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Home Front: Culture Wars
The 2 Minnesotas: Report outlines Who Is Failing, Doing the Crime & Blames the Governor?
2008-02-11
That should have been the title. Looking at the facts it's pretty clear who the problem is and it isn't the Governor. Typical of misplaced blame in dealing with the problem of failed subcultures
The two Minnesota's: Report outlines crisis in disparities for communities of color
The healthiest. Tops in education. High quality of life. Minnesota and a fair number of its cities and communities have garnered such labels over the years. But how about "tops in health coverage disparities" or "educational failure" or "highly skewed incarceration rates"? It might be a hard pill to swallow, but those negative labels apply just as accurately.
Did John Edwards write this?
This is the other Minnesota, the one never touted by tourist boards. And its story emerged last week from a report from the Organizing Apprenticeship Project, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that aims to advance racial, cultural, social and economic justice in Minnesota.
Read, we know what the problem is but how can we blame others and get someone to believe it...
Bad grades for Legislature, Governor
The report gives the Legislature and the governor a "D" on racial equity in the context of what its author, Jermaine Toney, calls "a growing racial fault line running through our state."
OK now let's look at their own facts
  • While only 5.9 percent of whites lack health insurance, Latinos have an uninsured rate that is nearly six times higher (34 percent) and blacks two times higher (12.8 percent). Meanwhile, 21 percent of American Indians and 9.8 percent of Asian-Pacific Islanders are uninsured. (Minnesota Department of Health) (PDF)
    So health insurance is in fact available and sufficiently reasonable in price that virtually anyone can afford it, but a significant proportion of the non-white population declines to do so. Do the numbers, by the way, include Medicaid enrollment? Or are is the Medicaid population considered uninsured?
  • Although 94 percent of white students graduate from high school, only three-fourths (71 percent) of blacks, and two-thirds (66 percent) of American Indians and Latinos graduate. (Minnesota Department of Education)
    Right. The opportunity's there, but those who are culturally not interested in education don't take advantage. But that's really not their own fault. It's somebody else's. The somebody else, in this case the gummint, should require them to remain in school until graduation, except that if they did that'd violate their cultural preferences. Sounds pretty Catch-22-ish.
  • More than one-third of Minnesota's black children are raised in poverty. The rates for other groups are: 18 percent for Latino and American Indian children, 13 percent for Asian-Pacific Islander children, and 4 percent for white children
    This is of course not connected in any way with the graduation rates or the value they place on education...
  • Blacks are arrested at a rate that is 817 percent higher than whites, and although they make up only 4 percent of the state's population, they make up roughly one-third (31.7 percent) of the prison population. (Council on Crime and Justice)
    Nothing racial but it shows the ridicuous response to cold hard stats
    It's another cultural thing, though the numbers are actually a bit higher than the national average. Blacks make up 12 percent of the population and account for around 53 percent of violent crime nationally.
But, "Despite some progress, Minnesota lawmakers are still not making the grade.
No mention of the parents, dads working two jobs so he can afford to keep his family safe and put himself through school and better their lot in life. By this reports account my father's own actions are discounted by this typical blame others outlook.
It sounds like Minnesota minorities aren't making the grade, despite living in a land that pretty much flows with milk and honey.
Posted by:Icerigger

#4  Notice the cherry picking?

That is, for some items, one set of ethnic groups is used, for other items, a *different* set.

So tell me, what percentage of Asian-Pacific Islanders graduate from high school? Is it close to the white rate, which is not unusual for those of Asian-Pacific Islanders descent?

And I bet that Asian-Pacific Islanders are almost negligible in arrest rates. But she doesn't even mention Latinos, either. So is it just exclusively blacks who get arrested all the time, and if so, why is that?
Posted by: Anonymoose   2008-02-11 22:17  

#3  "It's another cultural thing, though the numbers are actually a bit higher than the national average. Blacks make up 12 percent of the population and account for around 53 percent of violent crime nationally."

Icerigger, WTF? How many times do I have to tell you: DON'T CONFUSE ME WITH FACTS!

/sarcasm off
Posted by: Jomosing Bluetooth8431   2008-02-11 15:47  

#2  Consider the source:
Google the author's name to get her myspace home page and then read her blog titled "god really is a hilarious bitch" or check out her "influences" including "the incredible revolutionary poets of Central America".
One of Minnesota's finest, and a Harvard graduate.
Posted by: Darrell   2008-02-11 15:00  

#1  Meanwhile, 21 percent of American Indians and 9.8 percent of Asian-Pacific Islanders are uninsured.

So you're claiming native Americans are not covered by the Indian Health Services? Or are you claiming, while they have access to federal programs, they lack private insurance?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-02-11 09:35  

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