Outrage of the Day 11_11_06

[sohotrightnow]

And what would that require? Raising taxes, God forbid?

[Beta]

Or just fund allocation. What's the current price tag of the Iraq occupation?

[sohotrightnow]

Good question. I wonder how we're paying for it?

[Beta]

Exactly...

[Sonny]

And what would that require? Raising taxes, God forbid?

School choice doesn't require any tax increase. Just the ability to reallocate existing tax dollars collected locally to the actual student's families.

[jessexy]

And what would that require? Raising taxes, God forbid?

Or paying attention to the Education Reform platform that our current president ran on during his initial campaign.


Sonny,

Sorry, I understood that they were targeting people that are not current citizens, which does include people on work visas with immigrant status. I still do understand that renters and landlords will be fined if they are renting to non-citizens, which includes immigrants with visas (both student and work).

I also feel that they are targeting Mexicans because they have declared English as the official language and cease offering city documents in Spanish, with no mention of other languages like French, Russian, Hebrew, Italian, or whatever. I may be including a little common-sense here, but Mexicans speak Spanish, along with other Latin & South American nations. Maybe communities in Northern New York are considering these types of law changes and will not publish documents in French, but that is not the case in Farmers Branch.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/111406dnmetfarmersbranch.3393ceda.html

Since I have spoken with Tim O'hare myself before after he made an appearance at a Special Olympics function held in the City of Farmers Branch, I also understand that he is targeting Mexicans and Spanish-speakers because "we speak English in America and they nee dto learn our language." So it has a little personal affect to it.

[KnoxVegas]

ethan, why do you use so much canadian grammar?

I guess it is all the work I do for clients from the Empire.

[Campbell]

But AA is more of a "fix" to a problem instead of coming up with an underlying solution.

In lieu of an underlying solution, I'll opt for the short-term fix. Not perfect, but better than just saying "that's the way things are" - at least in IMHO as well.
Peace.

I would argue that AA is one of the most effective ways at combatting discrimination in theory. Now I feel like A,A as it has been implemented and managed by the bureaucracies, has not been a glowing success. The problem with racism and discrimination is that they don't just go away, as we all know. Education in the home and community at a young age is fine, but then you go off to college and meet a whole community of people, move into the real world and still yet more communities. Add to that the availability of TV and the internet to most Americans. As humans we are going to respond to the culture around us and learn from it. And that is the problem, discrimination is widespread in our culture and many of us accept it. By accepting it I mean a lot of people just ignore it rather than correct it. Carl Sagan, in one of his books, said this same thing and used an example of riding in a cab in NY to the airport. While in the cab the driver told him a couple of racist jokes. He was offended by it and I am not sure how he responded, but the point is, he had two choices: 1) ignore the driver and go about his business, or 2) inform the dirver that his behavior was inappropriate and that he found it offensive. Which choices do we make in our day to day lives when we encounter these bits of racism? By ignoring it we almost relay a passive acceptance of the behavior rather than nipping it at the bud. Thus the person exhibiting this behavior continues and further perpetuates these ideals in our culture.

On the subject of Dave Chappelle and his skits about whites. I think they are racist and yet most of society accepts them, but all they do is perpetuate the stereotype that blacks and whites are different and in some ways that whites are inferior to blacks. But, Chappelle is a comedian, not a policy maker, and although he has an effect on culture, I would argue it is not his responsibility to make sure we are all smart enough to look past such petty differences. Is there a double standard? Sure, but only because we allow it to persist. Maybe it is white guilt for the years of subjugating blacks.

I guess I am trying to make two points here. First, that ending discrimination is a task we can be proactive about every day. The cumulative effect of this is a slow evolution of our culture. Second, AA attempts to affect a change in our culture, not just a temporary boost for minorities. Despite its implementation and the fact that often it is racist against historically entitled people, it is changing the face of colleges and the workforce to more accurately reflect our multi-ethinic country. This may take several decades, and then we can start hating someone else.