What is a Black Hole; well here is NASA’s definition, “A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying. Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. They are invisible” (NASA, 2015).

This is what the inner-cities, in the toughest parts of the country, typically populated with people of color remind me of. Being almost an exact manifestation of the definition, the gravity that keeps the people in these cities from elevating to greatness is so powerful that very few make it off the ground to get out. Now you may decide to disagree with me, citing the “Barrack Obama’s and Oprah’s” of the world and that if you just pull up your boot straps, suck it up, every child has an opportunity to make it out, and to that I respectfully say BULL SHIT, because when you don’t have boots or straps, that’s virtual impossible!

These Black Holes; These Ghettos, have swallowed and continue to swallow all light and hope from those -who by no fault of their own- are born there. Now, by some twist of fate some have been able fight their way to a better place, and I call it a twist of fate or an anomaly, because the ratio of those who made it to those who didn’t, is so great that if put to numbers, it would probably liken itself to some third world countries.

What is most disturbing is that, in a land with trillions of dollars pumping through it daily, an intentional undernourishment of these communities have been happening for decades. For example; anything can grow from fertile soil, even weeds, as long as it has seeds, rain, sun light, and someone tending to it, but the Black Hole (ghetto’s in the United States), can’t grow much of anything -i.e. success & prosperity-, because they’re suffering from neglect of epic proportions i.e. massive educational budget short fall’s every year, decrepit learning environments, and a war on educators.

Now, some things do grow in these Black Holes,; ignorance, violence, crime, death rates, and despair, so I guess I would say to the seed suppliers, you reap what you sew. How can one grow fruit and vegetables if they don’t have fruit and vegetable seed, the short answer -you can’t! But the aforementioned negative seeds which include, drugs, alcoholic beverages, unemployment/underemployment, and guns seem to be supplied in abundance compounding the lack of opportunity, through quality of life and a quality education. It’s not that something good can’t grow in the Black Hole, it’s just that the suppliers of the seed refuse to provide good seed.

“Most troubling, though, was the rate difference between ethnicities: firearm-related fatality rates for African-Americans were twice as high as the reported rates for Caucasians” (Mejia, 2014).

The Black Holes of the United States, are a stain on our society, that’s frowned upon by the world, and it doesn’t have to be since we live in the richest country on the planet per capita. The political discourse in this country has helped to widened the Black Whole effect, due to the so-called leaders of this country who are closer to behaving like the “Crips and Bloods”, like – if you’re not part of my gang/party, I can’t help you, nor would I- this is a real “us against them mentality”, yet each party claims to have “all peoples” best interest at heart. This is hard to believe when the gap between the rich and everyone else is growing, in fact; the gap is at it’s greatest disparity in history. It’s like the road to the American dream is now reserved for a chosen few, and certainly not those stuck in the Black Holes.

The wealth share of America’s top 3 percent, Fed researchers calculate, rose from 44.8 percent of the nation’s wealth in 1989 to 51.8 percent in 2007 and 54.4 percent in 2013. The top 3 percent now hold over double the wealth of America’s poorest 90 percent of families. – See more at: http://inequality.org/wealth-inequality/#sthash.T0x8g7t2.dpuf

Citations: www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/…/what-is-a-black-hole-k4.html

http://www.newsweek.com/gun-deaths-us-twice-high-among-african-americans-caucasians-273071