I understand what your saying and where your comming from, but I don't think that you understand that there are many who don't want to achieve anything but to breathe every morning. For various reasons, there are some who just don't care. There are many others who live good lives as working professionals. We must define this idea of success. To some it's being a multimillionare. To others, it's just having a ok place to live in the burbs. I have seen people come from the ghetto to acheive a higher economic status in society. I have also seen people in the ghetto who only want to stay in the ghetto. When we speak of racial Unity, it is important to identify the goal that unity is going to produce. It is my belief that those who have would not like to lose it and end up in the ghetto or dead. It is also my belief thatmany who live in the ghetto do not want to leave because that is all they know and they are comfortable with all of the government aid. There are many who live in the burbs who are unwilling to help those in the ghetto out of fear. Fear that they will be robbed, hurt or killed. Fear that they are going to waste time on people who may not understand the significance of their own economic growth and ceative potential. As a matter of fact, most crime committed by "Blacks" is against other "Blacks". In the dream world Unity would be idea. Many poor "blacks" feel that the middle class or rich "blacks" have acheived their economic status through entertainment or "selling out". If you speak the "American" standard version of English, and you try to speak to somone in the ghetto, they are automatically suspicious of you. They may think because you are articulate, that you think your smarter or better than them. To compensate for their own insecurity, they may rob you. They may kill you. Is unification worth that? I think not. After all, I have only one life. The only two things that I can do is tell them to get their own, and provide information on how to do that. When it comes to unity for African Americans, the people that have resources are pretty much afraid to share them because they know that by doing so in the correct way would be to take on four hundred years of oppression without guaranteed results. I don't think that the situation for African Americans in this nation is as bad as you think it is. I'm not talking about the few millionaires, but for the majority of the people. I don't think that they can seriously think it is that bad. The Hispanic comes over and works two and three jobs to get ahead. Same with the Asian and person from the Carribean. Some people think things are owed to them and want compensation for things that didn't effect them directly in their life times. That is not all African Americans. Not even all that live in the ghetto subscribe to that theory. If you give somone something, they won't take care of it. If you show them how to get it on their own, then they will get it for themselves and take care of what they invested in. When you speak of Unity, I gather that you are saying that because all of us look alike, we should be hip and hip in a movement to achieve economic equality when many of us haven't even tried our best to make it on our own. I'm saying racial unity is not going to help until more people get their minds together. Until more can sto visiting the corner liquor store or drug dealer. Until more can stop robbing killing and cheating their brothers and sisters. Tis whole division between class in our race started with slavery, but today we may not have chains on our backs, but there are too many enslaved minds. Not to mention, it is the job of the police to prevent or deter crime in the community. I have no gun. Even if I did, there would be at least a six to one ratio in these areas. At any rate, I'm tired of this. You would have to be here in order to understand. It's easier to help improve the lifestyle of those in Africa or the Carribean than it would be to do so here. The disfunction among the members of this group is overwhelming. Whenever there was unity for a movement, the plans of the movement had to be broadcast instead of just doing it. I don't think that a movement should be broadcast before it starts. Another thing is, there has to be people in place that actually care. Untill, economic growth is halted on the individual level, I will not subscribe to the notion that race is more important than race. I would like to add also, that it is only the first or second generation immigrants that care about the culture that they came from. Your emphasis on race and identity as a measuring bar for success is off. Perhaps not by much, but it is especially in how it relates to people of African decent inthe U.S. according to me and my experiences.