>> ...by dismissing the issue as political correctness, you seem to be saying that it's not something that we, as a society, should address.
I'm neither dismissing the issue, nor am I denying we should address it.
>> We can all decide to do nothing.
Nowhere did I state that we should do nothing. I haven't shared my own thoughts on how to solve the problem, which is real.
>> ...one of your family. Would you try to help them? Or, would you tell them to get lost?
Of course I'd try to help them. If a nephew, say, were having trouble breaking into high tech, I'd advise him to start small and work his way up. Get an entry level job in the best and most promising business you can find, and do lots of extra-curricular work either at the business or at home. Contribute to some open source software, and write a couple of mobile apps of your own and put them in the Play Store and AppStore. Create a promotional website that shows off your stuff. Network, network, network, both online and at local entrepreneurial and tech meetups. Go to all the tech shows (free exhibit hall pass, if that's all you can afford) and hand out your card.
>> Our society seems to be turning into 'us' vs. 'them', and to me that's problematic.
I think you're jumping to conclusions. A lot of us do care about making our society a better place for everybody, even if we don't agree with your approach. There's more than one approach, and some approaches are better than others.
The shallow, body count approach advocated by the Bloomberg writer and that Howard U. advisor does not work so well; it's like saying, even if these kids aren't quite up to XXX's standards, XXX ought to hire them anyway because to not hire them smacks of racism. Plus, these kids are my students and I think they deserve to succeed in life.
My approach would be to say, these kids are capable of anything they set their minds to and the only thing holding them back is societal expectations that they're not up to the task and need an extra boost. I set high standards for everyone, including myself, not that I always live up to them. But expectation of great achievement is half the battle. When you've been raised in an environment where the white social welfare establishment has told you all your life that you need extra help, you're going to start to believe that.
Look, I believe that African-Americans are capable of brilliant achievements and there's plenty of proof of that. I don't think they need, nor does anyone else need, what you refer to as double standards. We all should be held to the highest standards of achievement so that we are secure in the knowledge that everyone has faith in us, so we should have faith in ourselves. And that is the basis of great achievement.
I'm neither dismissing the issue, nor am I denying we should address it.
>> We can all decide to do nothing.
Nowhere did I state that we should do nothing. I haven't shared my own thoughts on how to solve the problem, which is real.
>> ...one of your family. Would you try to help them? Or, would you tell them to get lost?
Of course I'd try to help them. If a nephew, say, were having trouble breaking into high tech, I'd advise him to start small and work his way up. Get an entry level job in the best and most promising business you can find, and do lots of extra-curricular work either at the business or at home. Contribute to some open source software, and write a couple of mobile apps of your own and put them in the Play Store and AppStore. Create a promotional website that shows off your stuff. Network, network, network, both online and at local entrepreneurial and tech meetups. Go to all the tech shows (free exhibit hall pass, if that's all you can afford) and hand out your card.
>> Our society seems to be turning into 'us' vs. 'them', and to me that's problematic.
I think you're jumping to conclusions. A lot of us do care about making our society a better place for everybody, even if we don't agree with your approach. There's more than one approach, and some approaches are better than others.
The shallow, body count approach advocated by the Bloomberg writer and that Howard U. advisor does not work so well; it's like saying, even if these kids aren't quite up to XXX's standards, XXX ought to hire them anyway because to not hire them smacks of racism. Plus, these kids are my students and I think they deserve to succeed in life.
My approach would be to say, these kids are capable of anything they set their minds to and the only thing holding them back is societal expectations that they're not up to the task and need an extra boost. I set high standards for everyone, including myself, not that I always live up to them. But expectation of great achievement is half the battle. When you've been raised in an environment where the white social welfare establishment has told you all your life that you need extra help, you're going to start to believe that.
Look, I believe that African-Americans are capable of brilliant achievements and there's plenty of proof of that. I don't think they need, nor does anyone else need, what you refer to as double standards. We all should be held to the highest standards of achievement so that we are secure in the knowledge that everyone has faith in us, so we should have faith in ourselves. And that is the basis of great achievement.