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I Got an Email From a Man Who Read My Article....
Posted by lotusb • 7/09/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: fan mail
Once upon a time, a while ago I would write for Helium. It can be pretty lucrative if you are a good enough writer/researcher and for me it was that and also a good learning experience.
About 2 years ago there was a topic presented on why or if Black people make better athletes.
My response was on the fence. I stated that Blacks have proven to be good athletes because those opportunities may be sought after more heavily for students who are unable to pay for college and are therefore encouraged to get involved with sports. My main point was that it is a crab shoot, and that Blacks are in no way more or less equipped physically than anyone else. That is my opinion, period.
So today, 2 years later, I receive this letter in my inbox:
This is in regards to your article on: Why black athletes dominate sports
I think it will be a never ending argument as to what race has the better athletes. The are too many sports to be evaluated. What really needs to be assessed is the intelligence of the black male and females? Although some believe that intelligence tests are culturally biased, numbers tell the tale of blacks being constantly at the bottom of those scores. Many black people own low-paying and low-ability jobs in our society. Although this is changing, it is changing at a very low pace. Crimes are increasing at an unbelievable pace. Many of which are being committed by black people. Look at the majority percentage of prisoners that are black and others that are still avoiding prosecution or arrests. I am a teacher in CT and the key to intelligence in our schools is through the CAPT scores. I just received the breakdown of ethnic scores on the 2009 test. At the bottom are African-Americans and Hispanics. The more important question we need to focus on is...are blacks!
harming our economy, our families and our society? Sports only make up 1% of the world's focus. Be proud that blacks athletes excel in sports such as track and field, basketball and football, but be disappointed in what they take away from overall society.
I wanted to share this with my BC'ers because I value your input, and wanted to get some perspective before I respond to this man.
What do you think?
User Comments
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Wow. What a bigot.-
What scares me is that man is a teacher...
They should be giving bigot-tests out instead of CAPTs... -
No doubt! That really is a horrible thought that he is helping to form young minds. Wow--I will be very interested in what you write to him--keep us updated.
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wow.
I have no idea. I don't think any reasonable response would get through to someone like that. -
not gonna touch this one.-
Go ahead...touch it. Just the tip. (sorry couldn't help it...i had a jr. high flashback)
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haha it's a lose lose. If you go off on him then you feed him, if you ignore it than you will most likely seethe for a bit. The issue of race and scores and statistics is a tough thing to touch because on the one hand statistics due tend to be damning towards minorities, on the other hand who is to say they are unbiased? Who prepares them? It's kind of one of those things I try to ignore because there is no sure fire way to not offend or to be in the right. It's very black and white (no pun intended), there is rarely a shade of grey on how people interpret or take the scores. There is either a "see I knew it" or a "how offensive" approach taken. That's why I think dividing this up by ethnicity is pointless, as it really does not serve anyones best interests... well with the exception of race affiliated groups
If I had to respond I would turn it around and say "well most of CT is caucasion (at least it was when I was there), so maybe if the minority children did not have to worry about racist teachers such as yourself, they could get some work done and excel." -
Yea, good point it is lose/lose. I'll think it over. Your perspective is very interesting tho.
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" Your perspective is very interesting tho." yeah I have very strange views on these types of issues. My fathers side of the family was KKK for a few generations, so I have to conciously step away from their thoughts and beliefs. Both them and the anti-white groups feed off of statistics and scores like those which is why I think no good comes of such reports. Does that make more sense?
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Oh yes, it made sense before. I didn't think your perspective was bad or anything like that. I totally understand. I don't see the need to break these scores down into race either...I mean it has NO purpose..
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It sounds like a person with an agenda to me. And not a good one.
So this person feels scores are directly related to intelligence/ability instead of learning or support to excell?-
Yes...
I find that totally ignorant, especially since those test don't take into account the ABILITY of the school's resources, the learning style of the student or the access to the same level of learning tools as the rest of the country. Factors that conveniently effect minorities more harshly. -
If this person is really a teacher, I find that very disturbing. You'd think most teachers would be able to think critically about things a little better than that.
It really is why I'm wondering if this person doesn't have an agenda.
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What an @ss! I wouldn't bother responding at all. -
This is what I'd like to say to him...simply because I enjoy having the last word..
Sir, I am 25 years old, and what I've seen in my life and know to be true of the world has inspired me to make a difference. I am part of the Planned Parenthood activist group and I have taught teens of all ages in the inner city limits of San Francisco, Oakland, Houston,Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens, New York how to protect themselves from STDs and other sexually related tragedies as well as teen pregnancy. I teach piano to children who would other wise not have the opportunity to understand classical music or feel the accomplishment of learning a piece, because their parents have no access to funds that would allow them to do so and their schools are breathlessly out of financial means for such programs because their "scores" don't add up enough to warrant them that "privilege". I don't sit down and count on my fingers how many blacks or whites or Hispanics are causing the scores to drop or the jails to fill up. Instead I am DOING. I ask you, what are you DOING besides bothering me about some article you read on Helium? -
Respond as follows:
Dear Sir:
Classifying people on the basis of their race is an act of barbarism. Let's say for the sake of argument that you're white. If we were to ascribe to you characteristics purely on this basis, we would have to say that you're an uptight, culturally imperialist bigot with no sense of rhythm. This might actually apply to you, but we'll leave that aside for the moment. If we make a happier assumption that you are actually more than the sum of your melanin count, then we realise that you have individual qualities which need to be taken into account. I realise that someone lacking such qualities as yourself may have difficulty in conceiving of such an idea, but be that as it may, everyone is as individual as their DNA. They come into this world with different aptitudes, likes, dislikes, intelligence, and athletic ability. Assumptions on the basis of race fall down at the first question: who is more intelligent, Barack Obama or George W. Bush?
I realise that this discourse is probably on a level that you can barely comprehend. But suffice it to say that it is hardly African Americans or Hispanics who are the problem in society; if you want a good idea of the type of person who does create issues, take a look in the mirror.
Yours sincerely,
etc. etc.-
Oooohhhh, that rocks!! I like that last line....that's a good response (rubbing hands together with a sideways glance)
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What a great response!
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@greencurmudgeon
Excellent! Can lotusB use it? -
Feel free to use it. It's not something I'd copyright.
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You are an amazing writer and other than NOT replying at all this is a the best response. WOW!! -
@robin
Thank you very much.
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- IMHO is man has an agenda and you are not going to derail it by getting in what you think may be the last word. My advice, which you probably won't follow, is to mark the comment as spam, delete it, and get on with your life.
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My thoughts as well (and this is coming from one who likes to get the last word herself).
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TT...good advice. However, you know me so well...I'll probably respond eventually. This is the second incident I've encountered today.
At lunch my white co-worker said she dosen't like a certain dance club, "because..well...it's *black*" ..."Black" said in a whisper. It took me off guard but I was dissapointed that she could be so ignorant. -
Wrong place -- see below.
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Just tell him what everybody knows. That so-called intelligence tests don't measure intelligence, but the social and scholastic background of the individuals taking them. -
I suppose you could always embarrass him by posting the entire thing and going all net detective by searching for his email address and school district and then forward it to their superintendent.....
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LMAO!!!!!! I love that!!! Thats EVIL!
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yeah.. I get that alot haha
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Along those lines, could you send him this whole thread? -
I wonder if his local paper has a wide-open bulletin board like ours does...
Truly, I'd go more the high-road route like greencurmudgeon, but if he comes back at you in the same vein you may want to point out that the low road is readily available to you. -
Oh and the low road is so damn satisfying....
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"Oh and the low road is so damn satisfying...."
Well technically you'd be taking one less bigot away from infecting a new generation with intolerance so... wouldn't that actually be the high road as it is better for future generations? I would not want him teaching my children -
Good point...I love it when evil doing is justified.
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hmmm lutosb you are giving me an idea for my next article
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Oh yea?... "When Bigots Attack"??
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LOL that sounds like a good title
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Make sure to include a picture of Bill O'Reilly.
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I wouldn't respond to him.
There is a quote (I'm not sure who said it), "Don't explain. Your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you."
It also seems that your antagonist didn't get the gist of your article. I'd drop it. -
That letter is awful.
As I am Asian, if it was me I would point out that Asian children generally outperform white children in virtually every subject and that when we take over the world, we're coming for the white folks first.
That was sarcasm by the way. I think test scores in general are pure bullsh*t.-
When your people take over the world can you take me as a sex slave and force me to pleasure all of the beautiful asian men with happy ending massages..?
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They actually are BS. A good deal of research has been conducted on standardized testing and they are often biased and therefore, invalid.
I really like Howard Gardner's theory of intelligence--he views intelligence as having eight different categories, which is something that standardized testing cannot measure.
When I was about 7 years old, I was given a standardized test and I was bored so I filled in all the bubbles to make a beautiful sailboat! All I wanted was to get out of the test so I could go out and play (we were told we could go outside as soon as we finished the test.
The result was my test came back that I was mentally retarded, I was moved into the 'slow children's class and I really believe that this is why I struggled so much throughout elementary and high school.
It wasn't until I went to college that I finally understood the joy of learning.
Down with standardized testing!
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Don't be droppin your link in my thread!! Booooooo!!
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Wild Blogspam appeared!
*throws pokéball at it* -
How about someone puts a spiky plant where it will draw out all your positive energy? Or at least somewhere where it will hurt?
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maybe it is fengshui to kill racism
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It's definately one of those funny double standards.
Long distance running has been DOMINATED by east african (or decendants thereof) for decades. of the top 100 records and times. something like 95% are just east african (or east african decent)
Short Distance Running has been equally dominated by west african decendants.
Wether these records have been held by africans, or decendants raised and trained in other countries. The trend holds true.
Now, we can without question say that with access to better training and equipment, as well as better sports medicine to prevent injuries that can cut an athletes career short, they have better chances, but even then, the US short distance records are held by just west african decendants.
The problem here isn't that we can see their dominance in these fields as clear as day. We aren't even that afraid of stating it. The fact that this applies to decendants as well as direct adds weight to the genetic argument. And very few argues that this is the case.
But as soon as someone mentions similar trends in things like chess... all hell breaks loose. Kinda funny...-
How is trying to classify an entire race as having lower intelligence a double standard as opposed to blatant racism?
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No, the key issue here is that you'll find greater deviations within the groups than differences between them, that however does not negate the facts.
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I have no idea what you just said. Ah, edit button=good.
I still don't understand what this has to do with a bigoted teacher in Connecticut trying to argue that blacks have lower IQ's and therefore are dragging the world down. -
- I don't see any connection to the bigoted teacher and his attitudes and behaviors either.
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Basic statistics,
Lets take it away from IQ and look at it in some other less sensitive area.
Money,
On average, blacks are poorer than whites.. However, there are plenty of blacks who are richer than the average white person, and even in the top 1%.
This tells us that there is a measurable difference between the groups, it also tells us that there is nothing stating that no blacks are wealthy.
Now, we can either say that because there are blacks in the top 1%, the average means nothing. Or we can accept that there is a correlation between wealth and race in this country.
Thats how you have to read these numbers. Without understanding what they really mean, we accomplish nothing when we examine them. -
Oh, I see what you are trying to say. Either we completely discard race as a factor from statistical calculations, or we deliberately relate high achievement with racial identity.
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No i'm saying that when genetics are part of an equation, let's not pretend that they aren't in order to be PC.
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The relationship between intelligence and genetics is highly iffy. Intelligence can vary wildly between members of a single family. Intelligence according to race is completely preposterous and it has nothing to do with being PC.
Low achievement scores in exams are more a reflection of socio-economic background than race. When African American students are put in a high achieving atmosphere (such as the magnet schools in Chicago), so called racial differences in test scores are all but erased.
People who claim that there are lesser intelligent races are using it as an excuse for racial bias.
Asian children regularly outperform white children in virtually every subject area. Now, are you going to assume that Asian children are naturally more intelligent than white children, or are you going to realize that is has more to do with a cultural emphasis on high academic achievment? If it is race based, that makes me automatically smarter than you and all of your kind.
Now, I think you would find that highly offensive. -
This is mostly true, i said from the beginning that you will find larger variations WITHIN a group than between them, that does not preclude that the group as a whole can have a statistical trend that shows differences.
It strikes me as incredibly obtuse that we can accept there is genetic differences between races that affect things like diseases, the effectiveness of medicines, the ability to accept donor organs etc. And then in the same breath claim that there can be no genetic differences in the brain.
Like i said, just because blacks are on average less wealthy than whites, there is nothing saying that there aren't any blacks that are wealthier than most whites.
The IQ tests that have been made have been pictograms to avoid socioeconomic, linguistic and educational differences. So that argument is completely moot.
When using tests like this picture, you can't blame either linguistics or mathematics, since even the most basic language can convey the question, "Which image is the next one". -
However true or untrue it may be, can't you see what kind of negative social implications statements like that have? It's not about PC, as much as it is taking a firm stance against racial discrimination.
People who put a lot of stock into race based intelligence usually have an ulterior motive, mainly the advancement of racial superiority.
I am always perplexed when people don't see the larger picture. -
Wow, this thread blew up over the weekend.
@cs
I think the issue is not that there is no correlation between genetics and race, so much as the fact that ability to play a sport is mostly based on how much effort and training that person has as well as availability to the opportunity and determination to suceed at it. These are factors that should be weighed as heavily if not heavier when looking at why there are so many black athletes.
Aside from this, the point here is that there is no point in trying to make one race out to have more or less ability. Whether it's in regard to sports or education. The bottom line is that the part of this that can be controlled is opportunity and motivation. Focusing on the race factor of any subject is going to present biased opinions and every point can and will be argued by someone. We can all agree though, that a lot of these "points" are actually just moving variables. -
Again, I understand your point. Training does of course play into it.
That however does not explain why short distance record runners are flat out dominated by west african decent. Regardless of where you look, the Brittish top short distance runners aren't anglo saxon, they are west african decendands, Same for the US.
Not african, not east african, not south african... WEST african to what could be called a statistical certainty.
When the numbers are THAT stacked towards showing something. We have to assume that although there are bound to be tons of people with the same drive, motivation and access to training in both Britain and the US, (and other countries) for some reason, west african decendants rise to the top more often because of their heritage.
Now back to what i said before. Although we can't ignore this as a statistical fact, we also know that there are bound to be west africans that couldn't outrun a pregnant slug... That however does NOT preclude a genetic predisposition creating a higher average or a highre number of top performers in the group.
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Kudos for having initiative for writing an email, Thumbs down for a somewhat unconvincing biased opinionated content. -
Black people do make better athletes in general... -
the cat said 'woof!!!' -
I think...
And bear with me...
The writer of the email has an INTERESTING perspective - and I don't know if I believe that the person who wrote this is a white person/purple/green/etc.
I want to put a DIFFERENT spin on this letter - and see if you can see it... OK?
It IS true that minorities have scored lower.
It IS true that minorities are involved more in crime.
However - the terminology the person used, and the understanding behind the reasoning is certainly bigoted/racist seeming... RIGHT?
HOWEVER - what if I were to say to YOU...
The person who wrote that was an AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE?
What if I said to you - the person wasn't PUTTING down people...
But instead of saying "LOOK I'M PROUD of what WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED" - he is saying "I'M ASHAMED OF WHAT WE ARE NOT ACCOMPLISHING"...
What if they are saying that instead of ranking Black people in sports - Start talking about them in Scholastic Functions?
OK - probably not - person is probably a racist pig and needs to be shot full of penicillin - and needs to put his wife beater shirt back on to wipe his grimy CAPT hands across...-
Ah, you are taking the Bill Cosby argument. Bill Cosby has for years been speaking out about underachievement by African Americans.
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Actually you got an interesting point there. As an asian we are sometimes prone in putting ourselves down. but we are sensitive when we hear it from other races. so perhaps that's what it is as wagerwitch is saying but perhaps it could be the other way around...let's see how this goes *wipes glasses and continues staring*
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Duuuuuuuuuude... I am the kind of person who tries to make everything "alright"...
And my last comment there.... My last paragraph sums up the fact that I have given up hope...
No matter what I tried to think of to maybe give this writer a break... to maybe try and see from his perspective...
NOTHING seemed to fit.
And in the end...
Alas...
I think he was a total JERK.
LOL! -
yeah wagerwitch i tried to reread 5 times(seriously) and no matter how many times i turn the computer screen i cannot see any redeeming value there.
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This is a discussion I should pass up but I’m going to weigh in anyway. My belief is people are just people. In any race you will have a high smart range extending all the way down to a dumb low range. And that includes anything mental, physical, or spiritual. However, there is a culture factor.
Motivation and determination in my view is the two factors that determine achievement and success more than anything else. And there is no denying that some cultures motivates more than others. I rest my case. -
I have gotten amny of those type of emails over time because my comments shut off after 30 or 60 days - can't remember which. I never respond to racist bigots, that bothers them ore than anything.
He obviously just wanted to get his racist digs in. The best thing you can do for him is get into an argument with him, the worst thing you can do to people like him is ignore them. -
Asians percentage wise tend to be top achievers simply because their culture encourages them to study harder and for no other reason.
This is a discussion I should pass up but I’m going to weigh in anyway. My belief is people are just people. In any race you will have a high smart range extending all the way down to a dumb low range. And that includes anything mental, physical, or spiritual. However, there is a culture factor.
Motivation and determination in my view is the two factors that determine achievement and success more than anything else. And there is no denying that some cultures motivates more than others. -
don't give him credit. anyone who would mistaken SLOW PACE for LOW PACE is not worth answering in my book. It's easy to point out SOME Black Americans' shortcomings and it is even easier to erase all of history and put the blame solely on Black America.
I say "F*ck him"!! -
I think the guy suffers from confirmation bias.
He has a bias and has simply selected information that confirms it. He conveniently ignores information that disproves it, like the lack of adequate legal representation for minorities, which accounts for a disproportionately high conviction rate.
Nothing...and I mean nothing...shifts people with this kind of bias. They their thinking is structured to discount any information that doesn't support their bias, so no amount of proof to the contrary will be entertained or accepted. -
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Not cool
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Glad I didn't see what was writen there...
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My instinct would be to counter it (not via email but on your blog with a general description of what your email from him was about) with plenty of research that disproves his view. Not attack him personally or even address him personally, but attack the belief because unfortunately many have that attitude. while he may not change his view there are others reading who will see why his view is wrong and it might provide resources, tools to counter those views when they are confronted with at as you were.
on the other hand, do you really want to waste time on such an idiot. -
@TT -- RE: Just cutting this person off by marking them as spam and not responding. This is what I am also learning to do in my own life. People with an agenda or attitude like this tend to love "back and forth" struggling and they LOVE to prove their point AND they never tire of doing so. In fact they thrive on it.
@ LotusB -- Just don't let this person suck you in and run you ragged. Maybe you are better off writing an article on the topic that states your powerful beliefs. AND I also am apologizing for this person who cannot yet apologize for themselves. I am sorry that you even had to read something like this. I know the world is full of this type of thing, but that does NOT make it okay. Stay true. Stay strong. And hold fast to your vision of truth. You are a very smart woman.
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