I agree C.I
and to the extent that........if I ever need major work done, I call hispanic 'companies' . Companies meaning.. the men who band together to afford the work truck and equipment they need.
If you are willing to apply the discipline and hard work necessary to obtain it... you can have money. Maybe not millionaire money... but you can make money and have things and be comfortable.
that is exactly my point when I am saying there is nothing legally holding anyone back. no matter the skin color
Not to split hairs or anything but just as saying all blacks are loud, agressive or whatever, saying all Hispanics are hard workers who will always get the job done is a stereotype and not something we should be teaching our kids.
Yes, it is often true, and I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that many are immigrants who came from a life that required you to work that hard to live.
However, to say that one group of people always is the answer when you need a job done is just as destructive as saying blacks always want a handout. Stereotypes are never productive.
Just had to point that out. :wink:
your point is well taken.
Well, let's get down to some home truths. Apart from the bully pulpit (which is a powerful tool, one should not forget), just what precisely do you think Obama could do for anyone, or everyone? Just how would he accomplish it? There is actually little real, "pro-active" power which attaches to the presidency. Anything he wants to do, he has to get Congress to sign the check. He can refuse to spend funds disbursed by Congress for things he doesn't want to spend it on, and he can move money which has been appropriated around to fund things he does want, so long as Congress does not prohibit the expenditure. But Presidents don't hold the purse strings, they're kids on an allowance. Sometimes, to implement an agenda, they have to sanction criminal acts--Reagan wanted to fund the Contras in Nicaragua, and was forbidden to do so by Congress, so Ollie North siphoned off money from the arms for hostages deals with Iran to fund the Contras. Reagan kept his skirts clean, as Presidents can often do, but this points up the fact that there is often little legal recourse for a President who wants to follow an agenda which Congress won't fund, or even takes the trouble to prohibit.
So, what does anyone think Obama can actually do, and how does anyone think he will do it? I've asked this before, and not gotten an answer. So far, we're building castles in the aire here . . .
Ooof... can be a long answer or a short answer and I just gave a long answer to a not-totally-dissimilar question on my "Hah" thread, so short answer...
I think there is likely to be a Democratic majority and therefore Obama WILL be able to get Congress to sign the check. Not for everything, but for a lot of things. (See his website for various possible "things.")
I for one, have never claimed to think Obama could do anything out of the norm for a president.
What he is doing, and it doesnt matter where he delegates funds if elected..but what he IS doing is making a mark in history.
For some people that is easy to do. It also does not require 'greatness'
I hope , as a president , he can help the economy balance. Even if it is at a new low. Americans are spoiled as it is.
I hope if he can, he will make our schools more of a level playing field.
I hope he will always make the decisions in the best interest of the people and not his pocket book. I hope no one turns him into a puppet like Bush. I hope he is always able to speak for himself and that he is not as corrupt as every other politician in the world. I guess I really just hope for equality.
And that has nothing to do with skin color.
shewolfnm wrote:as I said before.. it is a mindset.
And it is a mindset given to them by parents. One that even the greatest teacher and best computer can not always compete with
Agree.
That's the point I was trying to make before.
If you want it, it's there.
I haven't read back through the pages but I read something on think progress this morning that just blew me away thinking someone actually said this out loud on a popular radio program. And then people wonder why people say there is still a racism problem in America.
(Links and video at the site) (Bolded "just" added by me to emphasize why it felt it was racist, seems obvious to me but you never know about the defense of these things from some people. Also bolded the last to emphasize McCain supports Limbaugh and visa versa.)
Bi-Polar Bear wrote:We should go back to neighborhood schools... this busing everyone everywhere to achieve racial balance for what reason I have no idea... hasn't done ****. The money saved on buses, drivers, maintenance, etc... could insure that all schools received the identical amount of necessary tools for the job.
Then give teachers enough money to make teaching worthwhile. Then stop coddling kids and tell 'em "If you want to do the work we'll help... if you don't get out... you're disturbing the kids who want to learn. McDonalds is hiring.
When I was a boy you were either college material or not. College was not an automatic. You had to not only be smart enough, but you had to work for it. If not you could take shop or vocational training. If you chose t5o be a troublemaker or a serial school cutter...... you could take your sorry ass home and good luck.
Quit lowering the bar and f*ck Junior's precious self esteem. Learning to lose is an important life lesson as well. You do the work, you get the grade. You do a little extra, you get even better grades. You don't, or you're not capable.... you don't. Just like life.
I really hesitated before responding to this--because I don't want Bear to feel set upon... I just disagree completely with this sink or swim mentality. Education, in my eyes, is the great equalizer. This is why I'm in school. Disadvantaged children, especially those whose parents are taking a powder in their upbringing, can be made or broken through experiences in school.
The Ed psych courses I've taken have shown me how patient, caring interaction can make a huge difference in what path many of these kids take.
Baby them through the school system---meet anger and resentment with genuine caring and encouragement---
then, let them stick their toes in the ocean...
Chai wrote:shewolfnm wrote:as I said before.. it is a mindset.
And it is a mindset given to them by parents. One that even the greatest teacher and best computer can not always compete with
Agree.
That's the point I was trying to make before.
If you want it, it's there.
No matter how much you want it, if your school does not have computers, if your school does not have a music program, if your school no longer has an art major program, if the tools are not there in your school, in your district, you cannot compete.
Freedom to attend better schools answers that-- Laws have been enacted, and funding directed at these old problems.
Don't know if things have changed but in my day, you had to attend the school in your neighborhood. There were a few magnet schools and I assume there are alot more now but, as much as I wanted to go to Kenwood high school, I had to attend Harper instead because that was the district my family lived in.
Things have changed dramatically.
That's good. I suppose. But then that takes us back to kids having to travel such distances to and fro for a decent education. Is that always an option for everyone? i don't think so.
Wonderful solutions are being found by people who want to make a difference.
Going to class....here's one.
Free transportation for children to magnet schools.
Democrats tend to rail against these solutions because they are beholden to the teacher's union---who like to do things their way...
It's an option for those who want it...
The reason i've been asking what it is that people think Obama could do is because of Snood's response that Obama should do things for black people. This is exactly the kind of fear that demagogues like Rush Lamebrain are going to attempt to play upon. Look at the stuff Lash posted from Lamebrain--he's already trying to convince conservatives that Obama means a wave of radical changes from an extremist fringe. And this is totally believable to a certain mind set. Right wing Christians have attempted to impose an agenda on the country. Reagan played to this implicitly rather than explicitly with policies which denied funding to any organization which provided abortions or included abortion as an option in its birth control advice, and did it both domestically and internationally.
The Christian Right has been disappointed in the Shrub, who really could not have done that much for them, precisely because the office lacks real power to act directly. But conservatives believe that the office has great power, and many conservative voters don't understand that that power is only in leadership--the Shrub couldn't implement a right-wing Christian agenda because there wasn't sufficient support for it even in a Republican-dominated Congress.
I think there is a real danger in feeding people's fears of a black President to suggest that there is anything which Obama can or will do exclusively for blacks, or any other special interest group which is seen by the right as a lunatic fringe. Obama's best bet is to make clear that his use of leadership will intend to benefit all Americans, without reference to race, gender or interest group.
I answered CJ in a pm as to what I meant by my 'yes' answer when I was asked if I would expect Obama to do more for blacks. I';m pretty sure what I mean isn't quite as odious as the whole sort of "they just want him to give them a handout and free ride".
CJ, if you wouldn't mind C&Ping that to here? For some reason, it seems some people really want an explanation.
It makes me tired - I mean, it seems like the unspoken fear is that "Omigod! If he gets in there, there's no telling WHAT the blacks will do!"
Tired, tired, tired. ( I also just got off of 24hr duty so that might have something to do with it).
