I noticed over 50 years ago that Blacks were under represented in the STEM's. I had "zero" Blacks in any of my Science, Math and Engineering classes in college. At the time, I thought that Blacks were just not smart enough to handle these more difficult classes. I was wrong, but the answer was not some kind of liberal "diversity formula" where unqualified students were given a free ride. As I have blogged in the past, we first need to find the "cause" and address that rather than fudging the numbers by packing classes with unqualified students just because they look Black. This might look good on paper, but it does not address or solve the basic problem. Here goes.
I don't know what the basic problem is with Blacks and STEM's, but there has to be something that is happening or not happening with in the Black community. I am not willing to accept, at this point, that Blacks are victims. The reason is that to be a victim, there has to be someone who is making the Blacks into victims. You would think that by now, with all the research, that we would have discovered exactly who those people are who are making Blacks victims.
For the record, I have lived near Black families as well a many other racial groups. I have engaged in many social activities with almost all racial groups except Blacks. I have never been into the home of a Black person, nor have I ever been invited into one's home. I have been into the homes of many other different racial homes and have eaten at their tables. I have gone hunting and fishing with many others too, but not with any Blacks. As I look at myself in the mirror, have I acted differently with Blacks? I don't think so. During all this time, there has never been a situation where an invitation by me or from a Black that would have been a natural event. I don't know why.
When I was a kid, my mother used to tell me not to go around with a "chip" on my shoulder. When people chopped fire wood, there was always a few wood chips on the ground. To initiate a fight or a challenge of some kind, it was common for one person to dare the other to "knock" the chip off their shoulder as a sign that they wanted to start a fight, thus the expression. Now, this is a simple minded concept, but I think that it may play a role in the Black community. Many Blacks seem to walk around with a "chip" on their shoulder. I think that I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was the child of a typical Oakie family who suffered thru the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The people who went thru this ordeal lost every thing except their "pride". Many went around with a "chip" on their shoulders daring anyone to "knock" it off so that they could defend their "pride. I think that many Blacks are still in this same position. They came thru an ordeal that stripped them of every thing until the only thing that they had left was their "pride" and this they would defend just like us Oakies did. With me on this point?
Many Oakies never recovered, but most did and I think that most Blacks will recover as well. What I do not understand is why it has taken so long. Here is an idea. The church was a big part of the life of us Oakies as it is with Blacks, but here is where the difference comes in. I never heard a sermon from one of our preachers preach hate against anyone else for the state that we were in and we were poor. We prayed for help from God, we did not blame anyone else for our poor state. As I see it, the Black preachers are one of the main problems in the Black community. I know that many Blacks who have been brainwashed by their preachers will disagree with me on this point, but I think I have a good basis for this view. You only have to watch the Black preachers on TV, and you know who they are, to see the hate that they spew almost every week. Martin Luther King only wanted a level playing field for the Blacks and they now have that. Slavery is over and has been over for more than 150 years. During the 60 years that slavery was legal in the USA, no more than 50% of the states had slavery. It was a big deal for Blacks, but it does not justify the hate that is renewed every Sunday by these Black preachers. How does all this link to diversity and STEM's?
The message that has to come home from Sunday schools in the Black community. They have to preach that each person is in charge of their own future and that future means finishing high school and not getting pregnant out of wedlock. To be all one can be means taking the harder STEM classes even if it means working a lot harder. Sunday school needs to teach that there is no free lunch and that no one is a victim except for their own lack of will.
I think, every day, how could Obama and his family sit year after year for 20 years in the Rev. Wright church listening to him spew hate and promote Blacks as victims. There is only one person in the Black community who can turn this whole thing around and that is President Obama. His problem is that he has bought into the idea of hate and victimization preached by Rev Wright and most other Black preachers. I think that if the weight of this hate message were taken off the backs of the Black community that they would see the light and dig themselves out just like the Okies did. Rather than helping with "diversity" we should try to take away the hate that is holding Blacks back.
Blacks need to rise up and shoulder their fair share of the "job" of growing our economy. There are plenty of Blacks with under utilized mental abilities. Blacks are not at the Darwin Limitation.
