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Profess's comments:
on Raising Revenue: Corps and Brews
I don't want this conversation to get too far without including the topic of people who use Oregon's infrastructure without paying taxes to this state. Whenever I see a WA license plate I think about the members of bedroom communities in Vancouver who come across the bridge to work, shop, be entertained, drink and then go back to WA at tax time. I for one support any tax that reaches this untapped resource. If an Oregon tax (like the proposed beer tax) encourages these 'fair-weather-citizens' to make better use of their own infrastructure and bars, I look forward to having it in place. That being said, any tax on an industry should be more moderate than the proposed increase in the beer tax.
posted 4 years, 3 months ago
view in context
on Join Our Studio Audience on MLK Day!
Well said, well taken.
posted 4 years, 5 months ago
view in context
on Join Our Studio Audience on MLK Day!
LOL!!! Thanks Tom. Great answer!
posted 4 years, 5 months ago
view in context
on Join Our Studio Audience on MLK Day!
Please expand your understanding of the concept of reverse and institutional racism by looking into Tim Wise and Michael Dyson (just use google). Pointing out individuals who have risen above the detritus of racist institutional obstacles by no means proves racism is dead in America. The election of a Black man is not the 'nail in the coffin' of racism. It is my belief we elected the candidate who is most prepared to lead us through the problems we face, and out out the ruts that have limited us. The fact that he is not white male is significant given the rocky racial history of our country. Appreciating this significance is not reverse racism as you describe the term, but a celebration of achievement under extraordinary adversity (if you don't appreciate the story of an underdog succeeding watch Rocky). I respond to your comment as a minority and Black cultural critic, so I empathize with your sentiment but I have few delusions about the racial social dynamics in the US.
posted 4 years, 5 months ago
view in context
on Join Our Studio Audience on MLK Day!
The 'I have a dream' speech can also be called the, 'promise of America' speech. Dr. King spoke of the promise of America being left empty in that not all her citizens were free. From that perspective it would appear we have come quite far as a society. There are however many impediments and restrictions to fundamental freedoms for various individuals and groups. These fundamental freedoms can be related to personal identity, racial and political representation, market tyranny or information acquisition (to list a few areas).
In order to properly construct a healthy democracy, it is imperative the masses are well educated and well informed, and that the media is a frank and honest source of information and critique. There seems to be strong forces at work against these imperatives. What obstacles do you see as impediments to a well educated and informed public, and a frank and honest media?
In order to properly construct a healthy democracy, it is imperative the masses are well educated and well informed, and that the media is a frank and honest source of information and critique. There seems to be strong forces at work against these imperatives. What obstacles do you see as impediments to a well educated and informed public, and a frank and honest media?
posted 4 years, 5 months ago
view in context
on Measure 58: English as a Second Language
It is clear, but unspoken, that folks behind this bill are backing it in hopes of 'leveling the playing field' between students most likely to grow up dual language (ell students) and native english speakers. In a global economy workers who are bilingual are more valued than otherwise. ELL students LIVE in English immersion, outside of academia. Of course immersion programs are effective, that's not the real issue behind mesure 58, it's the 2 year limit. Blanket measures towards education are NOT effective, ask any educator. This is an ethnocentric, racist-motivated bill and that guy ranting about immersion success and the immersion side of 58 is throughing euphemisms up left and right that scream 'fear of immigrants.' If the intent behind 58 is good, lets take some time to research how to do it right, not just throw something up in haste. NO on 58!!!
posted 4 years, 8 months ago
view in context
on Where Wall Street Meets Main Street
You seem to be a wise investor and to manage your finances with clear forsight. I'm taking notes. Maybe my wife and I should wait even longer to buy a house. You think the market in Portland will drop even more significantly?
posted 4 years, 9 months ago
view in context
on Where Wall Street Meets Main Street
From Portland, OR
My wife and I are looking into buying a house so the drop in house prices seemed helpful until we realized that it would also be more difficult to get a loan, particularly for home buying. There are also psychological effects surrounding job security. I have been revising my resume and putting feelers out just in case my job is not as safe as it was even one year ago. I blame unfettered adherance to free market mechanisms and a lack of any constraints on various components of financial institutions. Long ago (1940's I believe) there was a line between savings and loans institutions and investment banks. Then came hyper-deregulation (do whatever you can to make more money message). Just a thought, I'm not an analyst.
Of course the GOP talks nonpartisan rhetoric now that their ideology has got us all in a bind. It would seem that party is quick to take full responsibility for what little good they have been integral in, but wants to dodge any ownership of major ideological screw-ups. When will it end (hopefully in Nov.)?
My wife and I are looking into buying a house so the drop in house prices seemed helpful until we realized that it would also be more difficult to get a loan, particularly for home buying. There are also psychological effects surrounding job security. I have been revising my resume and putting feelers out just in case my job is not as safe as it was even one year ago. I blame unfettered adherance to free market mechanisms and a lack of any constraints on various components of financial institutions. Long ago (1940's I believe) there was a line between savings and loans institutions and investment banks. Then came hyper-deregulation (do whatever you can to make more money message). Just a thought, I'm not an analyst.
Of course the GOP talks nonpartisan rhetoric now that their ideology has got us all in a bind. It would seem that party is quick to take full responsibility for what little good they have been integral in, but wants to dodge any ownership of major ideological screw-ups. When will it end (hopefully in Nov.)?
posted 4 years, 9 months ago
view in context
on From the Conventions: World Image
"The world has always ben more impressed by the power of our example... ...than by examples of our power."
- Bill Clinton (2008 Democratic Convention)
- Bill Clinton (2008 Democratic Convention)
posted 4 years, 9 months ago
view in context
on From the Conventions: Believing in Politics
You said it all in one paragraph, I feel like I don't even need to comment. Courting religious groups is sickening and unnerving true, unavoidable reality though, I hope not. We can begin to rally against this trend. Look at the unanimity of the other comments. Almost all of them share the sentiment of this one. Thanks again for stating the point so well Scott.
posted 4 years, 9 months ago
view in context
on From the Conventions: Believing in Politics
From Portland, OR
I am of the opinion that politicians and their parties pander to religious groups and through religious means out of necessity. In general, people today are not used to thinking deeply about political or social issues so in order to get peoples' attention political groups use emotional appeals. There are the fear-mongers who appeal with 'us-vs them' or 'beware the bogeyman' tactics. There are the faith-mongers who appeal with 'they don't believe' or 'their moral values are weak or off-base' tactics. There are family buzzwords that spark emotive responses.
In short, politicians have increasingly used emotive triggers and buzzwords to get attention as the public has (seemingly at least) done less and less thinking. People will never be immune to emotional appeals, even if we do get mentally lazy.
Keep faith in the home and out of the political sphere. Theocracy is part of what prompted the early settlers of this country to leave western Europe and begin fresh.
I am of the opinion that politicians and their parties pander to religious groups and through religious means out of necessity. In general, people today are not used to thinking deeply about political or social issues so in order to get peoples' attention political groups use emotional appeals. There are the fear-mongers who appeal with 'us-vs them' or 'beware the bogeyman' tactics. There are the faith-mongers who appeal with 'they don't believe' or 'their moral values are weak or off-base' tactics. There are family buzzwords that spark emotive responses.
In short, politicians have increasingly used emotive triggers and buzzwords to get attention as the public has (seemingly at least) done less and less thinking. People will never be immune to emotional appeals, even if we do get mentally lazy.
Keep faith in the home and out of the political sphere. Theocracy is part of what prompted the early settlers of this country to leave western Europe and begin fresh.
posted 4 years, 9 months ago
view in context
on The White State
Positive individual interactions demolish most people's concepts of racism. Treating everyone we meet with respect should be a mode of operation for all of us. I think that is what I and most people want, I think there is little more we (as individuals) can do. These are things I fully agree with you about.
As for why I 'cut and paste' items into posts, it was an attempt to bring light to some elusive aspects of [b]"majority privilege"[/b] that were in question. I could have referenced the many books on my shelf at home to get the same or similar information, but chose to use the speed and efficiency of the internet instead. The concept of "white / majority privilege" is not meant to prey on anyone's guilt. It describes dynamics that are not relegated to individuals, but to characteristics inherent in majority / minority situations. Re-read the definition I posted at the top of the list. Knowledge of these dynamics can and should help buffer our individual interactions and help us understand how others might feel under various circumstances.
[quote]I have some questions about your most recent response [b]kraznayazvezda[/b], what is a [i]'hyper-intellectual'[/i]? When was there an attempt to 'draft' you into an ideological project? What groups outside whites are [i]not[/i] considered minorities?[/quote]
Any examination of our country's history will reveal that the concept of whiteness with regard to race explicitly excludes all other races. You are correct, everyone isn't a (racial) minority, just those who differ from the (racial) majority. Believe me, I know these dynamics don't apply strictly to whites and racial minorities but to any majority / minority circumstance. I have seen the situation inverted from the norm with similar results [i](one white male in a sea of people not like him, being deprived of some of the benefits listed above, having to mentally adjust).[/i] Speading awareness and empathy for how others may feel is the only scam I have going in trying to elaborate on majority / white privilege. Hope it works.
As for why I 'cut and paste' items into posts, it was an attempt to bring light to some elusive aspects of [b]"majority privilege"[/b] that were in question. I could have referenced the many books on my shelf at home to get the same or similar information, but chose to use the speed and efficiency of the internet instead. The concept of "white / majority privilege" is not meant to prey on anyone's guilt. It describes dynamics that are not relegated to individuals, but to characteristics inherent in majority / minority situations. Re-read the definition I posted at the top of the list. Knowledge of these dynamics can and should help buffer our individual interactions and help us understand how others might feel under various circumstances.
[quote]I have some questions about your most recent response [b]kraznayazvezda[/b], what is a [i]'hyper-intellectual'[/i]? When was there an attempt to 'draft' you into an ideological project? What groups outside whites are [i]not[/i] considered minorities?[/quote]
Any examination of our country's history will reveal that the concept of whiteness with regard to race explicitly excludes all other races. You are correct, everyone isn't a (racial) minority, just those who differ from the (racial) majority. Believe me, I know these dynamics don't apply strictly to whites and racial minorities but to any majority / minority circumstance. I have seen the situation inverted from the norm with similar results [i](one white male in a sea of people not like him, being deprived of some of the benefits listed above, having to mentally adjust).[/i] Speading awareness and empathy for how others may feel is the only scam I have going in trying to elaborate on majority / white privilege. Hope it works.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on The White State
I want to make sure this response gets posted, I didn't see that my previous one did. I completely agree with you here. The term "white privilege" is a misnomer and should properly be called "majority privilege". It seems I agree with you more than I initially thought. You make another well stated point.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on The White State
Here i must fully agree with your well stated point. "racial diversity can in many ways force people, through simple function of exposure, to be more familiar with other cultures and races, but it certainly isn't always a prescription to cure bigotry or even necessary to do so.
So, you cannot possibly assume Oregon is more racist then other places because of its lack of diversity---there is no logical foundation to do so."
--- Definitely!!! Maybe I need to read through your entire posts before responding. *heh*
So, you cannot possibly assume Oregon is more racist then other places because of its lack of diversity---there is no logical foundation to do so."
--- Definitely!!! Maybe I need to read through your entire posts before responding. *heh*
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on The White State
...On white privilege...
White privilege is a sociological concept which describes advantages purportedly enjoyed by white persons beyond what is commonly experienced by the non-white people in those same social, political, and economic spaces (nation, community, workplace, income, etc.). It differs from racism or prejudice in that a person benefiting from white privilege does not necessarily hold racist beliefs or prejudices themselves. Often, the person benefiting is unaware of his or her supposed privilege.
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.
4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.
17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.
26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.
27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.
28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.
29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.
30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.
32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.
33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.
37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.
46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.
48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.
49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.
50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.
White privilege is a sociological concept which describes advantages purportedly enjoyed by white persons beyond what is commonly experienced by the non-white people in those same social, political, and economic spaces (nation, community, workplace, income, etc.). It differs from racism or prejudice in that a person benefiting from white privilege does not necessarily hold racist beliefs or prejudices themselves. Often, the person benefiting is unaware of his or her supposed privilege.
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.
4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.
17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.
26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.
27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.
28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.
29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.
30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.
32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.
33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.
37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.
46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.
48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.
49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.
50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on Olympic Trials and Tribulations
From Portland, OR
I have been a wrestler for 21 years and have represented the United States in international competition at various age levels 4 times (3 world championships and 1 cultural exchange trip). During my competetive stage I considered the possibility of pursuing an Olympic spot (I had trained at 2 Olympic training centers at that point). After examining the commitment needed (family time, extensive training, cutting weight, coaching, lifestyle sacrifices) and the benefits (brief national recognition, personal accolades from family & friends, a shoe deal) I didn't think it added up in favor of pursuing a spot on the Olympic team.
I don't think the pay-offs and benefits of Olympic team membership are the same for every sport. For some sports the pay-offs are much greater than they are for wrestling, while the sacrifices needed may not be as strenuous. When using examples like Phelps, keep in mind the thousands who go to the Olympics and place silver or bronze and are not widely remembered or recognized even 1 year after the competition.
In short, it depends on the sport.
I have been a wrestler for 21 years and have represented the United States in international competition at various age levels 4 times (3 world championships and 1 cultural exchange trip). During my competetive stage I considered the possibility of pursuing an Olympic spot (I had trained at 2 Olympic training centers at that point). After examining the commitment needed (family time, extensive training, cutting weight, coaching, lifestyle sacrifices) and the benefits (brief national recognition, personal accolades from family & friends, a shoe deal) I didn't think it added up in favor of pursuing a spot on the Olympic team.
I don't think the pay-offs and benefits of Olympic team membership are the same for every sport. For some sports the pay-offs are much greater than they are for wrestling, while the sacrifices needed may not be as strenuous. When using examples like Phelps, keep in mind the thousands who go to the Olympics and place silver or bronze and are not widely remembered or recognized even 1 year after the competition.
In short, it depends on the sport.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on The White State
The reason Black / White issues are the center of race conversation is because it can be used as a model. Keep in mind, conventional schooling, media and public knowledge is automatically from the perspective of the majority (another inherent part of majority tyranny). There are professors of White history, they're called professors of American History. The story is written from that perspective to the detriment of all other perspectives. Face the truth.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on The White State
Well put.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on The White State
Was the conversation you were involved in formally organized? If so what was the name of the conversation you were part of? I would like to participate in such an event. It seems you gained a deep understanding of some of the effects of institutionalised racism on the everyday lives of minorities. Thanks for your insights.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
on The White State
From Portland, OR.
"We're color blind" is a cliche with absolutely no meaning. To pay no mind to a person's racial experience, to be 'color blind' is as much an injustice as using one's own racial status as a power lever (if possible for that individual). It is a part of white privilege to be able to 'ignore' race. When someone is a minority in a state where people who look like them and have similar racial experiences are relegated to living in certain areas, defacto segregated schools, limited variation within the minority population and, with the help of main-stream media, stereotyped by the majority at large, ignoring race becomes very difficult (unless they're just asleep).
The new direction in social studies is a crucial step in helping us understand the socio-historic context of race and how it relates to our current affairs. To engage in or examine our current polity without making connections to the past and how that past affects our social fabric today is a travesty. Being "color blind" is like writing the 'dark side' of American / Oregon history out of the books. Sorry Scotty Mills, bad take.
"We're color blind" is a cliche with absolutely no meaning. To pay no mind to a person's racial experience, to be 'color blind' is as much an injustice as using one's own racial status as a power lever (if possible for that individual). It is a part of white privilege to be able to 'ignore' race. When someone is a minority in a state where people who look like them and have similar racial experiences are relegated to living in certain areas, defacto segregated schools, limited variation within the minority population and, with the help of main-stream media, stereotyped by the majority at large, ignoring race becomes very difficult (unless they're just asleep).
The new direction in social studies is a crucial step in helping us understand the socio-historic context of race and how it relates to our current affairs. To engage in or examine our current polity without making connections to the past and how that past affects our social fabric today is a travesty. Being "color blind" is like writing the 'dark side' of American / Oregon history out of the books. Sorry Scotty Mills, bad take.
posted 4 years, 10 months ago
view in context
