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Author Topic:   Improving the Welfare of Minorities - Slogans Not Allowed
Jon
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 1 of 2 (767226)
08-27-2015 7:51 AM


What are some real and effective ways that America and other countries like itwith large life achievement gaps between their majority populations and minoritiesdo to improve the overall quality of life of minorities?
I have mentioned a few in other threads; I'll toss them out there again if they help get any discussion going (these are based on my observations of the U.S. and may not be applicable to all countries):
  • End the 'War on Drugs'; as I have pointed out; Colorado's partial legalization of Marijuana has dramatically reduced the number of non-violent drug offenders (a disproportionate number of whom are minorities) going to prison or even being arrested in their state.
  • Change the funding system for public education to stop reinforcing the generational cycles of poverty where poor children go to poor schools and get poor jobs. One way might be to limit the financial difference between a state's wealthiest and poorest schools (much like proposals to cap CEO pay as a certain percentage of average worker pay).
  • Unemployment affects many minorities more than it does white Americans; switching away from Reaganomics and to economic systems more resembling those of northern European countries (where unemployment is minimized instead of glorified by company executives) would keep people in work and making money, further helping to end the poverty cycle
So there's a start. Anyone have anything else?
Oh, and if it isn't clear from the title: slogans, bumperstickers, buzzwords, and bimboisms are off limits in this thread. We need a place to sincerely discuss this topic without such obstacles to discussion or understanding.

Love your enemies!

  
Jon
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 2 of 2 (767299)
08-27-2015 11:34 PM


Dad Matters
Dads matter. Dads matter a lot. Single-parent households (over 90% of which are mother-only) are more likely to be impoverished households:
Fatherless black children are over three times as likely to be poor compared to their dual-parent counterparts.
To make matters worse for black children, they are twice as likely as their white peers to be raised in single-parent homes:
The good news, though, is that African American kids actually get more from dad when he's around than white kids do, suggesting that a decrease in single-mother households would offer more benefit for blacks than it would whites and thereby aid in closing the life achievement gap between the two races.
Black fathers outperform white fathers in many of the important categories, including those most determinant of later academic success such as reading to young children and helping older ones with homework. The key is getting them in the home.
More good news is that the kinds of problems plaguing black communities (high crime rates, poor academic achievement, etc.) are very responsive to the presence of a father. For example, adding a father to a fatherless home reduces the chances a student will drop out of school before graduating high school from 70% to 30% and halves the likelihood of a young man committing a crime (Statistics on Fatherless Children in America). Again, you just need to get dad through the front door.
All of these things taken together strongly support a reduction in fatherless homes as a tool for improving the welfare of African American families.
But again, dad's gotta be there for these benefits to manifest, so the next question would be: how do we make that happen?

Love your enemies!

  
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