Blacks and Arabs the Detroit Divide

[get these nets]

With that said, I give a massive shout out to Arab and Black women in the area. No one has done more to try and tie the rifts between our communities than them. I've never seen more dinners, talks, meet-ups and the sort organized by women specifically with the objective of interracial and interfaith cooperation its beautiful.

Also, these adversarial relationships don't really occur in professional/educational settings. However, you have a LARGE under-educated cohorts of both Black men and Arab men...that when they meet there's friction. Especially considering Arab small business owners were given an economic cheat code and can pass them down to those under-educated sons.
This is very important. There IS resentment in our communities about the stifling of our self-determination. But Arab folks aren't the enemy because they were given the preferential treatment...its the system that allowed them that treatment in the first place.

I agree with most of what you said except for the parts I highlighted. I am not from Detroit so cannot speak about that region. I think that attitudes about race permeate entire cultures though, all classes.
Educated people from Middle East hold the same views about African people as those of other classes. Difference is that they are not interacting with Blacks from the merchant to customer relationship. Blacks that well educated Arabs deal with are on equal footing, so they not in dominant position when dealing with them.

Arab views toward Africans have developed over centuries and predate them coming to America.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

I agree with most of what you said except for the parts I highlighted. I am not from Detroit so cannot speak about that region. I think that attitudes about race permeate entire cultures though, all classes.
Educated people from Middle East hold the same views about African people as those of other classes. Difference is that they are not interacting with Blacks from the merchant to customer relationship. Blacks that well educated Arabs deal with are on equal footing, so they not in dominant position when dealing with them.

Arab views toward Africans have developed over centuries and predate them coming to America.

This may be true. But Detroit is a very strange case....there's ALOT of well-off black in the region and just as man if not more living in abject poverty. So the picture they are getting is prolly confusing as hell..(another reason why bigotry is stupid is because you have to judge individually).

But my main concern isn't really with that, its with how WE react to them. Cuz that's really all we can control truly is ourselves. There's no real logical reason for an African-American to be bigoted against an Arab-American that they've never met.

The context you speak of in terms of arabs and africans is weaker on this side of the world AND not to mention the cultural exchange that happens ALOT between Arabs and Black folks...especially here in Detroit.

 

[Kane1]

I went to D town a while back to see this young lady




Worst place on earth how anyone can try and make a life there is beyond me

 

[get these nets]

This may be true. But Detroit is a very strange case....there's ALOT of well-off black in the region and just as man if not more living in abject poverty. So the picture they are getting is prolly confusing as hell..(another reason why bigotry is stupid is because you have to judge individually).

But my main concern isn't really with that, its with how WE react to them. Cuz that's really all we can control truly is ourselves. There's no real logical reason for an African-American to be bigoted against an Arab-American that they've never met.

The context you speak of in terms of arabs and africans is weaker on this side of the world AND not to mention the cultural exchange that happens ALOT between Arabs and Black folks...especially here in Detroit.

Again, not from Detroit so will defer to you on some things. Went to school with several people from the D, and I think what makes the relationships unique is not the disparity between Black wealth, but the sheer amount of Arabs. Dearborn is and has been one of the biggest enslaves of Arabs in America, correct? I think that has more impact on the nature of the Black/Arab relations than anything.

I think in area with so many Arabs, that people would be less likely to assimilate and that all aspects of their culture back home are strong. Like Jews in New York City for example, so many of them here that a lot of their culture(s) are intact.

Again, despite education and Americanization....parts of culture..including attitudes about Blacks remain strong.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

Again, not from Detroit so will defer to you on some things. Went to school with several people from the D, and I think what makes the relationships unique is not the disparity between Black wealth, but the sheer amount of Arabs. Dearborn is and has been one of the biggest enslaves of Arabs in America, correct? I think that has more impact on the nature of the Black/Arab relations than anything.

I think in area with so many Arabs, that people would be less likely to assimilate and that all aspects of their culture back home are strong. Like Jews in New York City for example, so many of them here that a lot of their culture(s) are intact.

Again, despite education and Americanization....parts of culture..including attitudes about Blacks remain strong.

You are correct in saying numbers are a major factor

But on the day to day, to be honest its a weird amalgamation of both. There are large parts of Dearborn rich and poor that have totally latched on to certain aspects of American culture and specifically BLACK culture. While many traditions still do persist the level of interaction is so high that none of it is really weird. Its like hearing Spanish in LA. Its not even an concept of "otherness" anymore. But again that's to the middle-class and upper-class. The adversarial shyt comes from the underclass, in which their traditions (both black and arab) are rooted in exclusivity.

 

[get these nets]

You are correct in saying numbers are a major factor

But on the day to day, to be honest its a weird amalgamation of both. There are large parts of Dearborn rich and poor that have totally latched on to certain aspects of American culture and specifically BLACK culture. While many traditions still do persist the level of interaction is so high that none of it is really weird. Its like hearing Spanish in LA. Its not even an concept of "otherness" anymore. But again that's to the middle-class and upper-class. The adversarial shyt comes from the underclass, in which their traditions (both black and arab) are rooted in exclusivity.

good discussion.....will continue later

I have a lot of thoughts about this

 

[Badmon]

I thought you was banned.

I was never banned whatchu talmbout ?

 

[get these nets]

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