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Saying you can do anything you Put your mind to is pretty foolish. Not everyone is capable of anything. I can't be a good baseball player or good surgeon (unsteady hands) nor could I be a good mathematician because my mind is geared to analysis and intellectual curiosity and not formulas and numbers. I am limited by my body and by my mind. No matter how hard I try I will not be good at certain things. And that's ok. It is wonderful that I know what I am good at and what I am not so good at. Life is short enough. No need to waste time doing nonsense.
It doesn't help kids pushing them in a direction they will not succeed in. All these standardized tests a geared toward college. Maybe it is best for those kids to go on a different path in a way that is going to allow them to support themselves well and be productive.
Interesting that I find this unintelligent thinking more pervasive in the North than South.
Looking at sports, blacks are much more likely to dominate the running competitions which is why Bolt won the 100M twice with record times. It's because of more muscle fibers and faster muscle twitching that blacks have in the legs versus white people. The legs are also the reason why blacks so very well in basketball.
Whites on the other hand have faster muscle fiber twitching in the upper body which is why olympic weight lifters who win tend to be white (or Asian also). Same thing with QB in football or tennis.
Genes predispose people and overall groups to certain behavior and physical traits. That doesn't mean all people in that group are going to be that way. There are always exceptions and ways to adapt. But the majority of the time it is the case.
You're a funny one, you are. Spew racist malarkey out of one side of your mouth and then attempt to couch your vile garbage in a rather benign follow up post. I see right through you, dude. You still haven't given me proof that being born Black or Latino conclusively means that you are genetically predisposed to doing poorly on standardized tests and doing poorly in school. The majority of the kids in my middle school's talented and gifted program were African-American/West Indian. Obviously, if merely being Black made them predisposed to doing poorly academically, then they wouldn't be in a TAG program, now would they? They are not exceptions. My family are not exceptions. It's pretty simple to figure out, actually -- if a kid has a stable home life, parents who give a damn (I'm not talking about being overbearing), and a good outside support structure, they're going to do well regardless of race. Being an intelligent Black or Hispanic person is not going against the genes.
Years and years of experience in NYC public schools and the city tells me otherwise.
Bull. Again, show me unbiased proof that genetically being Latino or Black means that you will do poorly academically. As in, coming out of the womb, someone who is either Black or Latino (who can be of any race, mind you) is predisposed to doing poorly academically. If your "years and years" of experience in NYC public schools means that you are/were a teacher, then I find that very sad indeed. Sad for the students.
What you are saying now borders on comedy. BTW, please discuss scientifically how the Black or Latino "gene" has this intellectual inhibitor (for lack of a better word at the moment) that prevents a person from applying themself and doing well in school (vs. say, environment/upbringing and things of that nature). If it is truly genetic, then it should be very difficult for someone, given the proper environment, to do well. Clearly, however, that is not the case. Those who have what I aforementioned indeed do well. Using a re-tread stat like (for example, not truth) "a majority of Black students do not pass Regents exams" doesn't directly correlate to genetics. If you scrutinize those who did pass the exams, you'd see that many of them came from either more affluence or, if they weren't affluent, were very self motivated. Environment and upbringing plays a big part. Honey Boo Boo and her ilk I'm almost certain wouldn't pass a Regents exam either. Also Blacks and Latinos are not racially pure, so good luck trying to pin any crap on one particular group.
Years and years of experience in NYC public schools and the city tells me otherwise.
You know if you spent your whole life in Appalachia and taught there with 100% poor, uneducated and deprived white kids, then went and taught at majority-Asian Stuy or Bronx Science for a day - your kind of thinking would be "there's some genetic predisposition in white kids to being dumb-As." Low income, poorly-educated whites - people just really aren't exposed to such a demographic in many parts of NYC.
Really, spend some time in Appalachia. You'll see what poverty, grinding stress, fractured cultures and being the underdog can do to a whole generation. Of white people. It ain't genetic.
You know if you spent your whole life in Appalachia and taught there with 100% poor, uneducated and deprived white kids, then went and taught at majority-Asian Stuy or Bronx Science for a day - your kind of thinking would be "there's some genetic predisposition in white kids to being dumb-As." Low income, poorly-educated whites - people just really aren't exposed to such a demographic in many parts of NYC.
Really, spend some time in Appalachia. You'll see what poverty, grinding stress, fractured cultures and being the underdog can do to a whole generation. Of white people. It ain't genetic.
How do you know it's not genetic?
Certain things like tendency towards alcoholism and violent behavior ARE genetic.
You've bad genes across all ethnic and racial groups. You've good genes across all ethnic and racial groups. It's bull**** that all people in the same ethnic group have the same genetic makeup or same genetic tendencies.
With that said, certain types of mental illness and behavioral problems are genetic (these can occur in across all groups). Certain environments also don't encourage positive genetic expressions.
Btw, you do find low income-poorly educated whites in NYC. Look again at the homeless population in Manhattan. Many of these people had substance abuse issues that ran in the family.
I think part of the reason people don't want to believe there are genetic factors is because it's much harder to deal with it, isn't it? If someone is just ignorant, they can be educated. But if someone is just dumb, no amount of education will make them function because they don't have the wiring in their brains for it.
Certain things like tendency towards alcoholism and violent behavior ARE genetic.
You've bad genes across all ethnic and racial groups. You've good genes across all ethnic and racial groups. It's bull**** that all people in the same ethnic group have the same genetic makeup or same genetic tendencies.
With that said, certain types of mental illness and behavioral problems are genetic (these can occur in across all groups). Certain environments also don't encourage positive genetic expressions.
Btw, you do find low income-poorly educated whites in NYC. Look again at the homeless population in Manhattan. Many of these people had substance abuse issues that ran in the family.
I think part of the reason people don't want to believe there are genetic factors is because it's much harder to deal with it, isn't it? If someone is just ignorant, they can be educated. But if someone is just dumb, no amount of education will make them function because they don't have the wiring in their brains for it.
Our friend upthread was implying that it a racial genetic trait and that is absolutely not true. Each person's intellectual capacity varies and that crosses racial lines. Perhaps there could be an individual genetic tie-in when it comes to intellectual capacity, but that would be on an individual basis. Not an entire race. There have been former illiterate slaves who produced very smart offspring. Many African-American intelligencia from past years had former slaves/sharecroppers as parents or grandparents. Many of these people were denied education. The children who did receive an education, however, had different outcomes.
Basically he was just digging up the same ol' "blacks and latinos are intellectually inferior" argument. It's safe to say that many people, at least in this thread, do not buy that. People do believe that there should be more focus on academics and parents need to demand accountability, be active participants in their kid's lives, and give their children the best shot in life if they can. I don't buy into inferiority due to race. I think that many children do not apply themselves, think education is a waste of time or lame, have parents that don't give a ****, aren't confident, aren't motivated. live in inner-city poverty cycles..different things. No widespread genetic trait.
Our friend upthread was implying that it a racial genetic trait and that is absolutely not true. Each person's intellectual capacity varies and that crosses racial lines. Perhaps there could be an individual genetic tie-in when it comes to intellectual capacity, but that would be on an individual basis. Not an entire race. There have been former illiterate slaves who produced very smart offspring. Many African-American intelligencia from past years had former slaves/sharecroppers as parents or grandparents. Many of these people were denied education. The children who did receive an education, however, had different outcomes.
Basically he was just digging up the same ol' "blacks and latinos are intellectually inferior" argument. It's safe to say that many people, at least in this thread, do not buy that. People do believe that there should be more focus on academics and parents need to demand accountability, be active participants in their kid's lives, and give their children the best shot in life if they can. I don't buy into inferiority due to race. I think that many children do not apply themselves, think education is a waste of time or lame, have parents that don't give a ****, aren't confident, aren't motivated. live in inner-city poverty cycles..different things. No widespread genetic trait.
Some of the things you said may be true but for the past 50 years blacks have been given so many opportunities and there have been so many programs dedicated to fighting poverty and helping people out, and so much affirmative action in college and even employment, that an intelligent person must consider whether failure for the majority of blacks has to do with them being black as opposed to them being held down.
Any talk of racial traits is just a general grouping. The fact is blacks are much more prone to violence, poor performance in schools, have lower IQ's and etc. not all blacks. Just like not all whites are non violent, do well in school or have high IQ's. But stereotypes exist for a reason: they are often true. There are environment and genetic components to them. Don't discount the genetic components.
If you want to discount any treatment suffered by blacks at the hands of the white man, compare sub-Sahara Africa to western white countries. Just admit it that genes play a part.
Some of the things you said may be true but for the past 50 years blacks have been given so many opportunities and there have been so many programs dedicated to fighting poverty and helping people out, and so much affirmative action in college and even employment, that an intelligent person must consider whether failure for the majority of blacks has to do with them being black as opposed to them being held down.
Any talk of racial traits is just a general grouping. The fact is blacks are much more prone to violence, poor performance in schools, have lower IQ's and etc. not all blacks. Just like not all whites are non violent, do well in school or have high IQ's. But stereotypes exist for a reason: they are often true. There are environment and genetic components to them. Don't discount the genetic components.
If you want to discount any treatment suffered by blacks at the hands of the white man, compare sub-Sahara Africa to western white countries. Just admit it that genes play a part.
Who says the majority of Blacks fail compared to the majority of Whites?
That's just the problem. Most whites are not rocket scientists, CEOs, talented artists, or highly successful. Most have fairly mediocre jobs.
Race Overall Median High School Some College College Graduate Bachelor's Degree Master's Degree Doctorate Degree
Total population All, age 25+ 32,140 26,505 31,054 49,303 43,143 52,390 70,853
Full-time workers, age 25-64 39,509 31,610 37,150 56,027 50,959 61,324 79,292 White alone All, age 25+ 33,030 27,311 31,564 49,972 43,833 52,318 85,658
Full-time workers, age 25-64 40,422 32,427 38,481 56,903 51,543 61,441 77,906 Asian alone All, age 25+ 36,152 25,285 29,982 51,481 42,466 61,452 69,653
Full-time workers, age 25-64 42,109 27,041 33,120 60,532 51,040 71,316 91,430 African American All, age 25+ 27,101 22,379 27,648 44,534 41,572 48,266 61,894
Full-time workers, age 25-64 32,021 26,230 32,392 47,758 45,505 52,858 N/A Hispanic or Latino (of any race) All, age 25+ 23,613 22,941 28,698 41,596 37,819 50,901 67,274
Full-time workers, age 25-64 27,266
Our friend upthread was implying that it a racial genetic trait and that is absolutely not true. Each person's intellectual capacity varies and that crosses racial lines. Perhaps there could be an individual genetic tie-in when it comes to intellectual capacity, but that would be on an individual basis. Not an entire race. There have been former illiterate slaves who produced very smart offspring. Many African-American intelligencia from past years had former slaves/sharecroppers as parents or grandparents. Many of these people were denied education. The children who did receive an education, however, had different outcomes.
Basically he was just digging up the same ol' "blacks and latinos are intellectually inferior" argument. It's safe to say that many people, at least in this thread, do not buy that. People do believe that there should be more focus on academics and parents need to demand accountability, be active participants in their kid's lives, and give their children the best shot in life if they can. I don't buy into inferiority due to race. I think that many children do not apply themselves, think education is a waste of time or lame, have parents that don't give a ****, aren't confident, aren't motivated. live in inner-city poverty cycles..different things. No widespread genetic trait.
Indeed.
With that said, the average White person in the US does not make that much more money than the average Black personally nationally. I've posted some figures for you. Most Whites do not have advanced educations.
Some Blacks on this thread have foolishly bought into White Superiority and feel that they have something to prove, as White racists make claims about the Black race. But I don't give a crap what claims are made about Blacks, because I know what I personally have done and what I personally can do. I don't need to ride a race's coattails, like some people of various races on this thread. As noted, racism is a dumb form of collectivism. A very dumb form. Also you have a certain number of whites who come here to troll and Blacks like you should not feed the trolls by going into explanations like poverty, etc. These people are not going to by it and you're wasting your time. The thing is you shouldn't mind what is said about Blacks if you know what you're doing in your own life. Let them hate, in the end that is all some people on City Data can do is hate and stew in misery.
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Decades and decades
