Friday, December 21, 2007
Denial and Stupidity
In 1994, two sociologists went to Red Hook, Brooklyn, to solve a mystery. Red Hook abutted the East River, and along the waterfront sat shipping companies and warehouses — all in need of low-skilled labor. Next door sat a housing project teeming with exactly that. But the locals — primarily African Americans — didn't get hired. Instead, the jobs went to workers from outside the neighborhood, often Caribbean immigrants. Employers, wrote The New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell in summarizing the sociologists' findings, "had developed an elaborate mechanism for distinguishing between those who they felt were 'good' blacks and those they felt were 'bad' blacks." Were the employers racist? Yes and no. They clearly held anti-black stereotypes. And they discriminated against those who conformed to them, even by association. But they discriminated in favor of blacks who defied those stereotypes. A man named Bruce Llewellyn described the phenomenon this way: "White people love to believe they're fair."
Peter Beinart
Step Sixteen. Fire all the public school teachers, teacher aides, cafeteria workers and bus drivers and de-certify the teachers union--the largest in the state. This will primarily hurt middle class African Americans and make them look for jobs elsewhere.
Bill Quigley
Bill Quigley is still an idiot, but don't pretend that it isn't about race and class. Personally, I'm inclined to agree with Beth and Stevo in the comments at the yellow blog, but work beckons.
Comments:
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Step Sixteen is perhaps one of the most idiotic statements Quigley made.
UTNO was one of the major obstacles to reforming the New Orleans Public School System.
Even with the years and years of poor performance an public pressure adn State pressure UTNO could not find a way to make their members accountable.
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UTNO was one of the major obstacles to reforming the New Orleans Public School System.
Even with the years and years of poor performance an public pressure adn State pressure UTNO could not find a way to make their members accountable.
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