Friday, September 29, 2006

Now, Even Allen's Apologies Are Getting Him in Trouble

Now, Even Allen's Apologies Are Getting Him in Trouble

People lie and polygraphs are inadmissible in court. With that backdrop, George Allen's problems are that he has a storied history, as the namesake of his famous father, which makes us wonder that even while some of his detractors may be lying, others are reasonably telling the truth. That truth, whatever it may be, only matters because he is trying to lead people somewhere and some of those people do not want a destination where racial taunts are in the trick bag.

But, enough on George. The emphasis we have on name-calling is fascinating. From macaca to nigger, we are getting a great lesson in the power of words, and one word in particular, to communicate so much. But why is it the 'gold-standard' of demeaning terms - the term by which all other demeaning terms are judged?

Whenever a demeaning act is committed by anyone, its relative severity is established against a standard of how Blacks have been viewed, portrayed, and treated in America. This does not mean the world has not treated others poorly, or worse, but rather that the relationship of America with its Blacks somehow exposes the un-reconciled moral beginnings of the most advanced, 'moral-high ground grabbing', and 'wannabe-leading' society on the planet.

Without an open pursuit and understanding of why Blacks, as a group, persist at the bottom of society, we will not only continue to create and support racist ideology, but also hold onto tactical and re-enforcing extensions, like racial taunting. The word will go away when its reason for being, the disparity, substantially goes away. However, words, even as the ugliest of reflections, do not make the person or plight - rather history shows repeatedly it is a person's choices.

James C. Collier

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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Teens' T-Shirts Make Educators Squirm

Teens' T-Shirts Make Educators Squirm - Washington Post

During winter cold & flu season everybody gets sick, but the pertinent question is who dies? Statistically it is the very young and the very old. Their vulnerability lies in their compromised immune systems. The immune system of babies is underdeveloped, while advanced aging slowly weakens the elderly.

In an educational sense, the population of Black schoolchildren also represents a greater vulnerability that displays itself in academic performance, graduation rates, and reduced pursuit of higher education.

Perhaps we should consider teenage extra-curricular 'expressionism' in school the same way we think about germs and viruses. These seemingly harmless, if not annoying, distractions are not affordable for kids with graduation rates just over 50%, and even less for Black boys whose rates hover near 45%.

The impact of the greater list of teenage distractions, the proverbial sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll - now Rap/Hip-Hop, by nature, present a myriad of enticing challenges to all youth that is also part of their passage to adulthood. But for too many Black kids, the weight of these distractions, along with other challenges is simply too much, and they fail to make the 'grade'. All of society, beginning and ending with the child, is left with the burden.

So before we give in to the protest of the students who simply, in their words, need to express themselves, we should consider that just as good parents/caregivers protect their vulnerable loved ones from the flu and colds, the same commitment and diligence is due our students.

James C. Collier

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Saturday, September 16, 2006

California bans holding cell phones when driving

California bans holding cell phones when driving - Reuters

I have used a headset with my cell phone from the time they first became available. It seemed so logical to me. However, I realize that which is a ‘no-brainer’ to me does not have the same appeal to most driving cell-phone users. If this was the case they would all have headsets too.

This brings up a more interesting discussion point of how it is that people assimilate behaviors, especially those behaviors with nearly unassailable advantage. Seat belts and cycling helmets, bicycle and motorcycle, are two prime examples of curious human behavior of adoption.

We can certainly calculate the number of additional fatalities and serious injuries that will occur because people choose not to avail themselves of technological advances in safety, but those same individuals would chafe at the notion that they are somehow less intelligent because of their choices. After all, this is America, land of free choice. In fact, this free choice argument can sound very alluring right up until one of our loved ones lies in a hospital bed barely clinging to life.

Taking it a step farther, to question the inherent intelligence of such people, also seems ludicrous. But, this is exactly what we do when groups, such as Blacks and Latinos, exhibit behaviors that are disadvantageous to their standing in greater society. Less than all-out pursuit of education is perhaps the most poignant example of behavior and results that call into question the heredity influences that empirical data suggest might be at play. Why else would these groups scoff at something so obvious to their benefit?

The truth is that we know too little about assimilation and why some people, of any origin, accomplish it more readily than others. Blacks and Latinos under perform Whites and Asians because they assimilate less of what they need to compete in our society. But like discretionary adoption of cell-phone headsets, seat-belts, car seats, and helmets, these behaviors are extensions of risk profiles, anticipation indices, and other factors of methodologies for living which developed over hundreds, even thousands of years, and cannot be explained so handily by unidentified, uncorrelated genes - except by individuals looking for expedient short-cuts to selfish destinations.

James C. Collier

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Tuesday, September 12, 2006

As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It

As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It - Washington Post

The issue with homework, relative to Blacks, is really simpler than pedagogical impact, as measured by experts. Like many things in life, the mere fact that certain people, in this case students and their parents, choose to tackle the workload challenge at all, reflects the most basic acceptance, desire and commitment to the value of education and a diploma. Mind you, in the case of Black kids, nearly 45% fail this hurdle to success in life.

Doing homework requires the basic parental assimilation of its worth, passed on to the child, toward becoming educated and productive in society. The attempt alone, to satisfy the homework demand, requires a level of parental guidance, some might call it intervention, that sets school night curfews, turns off televisions, gameboys, x-boxes, and cell phones, so that kids can get down to making the reasonable attempt to become educated.

The challenge, for Black kids, is not how effective, on the margin, homework is in particular amounts, formats, or even focuses. Rather, the challenge for these kids and their parents is that nearly half of them, inferred in graduation rates, complete little or no homework at all. This revelation compliments a greater list of non-advancing behaviors that evidence a rejection of education as the road to a better life.

Indeed, the efficacy of homework needs to be constantly challenged, but the advancing benefit derived from the commitment to complete it, in its evolving status, is paramount and cannot be served by eliminating or watering it down.

James C. Collier

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Wide Gaps Found In Mortality Rates Among U.S. Groups

Wide Gaps Found In Mortality Rates Among U.S. Groups - Washington Post

One interesting aspect of the discussion of the gap in mortality among groups relates to the similarity of risks between US Black inner-city men and that of their West African counterparts, once they reach their forties.

If this similarity occurs in part, due to factors of origin, as implied, one wonders if there is something to be learned from analyzing the locations of ethnic origin (LEO) related to the whole of members in the ‘eight’ Americas - Asians; rural whites; white Middle America; low-income whites; Western Indians; black Middle America; low-income rural Southern blacks; and high-risk urban blacks.

It could be enlightening to correlate the technology achievement indexes of countries, a United Nations modern-day measure of historical advancement, against the various plights of groups hailing from different geographies of the globe, over the last 1-2,000 years.

Our automatic instinct is to consider attributing the correlations to heredity, although the test of genetic linkage, due to mixing and a lack of isolation, makes it a tough one. However, the test of behaviors of ethnic origin that aggregate to the plights we see and represent is not nearly as difficult, once we understand that societies around the world advanced at slow, distinguishable, and different rates over many thousands of years.

In fact, the LEO of any given person tells an illuminating story of the challenges they will experience when the behaviors, or 'ways', of their ancestral home ‘collide’ with behaviors of groups originating from societies of different technology bases.

But lets not be confused about the benefit of difference. Europe advanced most steadily of the continents, ahead of the rest of the world, due in part to the diversity of its societies, even while that same diversity had them fighting like proverbial 'cats and dogs'.

James C. Collier

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Friday, September 08, 2006

Schwarzenegger's Ethnic Commentary Caught on Tape

Schwarzenegger's Ethnic Commentary Caught on Tape - Washington Post

Stereotypes are a touchy subject for sure, but having them fall under the axe of political correctness exacerbates the problem. Like other taboos in our society they get touched on a lot in private, but people seldom ‘cop’ to them in public. California’s ‘Govenator’, Arnold Schwarzeneggar put his pumped-up foot in his mouth in a ‘good way’ on this one. While his descriptions are crude, at best, he is more or less accurate, as backed up by the self-described ‘hot-blooded’ Latina Assemblywoman, Bonnie Garcia. The only real question is what point Arnold was attempting to make with his assessment – but is this not generally the question with politicians?

Stereotypes come in two forms, naturally occurring and ideological. Natural stereotypes evolve over long periods of time as combinations of autostereotypes, products of in-groups, and heterostereotypes, products of out-groups. The in-groups are people exhibiting the stereotype attribute, while the out-groups are those witnesses to the stereotype. When in-group and out-group stereotyping matches, the ‘kernel of truth’ test is passed, giving life-blood to this valuable short cut in communication.

In contrast, when the stereotype is ideological, it is not really a stereotype at all, but rather an imposter, designed to trick us into some nefarious action. Racist stereotypes fall into this category as race is an arbitrary construct, but indeed, not all differences are arbitrary.

Society needs to get much better at understanding stereotypes, in order that we all benefit from what they accurately tell us, as well as to better protect ourselves from the imposters that do significant damage. But understanding will come only with foregoing our ‘knee-jerk’ reactions, removing the chips from our shoulders, and developing critical minds on the subject.

James C. Collier

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