Mayor Wiseman takes the cake!

Just read this!

Amazing!

Talk about taking the cake? 

Fear of the poor and the fear of the poor

Earlier this week following a meeting of our Board of Directors, I exited our headquarters building down the back stairs.

As I walked to my car, I noticed a blanket spread out on a patch of grass beneath a small shrub near the edge of the parking lot. Stretched out on the blanket was an old man. He appeared to be asleep, even though it was at least an hour before dark arrived and settled in.

I approached him to say hello and to make sure he was okay. As I did, I startled him.

He attempted to jump up, and he seemed to be trying to brace himself for something very unpleasant.

“No, no,” I began. “Keep your seat! I just wanted to say ‘hello’ and meet you!” I tried to reassure him.

He relaxed, smiled and shook my extended hand.

“They let me stay out back here. I’m sort of a night watchman,” he informed me, not knowing that I worked at CDM.

“I see,” I nodded.

“Sure wish I could get my hands on some peanut butter and maybe some bread,” he said. I guessed he was waking up and had decided that I had emerged from the building where he knew we operated a large food pantry.

“I can take care of that for you, I think,” I replied to his simple request.

I returned to the building and gathered a bag of food and drink for him. When I returned, he was sound asleep again. I placed the bag by his blanket and didn’t disturb him further.

As I drove away, he roused up again, discovered the bag of food and waved to me. I drove closer and visited with him about a housing solution. We’re still working on that.

What I cannot remove from my mind is the image of his face when I first approached his little bed. The fear on his face—I’ll always remember it. I know that look must be a learned response, an automatic reaction formed from his many experiences with people like me.

An old, very thin, very poor, very hungry man. . .scared to death of the likes of me.

So many people, it seems, are afraid of the poor.

What we never consider is just how afraid the poor are of those of us who are anything but poor.

The fear of the poor arises from what they suffer at the hands of people who live in the richest nation in the world.

A fear born of being ignored,

shunned,

rejected,

ridiculed,

analyzed,

debated,

embarrassed,

kicked out,

denied,

arrested,

abused,

stereotyped,

scorned,

judged,

imprisoned,

beaten,

and forgotten.

Experience had taught my new friend to be afraid of, of. . .me.

Lots of people fear the poor.

Realizing that people like me are, in fact, the fear of the poor ought to reframe our understanding and change the way we behave.

I remember reading somewhere that “perfect love drives out fear.”

God, have mercy. God, help us.

Pigment Matters, And Pays

Vanderbilt University law and economics professor, Joni Hersch recently completed research on the impact of skin color on earning power among immigrants to the United States ("Study of Immigrants Links Lighter Skin And Higher Income," The New York Times, Sunday, January 28, 2007, A19).

Her findings are compelling and concerning.

In short, light-skinned persons earn more money on average than those with darker complexions.

The reason?

Simple discrimination on that basis.

Professor Hersch studied government surveys for 2,084 legal immigrants to the U. S. from around the world. She discovered that those with the lightest skin earned on average 8 to 15% more than similar immigrants who were born with darker skin.

"On average," Dr. Hersch said, "being one shade lighter has about the same effect as having an additional year of education."

Interestingly, the study considered other factors in the analysis such as English language proficiency, education, occupation, and racial or national background. Even after controlling for race, it was clear that skin color mattered.

For example, for two immigrants from Bangladesh with the same abilities, occupations and backgrounds, the lighter-skinned person would make more money than the darker-skinned individual.

The last paragraph of the article seems telling:

"Although many cultures show a bias toward lighter skin, she [Dr. Hersch] said her analysis showed that the skin-color advantage was not based on preferential treatment for light-skinned people in their country of origin. The bias, she said, occurs in the United States."

Race Matters. . .

On and on it goes.

A group of Clemson University students--white students--threw a "gangsta" theme party the weekend prior to the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday.

The party invited participants to dress and behave in a manner that could politely be described as a night of parody of African American racial stereotypes. Dress and behavior poked fun at blacks who were not present for the event.

A similar party took place at Tarleton State University here in Texas. Another convened at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

On each campus the events in question set off a backlash of disgust, disappointment and hurt feelings. In addition, on each campus formal talks and forums have been organized to discuss race, racism and the nature and current condition of America's racial psyche.

To a person the students involved in the parties claim they meant no harm or disrespect. And, above all, they denied any suggestion that racism was involved.

I must admit I have a hard time with that claim.

Further, it is the ease with which the group uses this sort of disclaimer as an easily accessible, default "fall back" position, when caught in an act of blatant racism, that continues to really bug, irritate and anger me. University students with, at a minimum, no more sensitivity than this is a phenomenon that I find preposterous.

We should not be fooled.

Racism and all that goes with it is very much alive and well in this nation.