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Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

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Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be shocked if it were true. Where did you see such a law?

It sounded rubbish, so I looked it up and it's a thing! :-O https://www.dw.com/en/why-denmark-is-clamping-down-on-non-we...

By any chance are you Shrikant Narasimhan from Chennai, India that went to the jail that was Sairam Engineering College back in 2006? If so, I sat on a few quiz rounds with you and Vinod.....

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#63
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A few years ago (2016), a black MP (Member of Parliament) entered a members-only lift in the parliament building (House of Commons). Another MP (unamed) in the same lift told her: "This lift really isn't for cleaners." [1] That surely can't have been a mistake, I don't know if the cleaners there are uniformed, but even if not I assume she would've been dressed more like an MP (the MP that she was) than a cleaner, e…

> [*] Assuming it's true - I must admit this sort of unnamed perpetrator, unverifiable story does strike me as a bit suspect. But I think that's fine anyway even if so, the specifics aren't really important, it can be a parable for how she feels generally on other (real) occasions. You're right, I refuse to believe any sitting member of a governing body that [recently put out a report][1] saying Britain is the least…

I'm not quite sure how to take your comment, I think it's meant sarcastically? Note the bit the the asterisk was on was me saying it sounds deliberately racist. And I said assuming it was true and that it doesn't matter if it isn't because it can be how she feels generally or on other occasions.

Maybe I'm getting the wrong end of the stick, but it seems like you're reacting as though I said 'no way, didn't happen, she's a liar, nobody was racist to her, racism doesn't exist'(?) - which is not at all what I said.

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#64
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand what point you're making, but I have noticed that "google Chicago shootings" has become something of a racist dog whistle, so if that's not your intent there may be better phrasing with which to make it.

The point is black lives seem to matter only if taken by a white police officer. The BLM movement is quite silent regarding other black deaths.

When the law enforcement institutions are a demonstrable enemy of your community, and seen as a threat rather than a resource, lawlessness will naturally result. The intra-community violence is a symptom (a serious symptom, but a symptom nonetheless) of the systemic problem.

One sees the same thing in refugee camps, which I think are directly analogous.

The only alternative explanation is "these types of people are violent and lawless by nature", which I do not accept.

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like fear to me.

Well it's the very definition of xenophobia, for racist reasons.

I think what you're describing as xenophobia is fear of the other. What I see here is the fear of someone who would actually like to do the right thing, but has fear of what their own kind will do to them.

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#66
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US public school system is "no additional charge" - you have to pay taxes to help fund it regardless of whether you use it, but you do not have to pay anything beyond those taxes for your children to attend. It may not be much good , but that's a different question.

Many communities in the US actively cripple their public schools via poor funding (and then send their kids to private schools, leaving only the poor behind).

We spend more than almost every country. It's not low in poor areas either; for example, Detroit Public Schools has much higher funding than the state average in Michigan.

The problem is not the amount being spent.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/us-education...

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, there is a public school system in the US. I missed to recognise it. As you say, whether or not it is sufficient is another debate. When I wrote my comment, my thoughts were around higher education though - not primary, middle and high schools. The ones like college education and higher education where people pay through the roof and rack up debts that stay with them for decades.

There are state schools, I got my bachelors and masters from university of alabama and funded it by working at a gas station. In state tuition was ~1200/semester back in 2005. I graduated with ~5k student loan that i paid off in 2 yrs post graduation.

FWIW I looked at University of Alabama tuition now and for an academic year was 10k in-state, or 5k/semester assuming 2 semesters a year. (With fees, room, and board, the total comes over 25k/year.)

So you most certainly can't fund your education at the same institution working at a gas station now with only 5k student loans.

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#68

A whole generation of blacks could not get decent jobs for reasons like that. This generation gave birth to a new generation with less opportunities than they could have had because of the opportunities their parents got denied. It takes long time do undo the damage such profound discrimination causes, and it requires the heroic effort of many individuals like this reporter.

>it takes a long time to undo the damage such profound discrimination causes yes and for many, the damage is irreversible. Denied access to education is also a big factor Blacks face. If you are unable to study and get a good education, you can't work a decent job. It's then harder for you to let your children study to tertiary level as you might need them to step out to work earlier to contribute to the house, and t…

Perhaps we shouldn't have watered down the k-12 system so that a high school degree meant something.

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the moment there are two other responses to my comment, and they both interpret the parent comment in completely opposite ways, so I'd offer that as support for my argument that the parent comment wasn't clear. I'm using the term "dog whistle" here to mean a comment that appears to be innocuous, ambiguous, or harmless to anyone who doesn't already understand the reference, but which in fact has meaning or acts as…

How does the second statement relate to racism?

It relates to racism because the topic, in fact, is racism. It flows naturally that when a conversation starts on racism, generally, conversations on the topic are also related to racism.

(In the same way that if I asked HN about their favorite keto recipes more than likely all the replies will be about keto broadly)

The discussion above is to identify that when someone says "google Chicago shootings" what they actually are trying to do is undermine the position of someone bringing up "Black Lives Matter" in an indirect way. This specific behavior of bringing up another, new subject matter for the purpose of undermining a position, instead of stating one's criticism about the position directly, is known as a dogwhistle.

Re: Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

google Chicago shootings and then ask yourself why none of it made national headlines. Here is my first search result https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/8/21/22636162/chicag...

I don't understand what point you're making, but I have noticed that "google Chicago shootings" has become something of a racist dog whistle, so if that's not your intent there may be better phrasing with which to make it.

-- "google Chicago shootings" has become something of a racist dog whistle

you just made that up, didnt you?

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