought to the American Colonies against their will to be held in slavery...
these people, coming from dozens of different tribes (many of whom had nothing in common with the others except for skin color) were thrown together on the slave market and ended up somewhere where there was a very good chance that they lost track of others from their ancestral tribes... as a result, bonds to tribal mores and customs were lost over time with each generation of offspring slaves that came of pairings between blacks of different tribes...
Slave owners encouraged male and female slaves to pair off and make baby slaves... but, in many cases, there was no guarantee that the resultant family would be held together...
after the War Between The States, blacks were ostensibly free to go their own way and make their own choices… but they were impeded by the inherent bias against them in both the North and the South…
in spite of that, blacks were largely able to attain some sense of normalcy in forming families… even though many lived in poverty conditions… and had essentially no connection with their tribal roots…
then came the Great Society and the War on Poverty (and subsequent similar “well-intentioned” federal programs), which inadvertently encouraged black fathers to stay away from their families... and black mothers to make more babies to got more benefits… which, combined with the lack of legitimate economic opportunities in low-income areas and the War on Drugs, has resulted in the epidemic of black grandmothers raising their grandchildren and young black guys being held in prison... and black folks generally being pissed off about the way the system works…
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