Child poverty on LI and in ESM (Blog 7)

http://longisland.newsday.com/templates/simpleDB/?pid=377

America isn't typically thought of for its poverty, mainly because of its high population of middle and upper class nation wide. In the Eastport South Manor community, countless people are in aware of the difficulties members of their community face daily. In ESM there is an especially high rate of higher income families. However, poverty on Long Island, may be higher than expected to those who aren't living it. In ESM  alone there is an outrageous 147 students that fall below the poverty line. For a community with such an outstanding amount of wealth and possibility to lend a helping hand, 147 is far too many. Yes, compared to other districts on LI  3.6%  isn't the worst possible, but any child in need is too many to be dealing, and suffering with adult problems. The link above shows the statistics of child poverty in LI schools  as of 2010.

Racism. Blog 7

Racism is a belief that will never go away, there is no 'decimating racism'. It will forever be present in the world because it is created and taught through personal experiences and the way one is brought up. Everyone is different in life and there is no such thing as being equal to another human. The numerous cases occurring today such as the Ferguson or Eric Garner incident is being spun into a "racism problem"; that the white cops purposely go after every black person to intentionally hurt them and bring them down. If these cases weren't white cop black man, there would be no publicity, no protests, no built up tension. What would be the reaction if this situation was a black cop and black man or black cop white man ? Nothing. Right. So don't you think that the people that think its racist are the ones who are turning it into a racism problem? These people that lash out at the police by disrespecting them and bring it upon themselves for getting into predicaments like these. Then the protesters blame everything on police brutality for doing their job and keeping the area safe by stopping them from violently protesting and harming the area. For example, authorities found a bag with numerous hammers and a black mask after a man assaulted two NYPD officers on the Brooklyn Bridge. Most of the protesters don't have a clue of all of the pieces to the crime such as the Eric Garner case. Do you think any of them know who the supervisor was? A black female NYPD sergeant. That's real racist and even sexist isn't it!  So please, keep protesting and ruining the cities you live in and disrespecting the higher authority even more and keep holding your signs saying, 'Black lives matter' and 'I can't breathe' it will get you real far in life!!

Blog 7: Racism

                    Many people in the world view Racism as a dead subject for several reasons; they may not want to look at it, they can't admit the cruelty of it to themselves, or they genuinely don't see it because of their protected environment. However, the truth is that Racism still exists, and it still plays a role in our society.

                  As statistics have shown in class, the majority of Manorville is white. I happen to live next to one of the only black families in the neighborhood, and our families are good friends. The other day, when me and my brother were walking to the bus stop, our neighbors walked up to us to wait for the bus as well. This was the day we all found out the results of the Ferguson Case. Immediately, the air around all of us got tense, but me and my brother were too tired to pay attention to anything. Suddenly, one of our friends asked us (so timidly) what we thought about the results of the Ferguson Case. I shrugged, I didn't hear anything about it; neither did my brother. After our friends told us the outcome and saw we were shocked, they began to act all normal again. But the point was they were scared, living in an all white community that some people share racist views. They would tell us stories about what would happen to them in Brooklyn, and yes, even Manorville. So due to my own experiences being best friends with Jamaicans, I know that racism still exists, and we live in one of the whitest communities in the world.


             Being racist is prejudging a person based on stereotypes about their race/culture. It's also a feeling of superiority, a feeling that you're better than someone. Racism is deplorable because prejudging someone is hurtful in so many ways. There's a stereotype that all black people love fried chicken and watermelon. Find me a white person who doesn't love fried chicken and watermelon. I'm pretty sure every single soul out there has an affection towards fried chicken and watermelon.
           

Tamir Rice: Blog Post 7

     Unfortunately, many people believe that racism is over and everyone is finally equal.  However, in reality, racism is alive and well and continues to have a huge affect on society today.

     One of the most prominent and most recent examples of racism is the case of Tamir Rice.  A 12 year old African American boy was shot and killed by police for playing with a toy gun in a park.  Although the person who called 911 said he was probably a minor and repeated two times that the gun was probably fake, this information was never told to the police officers.  However, within seconds of arriving, the police officers shot Tamir Rice and proceeded to handcuff his sister and threaten his mother.

     Although Tamir Rice was in the wrong by aiming his toy gun at people and removing the orange tip that indicated it was a toy, one must still consider how race affects this case.  If a white boy was playing with a toy gun in a park, would he be killed?  Would anyone even call the police?  White boys play with toy guns all the time, yet they are not shot.  Their sisters are not handcuffed, and their mothers are not threatened with arrest.  White adults go hunting with real guns, but they are not killed by police.  Although it is true that some cases attempt to use the "racism" card, this is not one of those cases.  This case just one example of the racism, brutality, and prejudice that African Americans are forced to live with every single day of their lives.  And far too many of those lives are tragically cut short due to racism.

Source: CNN
Becky Reals

Poverty Rates in New York City (7)

Almost Half of the New York City population is living in either poverty or near poverty conditions. Despite the rising employment rates, this problem has particularly hit minority groups the hardest. The most severely impacted group is the city's Asian population, which has surpassed Hispanics as the poorest group living in New York City.

A new study conducted by the Center for Economic Opportunity revealed many new statistics about poverty rates and the cities ethnicities that have changed in the past 4 years.This study revealed that 45.6 percent of New Yorkers are barely making ends meet, even with more adults working full-time since the recession. A combination of low wages, rising rents, a lack of benefits, and a severe language barrier for many minorities is largely to blame.

The annual study also showed shifts within racial/ethnic demographics. As the report reveals, the poverty rate of Asians and Hispanics was practically identical in 2008, at 22.4 percent and 23.5 percent. But by 2012, the rate surged to 29 percent for Asians, more than 3 percent higher than Hispanics.

The data paints an image of the city's Asian population and specifically non-English speaking members in the Asian immigrant community, many of whom struggle to gain access to basic government-funded programs that aim to provide economic relief. More than half of the city's Asian community lives in Queens, the racially diverse borough experienced the highest jump in poverty in the city from 2008 to 2012.

One of the greatest reasons behind these startling statistics is the language barrier experienced by the minorities of the city. Asians and Hispanics that learn our native language would have less trouble finding a job or even applying for government aid. So a simple solution could be that they learn the English Language, while living in a country that the native language is English. That being said, could that statement be seen as racist? Do we, as americans, believe that if someone enters our country they must learn our language? We may not be flat out saying it but clearly it is implied. By not learning our language these people are suffering, they cant find jobs and they struggle to apply for basic financial aid. Being seen as the greatest country in the world, and New York being seen as one of the greatest cities with the most opportunity(and one of the most diverse), is this how we want to be portrayed? That if you do not learn the native language, you simply can not be successful in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world.

Source: huffingtonpost

7

The world is full of differences. through looks, personalities, abilities, and cultures.There are athletes, artists, white people,black people. tall people, smart people, nobody is the same. Equal means "the same", therefore nobody is equal and nobody will ever be equal it is an impossibility. Such fantasy ideas and concepts only exist in fiction books. For example in a short story "Harrison Burgeron" handicaps are placed upon people to reduce their talents, attractive people are given handicaps forcing ugliness, mocking the idea of equality. Along with the uncontrollable features given to a person come the uncontrollable and completely natural instinct of the human to like those similar to them, the concept of preference. This does not mean hate and discrimination towards groups that are different simply a preference. Humans also have the ability infer things, a trait that has aided in the survival of humans for many years. For example ; usually when i study for a test i do well therefore I expect good grades after studying. This will not happen all of the time but most of the time it will. Another example,many people that do drugs commit crimes, i can assume if someone is on drugs they may have committed a crime at one point or another. Many African Americans live in poor areas with high amounts of crime, therefore many blacks are the ones committing crimes. So when an experienced police officer who knows what to look for and what is suspicious makes an inference based off past experience and facts what is wrong with this?
      Many people blame there frustrations on racism. Racism is used as an excuse. Black people commit crimes because the world is racist? White people who have black friends and have no hate against another race are accused of being racist because black people struggle in high crime areas? This concept is a joke. How can someone who has never met these struggling people be  accused of being racist to them when they have no hate towards their race? I am not saying that black people struggling in high crime areas is not a problem or that it should be accepted and ignored. What i am saying id that this problem has nothing to do with racism. Racism is extreme hate towards another race, although it exists it is not common among Americans today. How can people be racist towards black people in high crime struggling areas when many idolize the ones who make it out of the struggles as professional athletes???? The real problem that should be discussed is lack of effort by many. The old saying of "what can i do for my country" and turned into what can my country do for me. Stop blaming racism and trying to create a world of total equality, as a country we should invest our time in discussing the real problems of the world.

Protesters flood California highway, throw rocks, bottles at officers (blog 7)

      Over the past few weeks protests have been getting out of hand because of the Eric Garner and the Michael Brown court case decisions to not indict either one of the corresponding officers. Recently, there has been an incident in California where a large group of people flooded a highway and attacked responding police officers with throwing explosives, bottles, rocks and glass at them. In much needed retaliation the officers threw gas and arrested 8 protestors. This is not just a problem in big cities, it has been reported that students attending Berkeley University were found to be throwing rocks and glass at police officers and vandalizing police cars by jumping on the hood. Other protestors have looted and vandalized many businesses in the city of Berkeley, while doing so 2 officers have suffered minor injuries and 5 people have been arrested. Protests have also been occurring in New York City. In Penn Station people were found to be singing “justice carols” about the death of Eric Garner. Another peaceful protest going on was the “die-ins” in toys-r-us where people would lie on the floor en masse. "What's happening in these cities in these last several days is incredibly important to show we have a unified voice," said Judi Flournoy, who was participating in a New York protest. Although many of these protests have been about racism with cops, many of the protestors are not black. Garner's daughter Erica said she was deeply moved by the diversity of protesters who have demonstrated across the country. "This is not a black-and-white issue. This is a national crisis," Erica Garner said. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced a federal civil rights investigation into Garner's death.

      I believe that many of these protests have gotten out of hand.  I am a fan of the peaceful protests going on in New York City, but the protests and attacks happening in California are unacceptable. I feel that if you are trying to prove a point to the government that something is wrong with the way cops are punished by doing the wrong thing in these kinds of situations then violent protests are not the way to go. It proves nothing and only causes harm to the area in which these people live and shop every day. If people really want to send a message to the government that’s ok, but violence is not the answer. I think that the peaceful protests are more powerful than the violent ones because if police are not able to break up or put an end to the peaceful ones then the message can be more clearly stated to the rest of the world. Hopefully the effects of these protests will be spread around the entire country and there can be a change in the way cops must do certain procedures.