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Then haven't the other non-white groups enjoyed those advantages as well?Advantages? THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A MUCH MORE LEVEL PLAYING FEILD!
Good Grief!
Here's a basic problem: once upon a time protest and political action was needed to open up opportunities for all. An outgrowth of that movement which came to a head nearly half a century ago is the notion that the only way non-white individuals are going to succeed in this country is through protest instead of through (edit) individual (/edit) effort.
Another troubling outgrowth is that individuals are raised to believe that everything that doesn't go their way in life is due to racism.
So we move from a generation confronting racism boldly to generations manufacturing racism in order to give themselves an excuse.
Again, the more appealing approach is to base efforts to assist those in need on the fact that they are in need and drop the racial grievance/payback tone.
Last edited by Marcus Bryant; 12-08-2004 at 04:38 PM.
Then haven't the other non-white groups enjoyed those advantages as well?Advantages? THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A MUCH MORE LEVEL PLAYING FEILD!
Good Grief!
Thats what I'm doing, and thats what I've always done. But this thread was started in the context of what BILL COSBY said.
man, do you have trouble reading? I've said this 304830948320948 times.
No, I have no trouble reading for I am a member of the evil white majority which continues to enjoy the fruits of oppressing your "Mexican" forebears, such as attending a racially mixed school and receiving the same quality of education as plenty of blacks, browns, and yellows, if we must still color by race.
Marcus,
Fair enough, and I can buy into that quite honestly.
I agree that too much of the blame is put on racism, and which is why people like Bill Cosby speak out. They are met by a lot of resistance from their own communities but much of that is not because they don't believe what is being said, but rather because they are afraid of the words being twisted and used much as they are in this threads first post.
Travis,
A complete overhaul of the system. Much more money going to schools that are obviously in need of it. I use San Antonio examples because they are obvious to me but I know this scene is repeated in every inner city enviroment.
Solutions? Wow, where to begin. You need a complete overhaul of not only the education system, but of the way money is infused into needy neighborhoods. You have to improve the infrastructure and start government funded community outreach programs. Nonprofits like Acorn that are trying to get communities together need more help.
We have a lot of money going into these areas as it is, but I feel it's all reactionary and not proactive. I think regardless of what steps we put into place, we need to realize that change is going to happen very slow over the course of a generation.
Also, the prohobition of drugs impacts these areas a HORRIBLE rate. It's hard to tell a kid to stay in school because it's whats best for him when selling drugs is so damn lucrative.
Reconstruction. Thats what needs to happen. You need to improve these communties from the ground up and rally them together. I know thats a really broad answer, but that's honestly the only way I see it happening. And a lot of the resources for that are going to have to come from the Federal and State governments.
Of course, but they were further behind to start off with because of the opression.
In what way? Surely not all of those immigrants were coming to America with pockets full of gold.
1965 was almost 40 years ago.
No, but is it out of this world to think that they were coming with more money than those who were already here?
It might just be. A lot of immigrants come from countries where the average annual income doesn't even break a grand in US$. They come here and they take jobs. That certainly includes Asian immigrants.
Especially the Vietnamese refugees from the mid-70s. The vast majority of them came over with nothing.
Manny, just out of curiosity...why did you bring up the NISD stadium complex multiple times in your arguments? You do know that wasn't State money that built that, don't you?
nm
Travis, merely to show the differences these kids face. I know it was built with bond money.
Marcus,
I understand what you're saying, and I agree that all poor people should be helped regardless of race. It's a shame it's an uphill battle to get that help.
The important thing is it got done...and now the school is better so kids can have a better library with more books, kids like my cousins.
Taxes. A lot of the problems in funding are because of loopholes and exemptions on the business property tax side. These need to be tightened up and (in the future) used more with a long-term view. There is nothing wrong with their existence (despite what some of those on this board might say); the problem is they've been overused and abused. To get businesses into an area, they need to have a reason to be there (despite those on this board who seem to think that employers should be public charities). You give a little to get a lot...just need to be smarter about how it's done.
Local control. This is never going away, and frankly I wouldn't want it to. If it were completely up to the State to supply any and all funding for my district, I would be very afraid. Any changes in the funding formula is going to have to take this into account. It's not a trivial proposition, I know...but it's just as important as making sure the poorer districts get a better funding mechanism. It can be done, I'm sure...it's just going to take people sitting down and thinking about it, and not listening to a bunch of lobbyists (from either side of the aisle).
Community outreach and reconstruction. The best way the government could handle this is to make it attractive for citizens/companies/organizations to provide money and materials towards these tasks.
Government agencies are notoriously bad at administering programs like these (all the money somehow gets lost in the top-heavy bureaucracy that springs up like mold on old bread). Instead, if they offered targeted tax breaks to people/groups, the money could be donated and administered at lower levels. It's a win/win situation in that case.
Plus, studies and "common sense" both show that if a community is involved in its own reconstruction (rather than just having some "benefactor" come in and rebuild everything), the community works harder towards keeping it clean, safe, and in good repair.
I don't care much for hand-outs...but I'm more than willing to give a hand up.
BTW...define what you mean by your statement about current money being "reactionary, not proactive".
"BTW...define what you mean by your statement about current money being "reactionary, not proactive"." ............................He means that it was given begrudgingly instead of "from the heart".
I came across this last night and found it rather interesting and relevant to this discussion.
http://www.economist.com/World/na/di...ory_id=3447395
Californian women
Asians on top (mmmm, Asian women on top - MB)
Dec 2nd 2004 | LOS ANGELES
The Economist
It's simple: education is the key to success
WOMEN, according to Chairman Mao, hold up half the sky—but in California some are better rewarded for this effort than others. According to a new study from the Public Policy Ins ute of California, Asian women born in the United States outstrip all their sisters in terms of earning power.
The average hourly wage for American-born Asian ladies in 2001 (the latest year with reliable figures) was $19.30, with American-born whites coming next (see table). On the bottom rungs of the ladder came Latinas: if born abroad, they earned a mere $10.40 an hour (though this was comfortably above California's then $6.25 minimum wage); if born in America, they managed $15.10 an hour.
Education is the biggest reason for the ethnic disparities. Some 55% of California's American-born Asian women have at least a bachelor's degree, and an impressive 84% of them either have jobs or are looking for them. By contrast, only 14% of American-born Hispanic women have a bachelor's degree and only 74% of them are in the labour market. Meanwhile, Latinas born abroad are often condemned to low-paying jobs by an even skimpier education or a poor knowledge of English. Much the same can be said of Asian women born in South-East Asia, a category that includes refugees from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. The ins ute calculates that they earned an average of $15.80, almost $1 less than other foreign-born Asians.
But education is not the only factor in play for California's women. Larger families make it more difficult for Latinas to go out to work in the first place; blacks often live too far away to commute to well-paid jobs; and just as Asians may benefit from high expectations, so other groups may suffer from low ones.
The ins ute makes an attempt, heroic or politically correct, to adjust for such factors, imagining, for example, that a foreign-born Latina has the same family structure, education and place of residence as the average Californian woman. That brings the average wage for foreign-born Latinas up to a more respectable $15.20; yet American-born Asians still rule the roost. But before the golden girls get too happy, the ins ute reckons that Californian women of all sorts tend to earn roughly 20% less than their menfolk do.
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