The Black Informant

The KKK, illegal immigration, and Ebony Magazine

How to confuse the uneducated masses.

I found this on the Ebony/Jet website:

What’s That Smell?
Supremacist Cooking Up Trouble

According to a study by the Anti-Defamation League, extremists groups like the Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan have started recruiting and rallying around the issue of immigration, illegal and otherwise. In the late 1990s, membership in these groups dwindled considerably as leaders were jailed and those remaining struggled to organize. Recent numbers indicate that between 2000 and 2005, hate groups grew by 33 percent, the Klan by 63 percent, fueled primarily by the Mexican immigration issue.

Given the history of the African-American community with the KKK, is it our responsibility to lend support to the ethnic groups currently targeted? (source)

While I will always admire Ebony and Jet magazines as good examples of successful publications with great information, this blurb is by far over the top for them (in a bad way).

Shall we talk about how illegal immigration has had adverse affects on Black employment and public school education? Naaaaaah, let’s just make it into a (you guessed it) a race issue and forget about all those “little” details. My question for Ebony/Jet is “Do you abandon your views on a particular issue just because someone you do not agree with shares your opinion–regardless for their motives?” What Ebony/Jet is suggesting here is that as Black people, we should have some kind of sworn allegiance to other people with darker skin without looking at the issues (something they regularly encourage their readers to do on a variety of other issues).

If the Klan agrees with my stance against illegal immigration, SO WHAT? This does not make me a charter member of the Klan no more than it places them at the top of my list of invites at my next barbecue.

Related

“A 2006 study done by the Federation for American Immigration Reform - a non-profit organization that is pushing for immigration reform on a national level - showed that illegal immigrants have been costing New York State school district taxpayers a total of “at least $1.5 billion per year.” However, that number increases when US-born children of illegal immigrants are taken into account. Those children carry an additional expense of $2.8 billion annually, according to the report, and bring the overall figure up to $4.3 billion.” (source)

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Dang! Well that means that Khunta must have been a straight-up crackhead

(kcci.com) DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa State University study shows that racial discrimination is a strong predictor of drug use by black teenagers.

The study by Iowa State’s Institute for Social and Behavioral Research of more than 600 black children from Georgia and Iowa found that those who experience racial discrimination before they turn 12 are twice as likely to use drugs by the time they are teenagers, according to a news release.

Among those who experienced discrimination also had what the study called “conduct disorders” in which teens committed acts such as vandalism or burglary and more than half reported drug use five years later, according to the research. (source)

Why comment any further here?

Cruising with the peeps

For our next cruise, I think we will consider one of the offerings from this source

About Black Cruise Week

Cruise events are no longer just based upon family getaways. There are hundreds of cruise events that take place each and every month which cater towards many different interest, hobbies and cultures.

In the past, many traditional cruise lines lacked events that catered toward the lifestyles and interest of the African American cruise traveler.

A few years ago, the idea of the first major nationwide cruise event for African Americans was born, launched and the final outcome became a huge resounding success.

As the success with one cruise grew, it produced a demand for black cruise organizers to provide themed cruises toward the many different niches within the black traveling community. (source)

#

Challenges faced by Black business owners

(thestarpress.com) MUNCIE — There’s a long history of local businesses owned by African-Americans and other minorities. That history is marked by some black business success stories — and some business failures.

African-American business owners experience the same frustrations that any business owner feels, including lack of recognition and lack of support. With black-owned businesses, however, the reasons for failure can range from simply failing to connect with customers to never standing a chance of gaining the patronage of non-minority consumers.

“The things that would improve (minority) business in Muncie would improve business all over the country,” said Darryal Hawkins, owner of Muncie Precision Hard Chrome and Hawkins Industrial. “We suffer from the same problems: Lack of exposure, lack of capital, lack of commitment by folks to do what they say they will do.”

Black business owners say their frustrations can extend to the African-American community itself.

“They’ve not used their economic power in this community,” said Carl Kizer Jr., owner of Kizer’s Carpet Care, referring to local African-Americans. “They’ve not used it. That’s the problem. Even for some minority businesses, other minorities don’t rally and support them.

“My business is probably 95-percent white,” Kizer added. “There are a lot of blacks out there with carpet. Do they gear their dollars to minority businesses like mine, to help it grow and employ more minorities? No, they don’t.

“They would be an economic force if they all rallied together,” Kizer added. (source)

This is another issue that I have talked about at great length here on this website. On this particular article I am a little mixed. Here are two quick points:

1.) From what I have seen and personally experienced, many Black consumers tend to expect way too much (and not pay for it) when dealing with a Black business. Conversely, I have seen Black business owners charge way too much for their products/services–out pricing themselves out of the market.

2.) Don’t expect Black folks to come swarming for your services just because you are a Black business owner. If you have been offering substandard products/services, like any other consumer group, Black folks will go elsewhere. The only institutions where I have seen the Black dollar recirculating back in the community are beauty salons/barber shops, churches and other social groups, restaurants and entertainment. Beyond that, I have not seen the Black Dollar Days concept actually sticking for a long time.

Related link(s)

African-American Chamber Survey

Are they taking over or did we give them the keys?

#

This is how Black folks stay successful in business

This is not a earth-shattering quote, but it certainly makes the point that I try to make here on this site every day.

“…Wally Amos, the founder of Famous Amos cookies. “I knew there were people who would not buy my cookies because I am black,” says Mr. Amos, who started his company (which is now owned by Kellogg) in 1975. “But that was not my problem; it was theirs. To me anybody with a mouth was a potential customer.” (source)

####

Ebony fashion show continues to build on its success

(clarionledger.com) “Forget Paris, Milan and New York City.

When Jackson resident Norweida Roberts wants to see couture from some of the world’s greatest designers - Roberto Cavalli, Carolina Herrera and Yves Saint Laurent - she heads to the annual Ebony Fashion Fair Show.

[…]

Over the years, Hilliard said the show has raised more than $400,000 for Tougaloo and Rust colleges and the United Negro College Fund. Nationally, the organization has raised more than $55 million for charitable organizations since its inception.

“It is a commitment to the reasons for the show and that is to raise scholarship money,” Hilliard said.” (source)

The daily stuggles of being Black in America: The series

Out of all the things I have posted o this site, this series by far will be the most absurd, lame and downright asinine thing I have ever done here.

Michelle Obama (Senator Obama’s wife) touched on something recently in her interview on 60 minutes that I believe epitomizes the sentiments of many Black folks in this country: No matter how successful you become, racism in all forms will always be there to haunt you. Here is an excerpt of that interview:

“This is a tough question to ask, but a number of years ago Colin Powell was thinking about running for president, and his wife Alma, really did not want him to run. She was worried about some crazy person, with a gun…. Is that something that you think about?” Kroft asks.

“I don’t lose sleep over it because the realities are that, you know, as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, you know. So, you know, you can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen. We just weren’t raised that way,” she says. (source)

If you listen to some folks, you would think that for the average Black person has to go through some sort of ceremonial ritual that includes a sacred incantation of “We Shall Overcome” before leaving the house lest a James Earl Ray–type is lurking out there waiting to shoot them down. The truth is, while being Black in America can attract folks out there who have biases based on skin color, in today’s world the color of one’s skin rarely serves as a barrier keeping folks away from experiencing success–as seen in the careers of Barack & Michelle Obama.

The main problem that I have with Obama is that while he touts that America is ready for change and he is the man for the job to bring that change, he still manages to play the race card. Here is Obama again subtly suggesting that America has barely changed over the years. This is what he had to say at his recent appearance in South Carolina:

Hitting one of the early primary states in the first week since announcing his candidacy for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, Obama told supporters he doesn’t believe those who say a black man can’t be elected.
“Twenty years ago, nobody would have believed this crowd in South Carolina,” he said of the racially mixed group. (source)

Hmmmm, let’s think about that for a moment as we step back into time…

“After early respectable losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, he won five southern states on Super Tuesday, March 8, 1988. On March 12 he won the caucus in his birth state of South Carolina and three days later finished second in his home state of Illinois. On March 26, 1988 Jackson stunned Dukakis and the rest of the nation in the Michigan caucus: Having won that northern industrial state with 55 percent of the vote, Jackson became the Democratic front-runner.” (source)

In case you are wondering, the Jackson mentioned here is no other that Jesse Jackson.

Moving on…

In most cases when you hear someone whining about racism, as you peel their complaint it usually falls within one of two categories (or both)

A) Something that happened to them in the not too recent past.
B) Something that did not happen to them directly, yet they feel the need to personalize it as if it happened to them.

B. is very interesting because in many cases if a Black person was to become very successful, the comradeship we easily share in times of great offense becomes scrutinized and filtered based on class (look to people like Oprah or Cosby as two examples of how ANY criticisms they have for some Black folks is seen as condescending towards ALL Black folks).

In these series of posts, I will briefly cover many of the interactions I have with Whites on a daily basis. May I remind you here that you are hearing from a person who started his career in the IT industry, got laid off, worked for a non-profit, had to go on welfare for a while, worked as an overnight security guard in quite a few places including a dairy farm and a hotel, helped my wife clean offices and bathrooms and now work at home in our own family business. I mention this because no matter how much money I had or didn’t have in my pocket, most of my interactions with White folks have been uneventful, to say the least. So while writing about this is pretty lame IMO, I feel the need to do so in an effort to combat the noise out there that Black folks are a sneeze away from returning to the cotton and tobacco fields of the South. I have already started a list of interactions here if you care to revisit that post. In the meantime, here are a few observations from our recent trip to Hawai’i. For those that have a keen interest in hearing about positive Black experiences, here are a few of mine in this land this is supposedly dripping with racism:

(Unless otherwise mentioned, all of these folks mentioned below are White)

#Our plane was delayed for about 3 hours, so the man at the gate gave ALL OF US $10 food vouchers.

#While on the plane, we were served our drinks and snacks just like everybody else.

#Once we arrived at our room on the cruise ship, we quickly discovered that they gave us the wrong room ( a downgraded room from what we paid for). We went to the front desk and spoke with the manager about it. He got back to us the following day and gave us an upgraded room free of charge.

#There were quite a few Black folks on this cruise. From what I have seen they were given the same kind of treatment as everyone else (help with their luggage, served their food, etc)

#At one of the beaches, I lost my wedding band. Three individuals helped me to look for it without having to ask them.

#While standing in line at a car rental store, out of the blue a man who was in front of us in line gave us a coupon to receive a free upgrade on our car rental.

#One of the TVs did not work in our cabin so I informed the person cleaning our room. By the time we came back, the TV was fully functional.

#Went through security many times and did not get stopped under suspicious reasons.

XXXXRACISM ALERTXXXXX My wife entered a restaurant to get some tea. Realizing that the restaurant was closing she decided to skip it. The man who my wife asked for the tea appeared to be very impatient with my wife and reluctantly brought her the tea. HOW DARE HE OFFENDED HER! DOESN’T HE KNOW THAT SHE IS A BLACK WOMAN!

#Requested to have our seats changed on the plane ride back home so that we could be near our kids. Fellow passengers had no problem granting our request.

So the next time you hear of a fellow Black person whining about how there is no good news out there regarding race relations in this country, point them to this series and you will see just how quickly boredom will settle in. The truth is: good news as it relates to race relations is BORING!

At 75 cents a minute, you know this is gonna be quick!

-The fam and I arrived in Hawai’i safe and sound.

-Just Beautiful!!!

-Great seeing my wife in a real bathing suit

-Kids are having fun

-Great being disconnected from following current events for a while

-Will be back next week!

-Peace!

Helping out the brothas on Valentine’s day

(This will be my last post until 2/20)

Brothas, I think it is time for us to change up this holiday a lil’ bit. Are you one of those that:

-Buy a box of chocolate candy?

-Buy a teddy bear or some other stuffed animal that is marked down?

-Wait til the last minute to buy a card only settling for the leftovers?

-Wait til the last minute to make a reservation at your favorite restaurant?

-Buy flowers from the man that stands at the corner of Washington Ave and King Blvd?

For the married brothas out there, it is time for us to take this to another level. At the beginning of this year, I made a commitment to myself that I was going to be more creative with my expressions of love for my wife.

One thing I have in mind for this year is for us to spend more time cooking together instead of her doing it one day and me on others. We both love trying out foods from other countries (Jamaica, India, Italy, Greece, Mexico, etc.) but have never made the time to go beyond our usual favorites. When we get back from our trip, I thinking about thumbing through a few recipes off the net and just try to “work it” with her.

Some other ideas for the brothas:

-Make an appointment for her to get her nails done. When she is finished, have one of the employees pass a note to her instructing her to meet you at a particular location where you will have something waiting for her (dinner, a pair of tickets for an event, etc.—NOT YOU SITTING ON THE COUCH WEARING NOTHING BUT A PAIR OF HEART-PATTERNED BOXERS WHILE GREETING HER WITH A “LET’S GET IT ON, SHAWTY!”)

-Write a well thought out letter expressing your love towards her.

There are so many other things we could do, so I am going to leave the floor open for others to leave suggestions. Hey, I’m no pro at this kind of stuff, but I am always willing to learn from others.
Bottom line: What are some unique ways we can make baby girl feel special–even it is not on Valentine’s day?

One way to BE the village

Ever consider adoption?

From Wikipedia:

” The desire for parents to adopt children of the same race is the cause of some controversy within the United States, especially in the African-American community. There are more Caucasian families seeking to adopt than there are minority families; conversely, there are more minority children available for adoption. This disparity often results in a lower cost to adopt children from ethnic minorities - usually through special adoption grants rather than fee discrimination. Critics claim this cost disparity implies that minority babies are of less value than white ones. This situation is morally difficult because the adoptive families see adoption as a great benefit to trans-racially adopted children, while some minorities see it as an assault on their culture. In 2004, 26 percent of African-American children adopted from foster care were adopted trans-racially. Government agencies have varied over time in their willingness to facilitate trans-racial adoptions. “Since 1994, white prospective parents have filed, and largely won, more than two dozen discrimination lawsuits, according to state and federal court records.”There is also a great need to place these children; in 2004 more than 45,000 African-American children were waiting to be adopted from foster care.” (source)

From achildswaiting.com. These are young men who are NOT in the prison system but could end up there.

“We are thankful to our families and appreciate their commitment. Unfortunately, the placement statistic do not accurately reflect the children still waiting. There are currently 150,000 children waiting for a home in the United States alone. Of those children, 85% are African American, 60% are boys, many are over the age of 8 yrs, and most have siblings.” (source)

Adoption services you can contact for more information:

sunnyridge.org

adoptionhelp.org

adoption.com

You gotta love how they word this

Taking a positive (mind you, a rate that has been closely watched and talked about during Bush’s administration) and adding a healthy dose of skepticism.

“For the first time in five years, the African-American unemployment rate dipped. It went from 8.4 percent in December 2006 to 8 percent this January. Do the numbers indicate the job market is looking up for African Americans, or is the drop a one-time drop in the bucket?” (source: NPR)

Mind you, from what I can tell NPR is the only news source covering this–INCLUDING COMMENTATORS AND BLOGGERS WHO WHINE ABOUT THE LEVEL OF NEGATIVITY IN THE PRESS REGARDING BLACK FOLKS.

My question here is that if the rate does not tell the full story, then why quote it and use it as a point of reference when it is high?

Hopefully THIS will shut down the noise…maybe

(nydailynews.com) WASHINGTON - In his first TV interview after declaring for President, Sen. Barack Obama says being African-American won’t damage his chances to be elected.

“If I don’t win this race, it will be because of other factors: …[that] I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go…that they can embrace,” Obama tells CBS’ “60 Minutes.” (more…)

So for those that feel the calling to convince folks that we are a breath away from the 1950’s, please remember what this brotha has said. Now, use that same energy to talk about his vision stance on the issues.

MEANWHILE, ON THE FLIP SIDE…

His wife also chimes in:

“…I don’t lose sleep over it because the realities are that… as a black man… Barack can get shot going to the gas station.” (source)

Hmmm, let’s see.

-I went to the market yesterday (several times), paid for my purchases and the cashier offered to take my stuff to the car. Cashier was White.

-Took my kids to Chick-fil-A yesterday. As expected, the cashier gave me my food. We even shared a laugh before pulling off. Cashier (both of them) were White.

-Took our dog to the vet without an appointment. They saw us quicker than I thought. Checked out the dog, gave her medicine, paid them their money and I was out the door. The staff was mostly White.

-On my downtime I love going to one of the many beaches in Orange county (a mostly White county I might add). If I do talk to the people there, they tend to be very friendly and in many cases be the first one to say “hi” to me. There are plenty of other times where we will engage in conversations about the area.

-While looking for a new home, sales associates treated us like everyone else…BECAUSE THEY WANTED THE SALE. Most of the salespeople we encountered were White.

-Both of our kids are part of a homeschool program where 2 days out of the week I take them to a school where they have their classes (the other days of the week I am teaching them at home). This is a VERY small school where our kids alone make up the Black demographic. While there was room for my daughter in her class, unfortunately there was no room for my son. This school went as far as to consider breaking one of its rules on class size. TOGETHER, we decided it was best for me to homeschool him full time until an opening was made available. This program has a long waiting list so his chances of getting in this year did not look to good. The other week we got a phone call from the school telling us they had an opening for him. The staff were excited to have him (again, all White).

More on my son–

During my teaching of my son here at home, I noticed that he was hitting a brick wall when it came to reading. My wife and I decided to enroll him at the local Score Learning Center. In just a few weeks both his reading and math skills have drastically improved. His main tutor is White and on some days his other tutor is Hispanic.

-My wife works for a company based in Orange country where she is one of a handful of Black employees. Based on her job performance, she has received accolades from as far up as the CEO REGULARLY. Many of her co-workers look up to her professionally because she is one of those people who is willing the help those who need it without stepping on them. Her supervisors regularly speak to her off the record letting her know about future upcoming decisions regarding the company. As a reward for her hard work, from time to time they give her things like season tickets to Disney or restaurant gift certificates for our family. One of the executives of her company sent me a “Thank You” card with a American Express gift certificate thanking me for my patience with them as it is a very demanding position.
- We currently live in a diverse neighborhood (White, Black, Hispanic) and so far after living here two years no problems that I can think of. The neighborhood we will be moving to in a couple of months pretty much has the same demographic.

But that’s just me.

For Divas only!

From the website TheDynamicDiva.com

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Your search is now over and you’ve come to the right place for the complete African holistic, natural woman site that caters to a woman’s most pressing concerns: African holistic health information, wealth management and daily inspiration. No matter where you are in your life, each section, Healthy Diva, Wealthy Diva and Wise Diva will help bring more balance in your life. You have the rest of your life to get it right.”

Check it out

Another reason why schools need to be held accountable

I’m a born and bred Northeasterner. So naturally anytime I see interesting news going on in the Delaware Valley (New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware) my attention pulls to that direction. This case (which took place in Allentown, PA) made me VERY angry.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Central Elementary School’s teachers and administrators, parents say, knew they had a problem with F.H., a 12-year-old accused of going into a bathroom stall and sexually assaulting a first-grade boy.
But instead of calling police and removing F.H., district officials covered up the attack and allowed him to remain in class, leading to the sexual assault of three more first-graders, according to parents.

The allegations, contained in a $15 million federal lawsuit against the Allentown school system, have created an uproar in Pennsylvania’s third-largest city, with outraged parents demanding the superintendent’s ouster and state lawmakers working on a legislative fix.

The case has also illustrated how difficult it can be under the law for parents to hold a school system responsible for the safety of their children.

“I’m disgusted,” said Yolanda Colbert, 36, whose three children attend Allentown schools. “These 6-year-olds are the most vulnerable, and if adults cannot protect them, we have some serious issues in the Allentown school district.” (continue reading this article. Click here to see the local news video coverage)

Before I start my rant here, let me acknowledge the fact that there are good teachers in public schools that would of handled this differently. I know quite of few public school teachers myself and if this would have happened in their school, they would have been just as angry as me. With that being said, I believe that teachers’ unions ultimately look out for themselves and will do anything to preserve and expand their influence in D.C. and local politics.

What really pisses me off about this case here is how the school system (heavily influenced by teachers unions) opted to bury this incident instead of getting the police involved from jump. Foxnews.com has a video of one of the fathers of the 4 kids that were molested (his face is covered). He said that his son came home one day and told him that someone in his school “…tried to pee-pee in his butt“.

For several minutes, I– went– off! I can’t imagine what this father must have felt–let alone his son.

Not too long ago, I had a public school employee tell me about several incidents in her school where teachers are simply reassigned after it was discovered that these teachers had committed some major violations. One of these incidents involved a teacher who was viewing porn in the classroom. There is a case here in Southern California (the town is about 20 min from my home) where a substitute teacher HAD ADMITTED to molesting between 100-200 girls. I talked about this case at great length here. Fortunately a local paper has been keeping track of this story as well:

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Four families are trying to file lawsuits against several local school districts and two county agencies claiming the education system failed to stop a substitute elementary school teacher from molesting their children.

In the pending lawsuits, the families claim three of the school districts - Chino Valley Unified, San Bernardino City Unified and Ontario-Montclair - knew Eric Norman Olsen preyed on children, but failed to report him to the police. (more…)

Coincidence? I think not.
 

If you build it, will they come?

I read the following in the Huffington Post this morning:

In Newark and New Orleans, the level of violence is rising as a result of the war here at home. Record numbers of people are being killed on the streets of these cities. One reason often attributed to the violence is drug killings. The most common response to violence, especially when it is related to drug dealing is to call for more police and often more jail cells. And despite how inviting, how sexy, a “tough on crime” approach sounds, it has yet to emerge as a policy that reduces violence and the suffering of everyday, hardworking people. Our skyrocketing prison population alone should signal that the way we are dealing with crime is a failure. If it were successful, there would be fewer, not more, incarcerated people; as we write this, the US now leads the entire world in the numbers of citizens it locks up. Why is this the case?

Our country has fought this war on drugs at home for 30 years, and for 30 years, drug prohibition and increased law enforcement have not made our streets safer nor rid our society of drugs. Rather, much like the days of Al Capone and alcohol prohibition, our policies on drugs have led to turf wars and murder.

So what should elected officials, community leaders and residents do to reduce the violence from the drug trade and reclaim their streets and families? We don’t have all the answers, but there are a number of factors to consider so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past and instead create a better way to heal our families and communities.

We have to create jobs if we don’t want people to sell drugs. (more…)

I stopped reading this article after the last line I bolded above.

Before I comment on this issue, here is an excerpt from an article in Time magazine back in 2001.

The homeboys call him Frog. But as he swaggers through the Rancho San Pedro Housing Project in East Los Angeles, Frog is a cocky prince of the barrio. His mane of lustrous jeri curls, his freckled nose and innocent brown eyes belie his prodigious street smarts. Frog is happy to tell you that he rakes in $200 a week selling crack, known as rock in Los Angeles. He proudly advertises his fledgling membership in an ultra-violent street gang, the Crips. And he brags that he has used his drug money to rent a Nissan Z on weekends. He has not yet learned how to use a stick shift, however, and at 4 ft. 10 in., he sometimes has trouble seeing over the dashboard. Frog is 13 years old.

[…]

LIKE MOST YOUNG AMERICAN people, they are material girls and boys. They crave the glamorous clothes, cars and jewelry they see advertised on TV, the beautiful things that only big money can buy. But many have grown up in fatherless homes, watching their mothers labor at low-paying jobs or struggle to stretch a welfare check. With the unemployment rate for black teenagers at 37%, little work is available to unskilled, poorly educated youths. The handful of jobs that are open — flipping burgers, packing groceries — pay only minimum wages or “chump change,” in the street vernacular. So these youngsters turn to the most lucrative option they can find.

[…]

“They are drawn by the more enticing lure of fast money. “They can make $1,000 a week dealing,”

[…]

“In a hot market like New York City, an aggressive teenage dealer can make up to $3,000 a day.” (source)

There are other things in this article worth mentioning, but I will stop for now. While this article may be dated by 6 years or so, the fact that a kid can make more money selling drugs than flipping burgers is just as real today.

While the belief that job creation is the silver bullet needed to combat the trend of our young people’s involvement in the illegal drug trade, very few people are willing to face the reality of this matter. How many wherehouse workers do you know are paid $1,000/week? How many fast food workers out there are getting paid $2,000/week. How many 13 year olds out there are pulling an honest daily income of $100/day? The truth is, to many young people out there who may come from a low-income family with no breadwinner, minimum wage is a straight up joke. The key factor here is addressing the VALUES of this particular demographic. While getting a young person who is making big money selling drugs to work at Target (for example) may seem impossible, we must develop ways to get them to think long term. This is where a person’s values come into play. When values aren’t addressed, you will end up with a false perception of the world similar to the following:
From the Time article mentioned above -

“Today Woodberry is a member of J-CAP, a rigorous two-year rehabilitation program. He sounds down to earth when he talks about earning his graduate- equivalency diploma and getting a job as a computer technician. But it soon becomes clear that Woodberry is still far removed from the mainstream, workaday world. When asked his minimum salary requirement, he replies, “At least $100,000.” He shrugs. “Hey, that’s comfortable.”

###

Question: Do Blacks have to work twice as hard to be successful?

This is a question that came to mind as I was driving yesterday afternoon. Most of our parents told us that working double time was the path that all of us had to take if we wanted success in our field of choice.

Do you find yourself working twice as hard as your White counterparts?

Take part in the oral history tour

(AP) WASHINGTON – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced a project Wednesday that hopes to record at least 1,500 oral histories from black families over the next year.

The recordings are to be placed at the Library of Congress and in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution’s future National Museum of African American History and Culture.

[…]

The first recording sessions are planned for Feb. 15 in Atlanta through a mobile recording studio that will stop in nine cities over the next year.

The mobile recording units also will travel to Chicago; Clarksdale, Miss.; Detroit; Memphis, Tenn.; Montgomery, Ala.; Newark, N.J.; Oakland, Calif.; and Selma, Ala.  (more…)

For more information on this project, please visit www.storycorps.net/griot/ 

Or you can also invest in a camcorder and digital camera and record your own history. Either way, there is no excuse for us not to have our history recorded in this day and age.

Recent trends in AP class enrollment

(Chicago Tribune) A record number of Illinois students enrolled in rigorous Advanced Placement classes last school year, but the proportion of teens who passed the end-of-year exam continued its steady decline, according to data released Tuesday.

Last year, Illinois public high school students passed about 70 percent of the 76,683 exams they took in subjects such as calculus, French literature and computer science. Six years ago, the pass rate was 72 percent.

Experts attribute the decline to the fact that more low-income and African-American students are taking the exams–but failing at higher rates. Such students often attend urban or rural schools where AP classes sometimes are not as rigorous as they should be. That leads to failure on the exams.

Six years ago, African-Americans in Illinois passed 29 percent of the AP tests they took. Last year, their pass rate dropped to 23 percent.

In 2001, low-income students passed 38 percent of the exams, compared with 30 percent last year.

The Illinois figures, generally, mirror national trends.

‘This is a key issue we are facing,’ said Trevor Packer, executive director of the AP program for the College Board. ‘We need to ensure that all students have access to the rigorous curriculum they need to do well on the exams.’

College officials have complained that the growth in AP courses has resulted in a watered-down curriculum in some districts. In response, the College Board launched an audit of all AP classes this year to ensure they are rigorous. (more…)

I am in a little bit of rush this morning, but this is something worth investigating. If I have time, I will try to revisit this post later.

12:03 PST

My only thought on this is “Equal opportunity does not mean equal results”.  Watering down requirements for enrollment into these programs is counter-productive and belittles our kids in the name of social engineering.

Finally, a REAL break

After 8 years of marriage and two kids, we are finally able to take a REAL vacation (for our parents the wait was even longer–don’t trip Duane ). Next week we will be going on our first cruise in Hawaii and its smaller islands. We initially wanted to go to the Caribbean, but flying across country with kids and having to get on another plane seemed to be a bit much. As you could imagine, blogging will be the last thing on my mind all of next week, so expect very little (if any) activity here between now and the end of next week.
In the meantime, if any of you have ever been on a cruise or been to Hawaii please give some advice. What are the best beaches, best sites, best food, places to avoid, etc.

Taxpayer group responds to President Bush’s budget proposal

Good

Spending cuts.  The President proposes reducing or eliminating funding for 141 programs, saving $12 billion over five years.  CAGW’s Prime Cuts 2007 will offer 602 recommendations for saving $1.7 trillion over five years.  The Government Accountability Office just released its report on “high-risk” programs.  With so many resources at its disposal, Congress has no excuse for failing to identify and eliminate wasteful spending.

Tax cuts.  The budget includes plans to make the tax cuts permanent.  The 2001, 2003, and 2004 tax cuts gave workers much-needed relief and helped to stimulate the economy.  Congress must balance the budget by cutting spending, not raising taxes; failing to extend tax cuts is a tax increase.

Entitlements.  President Bush proposes $95.9 billion in savings over the next five years in mandatory spending, $66 billion of which would come from Medicare by slowing the growth of payments to hospitals and health care providers and increasing premiums for those with higher incomes.  Congress and the President must begin making the hard choices that are necessary to get runaway entitlement spending under control.

Budget reform.  The budget calls for earmark reforms such as the line-item veto, prohibiting the addition of projects to conference reports, and cutting the number of projects in half.  The President has also spelled out his requests for war funding in the regular budget instead of relying on emergency supplemental bills.  All of these reforms add transparency and accountability to the budget process.

Bad

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).  The budget request includes a one-year fix for the AMT, which was never indexed for inflation and threatens to hit a larger share of the middle class every year.  Relying on short-term fixes is a shell game that allows policy makers to make long-term budget forecasts look rosier than they truly are.

Energy.  Three decades of generous subsidies and tax incentives have failed to make alternative energy sources economically viable.  The President requests $9 billion in loan guarantees for alternative energy and $2.7 billion to fund advanced technologies.  These policies will raise prices, increase dependency on federal handouts, and have a minimal effect on foreign oil dependency.  The free market, not the government, should decide which energy products and services are most efficient.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government. (source)