If I Were A Poor Black Kid
What it sounds like he's trying to say is, "I know things are harder for poor, black youths in this country, but there are tools out there that can help you succeed. If I were in your place, knowing what I know, here's what I'd do." What I'm actually hearing, however, is, "If you're poor and black, you have to work a million times harder than any white kid from the suburbs, and that's just the way it is. Deal with it."
I think the sentiment is genuinely sympathetic; but the presentation is terribly condescending, and essentially glosses over the roles things like class and race play in keeping minorities from succeeding in our society, not to mention ultimately placing the blame on 'poor black kids' for not succeeding instead of questioning a system that makes it so disproportionality difficult in the first place.
In other words, I think we need to be challenging this historically classist, racist, and sexist socio-economic paradigm instead of simply accepting it as a fact of life—a sentiment that's seemingly echoed by, surprisingly enough, fellow Forbes contributor Charles Green:
You conclude by saying, “…the opportunity is still there in this country for those that are smart enough to go for it.”
So, if poor black kids seem to be disproportionately not going for it, your conclusion would be, what–they’re just dumb? Come on, spell out what you’re trying to suggest here!
Viktor Frankl emerged from Nazi death camps stronger for the experience. That doesn’t justify prison camps.
The fact that a few people can escape overwhelming social forces doesn’t prove much of anything. The much more important question is, if millions of people are doing worse than millions of others, what the heck is going on? And to suggest the answer lies in IQ is simply disgusting.
Social mobility is measurable, and is measured. And social mobility in this country is declining. We are less socially mobile than almost every country in Europe now except for Britain and Italy. The land of opportunity–defined as the chance to do better than your parents–is now demonstrably better in a lot of what Americans like to call “socialist” countries.
We need to stop listening to ignorance like this and get a grip.
Whatever else is true, it is still harder for a poor black kid to get his or her foot in the door in America than it is for a poor white kid. I'd also say that the hierarchy of human value in America goes something like this:
ReplyDeleteWhite, you're alright.
Asian, there's a little evasion.
Latino, don't forget to use beano.
Black, don't come back.
The above also indicates precedence for jobs where the government hasn't gotten involved by setting affirmative action quotas.
Between the sexes, though, it's up and down depending on the job:
High pay, women stay away.
Menial, boys, be congenial.
Bottom line for me is that I am truly disappointed in an America where there could be work, if the proverbial fat-assed businessman were willing to pay a living wage.
There was an America once—I just missed living in it—where a husband could support his family and six kids working industriously at one job.
As the economy was re-engineered by the back room boys (and their girls), more and more of the profits went into padding their lifestyles instead of being recycled into social projects. We used to build 'last forever' solid brick three story-high schools. Where do you think the money came from? And why can we barely hold classes now in trailers and lean-to's?
God bless America, because our rulers certainly won't.
Wherever you are, merry Christmas, brother.