@the intellect,
The best thing for American minorities would be to be held to the same standards
as "regular" Americans. Sure, they have a harder time of it, a
harder history to overcome, and not all will make successes of themselves
like the ones who do... and that will make them just like "regular" Americans.
The unfortunate development after the civil rights movement succeeded in
doing away with institutionalized racism in America is that, with the misguided
view that it was the right way to set minorities on the path to being like
anglo-america, nothing a minority did could be questioned.
It would be the equivalent of telling white America it is unable to demand
that "lower class" caucasians assimilate themselves into middle-class, or
above, culture, speech, educational achievements and behavior in order
to participate in those segments of society.
The "Whigger" class has indeed evolved out of this, and it isn't necessarily
accepted in white mainstream America, and make no mistake this group
of Americans are angry, and identify more with the african-american
underclass than the white American mainstream.
African-americans need to assimilate themselves into American society,
instead of constantly trying to differentiate themselves then complaining
about being marginialized because of their identity. The "American"
identity is flexible, and a result of a blending of everything within its
borders. Whenever something from african-american society is adapted
by the mainstream, it's abandoned by african-americans. That's petty, and
the instances I'm talking about are disposable pop culture anyway, but it
does illiustrate the pattern.
America IS the land of opportunity for those willing to assimilate themselves
into its culture.
Is that little requirement too much to ask?
Oh, by the way, I come from a multi-ethnic background. I have relatives of
every shade and race imaginable. Some have done very well. Some haven't.
That goes for instances in the same primary family. The common thread
is the individual's identity being broadly definied enough to allow them to
participate in the larger society, or defined small enough to prohibit them
from doing so.
