71–80 of 318 posts
I think this is a great answer to people who ask why we still need things like affirmative action. Here you have a continuing demographic phenomenon that can be traced directly back to slave ownership patterns hundreds of years ago. It should be noted also that the black belt is also a terribly poor stretch of the country. Unfortunately, it appears that socioeconomic patterns are imprinted more deeply than anyone wou…
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Yeah, just like slabs of thick bedrock in lower New York correlate with Obama votes, since it enabled large highrises to be constructed in a small, densely populated area. How far back are we willing to go to draw these correlations?
IT was more than a correlation. He traced the connection. What has bedrock to do with New York voters? I'd be interested to hear that story.
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Although I agree with you, I get the impression that someone who doesn't think affirmative action should exist even after learning about the gang violence, intense poverty, substance abuse, neglect, and trauma that surrounds children growing up in housing projects and "bad neighborhoods" -- even after all of that, if someone still says no, then you could probably trace this back to the Big Bang and they'll still say…
The problems you mention were not problems until after affirmative action was implemented.
(And the areas talked about in this article have been full of grinding poverty for their entire existence, with most of their inhabitants being slaves prior to the 1860s, and then desperately poor from the 1860s to today.)
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In recent US politics, it is a fair assumption. More than fifty years ago, it was not. Historically, the Republicans were "the party of Lincoln" and the Democrats were the party of the segregated South(1). One might attribute the beginning of the polar reversal to Truman's integration of the military services, but by the time of the Kennedy administration sent paratrooper's to Oxford the seeds from which the Dixiecra…
Having lived in the North for most of my life (or at least above the Mason-Dixon) and having lived an extensive stint in the South, nowadays the Northern cities seem far more segregated. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that there was not forced integration there in the 60's. Look at a city like Chicago or New York where some of the largest population areas are almost entirely black. Check out Kozol's book S…
This article is nothing more than blog spam. Yeah, it provides a link back to the original post, but that's about it. Even most of the images are lifted.
Why are HN readers trying so hard to be assholes about stuff like this?
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How do you get from "more black people live in areas where there were more productive plantations" to "we need affirmative action"? (The answer is, you don't.)
You started from the wrong conclusion. The proper way is "patterns ingrained tens, hundreds, thousands of years ago can show tangible effects even in 2012" to "the concept of affirmative action is sound".
It's also still not a valid conclusion.
For example, you haven't addressed whether it's worth trying to undo bad things that happened long ago with other injustices, as opposed to simply being just from here on out.
For another example, you haven't addressed whether it actually works or not.
(Those two examples actually are related, because theory and practice actually are related, but I digress :) )
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Wasn't it the Republican party that ended slavery, and the Democratic party that supported it?
The Republican and Democratic parties have shifted their ideals greatly over a few centuries. The founders of the republican party would not recognize (and would likely be repulsed by) the platform and behavior of the modern Republican party. I'd wager the same is true for Democrats.
I think this is a great answer to people who ask why we still need things like affirmative action. Here you have a continuing demographic phenomenon that can be traced directly back to slave ownership patterns hundreds of years ago. It should be noted also that the black belt is also a terribly poor stretch of the country. Unfortunately, it appears that socioeconomic patterns are imprinted more deeply than anyone wou…
How do you get from "more black people live in areas where there were more productive plantations" to "we need affirmative action"? (The answer is, you don't.)
You do realize that putting words in other people's mouths like this pretty much destroys any chance of having a productive and useful conversation?
What is the point of even asking a question that you're sure you already know the answer to?
I think this is a great answer to people who ask why we still need things like affirmative action. Here you have a continuing demographic phenomenon that can be traced directly back to slave ownership patterns hundreds of years ago. It should be noted also that the black belt is also a terribly poor stretch of the country. Unfortunately, it appears that socioeconomic patterns are imprinted more deeply than anyone wou…
And a lot of people of Dutch descent are still farming in New York.