“That Conversation about Race” category archive

David and Eric Turkheimer of the University of Virginia, discuss the history and usage of IQ tests and what elements may account for variances among economic, racial, and ethnic groups. The professor states emphatically that differences among racial groups in testing are not innate, but are the result of history, class, and societal influences. The conversation digs deeply into the topic and is well worth a listen.

Trumpled while walking the dogs.

Trumpling state legislators.

What a voluminous torrent of vileness is Trumpery.

Via Job’s Anger.

It’s the racism.

This is the United States. In white America, there’s always an undercurrent of racism.

The study, conducted by researchers at two California universities and published Wednesday in the journal Social Forces, finds that opposition to welfare programs has grown among white Americans since 2008, even when controlling for political views and socioeconomic status.

(snip)

The findings suggest that political efforts to cut welfare programs are driven less by conservative principles than by racial anxiety, the authors conclude. That also hurts white Americans who make up the largest share of Medicaid and food-stamp recipients. President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have proposed deep cuts to both programs.

Follow the link for more numbers.

My local rag’s editorial today is certain to provoke a reaction. I look forward to an outpouring of Lost Cause bilge in the week’s Letters to the Editor. Indeed, the fun has already started in the online comments.

Here’s a bit to give you an idea of why:

A Confederate memorial in a public square speaks volumes about a community, especially absent an accompanying admission that victory by the South would have perpetuated a brutal and morally corrupt system that treated people as property.

The same goes for schools or public buildings named for leaders of the rebellion. Surely a community can identify other figures more deserving of such tribute.

At the very least, cities and counties should be free to make these decisions independent of Richmond’s consent. Lawmakers need to get out of the way.

I realized this morning even before I opened the paper, that one (not the only one certainly, but one) of the dynamics in the refusal of the Secesh, old and new, to recognize that the Old South was built on cruelty, exploitation, and theft of labor; that the narrative of racial superiority was created as an elaborate rationale so the exploiters could tell themselves and others that what they were doing was not only okay, but divinely ordained.

Persons now do not want to admit even to themselves what their ancestors did (and they still like the idea of theft of labor), so they perpetuate and nourish the lie.

The lie will live until white Americans cease the denial and make peace with the history they have, not the history they made up.

Two North Carolina charter school teachers speak out about the rot inside the charter school movement. A nugget (emphasis in the original):

Soon after we arrived at Central Park, structural shortcomings became apparent. Students of color comprised 81 percent of the demographics of Durham Public Schools in 2013, while students of color at Central Park comprised only 29 percent of the student population. Whereas 66 percent of students in Durham Public Schools were eligible for free and reduced lunch, only 7 percent of CPSC students were eligible for the program.

This realization led to greater clarity: regardless of our intentions, we had become part of the problem of school resegregation*.

________________

*Which, or course, was part of the plan all along. Charter schools are the new seg academies.