[quote]nopal_juventus wrote:
So you’re saying that blacks and latinos aren’t trying as hard or equal in a certain way to asians? That is the definition of racism. You imply that there is an ethnic reason for blacks and latinos being perpetually poor, when it’s sociological and economical.[/quote]
I don’t want to get too sidetracked here, but I do think this is somewhat relevant (because it influences out ability to integrate Latinos into the US).
As you might know, the San Francisco Bay Area is quite a melting pot – in the largest cities (San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland) whites are actually a minority.
Having lived on all those three cities, I had plenty of contact with Whites, Latinos, Blacks, Indians and non-Indian Asians (technically, India has in the Asian continent for quite some time).
Honestly, the differences are much less than the similarities. It’s quite amazing how everyone gets assimilated into the local culture so quickly, even in the 1st generation.
There are, however, some trends that sustain stereotypes:
Asians like to own small retail businesses they build from scratch; Indians like the same, but tend to prefer franchises; both also like high-tech jobs; Latinos tend to be much more willing to do lesser-paying jobs, and become quite happy doing them; Blacks prefer careers in sports and jobs that require a lot of talent and creativity when given the chance, but will settle for just about any paying job.
Do I attribute this to race? No. It has nothing to do with race, or genetics.
It has to do with fear and resistance… fear of the unknown, and resistance to change, that is. Not only from them, but from society as a whole.
I’m not talking from the top of my ivory tower here – I’m guilty of the same: both my parents were professors, so, when faced with the cut-throat Silicon Valley business world, devoid of any kind of ethics or other pleasantries, I ran back to my safe place: the academic world. I was greeted with open arms because, well, of the same reason George W. Bush managed to get toYale: they knew my parents. Of course, if I were an idiot I couldn’t have an academic career, but I know that if they didn’t know my parents I’d have to wait a long time, maybe decades, until I had the opportunity.
Before I get flamed with thousands of examples of people who did something completely different from their parents, I can tell you I have such an example also in my own family: my maternal grandfather was not a professor: he was a very humble man from Portugal. He worked hard, immigrated to this great country (legally!) and worked even harder to get my mother through college and allow her to pursue a successful academic career. So it is possible to break the tradition.
Problem is, it’s getting harder and harder. Tuition is becoming more expensive each year; community colleges, once free, are now costing hundreds of dollars a month. State colleges are now requiring thousands of dollars a month. And let’s not even talk about Ivy-League colleges. I cringe every time I think that my students are paying upwards of $30k a year in tuition – let alone in books, transportation, food and boarding.
Some will get scholarships; most will indebt themselves so much it’ll take years before they can leave their parent’s home. In the Bay Area, the average age at which men are leaving their parents’ homes is now 27; for women it’s 29. Just a couple of centuries ago, most people had 6 kids by the time they were 27 – now they’re still living with their parents!
So, what do most kids do? Most play it safe. Some will even give up altogether from the “American Dream” and just go with the flow. They have no hope, so why bother, really?
They just stick with their parents and do what they did. Carry the legacy. New immigrants will contact their own community and get jobs with people from their own community. Prolong it. Asians hire Asians. Indians hire Indians. Latinos hire Latinos. Blacks hire Blacks. And, believe or not, Whites will always prefer to hire Whites, if given the choice. Not only because they share an understanding, but also because they feel safe. They feel a sense of complicity. Even the other day I read a study that shows that people with college degrees hire people with college degrees, while people that do not have a college degree tend to prefer experienced people, rather than people with degrees. If this isn’t proof of a “gang” mentality that permeates human culture, I don?t know what is.
After all, this is what the buzzword “networking” is about, right? Now, tell me, how many people from Harlem have the chance to network with people from The Financial District?
Remember that communities of people that share a common root have stuck together since this country exists; anyone that knows New York, with its rich and long (in US terms) history, knows what I’m talking about.
People feel simply safer that way. And although that perpetuates their misery (or their fortune), you cannot blame them, or perpetuate racial stereotypes. The lack of actual government in this country is making it just too damn hard to break away from it, and only a few have the strength and willpower to do it.
If you’re one of that few that broke away from that cycle (I can think of some on these forums, so I know you’re reading this): congratulations! You’re a courageous and strong person. We need more people like you. But, unless you want to be an elitist, that doesn’t mean you should judge everyone who isn’t equally strong and courageous, and refuse to help them.
