http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/03/13/study-finds-heart-disease-drug-combats-racism/

 

This goes along with the Tide thread in the "Are you kidding me?" category.  Tide on the black market and now a "pill" for racism.

 

WOW!  Sure am glad life for some of these poeple is so peaceful and wonderful that THIS is what qualifies as "news".

I'don't believethat a pill will do much more than reduce the 'urge'- it won't cure racism. This is where the cure starts:

Thanks to "South Pacific" and Rogers & Hammerstein:

You've got to be taught To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught From year to year,
It's got to be drummedIn your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

I was raised in Virginia and my HS years were in the "Brown vs Board of Education" decision. My father was a self-educated WASP who never spoke a word of racism to me in my life. In my own family experience, i believe that is the difference.

By his actions, I was "carefully taught".

36 white people..

That's not much of a study group, is it?

I cannot recall ever hearing my parents say a bad word about anyone, or call anyone by anything other than their name. The first time I encountered prejudice was in high school, and I was shocked by it.

 Even those of us who don't teach our kids to be racists cannot be sure we are safe. We have to go the extra mile and explain what racism is and why it is wrong.

 

I could not agree more!  We teach our children about the causes of racism and pray they do not fall into any place where they believe that the color of one's skin makes no difference.  We are fortunate to some degree, but our oldest does have a slight problem with the understanding of why.  To explain, one child from our district was offered a full scholarship to play football.  He is all over ESPN.  He was convicted of theft, drug abuse and selling as well as beating another student into the hospital, but yet the district (because of his football skills) was forgiven.  He (at 17) just had twins with his so called girlfriend.  (rumors have spewed all over that he is a "playa")   He has a GPA of 2.5.  It is difficult to explain to others why, when so many others prove themselves in a better moral place whereas this young man believes he is above the law.

 

Is life just about a sport?  Or do morals and values fall into place somewhere?  As I have told my children, color of skin means nothing.  I pray that this young man gets his act together and proves to be better man because of his talent.  I pray that he stays away from drugs and away from abuse to others.  Otherwise, his scholarship will be all for not.

 By suggesting or allowing the belief that it has to do with race is wrong.

 

Nel, I do agree with you.  I am trying my best to teach my children that race is not the issue.  If the same happened to a white young man, I still believe my son would feel slighted.  I guess my point is that sports seem to get more scholarships, regardless of morals, values and education.  Are you aware that 70% of athletes who earn very high incomes tend to go bankrupt?  Without a good education, an athlete who barely gets by is unable to opperate in the world once his/her "career" comes to an end.

 

Btw, football, basketball and baseball get scholarships more than a very educated person.  I feel that at sometime in our lives, a bright mind should play much more of importance than an athlete.  Btw, cross country, track and hockey (which is in both of my children) is not as important to me than what they are able to accomplish in our society.  MILLIONS are paid to athletes, yet the people who are able to cope in a real world seem less important to colleges.

What does the story about the athlete in your district have to do with racism?

As you can see at the end of a football season when coaches with losing records see their jobs evaporate- many schools depend on the football/basketball progrqms to generate the revenue which build their sports progrms overall (womens sports included) AND more importantly to generate donations form alumni.

In todays funding-chocked education environment schools are able to continue a lot of scholarships and "awards" to good teachers through their alumni fund.

So, yes. Like it or not. A large part of the financial base of schools today is the wealth alumni donors. and the best way to get that money is through a nationally ranked sports program.

Race is not the issue. Since we no longer fully support schools with tax money- the motive in sports scholarships (for those "less capable") is to raise additional needed funds to run the schools academic programs as well as sports.

If the same happened to a white young man, I still believe my son would feel slighted. 

____________________

Crane, I took this to mean that the young man who got the scholarship was not white.  <shrug>

As you say, sometimes not getting what we wanted turns out to be better.