samclem said:
Yep, European influence was soemtimes beneficial, sometimes not. As has been widely noted, the English did a relatively good job of establishing efficient governments that were relatively corruption-free (by African standards). The French and many others did a less thorough job of leaving their colonies ready for self-rule. But, that was all many decades ago. Just how long is Europe to be held responsible for the mess that is Africa? Africans are being oppressed by Africans today---that's the way it is.
Poor blacks have about the same life expectancy as poor whites. It's being poor, not being black, that is the problem for these people.
Whoa - what kind of history books are you using
first of all, the french had a different view on colonialism and were much more likely to view their colonies as part of their nation - building governments, etc. the british were harsh extractors of resources (not saying french and others didn't do that too) but just slashed, stole etc...
and i don't know where you got that life expectancy number - but remember that the US is a large and diverse country so statistics don't mean much if it's averages - and the wealthy/poor divide is stark amongs afn amns too. many studies have verified that life expectancy for an afrn am male is akin or worse to that of their cohorts in aftrica or other dvelpg nations in certain areas of this country.
<1990, an article in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ reported that
“Black men in Harlem were less likely to reach the age of 65 than men in
Bangladesh.” A recent comparison of current federal health data with the
‘2005 Human Development Index’ published by the United Nations shows that
the poor international health status of black men in the United States
persists in the new millennium. Today, the average American can expect to
live 5 years longer than a Palestinian -- unless that American is a black
male, in which case he can expect to die three years sooner.
The life expectancy at birth for black males in the U.S. (68.8) is lower
than that for males in Iran (69.0), Colombia (69.3), and Sri Lanka (71.5) -->>
i think the New England Journal of Med and the UN are reliable sources?