Friday brain dump (7/29/05)–UPDATED
Every week around this time, I try to share with you briefly those issues and thoughts that I was not able to cover on this site for the past week.
Voting
This is something that has been on my mind for years. If a person does not like either candidate, should they still feel obligated to vote? I have heard the usual arguments like “boy, do you know how many people died so that you could have the right to vote?” (quite frankly, I may have used that one myself). My people may have endured a lot so that I could enjoy freedoms like the right to vote, but they also taught me something that is more powerful than a vote—how to use my common sense!
This leads me to an article I recently came across:
Sharpton Slams Blacks for Blindly Supporting Clinton, Democrats
Washington (CNSNews.com) - Former Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton blasted blacks Thursday for what he described as their blind support of the Democratic Party without demanding anything in return.
Sharpton, during his remarks at the National Urban League’s annual conference in Washington, noted that his fellow Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, have taken African-American voters for granted and failed to act in the best interests of the black community.
“The whole network of incarceration (of African-American men) happened under this president and the last president. So it wasn’t just George Bush. Bill Clinton — I wish Hillary had hung around — Bill Clinton built a lot of jails and passed the omnibus crime bill,” Sharpton said shortly after Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) had addressed the same panel discussion, entitled “The Black Male: Endangered Species or Hope for the Future?” (more…)
To be completely honest with you, Sharpton always seemed to be less of a cheerleader for the Democratic party (despite the fact he ran under their ticket) than Jesse Jackson. This could prove valuable to him as he tries to posture himself as a “voice” in the black community. Still, don’t get it twisted—his own agenda still trumps in the end.
Work ethic in America
Yesterday while driving, I happened to come across The Larry Elder show on the radio. He had a caller who was farmer in the Inland area out here in California. It is very obvious these day that a farmer is going to have workers from South America, so Larry asked him what would happen if he hired American-born workers instead (regardless of color). The farmer told him that he has many times in the past, but he has noticed that Americans tend to take more breaks and work not as hard as those who are here either on a work visa or just illegally. The farmer said that typically a good worker will pick about 8 crates of fruit a day at $8 a crate. The American workers (local high school kids, some adults) will pick about half that amount a day due to excessive breaks and a slower production rate.
As Larry later mentioned, there are people out there who are of the belief that Americans will do the work if you just pay them more to do it. The farmer went on to say that he would not have a problem paying more per case, but the consumer would feel the impact the greatest. He said that if his workforce was made up of all Americans, his produce would triple in cost.
Larry then asked him to estimate what percentage of his workforce was illegal…
he said “99%”.
+++++++++++++++++UPDATED PORTION BELOW+++++++++++++++++++++++
To Insure Prejudice: Racial Disparities in Taxicab Tipping
Abstract:
We collected data on over 1000 taxicab rides in New Haven, CT in 2001. After controlling for a host of other variables, we find two potential racial disparities in tipping: (1) African-American cab drivers were tipped approximately one-third less than white cab drivers; and (2) African-American passengers tipped approximately one-half the amount of white passengers (African-American passengers are 3.7 times more likely than white passengers to leave no tip).
Many studies have documented seller discrimination against consumers, but this study tests and finds that consumers discriminate based on the seller’s race. African-American passengers also participated in the racial discrimination. While African-American passengers generally tipped less, they also tipped black drivers approximately one-third less than they tipped white drivers.
The finding that African-American passengers tend to tip less may not be robust to including better controls for passenger social class. But it is still possible to test for the racialized inference that cab drivers (who also could not directly observe passenger income) might make. Regressions suggest that a “rational” statistical discriminator would expect African Americans to tip 56.5% less than white passengers…
Click here for the full report
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If a taxi driver (who usually gets low pay) has the choice to pick up somebody who he knows based on experience is either going to leave a very small tip or nothing at all versus taking his chances with someone (white) who has a track record of tipping well…
This is not a complicated issue. It is all about economics.
So much for the “Taxi drivers are racist” theory.
Let’s be honest here, most Negroes will speed past brah-man in a second if bills are due. (and I would be the main Negro “speeding up”)
There is a well known study by Cornell University that looked at tipping in restaurants. I’ll talk about the findings of this report next week.
+++++++++++++++++UPDATED PORTION ABOVE+++++++++++++++++++++++
And finally this…
Here are some comments made by some readers of blackinformant.com:
On favorite lines from the movie The Color Purple–
“The jail you planned for me is the one you gon’ rot in.â€Â
“You betta bash mista over the head and think about heaven later!â€Â
“It’s gon’ rain on yo’ head!â€Â
“Harpo beat Sophia, Sophia beat Harpo, and in between the beatin’s the babies keep a-comin’.â€Â
On the posting entitled “Putting “poor” in perspective†–
I have no microwave or dishwasher, or clothes dryer.: I am not poor! I am rich! I am cool in the summer, and warm and dry in the winter. I have enough clothes to wear, and I don’t go to bed hungry! People need to get a life and appreciate what they do have!
–Jonette Hickman
On the posting entitled “Is there a such thing as “too good”?‖
It never ceases to amaze me how the media portrays Tiger. Whether he wins or loses he’s being scrutinized. When he wins he’s boring and when he loses (even when he comes in a close 2nd or 3rd consistently) he’s in a slump and the they’re all over him.
Of course the obvious question here is whether or not he would be treated by the media the same way if he was of a lighter hue.
On the post entitled “Watch how this story gets buried â€Â
I think the problem of why this issue has not gotten more media play is two-fold.
One half of the problem is the media only outlines those problems concerning poor minorities, that validate their existing thesis. It is no secret that 80% of journalists vote Democratic. I think this is the percentage that was founded in an actual scientific study performed by a university. This is not evil or wrong in itself, but it proves to be a detriment to many people who depend on the Mainstream Media for it’s information. It is good that Republicans have their feet held to the fire through media scrutiny. It is bad when that scrutiny and cynicism is reserved for only one of the two political parties.
A few months ago, Duane published a commentary concerning Roland Martin’s opinion of the lack of credibility possessed by blogs. In my post, I stated that “black†news mediums would be ineffective vs blogs because they would have a tendency to be redundant with the info they presented to that the liberal media presented. I also stated they would have the tendency to toe the Democratic line’s interests in full. Anything that made liberals look as crooked and heartless as Republicans would be swept under the rug, or rationalized with comparisons of misdeeds by Republicans if the issue was forced into the light. This creates a conflict of interests concerning the true interests of the Black community as a whole and the Black Elite power structure as a separate entity.
The second half of the problem is perpetuated by the members of our own community, which is still heavily influenced by the old guard (Black Elite, Civil Rights of the new school and old school). The sum total of the existence for many of us boils down to Democrat or Republican. While there are many issues that should determine our political persuasion, right and wrong should not be one of them. If funds were diverted from poor minority kids to go to say… Rush Limbaugh, blacks in this country would rightly get so mad, the temperature in America would get 20 degrees hotter. There is no outrage now because it is not attached to a Republican, which means it appears our tunnel vision on the deeds of Republicans is all that matters. Regardless of all the “We won’t be taken for granted†phrases shouted every election, I really think many of us don’t know how to not be taken for granted.
If the liberal ideology is so the bomb, why is the only way to defend many of its positions is to attach its components to “The Civil Rights struggle� Outside of care for the elderly, poor, and children, liberalism is vapid and undefendable. It needs to be legitimized with a poor black face, even though it’s most ardent activist and soldiers are pro-abortionists, gay/lesbian alliances, unions and rich celebrities. Non of whom, I add, have a significant impact or interest with the plight of poor inner city youth
And not to get off topic, Affirmative Action (which I support whole heartedly for graduate schools and in corporations) is not really liberalism, but is a policy supported by the Constitution and several laws to counterbalance centuries of racism against qualified minorities.
-Chris Gill
On the post entitled “Something worth considering: A “coming of age” celebration for our kids‖
is there a name for the coming of age for African American kids..? I know that they have this new thing out in CALI called†FAUX MITZVAH†for non-Jewish people…is it right to use that…or could we come up with a name for our group like C.O.A. Mitzvah…or something? I wanted to know because I have a person (African American) who insist on have a Bar Mitzvah for their son….please help!!!
–Precious
My reply–
Precious,
As far as name goes, as individuals we should call it what we want. Unlike the Jews who have strong ties to their ancient heritage, black Americans do not have any real cultural ties to Africa (as evident by the fact we generally do not celebrate African holidays, speak any of the languages, etc.) In fact, most of us are not 100% African decent anyway.
If you want to emphasize the “cultural†thing, my suggestion would be one of two: Have the family create their own culture in the celebration. We do this all the time at family reunions. Have “unc†so-and-so tell one of his funny stories, the “techie†in the family to put together a short video, Uncles and Aunts who are known for their cooking–have them cook. You could also have the “historian†of the family give a brief synopsis of where the family came from, what they had to endure, etc.
The other thing you could do is kinda the same as I mentioned above, but also incorporate some African traditions and any other ethnicity your family identifies with (for example, many blacks who can trace their roots back to the south have Native American in their blood.)
The greatest thing you can do is doing the “create your own culture†route. This will be a lot more memorable than all the African chants in the world. Save the “African†piece for another time. Chances are, they will forget most of it in that forum;however, they will remember grand-mama telling one of those stories she has never told before.
Again, be free to call the ceremony whatever you like. The last I checked, there isn’t a “black†name for spaghetti. Calling it a “Bar†or “Bat†Mitzvah should not be an issue.
Have a great weekend, family!
Thanks for making blackinformant.com part of your day!
August 2nd, 2005 at 2:32 am
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