Black Meccas of America...

[murksiderock]

I'm of the opinion that there is more than one "black mecca" in America because THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE population centers that are drawing black folk, and have the institutions abd legacy of drawing us. Now let's be clear:

There is no "perfect" place for black people in America. The areas that are 60% black are suffering from most of the same disenfranchisement and systemic racism against Black Americans. Like Dora, I'm also extensively traveled and have lived on both coasts and in many of the same cities she's lived in (DC, Atlanta, LA)...

The more places you see, the more if the same. @dorathedestroyer and I are viewing the same thing from different sides but I think at the root we aren’t actually that much in disagreement....

Atlanta is certainly an American black mecca. My issue with calling it the sole mecca, or primary one, is that I the constant glorification of blackness in Atlanta, we completely omit the ills of what the everyday black man and black family are experiencing there---->but we're all too quick to speak on the drawbacks of being black in California...

New York is certainly a black mecca, but similarly, we omit public information that Black New Yorkers are experiencing there, including the rapid flight of black people from BOTH The City and it's suburbs. If it were so unfailingly great for black people, why are black people leaving NY?

That's a rhetorical question, we know the answers, and black people leaving NY doesn't exclude it from being a black mecca. The point is we're grading LA and California on a curve that we aren't allowing for other cities even though other cities are experiencing much of the same issues Black California is..

For Dora, her emotional investment in California is probably higher than anywhere else so the criticism is harsher. For everyone else, I feel like the criticism of California serves a bias and ego to project and protect what's happening in other regions, but if we're all black and we care about the black experience we all have in this conversation why the lack of transparency of blackness across the board, why only talk about the positives of places outside California?

 

[murksiderock]

@JadeB

So doing some quick math, and I'm going to be diving deep into this over time, but doing some quick math, I think it's fair to say that up to 50% of multiracial Americans have Black ancestry...

The thing with this, the Other/Multiracial category allows people to select up to six races on the Census. Obviously, even if half the self-identified multiracial people here have black lineage, we know that not all of those people will identify as black. But because of the legacy of people over here intermixing with people of African descent for well over 400 years, I do not think 50% is a far fetched number, because the other 50% accounts for the people of other backgrounds who have mixed but have less history here than we do...

So if you add 50% of multiracial population to the stated black population of the '20 Census, you're adding around ~6.8 million people, which takes the Black American count from 12.3% to ~14.4% (~47.6 million blacks from ~40.8 million)...

That 14.4% of US population feels more accurate than 12.3%, I think that's fair and even up to 15% of the population, also accounting for the many areas we aren't represented within The Union...

But I'm going to continue diving deep on this to see what I can find over time!

 

[Cadillac]

I'm of the opinion that there is more than one "black mecca"

you lose the meaning of "black mecca" key word being mecca if you think there is more than 1

there can only be 1, and that is Atlanta. I dont care for atlanta and have no plans of moving there. but it is the mecca of black america.

making it more than 1 is just giving out cooperation championships

 

[010101]

..........*

 

[murksiderock]

you lose the meaning of "black mecca" key word being mecca if you think there is more than 1

there can only be 1, and that is Atlanta. I dont care for atlanta and have no plans of moving there. but it is the mecca of black america.

making it more than 1 is just giving out cooperation championships

Nowhere is black mecca, or even mecca itself, defined as only "one". So I respect that, that's how you look at it, but I don't and neither does any other source...

We are in agreement of Atlanta as "a" black mecca, just not "the" mecca in my opinion because no singular city holds that distinction in a nation of 40-45 million black people, who aren't native to this continent, in a nation where the very structure of how the nation operates isn't set up for our success---->so we find success in many places...

Here's a recent article, one of many, that talk about the big mecca of Atlanta:

How Atlanta Became a City I Barely Recognize

Atlanta’s growth over the past half century has delivered great prosperity. But it's also the capital of yawning racial disparities.

www.politico.com

 

[Cadillac]

Nowhere is black mecca, or even mecca itself, defined as only "one". So I respect that, that's how you look at it, but I don't and neither does any other source...

We are in agreement of Atlanta as "a" black mecca, just not "the" mecca in my opinion because no singular city holds that distinction in a nation of 40-45 million black people, who aren't native to this continent, in a nation where the very structure of how the nation operates isn't set up for our success---->so we find success in many places...

Here's a recent article, one of many, that talk about the big mecca of Atlanta:

How Atlanta Became a City I Barely Recognize

Atlanta’s growth over the past half century has delivered great prosperity. But it's also the capital of yawning racial disparities.

www.politico.com

I just got off my PC so I don't feel like bringing up anything external or sources to help my point rn plus I'm a keep my post brief for now

there's a reason why mecca of anything is 1 place or thing. Not multiple places(unless you can find me a example)

All the other cities are losing black americans(LA, NY, CHI) or just don't have the cultural impact to be up there(DC, Bmore)


Not the response/rebuttal I wanted but for now I'm not in the mood to post a longer post

 

[murksiderock]

The article I linked is an educating read for something I and a handful of others have touched on before, there us an imagery attached to Atlanta that represents only the most glamorous and most fortunate black citizens---->not the average, regular, every day Atlanta...

Because if we give Atlanta the same microscope we give Los Angeles (and a select few other cities), we find many of the same issues exist, many of which are systemic...

I have no problem with speaking on the drawbacks of being black in Los Angeles. My only problem is that no other big city on this board is given that same degree of microscopic introspection, which in some ways, is worse. Atlanta has had black citizens for a long, long time, and still thru successes had the same white power structure in place, has and has had the same social issues in place, have had the same economic and financial barriers in place, etc; in a city with a much, much larger black foundation to begin with...

I also used to live in Metro ATL and have Saud time and again there's the public PR Atlanta that is broadcast mainstream, and there's the other Atlanta, the real but less fun and glamorous Atlanta that the average person doesn't hear about. It's no secret I'm not a fan of the city for multiple reasons---->but I still give it its respect as a black mecca...

But when we have these conversations we can have real conversations minus the hyperbole, that are transparent about the pros and cons of each city in question, rather than narrative spinning for group think. Because again, THERE IS NO UTOPIA or perfect place to be black in the United States of America. There are some places better than others, but perfection doesn't exist, and it will always bother me when the bias that gets LA shyt on, on here, isn't applied to other cities...

 

[Cadillac]

The article I linked is an educating read for something I and a handful of others have touched on before, there us an imagery attached to Atlanta that represents only the most glamorous and most fortunate black citizens---->not the average, regular, every day Atlanta...

Because if we give Atlanta the same microscope we give Los Angeles (and a select few other cities), we find many of the same issues exist, many of which are systemic...

I have no problem with speaking on the drawbacks of being black in Los Angeles. My only problem is that no other big city on this board is given that same degree of microscopic introspection, which in some ways, is worse. Atlanta has had black citizens for a long, long time, and still thru successes had the same white power structure in place, has and has had the same social issues in place, have had the same economic and financial barriers in place, etc; in a city with a much, much larger black foundation to begin with...

I also used to live in Metro ATL and have Saud time and again there's the public PR Atlanta that is broadcast mainstream, and there's the other Atlanta, the real but less fun and glamorous Atlanta that the average person doesn't hear about. It's no secret I'm not a fan of the city for multiple reasons---->but I still give it its respect as a black mecca...

But when we have these conversations we can have real conversations minus the hyperbole, that are transparent about the pros and cons of each city in question, rather than narrative spinning for group think. Because again, THERE IS NO UTOPIA or perfect place to be black in the United States of America. There are some places better than others, but perfection doesn't exist, and it will always bother me when the bias that gets LA shyt on, on here, isn't applied to other cities...

You should know where I am given the other thread. So you know I'm not coming from a place of shytting on LA

but given what mecca is, it's ATL, ATL ain't perfect but it's the closest to a thing as that

I'm no fan of the city either

 

[TMBlue]

Baltimore ain't the DMV.

 

[Cadillac]

And ATL being the mecca don't make it some flawless city or that it's better or that the people there are better.(they aint)

Nor does the other cities not being "meccas" mean they are lesser than
or that black Americans in those cities we are lesser than.

So I'm not someone who holds ATL on some pedestal. I don't care for ATL at all or have any plans moving there. Nor moving anyplace SE really.

 

[murksiderock]

You should know where I am given the other thread. So you know I'm not coming from a place of shytting on LA

but given what mecca is, it's ATL, ATL ain't perfect but it's the closest to a thing as that

I'm no fan of the city either

And ATL being the mecca don't make it some flawless city or that it's better or that the people there are better.(they aint)

Nor does the other cities not being "meccas" mean they are lesser than
or that black Americans in those cities we are lesser than.

So I'm not someone who holds ATL on some pedestal. I don't care for ATL at all or have any plans moving there. Nor moving anyplace SE really.

Bruh my comments about people talking about Atlanta free if criticism isn't directed at you specifically ...

And I'm okay with agreeing to disagree with the interpretation of what "black mecca" is...

 

[Spence]

I’ve lived in Houston my entire life, it isn’t a Black Mecca by any metric

I hear Martha’s Vinyard is on and poppin though, also a couple pockets in NC

DC, Detroit, Chicago, Philly & Harlem basically round out the list of a standard top 5 (in no particular order)

 

[3rd Ward Swangin]

Houston has 2 HBCU's arguably, even though Prairie View is on the outskirts.

Houston also had the first Martin Luther King Jr parade.

Houston is the only other city that has a black owned bank.



I'll be back to let y'all know to put some respect on the name.