Way back in 1986, Newsweek magazine ran a cover story that heralded that it was more likely that single women over 40 were to be killed by a terrorist than to find a husband.
Newsweek apologized and retracted that story in 2006, and yet despite the apology and the retraction the myth still lives.
Of course that was not nearly even close to the truth. In FACT, a woman's chances of marrying over the age of 40 are closer to 40 percent and the chances of being killed by a terrorist on American soil? That’s less than one-hundredth of one percent.
Newsweek apologized and retracted that story in 2006, and yet despite the apology and the retraction the myth still lives.
Of course that was not nearly even close to the truth. In FACT, a woman's chances of marrying over the age of 40 are closer to 40 percent and the chances of being killed by a terrorist on American soil? That’s less than one-hundredth of one percent.
That's some bad math eh?
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Not that that's the only such pernicious myth that's plagued us lately. Remember the ubiquitous, “There are more black men in prison than in College.”
Remember when Barack Obama repeated that inane canard that John Kerry and Jesse Jackson had previously used back in 2004?
Well, in fact, it seems that there are more than twice as many African Americans in COLLEGE than in JAIL.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2000): African Americans in college: 2,224,181
While according to the U.S. DoJ Office of Justice Programs: "Prison and Jail Inmates at MidYear 2003" (p.11):
"Table 13. Number of inmates in state or federal prisons or local jails" -- Black Americans in jail: 899,200.
Ooooops!
Remember when Barack Obama repeated that inane canard that John Kerry and Jesse Jackson had previously used back in 2004?
Well, in fact, it seems that there are more than twice as many African Americans in COLLEGE than in JAIL.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2000): African Americans in college: 2,224,181
While according to the U.S. DoJ Office of Justice Programs: "Prison and Jail Inmates at MidYear 2003" (p.11):
"Table 13. Number of inmates in state or federal prisons or local jails" -- Black Americans in jail: 899,200.
Ooooops!
That's one problem of being black - not only can you be victimized by Jim crow-like behavior, now other people use such suffering for their own ends, like sweeps week.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I say this from an African American perspective. I can emphatize on bigotry against Whites, Asians, and Arabs.
I guess this is one of the problems with our incessantly counting by race, Rachel.
ReplyDeleteHere's my problem with the so-called Civil Rights movement of today (and yesterday, as well)...you'd THINK that people who'd actually suffered that kind of discrimination, caused by race-obesession, would seek to eradicate any such race-based, race-obsessed behaviors and activities...certainly rejecting them as any kind of "solution."
Not long ago, many private firms kept Catholics and others from moving up by requiring a Masonic Ring to advance beyond a given level (Catholics, among others, were not allowed to become Freemasons). This was aimed directly at the Irish, whom those of English descent reviled for a host of reasons (and the hatred, of course, went both ways).
My Dad's father suffered directly because of that.
My Dad rightfully KNEW that he was owed NOTHING for the injustices done to his father and I certainly KNOW that I'm not owed anything either. Such injustices are NOT hereditable. Those barriers no longer exist for ANYONE, and I'm happy, and more importantly, I'm sure my grandfather would be happy they no longer impede others, of any background. I'm certain that that would've been enough for him, like most of those of that generation.
Unfortunately the black Civil Rights movement, for better or worse, has chosen to endorse counting by race and using "race-based" (racist or racialist) policies when they are "in their favor."
And yeah, I have a big problem with that. One of the primary problems I have with that is that they exacerbate already eisting racial animosities and perpetuate racial divisiveness.
I know a cynic would say, "Well, that racial animus and those divisions will exist anyway."
Well, if that's the case, then why have such programs in the first place?
In fact, why even have educational programs intended to reduce those animosities, if "they'll all exist anyway?"
I support sanctions against anyone found to be deliberately discriminating based on race, gender, etc., BUT, I belive we've made a mockery of the concept of "anti-racism" by endorsing inanities like "disparate impact," whereby a group doing less well on a standardized exam can claim "discrimination" with that "disparate impact" being accepted as some sort of proof, when we all know that no two groups will ever compete equally on any such standardized exams!
It's misguided concepts like "disparate impact" that not only erode support for anti-discriminatory practices, but also exacerbate existing racial animosities.