Sunday, April 12, 2015

Shared dreams.

Image result for jamaican immigrant usa imagesThis next post I am about to drop is close to my heart. It is because I can't tell you how many discussions  arguments I have had with West Indian friends and family members about their misconceptions when it comes to our African American brothers and sisters who were actually born here, and the different struggles that they face.

The Field Negro education series continues:

Black Lives Matter” has become one of the more memorable protest slogans in recent memory, and now a new study is shedding more light on whose lives that phrase represents. The study, released this week from the Pew Research Center, shows that a growing number of black people in America are foreign-born immigrants.
The study, which was based on U.S. Census Bureau data, showed that 9 percent of blacks in the United States were born outside the country—often in the Caribbean but, increasingly, also in African countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia. The number of foreign-born blacks in the U.S. has tripled since 1980. The Census Bureau projects that by 2060, more than 16 percent of U.S. blacks will be immigrants. The study found that black immigrants tend to be older, better educated, and wealthier than U.S.-born blacks.

The report also found that in some metropolitan areas, immigrants already made up a sizable portion of black residents. In Miami, immigrants made up roughly one-third of black residents. In New York City, they made up 28 percent of black residents. 

The numbers paint one of the most descriptive pictures of America’s diversity. They also come on the heels of increasingly public conversations about what such diversity means in a country with such a difficult racial history. “Immigrants in general have to deal with adapting to a new country,” William Frey, a demographer and a fellow at the Brookings Institution, told TakePart. “Often there’s a language issue, and sometimes it’s being able to find jobs. The African-American community goes back many generations and has its own set of issues that many feel haven’t been dealt with yet, but those are distinctly different concerns than the ones facing black immigrants.”

In recent years, the dynamic between native and foreign-born blacks has been thrust to the surface of America’s cultural and policy conversations. A 2004 Princeton study found that immigrants accounted for more than a quarter of black students at America’s Ivy League schools. That led some to question the relevance of affirmative action policies, which were originally intended to help bring talented members of historically marginalized groups into many institutions of American society. In 2007, Lani Guinier, a professor at Harvard Law School, famously theorized about why in The Washington Post: “It has to do with coming from a country, especially those educated in Caribbean and African countries, where blacks were in the majority and did not experience the stigma that black children did in the United States.” What Guinier and other black Harvard professors later argued was that affirmative action policies were not helping America’s most disadvantaged blacks—those who were the direct descendants of American slaves—access the country’s most prestigious colleges.
Central to this narrative is if—and how—black immigrants experience race and racism in America differently than U.S.-born blacks.

The conversation is playing out in Hollywood. It’s worth noting that some of the most popular recent films dealing with America’s race legacy have been driven by non-U.S. black actors. One example is 12 Years a Slave, which starred Chiwetel Ejiofor, the British son of Nigerian immigrant parents, and Lupita Nyong’o, who was born in Mexico and raised in Kenya. Similarly, Selma starred David Oyelowo, a British actor of Nigerian descent. One writer at Madame Noire, a popular black blog, wondered if Hollywood was replacing African American actors on screen with African ones. 

Trevor Noah, the newly announced host of The Daily Show, is a biracial South African comedian who has sometimes made fun of African Americans. It’s humor that may not be popular with many blacks in the U.S., but it certainly doesn’t preclude him from offering a new and important perspective on race. After all, he grew up in the shadow of apartheid—he’s certainly got something to add, or else he wouldn’t have been chosen to host the show in the first place.

Still, others have argued that black immigrants are not immune to the hazards of American racism. It’s estimated that there are at least half a million 400,000 black people living in the United States who are undocumented. 

Black America has always been diverse, and it’s important to have hard data on what that diversity actually looks like. But how to deal with that diversity is the bigger issue." [Source]

I think black immigrants who come to this country and believe that they somehow enjoy a special status over those blacks who were born here are delusional.

 I also believe that black Americans who somehow think that blacks immigrants who come to this country --in many cases with little more than the clothes on their backs--- somehow enjoy a special privilege in the eyes of white America are equally as delusional.

The truth is, we all face our own unique struggles, and we all have to find ways to overcome them.

Sitting back and pointing fingers at each other will not help us achieve the goals that I am sure we all share.

46 comments:

  1. I think black immigrants who come to this country and believe that they somehow enjoy a special status over those blacks who were born here are delusional.
    >>>>>>>>>>>

    As a Black person who understands and has links to both definitions of "Black in America", I'll have to strenuously disagree with this one.

    When I'm around Black immigrants and I share my roots, I'm automatically accepted into the "Good Black Folks" club. And because 90% of the Blacks immigrants I'm around are also highly educated and/or Entrepreneurs, they easily ascribe my academic and professional success to my Caribbean ancestry.

    That said, when I compare my Father's Caribbean ancestry to my Mother's non Caribbean ancestry, the disparity in the level of academic achievement, financial success and stability are pretty obvious.

    The bottom line is that people who are allowed to "have culture" fare well in life. Most of the Blacks in America as descendants of slaves, weren't allowed to have one for over 400 years and I don't this will EVER be overcome.

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  2. Anonymous9:41 PM

    I find this to be such a sad,sad topic. I agree with Yisheng that having ones culture makes a huge difference.

    As for Whites reacting differently to foreign Blacks, that may be so, if they KNOW they are foreign. Why? Because whites do not respect or appreciate Black Americans. To them the Black was brought here to do heavy labor and that's it. They don't even want to think or attribute anything else to the American Black. Yet somehow, a Black that comes from foreign lands is a different Black, a better Black, because they come from their own country and that is respected. Just my own thoughts.

    That's why sadly I keep thinking that relations will never change for the American Black and the American White.Because what country does the American Black have? America right? And that is simply not going to be shared by White society.

    As far as going simply by color alone, the Black man will get shot just the same, as per Mr.Amadu Diallo, among others.


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  3. Limpbaugh9:52 PM

    I have long suspected that blacks who immigrated here, or are descended from people who immigrated here after slavery, have a higher percentage rate of success. Obama, Colin Powell, and Field are examples. But I can think of some who nobody would recognize. Some of them didn't have economic or educational advantages. People of any race who immigrate from somewhere far away tend to have something on the ball, but I think there is a residual effect from slavery that has been passed down. There was an economic impact from being freed after after all the wealth had already been divided up, but there probably is some kind of cultural factor too. This is an example of a different cultural factor, but people who come from third world countries where you have to make your own job have a mindset of going into business for themselves. My cultural mindset was looking for jobs working for someone else.

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  4. Anonymous10:10 PM

    @ Limpbaugh: I tend to agree with many of your points.

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  5. As far as going simply by color alone, the Black man will get shot just the same, as per Mr.Amadu Diallo, among others.
    >>>>>>>>>

    You're right about that one, but in employment and academic settings, being a Black immigrant or having a foreign last name, is a distinct advantage.

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  6. Anonymous10:48 PM

    I think I have to agree with you Yisheng,sadly there does seem to be another level of respect.!

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  7. Wesley R11:01 PM

    Churches and Civil Rights Organizations need to extend a hand to the immigrant community. They wont though unless there's a dollar amount attached.

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  8. Anonymous12:08 AM

    I agree with you Field, those black immigrants who come here thinking that they are somehow better than African American truly are deceiving themselves. Most of them, but not all, are nothing but useful tools for whites to further assassinate black Americans as something other than human. And this is what infuriates me about my black sisters and brothers here in Amerika: There always have been and always will be a low-level attrition of social, political and economic warfare calculated against you to bring about your eventual destruction which will amount to nothing short of a generational process of genocide.

    See, ... when our ancestors were brought here as slaves, we weren't even supposed to survive, much less having to compete with others who came here 400 years later on an air-conditioned airplane for a seat at an Ivy League school. The white man has it all planned out to provoke jealousy amongst American blacks and foreign blacks. I implore all blacks not to fall for the elementary level trickery and deceit.

    Additionally, there are no surprises here, it's the same old tired narrative initiated by whites: divide and then conquer. Furthermore, culture and a shared history is what bonds people together, not mere skin color.

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  9. Anonymous12:30 AM

    Anonymous said...
    "I agree with you Field, those black immigrants who come here thinking that they are somehow better than African American truly are deceiving themselves. Most of them, but not all, are nothing but useful tools for whites to further assassinate black Americans as something other than human. And this is what infuriates me about my black sisters and brothers here in Amerika: There always have been and always will be a low-level attrition of social, political and economic warfare calculated against you to bring about your eventual destruction which will amount to nothing short of a generational process of genocide."

    Hmmmm. I wonder what PX thinks about what Yisheng and Lilac are saying about Black Americans? Already the wm's poison of divide and destroy is working.

    It didn't take Yisheng long to change her stripes did it? She's spouting the same kind of language racists spout.

    But hasn't that always been the problem with Blacks in hating each other the same way Whites do?

    The same crap goes on in Africa too. It goes on in PR too. My white PR friend tells me the black PRs ARE looked down on like lepers.

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  10. Anonymous12:41 AM

    Yisheng is an uncle tom pretending to be an islander when that Negro was born in DC, talks like a Negro from DC, claims to be educated by affirmative action, etc.

    Who the hell believes this lying Negro?

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  11. I always found foreign born blah folks to have a bit more insight into certain matters because they see them from a different POV. For example, my brothas from the Caribbean would see certain slights in college that I didn't even notice. They would step to me after class and say "you saw what the professor did right? That was a definite insult". I considered myself one of the the more militant and aware brothas but some things I didn't catch. I truly believe that one factor was because they were raised in a country where the majority was blah and they saw blah millionaires, governors, bank owners ect. where here a small percentage is privy to such. The white supremacy that dominated our culture here provided the framework for everybody born here hut that being said there are places that are less racially evolved than the U.S. When I bitch about Amerikkka my buddies from Canada remind me that we have a brotha in the WH and several organizations that represent us while in the great white north they are years away from a brotha as PM. Interesting dynamic and we all need to sit around and chew the fat about this topic.

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  12. Anonymous12:51 AM

    I knew PX would sell us down the river to cover for Yisheng and Lilac.

    Good job, Negro. Josh is proud of you for continuing White philosophy re: American Negroes.

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  13. Anonymous12:59 AM

    Dear Brother Field,
    Thank you for standing up for us. My God, we seem to be getting it from everywhere: Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Yisheng, Lilac, PX....

    This is so depressing. In fact, it is too depressing to be an American bm in America. It's a damn shame.

    Well, at least Farrakhan is for us.

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  14. Anonymous1:48 AM

    Why are more blacks being allowed to immigrate?

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  15. "Good job, Negro. Josh is proud of you for continuing White philosophy re: American Negroes."

    WTF are you talking about? Maybe if you did some research about the proud history of blah Americans you wouldn't need me to educate you. I'll help you a bit by just using brothas from my fraternity. Start with W.E.B. DuBois, Andrew Young, Paul Robeson, Eugene Jones, Fredrick Douglass and Louis Sullivan. If you need more help understanding the role blah people played in American history and development let me know, just be aware I don't come cheap.

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  16. Anonymous4:42 AM

    As a child of African immigrants I used to have great sympathy and many African American friends. However as I got older I started embracing my African identity more, I've pretty much stopped dating African-American girls and date almost exclusively African girls. I'm much happier. I've also go to more African oriented social events. It's very refreshing to be in a place where fights aren't about to go off at a drop of a dime. If I accidentally bump some one they're not looking to execute me.

    While I care deeply for African-Americans I've come to the conclusion that the vast majority are just too far gone to be helped. They're pretty much hopeless. So best course of action for me is to keep my distance.

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  17. Dr. Ramos, PHD7:42 AM

    Blacks who are native born to this country are predisposed to hate, violence, irresponsibility and victimization. Blacks grow up hating America,violent and beleeverating white Republicans are responsible for their shared misery.

    Black Americans lack coping skills and strong work ethic. Black Americans feel they black privilege precludes them from taking responsibility for their actions and plight in life.


    Contrast that to black immigrants. They love America. They come to America with hopes and dreams. They work hard.
    Black males support they families. Black immigrants embrace education. They don't believe education is a "white thang".

    Black immigrant neighborhoods and main streets tend to be well kept and safe.


    Race relations between blacks immigrants and whites are much better than that of blacks who are native born and whites.

    Maybe one day while blacks Americans are sitting around doing drugs, hating whites and "chewing the fat", they will ponder why the rest of the world looks at them and collectively shakes their heads.

    Maybe black Americans will look at each other and see the problem is looking back at them.









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  18. Anonymous7:59 AM

    Don cha jus luv race baiters???

    Next step for this public servant is to become the next jackson or sharpton.

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  19. teh stoopid so stupid8:37 AM

    the troof is often race baiting

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  20. @12:30 & 12:41, where are you assnonymous idiots from? What did you study in college? What type of
    industry are you in?

    Allow me to help you:
    1) a Nevada brothel
    2) Shitheadology
    3) proctology since you seem to love sucking out the contents of my colon on a daily basis and you're major shitheads, pun intended!!

    Burp!!

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  21. PilotX:Freeing slaves from the Republican plantation since the 70's said...
    When I bitch about Amerikkka my buddies from Canada remind me that we have a brotha in the WH and several organizations that represent us while in the great white north they are years away from a brotha as PM. Interesting dynamic and we all need to sit around and chew the fat about this topic.


    Interesting dynamic.

    You write AmeriKKKa but not KKKanda.

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  22. Dang Field, Windies bowling rather well this morning'

    Who'd a thunk it?

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  23. McFred12:07 PM

    Yisheng is racist. Josh is racist.
    There. Now is everybody happy?

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  24. "Hello everyone, My name is Morgan Jackson, a citizen of USA.."

    Dude, if you are going to do the viral marketing thing, you need to get your story straight. Your Google+ account says you are a citizen of the UK.

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  25. When cops get to shooting... they won't stop to ask where the Black folks come from

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  26. "Black Americans lack coping skills and strong work ethic. Black Americans feel they black privilege precludes them from taking responsibility for their actions and plight in life."

    You do realize that there are blah Americans on this blog right? You are using cheap stereotypes that could easily be used to describe members of other ethnic groups. Thanks for your input Dr. now you can go away. We get it, you don't like us and think we're all bad. Goodbye.

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  27. The Fixer1:04 PM

    White Americans lack coping skills and strong work ethic. White Americans feel they white privilege precludes them from taking responsibility for their actions and plight in life.


    There, fixed it for ya.

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  28. The Pew Research Center, a SUPPOSED nonpartisan think tank based in Washington D.C., give me a break. This research pertaining to American born blacks versus foreign born blacks is quite lacking in facts, how its data was collected and its methodology. An 8th grade school child knows better than to compare a Donkey with a two hump Camel and knows not to ask which is more physically and biologically equipped to cross a dry desert. And I surmise that they know better than to compare a long distance runner with a sprinter and focus primarily on speed alone.

    Even further, you don't see so-called American researchers comparing the Melungeons people of the Appalachia Mountains with Portuguese Americans or for that matter, Turkish Americans, Native American or African Americans. Why? Perhaps because they have a mixture of all of these cultures within their cultural background and it'll simply be unfair to question their lack of prosperity simply due to their skin color alone. Just as it is elementary to compare today's foreign born blacks to Africa Americans primarily because of skin color.

    But if you'd place a similar problem set before a bunch of racist knuckleheads, such as here, they cannot figure out the problem set by comparing a black American and a foreign born black in an obvious Herrenvolk, racist society regarding prosperity. Our history, culture and pathologies are certainly different. Racist boneheads cannot figure out the problem set because we are a totally different groups of people. Again, racists proves once again that skin color alone is enough to blind these idiots from seeing the truth. However, they do give me a laugh in regards to how silly their reactions are relative to the subject of race.

    Erroneous methodologies in research produces erroneous results!

    PS: Thanks Yisheng for being honest bro and Field, I beg you, ... please continue your educational series for the knuckleheads here!

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  29. Anonymous2:53 PM

    It's 2015. My president and yours is black.

    The era of black victimization is over.

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  30. Anonymous3:01 PM

    Your mother is the knuckehead, scumbag

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  31. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  32. PX, "Ramos" is just a Whuteemoo pretending to be Hispanic with a "PHD", lol!!

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  33. Anonymous3:19 PM

    Hahaha, fake ass Field Negro still posting as anon on his own blog, ... go figure!!

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  34. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  35. OK, I am going to blame that last post @3:19 on our messed up education system. What tha......???

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  36. Bullshit detector5:16 PM

    "The beautiful irony here is that of all the people busting my balls on the daily, I'm the motherfucker who came up in the ghetto around nothing but poor black folks.

    You middle-class, cul-de-sac, green-grass motherfuckers. You know shit from watching Good Times with my man dynamite."

    Bwaaaaahaaaahaaahaaahhaaa! Now suddenly Josh is an OG from the hood. I guess he co-founded the Crips. Then again maybe that explains his dilike of blah people and women. He got his ass whooped regularly and got no play from the sistas. Whoooooooo, this guy needs some help.

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  37. Anonymous5:33 PM

    Anonymous said...
    As a child of African immigrants I used to have great sympathy and many African American friends. However as I got older I started embracing my African identity more, I've pretty much stopped dating African-American girls and date almost exclusively African girls. I'm much happier. I've also go to more African oriented social events. It's very refreshing to be in a place where fights aren't about to go off at a drop of a dime. If I accidentally bump some one they're not looking to execute me.

    While I care deeply for African-Americans I've come to the conclusion that the vast majority are just too far gone to be helped. They're pretty much hopeless. So best course of action for me is to keep my distance.

    4:42 AM
    ----------------
    Dear Anon, I understand your feelings. I feel the same way and I am African American. I too have moved away from AAs for the very reasons you have expressed.

    I don't have much hope for my race. As I look back on our history of 400 years in America, I am coming to the painful conclusion that very few of us have the mind-set and heart to advance in American society.

    When the Civil Rights Act was passed and signed by President Johnson, it was a 'huge' opportunity for AAs to grab the American dream. Unfortunately, it didn't happen for most AAs. Why? is the $64,000 question. Rap music, gang banging, violence against each other, incarceration, police brutality and a corrupt justice system prejudiced against Blacks has been too much for AAs to handle over the centuries.

    You are probably right. Like the Native Indians we never quite "understood" the system and most of all, never and still don't understand ourselves. We don't have the will to stand up for ourselves and do the 'right thing'. Instead, we do the 'wrong thing' which leads to doing more wrong things:

    black on black killings, out of wedlock children(70%), high percentage of HS drop outs, fathers who abandon their children, no family structure, lack of parenting which leaves children to fend for themselves--that always lead to hell.

    It's quite depressing when your own people have written your own people off. There is nothing left but to avoid and wait for the final door to slam shut on them, much like Native Indians.

    Looking back, I really believe there was some truth to what Whites said: "Coloreds can't take of themselves, they are perfectly at ease being slaves."

    Well, AAs are still slaves whether they know it or not. And still looking to the wm to take care of them. Josh has a point...about the truth. The thing is, the truth can be harsh and unmerciful when you've been running away from it for centuries.

    Again, I don't have much hope for AAs. 'Most' are pretty much done.

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  38. Anonymous5:34 PM

    I wonder what would have happened if this family were black?

    I wonder, wonder, wonder?

    http://crimefeed.com/2015/04/christian-family-band/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=InvestigationDiscovery

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  39. Anonymous5:39 PM

    Or brown for that matter!

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  40. Anonymous6:03 PM

    Dear Lilac, thank you and Yisheng for adding your wisdom about AAs. It's time we face the truth about them.

    Fortunately we have enough other Blacks in America who have a chance of making it. I just pray they won't be victims because of the color of their skin. I wonder if Whites give a damn where Blacks are from?

    I bet they still see Blacks as inferior and violent. I mean, look at past comments by Whites about Africans, Somalians...they say Blacks are inferior all over the world and they are untrustworthy and violent.

    Earth is a terrible place for Blacks.

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  41. Anonymous6:26 PM

    "Earth is a terrible place for Blacks."

    And poor white trash like Josh.

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  42. lilacpr2000 said...
    I wonder what would have happened if this family were black?
    I wonder, wonder, wonder?


    Unarmed Black Christian musicians shot by white cop.

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  43. Anonymous11:10 AM

    Wayne Bennett, you are a terrible judge and even worse human being.

    You should resign from your position immediately.

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  44. Anonymous2:24 PM

    Anonymous said...
    You should resign from your position immediately.

    11:10 AM
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Why should he resign?

    He's in a position where he can advise the persons he comes in contact with. Advise them in how best to manage their situation. Give them motivation to do the right thing in life.

    Knowing his intelligence, sharp wit and compassionate nature, He is perfect for this position, perfect!

    He has helped many not only in their familial situation,but also more importantly in their life outlook and choices!

    And what, pray tell, have you done? To better humanity?

    Think about it! :)

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  45. Anonymous5:32 PM

    Oh like giving home invaders just probation?

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  46. Hey, I thought it was my house.

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