Whiteness Ain't What It Used To Be
According to many on the race obsessed left, one only needs white skin in order to be bestowed the best of what America has to offer. To be born black or brown is most likely a first class ticket to a life of at worst poverty and despair. At best a life of second class citizenship and marginalization. It's called "white privilege". What is white privilege? It’s defined as "the level of societal advantage that comes with being seen as the norm in America, automatically conferred irrespective of wealth, gender or other factors". Several months ago Greg Popovitch, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs weighed in on the subject: "...Because you were born white, you have advantages systemically, culturally, psychology there. They have been built up for hundreds of years. Many people can’t look at it. [It] can’t be something on their plate on a daily basis.... People don’t want to give it up. Until it’s given up, it’s not going to be fixed.
So apparently white skin comes with its own set of innate benevolence that allows its bearer a moving sidewalk towards a life of wonderfulness over all others.. There isn't a doubt that Americas history of segregation and Jim Crow affected generations of non whites and gave whites undeniable advantages. However the good old days of whiteness appears to be over. Gone are the days whereby having white skin meant that one would draw the long straw on matters of education and economic opportunity. And non whites by default would be placed at the end of the line. According to a recent study by the bureau of justice statistics, white women are incarcerated at rates never seen before. White males? They are suffering far greater consequences from their malaise. According to suicide expert Dr. Christine Moutier, white middle aged men account for 70% of deaths from suicide each year. Welcome to rural America which some are calling the new inner city. So called 'deaths from despair' have transformed what were once symbols of a vibrant middle America to signs of its decline. Since the 1980's, rates of divorce, teen pregnancy, deaths from heart disease and cancer in rural areas have flipped entirely with their urban counterparts. Education gaps have also widened between urban and rural areas in recent decades. By Mr. Popovitch's logic, every non white person should in theory want to switch places with a white-so what that white is from the poverty stricken hills of Appalachia. What cultural or systemic advantage does that provide?
There is another crisis plaguing white rural America: banks are leaving in droves. The frenetic pace of lending in cities has had a deleterious impact of smaller communities. Out of 1,980 rural counties less than half of them (625) do not have a locally owned or community bank. According to Ray Grace, North Carolina's commissioner of banks. The number of community banks is shrinking, and larger banks are taking deposits and gathered in rural areas and lending to urban communities. He says "it sucks the capital out of rural communities". And much of that lending finds its way to non white areas of urban communities. Wait until Cornell West hears about this.
Mr. Popovitch should know that West African immigrants are out performing their privileged white counterparts in education, income and career achievement. According to Jeanne Batalova, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute think Tank,1.4 million who are 25 and older, 41% have a bachelor's degree, compared with 30% of all immigrants and 32% of the U.S.-born population- this is the new norm. The Greatness of America is its promise. It has provided more opportunity to more people, from more places than any country on earth. It's called American privilege.
So apparently white skin comes with its own set of innate benevolence that allows its bearer a moving sidewalk towards a life of wonderfulness over all others.. There isn't a doubt that Americas history of segregation and Jim Crow affected generations of non whites and gave whites undeniable advantages. However the good old days of whiteness appears to be over. Gone are the days whereby having white skin meant that one would draw the long straw on matters of education and economic opportunity. And non whites by default would be placed at the end of the line. According to a recent study by the bureau of justice statistics, white women are incarcerated at rates never seen before. White males? They are suffering far greater consequences from their malaise. According to suicide expert Dr. Christine Moutier, white middle aged men account for 70% of deaths from suicide each year. Welcome to rural America which some are calling the new inner city. So called 'deaths from despair' have transformed what were once symbols of a vibrant middle America to signs of its decline. Since the 1980's, rates of divorce, teen pregnancy, deaths from heart disease and cancer in rural areas have flipped entirely with their urban counterparts. Education gaps have also widened between urban and rural areas in recent decades. By Mr. Popovitch's logic, every non white person should in theory want to switch places with a white-so what that white is from the poverty stricken hills of Appalachia. What cultural or systemic advantage does that provide?
There is another crisis plaguing white rural America: banks are leaving in droves. The frenetic pace of lending in cities has had a deleterious impact of smaller communities. Out of 1,980 rural counties less than half of them (625) do not have a locally owned or community bank. According to Ray Grace, North Carolina's commissioner of banks. The number of community banks is shrinking, and larger banks are taking deposits and gathered in rural areas and lending to urban communities. He says "it sucks the capital out of rural communities". And much of that lending finds its way to non white areas of urban communities. Wait until Cornell West hears about this.
Mr. Popovitch should know that West African immigrants are out performing their privileged white counterparts in education, income and career achievement. According to Jeanne Batalova, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute think Tank,1.4 million who are 25 and older, 41% have a bachelor's degree, compared with 30% of all immigrants and 32% of the U.S.-born population- this is the new norm. The Greatness of America is its promise. It has provided more opportunity to more people, from more places than any country on earth. It's called American privilege.
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