Under this system, the sons of a rich black man benefit more than those of a white in generational poverty. That’s not equity.
My ancestral history is filled with tales of woe, including fleeing what was essentially a ethnicity-based genocide. My dad grew up living in a house with a dirt floor. My mother’s family wad riddled with alcoholism and mental illness. My mother is deceased, a victim of suicide. My father is now disabled, a victim of cancer that was gifted to him from the drinking water at a military base he served at. I’m first generation college, and I’m under a staggering amount of college and grad school debt.
Where’s my equal playing field?
People are falling into the trap. The trap is to make any well intentioned action or discussion involving race into something divisive. It is easy to do. These are complex issues.
As to Roy, there is no doubt that not every white male has been giving everything on a sliver platter but to your case specifically, you worked hard and succeeded against plenty of head winds but do you acknowledge that if in addition to all that, your skin was also dark, that it would have been even harder? I think in general, that is the case, not in every case, but in general, there are going to be greater headwinds for African Americans and other minorities, be it coaching or anything.
It seems so hard to say just let the best man (or woman) win. It should be easy. Pick the best coach you feel will help your team win. Pick the best employee that will help your company succeed. Some companies see value, good for their brand, in having a diverse work force and make an effort to hire more minorities. A professional sports team may feel that a black coach, even if not the most experienced, is a good message to send to their team. These are business decisions.
I will say that having programs that target elevating minorities and underserved communities is a good investment for the country. It should not be seen that it is at the expense of someone else. Is a program to help minority inner city kids anti-white kids? I don't feel it is correct or productive to view it that way. If you can help some young minority kids not end up in jail, that is a good thing. It is hard to execute programs like that but that should not stop you from trying.
From my life experience only, poverty seems to be a much greater headwind than race. My guess is that middle class / upper class blacks have better outcomes than lower class whites. Obviously, poor blacks have perhaps the greatest headwinds, but affirmative action isn't geared solely toward them. If we truly care about equity, rather than appeasing political constituencies, I think it's past time to try to lift all races out of poverty, by giving them truly equal opportunity. And yet, on college applications, those in poverty aren't given an automatic advantage in admissions like is done with race. In fact, one's status as being poor is often used against an applicant if a college's admissions process is not "need blind".
Here is the problem with trying to lift people out of poverty, middle class and upper class people hate the idea. Those classes of people b!tch and moan about safety nets like Medicare, Medicaid, EBT programs, low rents in public housing, the amount of financial aid for college given to poor people, disability payments, minimum wages, etc.
There are many programs already addressing the equity issue and trying to keep all people out of poverty, but the complaints of people out of poverty are profound and drive people to vote against such measures, while often labeling these poor people as lazy and just wanting to get handouts. All you have to do is rummage through the CE forum on this site to see the proof of that.
So yeah, let's address bringing all types of people out of poverty. It's already being done but to too small an extent and falls farther and farther from the goal as incomes for the poor have stagnated and are outpaced by inflation. That means these measures are doing less and less to lift people out of poverty every year.
I remember when I had to take over my dad's finances. I was kinda shocked to see the Social Security cost of living increases were smaller than the increase in Medicare price increases. My parents monthly SS checks got smaller each year of the three years I was administering their finances. Because of this, most elderly and disabled were actually getting poorer and poorer each year.
Yes, there are programs that are attempting to close the ethnicity gap in equity but there are programs also addressing the equity issue by trying to lift all people out of poverty. But trying to do either causes a lot of problems for a lot of people who don't like either of these attempts at equity distribution.
Give massive tax breaks to corporations and the highest earners, that's okay. Give more money to poor, regardless of whether done by race or income level, and that is not okay.
Topic: Jaylen Brown article and his views on basketball and social reform issues (Read 13838 times)