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Do you also complain about the ridiculous names whites now come up with for their kids? Would you like me to read the list from the local paper from over the weekend? Strangely enough, they tend to mirror the names of the performers at our local "gentleman's club."
If I answer your question, will you tell me why so many of us honkies choose to give our kids names like Jade, Dakota, Cayden, Brianna, not Kelly but Kellii or the best of all, Chad? Who exactly names their kid "Chad?" What is the psychological profile of such a parent, or any that gives their kids these stupid names?
Lot's of people think naming a kid "Apple" or "Storm" is ridiculous but their parents aren't complaining about an unfair life....you're comparing "Apples" and oranges.
Maybe they should do like some Asians and adopt an "American " name. Anyways there isn't much wrong with ghetto names it's just the people who adopted them or tainting of them by media. I'm sure if people with made up names had good reputation or better connotations . People wouldn't think badly of them.
White people have access to better schools across the board than black people. Poor white people are much more likely to go to a good school than even well to do black people because of the residential segregation of black people.
Also, looking at only income data can be very misleading. You have to look at wealth as well. What you'll find is that white families who earn considerably less money than many high earning black families have more wealth or just as much wealth. This is one of the legacies of racism.
This means that the highest earning black household's have wealth equal to white households in the second from the poorest fifth.
These huge wealth disparities creates access.
So again, we want the school system to over come income inequality, wealth inequality, access to education, residential segregation, history and on and on.
We act surprised when we see the reality of an unequal society represented in the form of testing.
I don't think it's all about money so much. Money in itself isn't what gives the advantage -- of course it does to some extent but it's not the main factor once you get beyond enough money to eat, have clothes, have a roof over your head.
I worked with a guy from Mississippi who came from one of the poorest areas of that state and he and every one of his 11 siblings was solidly middle class. He is black and has one of the best work ethics you could find. His parents had a lot to do with the way their kids turned out. I'm pretty sure that they faced racism at least on certain levels, and it wasn't necessarily easy since they started out with less money -- but then they ended up at the same level as many who had a much more plush start.
But if you have no money and a crack-mom who brings in different men who mistreat the kids, you've just got that much more stacked up against you.
It's good to look at the root of the problem and try to find solutions - but the solutions have to be the right ones. People can pull themselves out of poverty -- best if they have solid parents with strong values. And a large number of people have done that.
The sad thing is that there are kids out there who don't have good families who could still be saved maybe by having an extra good teacher or nice neighbor, or a job in time so that they have half a chance to turn things around for themselves before it's too late.
Lot's of people think naming a kid "Apple" or "Storm" is ridiculous but their parents aren't complaining about an unfair life....you're comparing "Apples" and oranges.
Any ridiculous name is ridiculous.
The problem is -- and we all do it, we get mental images in our heads about people from their names or aliases before we ever meet them.
That's why strippers and porn stars take on certain kinds of names, and don't take on other certain kinds of names. Rap stars and other celebrities will often change their names or use an alias because names do matter.
Think about it -- think about "Steve". You have some vague mental image of "Steve". Now you're told Steve is black -- but you still have some vague image of black Steve. Now think about someone named "Georgia Peach", and you get some vague image of what "Georgia Peach" as a person might be. You can't help it -- you would have preconceived notions just from the name. Now you are told that "Georgia Peach" is a black man. He's already not going to seem like Steve, or Milton, or Omar or Ed.
Rest of the world isn't on foodstamps and being deliberately served a dishonest education. I grew up in Monserrat and st. Lucia, and it was sobering to see what black people can achieve without this other crap.
Interesting that you mention that. Sidney Poitier lived part of his life in The Bahamas. He mentioned that even though he was poor, there was no one in the Bahamas telling him "you're Black, you can't be a doctor or a teacher or anything else,etc". No one was telling him "you can't". He described it as "it was up to you to decide and to do the work". Sidney Poitier had a decent work ethic. I will give him that, and it makes me proud to see him as a decent role model. He also had help. He didn't grow up in an environment that was oppressive to Blacks. This changed when he moved to Miami at age 15. It was there where he saw so much prejudice, where a woman told him to go to the back of the house, as oppose to the front. He never saw any of this in The Bahamas.
Can't speak for everyone but that's not what I do.
I hear the name Taniqua (say hmmmm to myself) then wait to hear what they have to say, see how they conduct themselves and then come to the conclusion that "I was right" or "I was wrong"
why not replace the black and white with human. Now that is something we ALL are. If we stopped caring about superfical markings on our skin, we would ALL be better off.
Best idea but do you really think that all black people are game for this? Because; I hear entire threads which discuss not just black (brown) skin, white (biege) skin, but shades of, tone of, degree of, which is more widely appreciated....it seems like an obsession for many black people. It makes as little sense as black people defending ALL black people and then shooting them!!?? It's so contradictory
I don't think it's all about money so much. Money in itself isn't what gives the advantage -- of course it does to some extent but it's not the main factor once you get beyond enough money to eat, have clothes, have a roof over your head.
I worked with a guy from Mississippi who came from one of the poorest areas of that state and he and every one of his 11 siblings was solidly middle class. He is black and has one of the best work ethics you could find. His parents had a lot to do with the way their kids turned out. I'm pretty sure that they faced racism at least on certain levels, and it wasn't necessarily easy since they started out with less money -- but then they ended up at the same level as many who had a much more plush start.
But if you have no money and a crack-mom who brings in different men who mistreat the kids, you've just got that much more stacked up against you.
It's good to look at the root of the problem and try to find solutions - but the solutions have to be the right ones. People can pull themselves out of poverty -- best if they have solid parents with strong values. And a large number of people have done that.
The sad thing is that there are kids out there who don't have good families who could still be saved maybe by having an extra good teacher or nice neighbor, or a job in time so that they have half a chance to turn things around for themselves before it's too late.
To write that it's not all about money is meaningless. Did I write anything was "all" about anything? Money is a factor, but its more than money. It is what money represents which is access, which is opportunity, which is a lot of factors both big and small that advantage certain groups over others.
Also, who cares if someone can pull themselves out of poverty. Why is it in this nation's interest to create so much poverty, to have it's citizens have to "struggle" to get out of poverty?
Poverty isn't some random event.
This idea that the key to not being impoverished is having the right values is garbage thinking.
Do you believe that rich people have better values than other people? Do you think that upper class people have better values than other people? They don't.
So lets' drop the fantasy of values being determinative of anything. The key to success is OPPORTUNITY and ACCESS. The people who are successful get it, the ones who aren't don't.
Interesting that you mention that. Sidney Poitier lived part of his life in The Bahamas. He mentioned that even though he was poor, there was no one in the Bahamas telling him "you're Black, you can't be a doctor or a teacher or anything else,etc". No one was telling him "you can't". He described it as "it was up to you to decide and to do the work". Sidney Poitier had a decent work ethic. I will give him that, and it makes me proud to see him as a decent role model. He also had help. He didn't grow up in an environment that was oppressive to Blacks. This changed when he moved to Miami at age 15. It was there where he saw so much prejudice, where a woman told him to go to the back of the house, as oppose to the front. He never saw any of this in The Bahamas.
This was not the only parents mystified about why the teacher needed their kids to do their homework and didn't see the point at all. Its not that uncommon. This girl was lucky there was a soft landing with the school programs since someone cared. Parents who don't value education can be any color or ethnicity, or even not poor. But the most basic thing which communicates this to a child is just sitting and reading to them when they are young. Spend the time, not in a whirlwind of adult things, and give them the values and appreciation of learning. And not tolerate disregard for school, BEING parents.
There are poor parents who value it too, and yuppified ones who just don't have the time.
Just moving kids to better schools won't solve the problem. Overall, while we talk a good story we keep cutting spending to all schools, and cut teachers salaries. We supposedly value education, but in reality we're willing to do it on the cheap, even in better areas. We need to deeply revamp how its taught, insiting on the responsibility of student and parent, looking at how individuals learn, and letting children learn the best way for them. This would make a difference. But in the end if the student decides its not worth it nothing is going to make them learn.
Part of the problem in mixing the incomes is simply income. If renting an apartment costs 1500 a month, how does a family who's scraping things together afford to live there? Just read the hate which is spewed when anything Section 8 is mentioned. And most of those on that program are elderly or disabled. More 'subsdies' are just going to fuel that fire. You'd have to actively choose to build housing that costs less. I think this would be a great idea but it would have to be done in a large scale to make any dent.
And the poor are going to have to look at how the rest live and be reminded of how much more they have. Sometimes its a lot easier to live where you don't get it pushed in your face all the time. I have a limited income. Where I live now the cost of living is less but its generally a less well off area. I feel a lot more comfortable without all the boats and toys and expensive cars and attitude everyone can afford it.
Nobody has 'stopped' the poor from moving except they can't afford to. How do you change that?
What generally happens when poorer people move in its because the area is being abandoned. What our dirty little secret nobody wants to mention is that the essense of MOST our problems are not racially based by class based. When poor blacks move into a middle class black area, the middle class blacks abandon it as quick as whites do in similar cases. We are a very heavily class based society, further slipping into more segments as the middle class sinks. But even 'poor' they'll hold different values, and onto their *social* identity.
If we are really serious about education, we give the money it needs, and we hand to the students a personal responsibiltiy past elementary. If they themselves don't value education, whatever their parents feel, then it is their choice. The ones who are willing and will do the work get the most. The ones who don't make their own desicions and face the concequences. At sixteen your old enough to decide if you'd rather hang out or go to school. If life sucks since you picked hanging out, then it was your choice.
This is a problem in good schools too, by the way. And even if your white and have family who don't get at all why you didn't see the need to graduate and can get the GED and try again, you'll still be mid twenties when you graduate and there will be a lot of 18 year olds ahead of you.
The whole problem is not so simple at all, and yet there are simple things which can help like Mom and dad reading to their kids when they're pre k and encouraging the things which encourage them to learn. And teaching them to be responsible for their choices. Some do, some don't in any neighborhood.
I'm not interested in your feelings or stories about parents. It is irrelevant.
No, action will solve everything. Allowing poor children to go to better schools will greatly help poor children. Allowing poor families to live in better neighborhoods will greatly improve their lives and the nation. Will every problem be instantly solved? No, but will things be better if we don't have concentrations of poverty and poor people lived in better neighborhoods? Yes.
It is a relatively easy thing to do and it would IMMEDIATELY improve the nation and the lives of millions of families and their children. To do achieve this the government just builds housing at differing price points in all neighborhoods.
You commentary about class is spot on, but these are policy choices.
The American government subsidizes EVERYONE'S home. The overwhelming majority of homeowners are being carried by the government. Without the government, the whole modern mortgage system would never exist. No bank would be loaning people money for 30 years with 20% or less down with low interest rates. The government created this system and this system is the only reason that home ownership is affordable for Millions of Americans. The government has been undertaking a massive "affordable" homeownership program. The idea the government should allow residential segregation to dominate the system the government created is not in this nation's best interest.
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