The March 2016 issue of Car and Driver has a story that highlights the white privilege that Caucasians take for granted. It involves two of their staff writers as they travel through the Southeast U.S. in a $390,000 Rolls Royce Wraith. The prank is that they were going to pretend they lost their wallets and ID's and would use only the Rolls Royce as evidence of their good names in order to get free stuff.
As they drove through the country, they discovered that people did in fact trust the car to vouch for their characters. They wrote that, "Perfect strangers were invariably kind and charitable." The writers were able to receive free meals at restaurants, free gas, free coffee at Starbucks, and even a free hotel room in New Orleans. Some people said they would have offered their services free anyway since that was the hospitable thing to do.
Somehow I'm skeptical that people are that generous just because somebody drives up to their place of business in an expensive car. As I read this story, I kept thinking that they are getting away with this because the writers are white. Imagine if two black men were driving around in a Rolls Royce and tried to scam restaurants and hotels for free services pretending they had lost their wallets and ID's. You know what would have happened? Instead of being offered things gratis, I suspect people would probably have called the police first. How else would two black guys be driving around in a Rolls without any ID? But if two white people do it, it's just a harmless prank.
I have similar experience with what Car and Driver pulled off but from a minority's point of view. But the results were entirely different. I experienced the racism that can still be so prevalent around the country. This is not the burning cross racism as Chris Rock would say, but sorority racism. In other words, there is no "Whites Only" sign being displayed anywhere but the effects were there.
After high school, a good buddy of mine, who is white, and I took a summer road trip together. We traveled all over the Ozark mountains, enjoying the splendid views and lakes. At the end of the first day, we needed to stop to get a motel room. Since he was driving, I was the one who got out of the car to see if we could get a room. Each time I went inside, I was told that there were no more vacancies available even though there was no signs that said so. After about three tries, I told my friend that I was feeling tired and if he could go in to get a room. After five minutes he came out and tossed me the room key.
I never mentioned how much this hurt me. He seemed too oblivious to notice the ease in which he got a room and I couldn't. To him, it was probably just a coincidence. But that is just part of the white privilege that Caucasians assume is granted to everybody else. I don't know if people in that part of the country still act that way thirty years later, but it would be interesting if Car and Driver would do the same prank with two minority drivers instead. Let's see how many free Starbucks they can get before being thrown in the slammer by some present day Roscoe P. Coltrane.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Monday, November 30, 2015
Simple Rules To Become A Model Minority
With all the recent protests around the country and university campuses about racial injustice, people are forgetting that it is very easy to ingratiate oneself into the mainstream American society. While protestors are busy blaming college administrators and law enforcement for their personal problems, maybe they can take a look in the mirror to see how they can affect some changes in themselves so that these issues don't keep recurring over and over again. To help out the clueless, here are my simple rules for how to become a model minority so that the police don't have to run you down just for walking down the street.
1. Get a good education. This country probably spends more money per pupil than any other country in the world, particularly for inner schools. Yet the test results are abysmal. Maybe if some of the students actually went to school and decided they wanted to learn something instead of harassing the teachers and other students then they can get a decent education.
2. Find and keep a job. Once somebody has an education that is actually at the high school graduation level, jobs surprisingly open up. Even if a good job is hard to find after graduation, just having the certificate makes it easier to apply to college to expand the job market even more. And when you get a job, keep plugging away at it. Don't quit just because you think your boss doesn't like you or you think time spent wandering the streets is more valuable than flipping burgers for $10 per hour. Most working Americans made far less than that in their youths and they still wound up with decent careers and lives. Work experience is valuable beyond the monetary compensation one gets in the biweekly paycheck.
3. Don't get pregnant or get somebody pregnant before marriage. If there is one thing that will keep most women down, it is to get pregnant in high school. Having a baby while trying to study in high school is difficult at best and usually leads to dropping out or suboptimal education. Guys, just don't get your girl pregnant unless you two are married. If you can't commit to a marriage, then you're not ready to commit to another life on this Earth. Walking away from your two minute mistake only shifts the burden of raising an innocent child to the mother and society at large. But if you don't care, then you are a douche bag who probably should have had a vasectomy.
4. Get married and stay married. Again it is about commitment and maturity. Once you are married, stay committed to it. Don't run off just because you had a fight about who spent $5 at Walmart. Don't file for divorce because somebody wanted to watch football while somebody else preferred the Kardashians. Divorce is one of the leading causes of financial insecurity that can afflict a person. It is also extremely detrimental to any children that might be involved. So stay married at all costs. Most arguments in marriages eventually become inconsequential as life goes on. If infidelity is involved, well then the guilty party was not mature enough to have a strong marriage to begin with.
5. Respect authority, such as parents, educators, and law enforcement. Nothing screams immaturity like somebody who thinks they know more than people who have had special training and been around much longer than you. When somebody tells you to sit still, stop talking, stop walking in the middle of the street, there's usually a reason for that. Don't feel like you're too good to follow the rules.
6. Stay off drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. You only have your health. Without it, you have nothing. If you're always in the hospital because you're sick or strung out, then it's unlikely you can keep a good job. Once you lose that, you'll realize how lucky you had it in the first place.
7. Find and nurture good friendships. Keep good friends around who look after your best interests. Don't hang out with people who only like you because you have money or own a nice car. True friendships survive when you are at your lowest point, which inevitably happens to everybody at least once in a lifetime.
8. Save money and spend wisely. It doesn't matter how much money one makes. Save as much of it as possible. And don't spend the money on stupid things like giant screen TV's, the latest cellphones, or drugs and alcohol. It's amazing how little one needs to provide for the basics of food, clothing, and shelter. Once you strip out extraneous costs like cable and cellphone plans, eating out at restaurants, and purchasing new clothes, one might actually be able to save some money.
9. Care about your neighbors. You know all those rundown neighborhoods that plague urban centers? Perhaps if its residents cared more about their blocks then it wouldn't be so poor. Report drug dealers to the police. Help a neighbor clean up a yard. Shop at your local businesses. Don't vandalize, rob, or burn down your neighborhood store just because you think you want to make a statement. It usually leads to businesses leaving for better areas, causing higher local unemployment and more disaffected youth, a downward spiral.
10. Repeat the same rules to the next generation. This process will take a long time. It took decades for Asians to transition from the Yellow Peril to a Model Minority. It will take time for society to notice this change in attitude and climate. But burning down cars and houses will not contribute to any meaningful long term changes.
Notice none of these rules involve any genetic factors involving presumably physical or mental superiority. They also don't require large infusions of money. We've spent trillions of dollars trying to rectify social inequality with hardly any noticeable difference. It does demand that people take a look at themselves and decide how they can change themselves to make their world a better place. As Michael Jackson sang in "Man In The Mirror,"
I'm starting with the man in the mirror,
I'm asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer,
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, then make a change.
1. Get a good education. This country probably spends more money per pupil than any other country in the world, particularly for inner schools. Yet the test results are abysmal. Maybe if some of the students actually went to school and decided they wanted to learn something instead of harassing the teachers and other students then they can get a decent education.
2. Find and keep a job. Once somebody has an education that is actually at the high school graduation level, jobs surprisingly open up. Even if a good job is hard to find after graduation, just having the certificate makes it easier to apply to college to expand the job market even more. And when you get a job, keep plugging away at it. Don't quit just because you think your boss doesn't like you or you think time spent wandering the streets is more valuable than flipping burgers for $10 per hour. Most working Americans made far less than that in their youths and they still wound up with decent careers and lives. Work experience is valuable beyond the monetary compensation one gets in the biweekly paycheck.
3. Don't get pregnant or get somebody pregnant before marriage. If there is one thing that will keep most women down, it is to get pregnant in high school. Having a baby while trying to study in high school is difficult at best and usually leads to dropping out or suboptimal education. Guys, just don't get your girl pregnant unless you two are married. If you can't commit to a marriage, then you're not ready to commit to another life on this Earth. Walking away from your two minute mistake only shifts the burden of raising an innocent child to the mother and society at large. But if you don't care, then you are a douche bag who probably should have had a vasectomy.
4. Get married and stay married. Again it is about commitment and maturity. Once you are married, stay committed to it. Don't run off just because you had a fight about who spent $5 at Walmart. Don't file for divorce because somebody wanted to watch football while somebody else preferred the Kardashians. Divorce is one of the leading causes of financial insecurity that can afflict a person. It is also extremely detrimental to any children that might be involved. So stay married at all costs. Most arguments in marriages eventually become inconsequential as life goes on. If infidelity is involved, well then the guilty party was not mature enough to have a strong marriage to begin with.
5. Respect authority, such as parents, educators, and law enforcement. Nothing screams immaturity like somebody who thinks they know more than people who have had special training and been around much longer than you. When somebody tells you to sit still, stop talking, stop walking in the middle of the street, there's usually a reason for that. Don't feel like you're too good to follow the rules.
6. Stay off drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. You only have your health. Without it, you have nothing. If you're always in the hospital because you're sick or strung out, then it's unlikely you can keep a good job. Once you lose that, you'll realize how lucky you had it in the first place.
7. Find and nurture good friendships. Keep good friends around who look after your best interests. Don't hang out with people who only like you because you have money or own a nice car. True friendships survive when you are at your lowest point, which inevitably happens to everybody at least once in a lifetime.
8. Save money and spend wisely. It doesn't matter how much money one makes. Save as much of it as possible. And don't spend the money on stupid things like giant screen TV's, the latest cellphones, or drugs and alcohol. It's amazing how little one needs to provide for the basics of food, clothing, and shelter. Once you strip out extraneous costs like cable and cellphone plans, eating out at restaurants, and purchasing new clothes, one might actually be able to save some money.
9. Care about your neighbors. You know all those rundown neighborhoods that plague urban centers? Perhaps if its residents cared more about their blocks then it wouldn't be so poor. Report drug dealers to the police. Help a neighbor clean up a yard. Shop at your local businesses. Don't vandalize, rob, or burn down your neighborhood store just because you think you want to make a statement. It usually leads to businesses leaving for better areas, causing higher local unemployment and more disaffected youth, a downward spiral.
10. Repeat the same rules to the next generation. This process will take a long time. It took decades for Asians to transition from the Yellow Peril to a Model Minority. It will take time for society to notice this change in attitude and climate. But burning down cars and houses will not contribute to any meaningful long term changes.
Notice none of these rules involve any genetic factors involving presumably physical or mental superiority. They also don't require large infusions of money. We've spent trillions of dollars trying to rectify social inequality with hardly any noticeable difference. It does demand that people take a look at themselves and decide how they can change themselves to make their world a better place. As Michael Jackson sang in "Man In The Mirror,"
I'm starting with the man in the mirror,
I'm asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer,
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, then make a change.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Asian American Kids And The Piano Recital
It's a rite of passage that virtually every self respecting Asian American kid has to undergo, the musical recital. Whether it be the piano, violin, cello, or some other musical instrument, most AA children take up some sort of musical education as part of the normal childhood process. There is an innate feeling among AA parents that mastering music will make their children smarter and better disciplined. In fact, studies have shown that kids who study music do indeed test better.
But as I sat through another one of my children's piano recitals recently, I can't help but wonder if the education they receive from hours of practicing at the keyboard is the right type that will allow them to succeed in America. As all the parents listen attentively to the children playing studiously on stage, I began to ponder who is the real genius on stage, the seven year old who can master that Mozart sonata or the composer himself?
The fact is, musicians are a dime a dozen. Millions of people know how to play a Mozart sonata. But there is only one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. These Asian kids were performing the equivalent of an American Idol contestant. They were essentially doing a karaoke the way Idol singers belt out their rendition of a Beatles tune while trying to make it their own. But no matter how good the musician, it's pretty clear the real prodigy is the composer, not the player.
As multitudes of AA parents shepherd their prodigies through piano and violin classes, are we then commoditizing musical proficiency? In the meantime, white American children are encouraged to take the less obvious path, forming their own bands and writing their own music. This is where the real riches lie, not a ten year grind of musical lessons just so they can get into an Ivy League school. By the way, an Ivy League admissions officer would take more notice of an AA applicant if the kid actually formed his own rock band than if he can claim to have played violin all throughout high school.
Is it any wonder that white people don't think Asian Americans have any originality or creativity? We assiduously force our children to play music created by other people while discouraging them from pursuing truly artistic outlets for their developing minds. It is this line of reasoning that leads to recent studies showing AA's are a large portion of the work force in Silicon Valley but dwindle dramatically in the management positions.
To all the AA parents out there. It's okay if your children don't want to take any musical lessons. The path to genius doesn't exclusively involve rote memorization of centuries old dead white Europeans' music.
But as I sat through another one of my children's piano recitals recently, I can't help but wonder if the education they receive from hours of practicing at the keyboard is the right type that will allow them to succeed in America. As all the parents listen attentively to the children playing studiously on stage, I began to ponder who is the real genius on stage, the seven year old who can master that Mozart sonata or the composer himself?
The fact is, musicians are a dime a dozen. Millions of people know how to play a Mozart sonata. But there is only one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. These Asian kids were performing the equivalent of an American Idol contestant. They were essentially doing a karaoke the way Idol singers belt out their rendition of a Beatles tune while trying to make it their own. But no matter how good the musician, it's pretty clear the real prodigy is the composer, not the player.
As multitudes of AA parents shepherd their prodigies through piano and violin classes, are we then commoditizing musical proficiency? In the meantime, white American children are encouraged to take the less obvious path, forming their own bands and writing their own music. This is where the real riches lie, not a ten year grind of musical lessons just so they can get into an Ivy League school. By the way, an Ivy League admissions officer would take more notice of an AA applicant if the kid actually formed his own rock band than if he can claim to have played violin all throughout high school.
Is it any wonder that white people don't think Asian Americans have any originality or creativity? We assiduously force our children to play music created by other people while discouraging them from pursuing truly artistic outlets for their developing minds. It is this line of reasoning that leads to recent studies showing AA's are a large portion of the work force in Silicon Valley but dwindle dramatically in the management positions.
To all the AA parents out there. It's okay if your children don't want to take any musical lessons. The path to genius doesn't exclusively involve rote memorization of centuries old dead white Europeans' music.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Obama's Only Middle East Friends Are Terrorists
First Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress against President Obama's wishes, deepening a discord between the two countries' formerly friendly relationship.
Now Saudi Arabia's new King Salman has declined to attend a Middle East summit meeting at Camp David with the President due to his coziness with the Iranian regime.
Is it just me, or are people starting to see that President Obama's only Middle Eastern friends are the terrorist sponsoring regime inside Iran? What say you Rush Limbaugh?
Now Saudi Arabia's new King Salman has declined to attend a Middle East summit meeting at Camp David with the President due to his coziness with the Iranian regime.
Is it just me, or are people starting to see that President Obama's only Middle Eastern friends are the terrorist sponsoring regime inside Iran? What say you Rush Limbaugh?
Monday, April 20, 2015
Racist Apple Watch Bands
Apple was showing off some new watch bands for its new must have devices in a fashion show in Milan, Italy over the weekend. The bands sported bold colors like red, blue, yellow and various pale pinkish hues described as skin tones.
Unless Apple thinks that having ten different shades of pink is what people are asking for, I'd say those skin tone watch bands are not designed for people of color. Really Apple? You don't think any brown people will want to wear an Apple Watch? All those pinkish watch bands will look a bit ridiculous on 80% of the world's population who are not light skinned. Frankly, even most white people are not that pale, especially on the arms. Unless that person has not seen daylight for months, Caucasians treasure their golden tanned complexion. The only watch band displayed that might be of suitable color for anybody is the dark blue one. It would look great on a Na'vi from the movie Avatar.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM? WTH?
I'm confused. Human sexuality was initially taught only as heterosexuality. Man and woman. Adam and Eve. However that wasn't fair to all the homosexuals who were kept in the closet. Then the homosexuals were welcomed out of their hiding places and we proudly cheered our inclusivity. Later bisexuals and transgender were added to the list, or LGBT. Okay. I'm down with that. The more inclusive the better, right? Then a couple of years ago I noticed LGBTQ. Q? I had to google that one. It turns out Q stands for Questioning. In other words they were not sure which category they fit into so they just tagged on another letter. But now the proliferation of letters and lifestyles have expanded to an almost comical degree.
The latest comes from Wesleyan University. In their student website, they offer a safe house for students of LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM persuasion. WTH? I'll save you some time, and so that you don't have to surf over to that site to find out what that means, LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM stands for
Lesbians
Gay
Bisexual
Transgender
Transsexual
Queer
Questioning
Flexual
Asexual
Genderfuck
Polyamourous
Bondage/Disciple
Dominance/Submission
Sadism/Masochism
Notice a few of those terms are paired or the acronym would reach an even more ridiculous length. I don't even know what some of those words mean, although sometimes I think my wife is the "A" in that list. I'm afraid to look up some terms on my computer lest I get caught for looking at something illegal on the internet.
How did human sexuality become so convoluted? Do people really feel better about themselves knowing that there is a category for their feelings? Or does it just make them more anxious that none of the standard definitions fit them quite right and they have to invent one more?
Perhaps this is one example where too much leniency proves detrimental to the person. Being allowed to do and feel anything they like without a strong supporting base for reference can make anybody feel confused and restless. I'm not saying that people should be ushered back into the closet. But having a sexuality that requires a safe house instead of gaining acceptance is not healthy either.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Medical Schools Also Discriminate Against Asians Americans
Asian American parents have believed for years that Ivy League universities discriminate against their kids for admissions. Black children can score 230 points less than whites on the SAT to gain admission to an Ivy League and Hispanic kids can get by with 185 points less. Meanwhile an AA child needs an SAT score 50 points higher to get into the same school. Consequently there is a thriving after school enrichment program in Los Angeles, specifically the San Gabriel Valley where most of the AA's cluster.
But if AA parents think they can relax once their children make it into an Ivy League, they better think again. The discrimination against AA students continues even into graduate school, or in this case, medical school.
With all the Asian doctors that we see nowadays, all the Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, etc., one would think that medical schools accepted their students based purely on academics. But that is apparently not so. The Association of American Medical Colleges put together this table ranking how likely different ethnicities are accepted into medical school based on the MCAT scores and GPA's. As you can clearly see, an AA premed student with a median MCAT of 27-29 stands only a 22.5% chance of being accepted into med school. A white student has a one in three likelihood of getting in. But if the student is black, he has a greater than 80% chance of being accepted into medical school.
If the AA student makes only the lowest MCAT scores of 24-26, it will be almost impossible for him to get into med school, just a 7.7% chance. But a black person with the same score still has a greater than even chance of being accepted, 65.8%. At the other end of the academic spectrum, an Asian American premed with the top MCAT scores of 30-32 will still only have a nearly even chance of going to medical school, just 63.1%. A black student with the same score is nearly guaranteed to make it, with a 94.6% probability of getting in. In other words, the lowest scoring black student has a better chance of getting into medical school than the highest scoring Asian American student.
Is is any wonder AA parents are worried sick about getting their offspring into good schools? We have to spend thousands of dollars and countless hours in extracurricular studies just to make sure our kids are at least on the same playing field as other kids for college admissions. Meanwhile black and hispanic students can hang out, play video games, and watch movies all they want without worrying about getting into college. Even if they don't do as well academically, the schools are so desperate to achieve "diversity" that they will accept nearly any of them as long as they know how to read and write complete sentences.
Asian Americans have to learn to handle this ugly discrimination early and often. No matter how hard we try to do well, we get penalized by the elitist and racist powers that control our academic futures. In fact, the more we achieve, the greater the discrimination. It appears that we will always be discriminated against here in so called color blind, melting pot America.
But if AA parents think they can relax once their children make it into an Ivy League, they better think again. The discrimination against AA students continues even into graduate school, or in this case, medical school.
With all the Asian doctors that we see nowadays, all the Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, etc., one would think that medical schools accepted their students based purely on academics. But that is apparently not so. The Association of American Medical Colleges put together this table ranking how likely different ethnicities are accepted into medical school based on the MCAT scores and GPA's. As you can clearly see, an AA premed student with a median MCAT of 27-29 stands only a 22.5% chance of being accepted into med school. A white student has a one in three likelihood of getting in. But if the student is black, he has a greater than 80% chance of being accepted into medical school.If the AA student makes only the lowest MCAT scores of 24-26, it will be almost impossible for him to get into med school, just a 7.7% chance. But a black person with the same score still has a greater than even chance of being accepted, 65.8%. At the other end of the academic spectrum, an Asian American premed with the top MCAT scores of 30-32 will still only have a nearly even chance of going to medical school, just 63.1%. A black student with the same score is nearly guaranteed to make it, with a 94.6% probability of getting in. In other words, the lowest scoring black student has a better chance of getting into medical school than the highest scoring Asian American student.
Is is any wonder AA parents are worried sick about getting their offspring into good schools? We have to spend thousands of dollars and countless hours in extracurricular studies just to make sure our kids are at least on the same playing field as other kids for college admissions. Meanwhile black and hispanic students can hang out, play video games, and watch movies all they want without worrying about getting into college. Even if they don't do as well academically, the schools are so desperate to achieve "diversity" that they will accept nearly any of them as long as they know how to read and write complete sentences.
Asian Americans have to learn to handle this ugly discrimination early and often. No matter how hard we try to do well, we get penalized by the elitist and racist powers that control our academic futures. In fact, the more we achieve, the greater the discrimination. It appears that we will always be discriminated against here in so called color blind, melting pot America.
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