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Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

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Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#281

About me: I'm asian, 32 years old. Throughout my childhood, I always thought Black people seemed so cool and funny. They exude confidence and it intimidated my to make friends with them. Now I teach people coding before and after my work as a full time software engineer. A few of my students are black. I had a hard time working with them. Later, as I became friends with them, I realized they are very self conscious a…

> Are there any activities to do that can reduce the comfort time to the minimum?

I'm not an educator, but I think the goal is to normalize asking questions. This can be achieved by initially forcing everyone to ask a question (no matter how silly/not related to the topic of the day). You could give them time to write down the questions first, then everyone gets their turn to read it. Later, you can relax it so that questions become voluntary.

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're saying that black people have a higher propensity for crime. Is it not more plausible that humans are more or less alike, and the difference is outside their control?

I heard someone say a long time ago something along the lines that the frontal lobe develops differently between ethnic groups and that it controls your empathy and impulse reactions. I haven’t seen any research that supports this though (and did nit search for that). It would be interesting to see if this claim is supported by science.

Interesting but heretical for both scientists and laymen.

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#283

Though I imagine the prevalence is much higher in black youth, this is a general issue that goes beyond race. A stable upbringing with a family that you can use as role models. If you don't have that, you're in for an uphill struggle. If everyone around you is unemployed, or works in part time unskilled labour - if you're moving from home to home all of the time - if you have no bedroom - if your family argues, or yo…

[deleted]

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#284
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Africa is an entire continent. It doesn't have "a" culture, it likely has hundreds, if not thousands, and none of them are African American.

A sister-in-law who is South African shared that American culture has so influenced that country that some of her classmates in high school referred to themselves at African American because they believed it to be more politically correct than saying black.

I suspect someone played a practical joke on your sister-in-law. As an example of how American culture has not influenced South Africa: "Coloured"[1] is legitimate racial category in South Africa which is can be freely mentioned in polite company and even on government forms. Incidentally, it refers to a non-black demography (and most black people do call themselves black). I believe the term "Colored" has fallen out of favor in American culture, and arguably constitutes fighting words.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloureds

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah right it’s the government taking black men at random in the street and putting them in jail for the single reason they’re black, just to destroy the black community. It has absolutely nothing to do with the said individuals breaking laws (sometimes with the side effect of creating another father-less family in the process), which are the same for everyone. Also doing criminal acts is a choice, not something that…

Well yes, that's structural racism for you. And before you judge people for committing crimes, ask yourself: would you have abstained if you had the same life story? Do you think they would fall into crime less if they had a more privileged upbringing?

Yes, I would have abstained. Mind you, my grand parents are from the very most "underprivileged" part of France, the kind of place were half of men are dead before 50. Still, what people do there was working hard, not theft, drug and robbing the few rich around.

The problem is in large part cultural. You can see it easily with East-Asian immigrants that arrived dirt poor, yet saved and send their kids in college. After one generation they are not poor anymore. In Europe, the division are the same (White+Asian vs Black+Arab) despite difference in history (no descendants of slave). Also, education and healthcare are free and there is the welfare money. So why the results are similar? Because some value education and other don’t.

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#286
post #253

About me: I'm asian, 32 years old. Throughout my childhood, I always thought Black people seemed so cool and funny. They exude confidence and it intimidated my to make friends with them. Now I teach people coding before and after my work as a full time software engineer. A few of my students are black. I had a hard time working with them. Later, as I became friends with them, I realized they are very self conscious a…

I like that your focus is on people being comfortable enough to ask their own questions. That's a clear, concrete goal that gets right to the heart of the issue you describe, in the library setting. One simple strategy is to close any bit of teaching you do with the phrase, "What questions do you have?" This is a subtle but important change from "Does anyone have any questions?" The first phrasing assumes people will…

How did you start the coding bootcamp at public library? Can you give more details, structure etc

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#287

Funnily enough, the UK had this problem about fifteen years ago. Everyone was wringing their hands madly and talking about things like mentorship, and how the education system was inherently racist (and, unfortunately, always making implications about how white people were all racist and this was a deliberate outcome) or certain groups apparently having no fathers. Fifteen years later, and black kids are more than tw…

You’re correct to state that yes black children in the UK are more likely to go to university than their white counterparts, however, this not only goes for black children but all ethic minorities. The truth is working class white children in the UK have issues British society isn’t comfortable talking about and I believe is one of the leading causes of the rise of popularism in the country. It’s also important to no…

It most certainly is not the case for all ethnic minorities. It may seem that way but that is due to the way data is aggregated (the data on university admissions aggregates "Asian"...this is huge issue because Pakistani/Bangladeshi kids have very different outcomes).

White kids underperform because of the "rise of popularism"...lul. Fml. Tbh, that sounds a little racist (again, I remember 15 years ago when people were saying similar stuff about "black culture").

Nope. No wage gap (if you look at actual studies of this i.e. by the Low Wage Commission). There is a huge gap for some ethnic minorities but not blacks (either British or migrants).

As said, you have proved every point I made. Thanks.

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a friend who switched worlds in adulthood simply because someone convinced him it was possible to do it. When he describes it, it isn't like it was a pep talk, it was more like someone telling you that you can change your own oil in your car and sends you steps. Part of that is that he was ready to hear it, and was quite smart, but if no one had said anything.

I like the phrase 'switched worlds'. It's quite apt. I chose to switch worlds when I left school. It really is a complete bifurcation - you can go back, but it's a foreign land now.

>you can go back, but it's a foreign land now.

It is and it isn't. Every society has some sort of proverb like "you can leave the X but the X will never leave you" because on some level people can't undo their upbringing.

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#289
post #148

Africa has "absentee fathers" in the Black community at the same rate as the US today, and likely for the same reason: that's just how children are raised by that culture. High rates of Black "fathers at home" during the Jim Crow era in the US was due to unethical cultural domination of Blacks by whites.

Africa is an entire continent. It doesn't have "a" culture, it likely has hundreds, if not thousands, and none of them are African American.

What's the connection between your first and second sentences? You imply that a continent can't have a culture. What's the biggest unit of division of people that can have a culture, in your opinion?

In reality, culture isn't defined in the clear-cut way you're using. There are subcultures as well as minority cultures. That's how Australian culture exists despite there being some foreigners living there doing things their own way.

Re: Black boys don’t need more discipline, they need mentors (2018)

#290
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And of course the engineering of the powerful Jews and Asians so that they now represent the upper tiers of the income distribution. /s Employment and family stats were vastly better pre 1960s government regulations. This isn’t some grand evil plan but the standard outcomes of a “we need more government help”, also known as “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

I'm going to assume the /s is to be able to spout racist crap and still claim the veneer of irony. "It was just a joke!" is not a valid defense for saying racist things.

He's using sarcasm to dismiss off the bat anyone who may seriously claim that Murdoch et al are responsible (yes, there are people who honestly believe this).

This is a very common literary structure in internet comments.

To claim we can't satirize or mock racists and bigots because the satirical content itself is racist seems misguided. Intent matters.

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