How about this - and I'm being fairly serious here - If you are Black and you play by the rules, and you are reasonably intelligent, you can have the world by the ass.
"Playing by the rules" equals,
You will be fine. Employers will covet your resume and your presence. Life will be good.
- making the most of your free public education, as well as,
- taking advantage of scholarships and whatnot that are geared to People of Color,
- getting an education or a trade that actually has economic value in the real world,
- speaking good grammatical (American) English, at least when speaking to people outside your inner circle,
- dressing like a normal person,
- grooming yourself like a normal person,
- avoiding unemployment (it's easy if you try) and working diligently at your job,
- not looking for reasons to be offended,
- engaging with a Christian Church,
- not having children outside marriage,
- strictly obeying the law and avoiding people who do not,
- avoiding substance abuse,
- making prudent decisions with your own finances (live within your means and avoid unnecessary debt), and finally,
- if college ain't for you, considering military service as a springboard to adulthood.
Thanks for the serious and thoughtful comments.
Yes, nowhere else in this world do people of African ancestry have more opportunities than here in the States. (That's why many African people want to come here, by the way.)
Yes, the treatment of African Americans before the 1960s was terrible (they even had to use separate drinking fountains in the South! Even Richard Nixon lamented the fact that they could not enter many restaurants in both the South AND North for lunch).
Since the1960s, Caucasians (especially those labeled "progressives") have done everything possible to make up for this country's discrimination against them.
That is why it is so sad that SOME of them continue to demonize Caucasian Americans.