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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| NY Times reporter accuses white women of racism on city sidewalks |
| 2017-07-22 |
[THEHILL] The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... is facing blowback on social media after publishing an essay by an African-American news hound who accused white women of racism for not ceding space on city sidewalks to black men. Nothing to do with color, bub. Common good manners sez gents give way to ladies. I guess if you're not a gent that wouldn't apply, but how're the ladies to tell? Lots of black men are gents, even if you're not. In a Wednesday essay titled "Was That Racist," news hound Greg Howard singled out white women for forcing him "off the sidewalk completely" when walking toward him, not allowing a straight path. "In seven years of living and walking here, I’ve found that most people walk courteously -- but that white women, at least when I’m in their path, do not," Howard writes. "Sometimes they’re buried in their phones. Other times, they’re in pairs and groups, and in conversation. But often, they’re looking ahead, through me, if not quite at me," he continues. "When white women are in my path, they almost always continue straight, forcing me to one side without changing their course. This happens several times a day; and a couple of times a week, white women force me off the sidewalk completely. In these instances, when I’m standing in the street or in the dirt as a white woman strides past, broad-shouldered and blissful, I turn furious," Howard said. "After these encounters, I’m always left with questions. Why only and specifically white women? Do they refuse to acknowledge me because they’ve been taught that they should fear black men, and that any acknowledgment of black men can invite danger? Do they refuse to acknowledge me because to alter their route would be to show their fear? Do they not see me? Can they not see me?" he asks later in the essay. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 they can't decode the information Yes. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-07-22 22:10 |
| #16 Could very well have not been ABLE to learn algebra and other abstract spatial constructs. Geometry is about spatial constructs, and that ability is likely inborn because I tested in the bottom 5th percentile for that kind of intelligence, whereas I do fine for other kinds of abstract thinking. But algebra in its simplest form is just the kind of quantified logic one uses to compare two packages of laundry detergent of different sizes to determine which is a better value. My darling sister-in-law, who according to her mother struggled to master single digit addition and subtraction in first grade, can comparison shop in her head with terrifying acuity, considerably faster and better than I; this suggests that algebra is taught in a way that makes sense to STEM types rather than ordinary people, not that ordinary people cannot learn it. And that's where having someone translate the lessons into understandable forms comes in. When I was in high school I tutored the kid up the street in 9th grade math (algebra I), in one quarter bringing her up from a D to an A, so I know it's true. I just kept trying different explanations until one made sense, and then gave her lots of problems to practice each new understanding until she nailed it home. I also made her memorize all the things kids haven't had to memorize for generations -- multiplication tables through 20, squares and square roots, a couple of cube roots, fraction-decimal equivalents -- so she would have the tools she needed to quickly set up and solve her algebra problems rather than having to figure things out each time, with the additional chance for errors. I did the same thing with the trailing daughters, only I started them on such things as soon as they could count to ten on their fingers. So while I'm sure some students of color and first-generation undergrads lack the intelligence to do high school math, like some of their colourless and multigeneration American classmates -- in which case they all ought to be learn trades that don't need such skills rather than trying to get into college -- for many it is simply that they can't decode the information. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2017-07-22 18:11 |
| #15 Parents who did not learn algebra Could very well have not been ABLE to learn algebra and other abstract spatial constructs. This (recessive?) trait will have then been passed on to the children like brown dominating over blue eyes. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-07-22 14:53 |
| #14 What pisses me off, is the constant declarations of people being racists with no proof of real actual racism. What the effect will be is "Yeah well, f- you then, I will be a racist you stupid *****." And when they get their race war, they can live (Or most likely die hanging from a tree after being castrated and flayed.) And the creation of the monster will be their fault |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2017-07-22 14:52 |
| #13 I hate the left. Everything in their minds, everything that comes out of their mouths, and all of their plans are nothing but shit. Fake Humans, all of them. |
| Posted by: newc 2017-07-22 12:33 |
| #12 walking on the sidewalk in NYC is a different kind of crowding than is normal, its dog eat dog..... |
| Posted by: 746 2017-07-22 12:31 |
| #11 but that would mean allowing students to leave after sixth grade, which isn't to be thought of Word TW. IMO, every other problem in education derives from this one. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-07-22 11:56 |
| #10 From g(r)omgoru's article: Algebra is one of the biggest hurdles to getting a high school or college degree ? particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads. It is also the single most failed course in community colleges across the country. So if you're not a STEM major (science, technology, engineering, math), why even study algebra? That again. It's not about race or immigration status, but the education level of the parents. The single best predictor of student success is parental involvement. Parents who did not learn algebra are not likely to either help their children with algebra homework or drive them to learn it. Another question would be whether students who do poorly in algebra also do poorly in other subjects; but that would mean allowing students to leave after sixth grade, which isn't to be thought of. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2017-07-22 11:39 |
| #9 If algebra is racist TW, why wast time? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-07-22 11:26 |
| #8 I move to the right when people are walking toward me on the sidewalk and expect those approaching me to do the same, allowing us all to get past one another without collision. But a) I am not from New York City, and b) I grew up American. My darling mother-in-law tells of being shouldered off the sidewalk in Lackawanna (outside of Buffalo, NY) by giggling pairs of Yemeni colonists of the moving black object variety, who were clearly very pleased with themselves for having done so. The question our black New York Times journalist did not ask is whether the women who shouldered him off the sidewalk do this just to black men or to everybody. It would take no more than following the women for a block or two after each encounter, ticking off in a little notebook who was pushed aside and who wasn't. It could be great fun -- and perhaps even garner a Pulitzer -- to follow a few of them to their destinations and interview them about his observations. But that's the difference between old fashioned reporters and Columbia School of Journalism-educated journalists, I s'pose. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2017-07-22 11:21 |
| #7 I just wonder how well he does with 'black" women. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-07-22 10:30 |
| #6 Twenty years ago the controversy was over "driving while black". Now we're supposed to get worked up over "walking while white". His complaint is that they didn't get out of his way. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2017-07-22 10:04 |
| #5 Because civilized men will make way for ladies. Feral men, not so much. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2017-07-22 09:32 |
| #4 Perhaps they are all feminists, not racists. Or both. Could be both. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2017-07-22 09:11 |
| #3 G(rom), that's when there were (and still are some) ladies. Too many people elected for tribalism over civilization. Now days, you have to discern the difference before acting. General classifications no longer apply. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2017-07-22 08:34 |
| #2 And in the old days, males exhibiting such behavior were sometimes bump/pushed out of the way. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-07-22 07:50 |
| #1 I thought a man (as distinct from a male) would yield the right of way to women? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-07-22 04:17 |