CatGrad-UMGradStu said:
PR, please, if you would be so kind, address your thoughts (and opinions are fine as you do have a great deal of credibility) this column and Epstein's column in the links at the bottom.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/15/we-all-live-bubbles-its-time-burst-them/?hpid=hp_opinions-for-wide-side_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
For what it's worth, imagine Mike Mansfield who taught at the U of M, returning in this political climate sitting with Jim Messina, someone raised in Boise, educated at the U of M and serving as Obama's campaign manager sitting at a dinner in the Montana Club in Helena. (How many trillion dollars are left overseas and offshore that will come back here come hell or high water?).
The country and dems/repubs are so divided that it is hard to even have an honest discussion. I've come to believe that the dems are worse in this regard, at this time. The liberals on campuses are overly PC and cause less discourse. Truly astonishing to me.
The mainstream media, while still writing many good articles, has become far too biased. I still get most of my info from NY Times, Wall St. Journal and WaPost, with diverse articles from Apple news. The media is unduly anti-Trump, in my view.
Knowing about Mansfield and knowing Messina a bit, I think they could have good discussions and discourse. Mansfield and my dad were friends when Mansfield was a history prof at UM.
While the US is the most diverse and least racist major country in world, and has made huge improvements over the decades, there is still some underlying racism. I wouldn't want to be black in America, or in any other major country. In my experience, Native Americans have been treated much worse than blacks in states like MT. My black Malmstrom air force/rugby buddies used to tell me that too.
I don't have the answers for the remaining problems in America regarding race. I believe in diversity and having diversity impact college and hiring decisions, as a factor, not the factor. I also understand the irony of allowing favoritism for diversity purposes, as someone white doesn't get that job or slot.
I wonder if US and liberal polices have inadvertently put/locked many blacks in housing projects and created ghetto-like conditions. Those are hard to get out of and perpetuate and create problems, big ones. While reservations have created low economic and jobless havens, I support the reservations because they maintain the Indian culture. The culture stays with the land and the people on it. Many reservations and hurting and messes, tho.
Black reparations are would ridiculous. Black Lives Matter has gone too far and has been taken over by people on the left wanting many other things. The initial idea of BLM had some positives and good ideas. Defund the police? Are you kidding me? I've never loved the police, but, of course, we need the police. I support the police. I went to a police support rally at the Polson courthouse a few weeks ago. From what I've read, including from some black writers, the data and stats don't support the mantra that the police are unduly prejudiced against or hard on black people.
The US needs to be able to discuss all matters. Progress could be made. Many problems in the US are solvable.
The US needs a strong economy. That lifts everyone and also gives the government more resources to provide assistance to those in need. The Trump economy was doing many of those things before covid. I won't vote for Trump because I dislike the guy and his actions so much, but I would like his economy and job market. I fear that Biden will never get the US back to a strong economy. The growth under Obama was one of the slowest ever, down with modern Japan. The US debt will be staggering. Raising taxes is going to hurt the economy.
We need much better early education. That is a key. The research and data show that kids who haven't caught up by 3d grade will probably never catch up.
Blacks and Native Americans need to take better charge of their growth and lives, like India Indians, Asians and even may Latinos. Providing opportunity to people is necessary and great, but giving too much to people is not, in my view.
And Box, your tag line is wrong. Thinking the system worked for oneself, is not the definition of privilege. The system has worked for many, including myself and many of my black friends, and virtually none of us had any privilege. We worked hard, did well in school, and often played sports. Some of us had good families who believed in education. The US system gave us the opportunity to succeed.
