DragonBall Z FAN CLUB

The US occupation in Îraq is an event which is delivering multiple persepectives and opinions on what needs to be done.  The US is hanging on the edge of a slippery slope in that the chance for success in Iraq is slim, and all prospects of completing our goals are shrinking.  There are a few aspects of our time in Iraq which hopefully the US can expand upon and establish a situation where Åmerican troops can be removed without leaving the Iraqi region in chaos.

I feel like a change of thought in the reasons for the great wealth gap between blacks and whites  that existed in the past, and still exists to this very day.  I feel it is a combination of historical factors, such as racism and slavery, along with current factors such as the idea of steering by real estate agents. 

While it has been previously clear in how former landmarks in history such as slavery and the JIm Crowe laws have created great obstacles in the black overcoming of poverty, it seems clear now that contemporary factors have lead to this occurrence as well.  

Dalton Conley has made it explicitly clear that

In 1994, the median white family held assets worth more then 7 times those of the median nonwhite family.

And I feel that this great gap cannot be intact solely from past issues.  Current acts, subtle racial profiling, in terms of real estate are being made.  While “steering” was a practice that real estate agents committed in the past, selectively showing what houses were on the market to blacks in order to stop increases in black populations in rich white communities, it still seems to be an issue.  Housing prices in prodominately white areas such as Greenwich, CT are much higher than those of black areas such as New Orleans, Louisiana.  In Greenwich the median housing price is $1,129,000(Money)while in New Orleans it is $143,549(Home gain), that is nearly 8 times greater value in housing from a prodominately white area to prodominately black.  It would seem unwarranted to conclude steering is not an issue as the demand to live in a white community is much higher than that of one which is prodominately black       
 

Television programming has gone through a great makeover from the 1950’s to present day broadcasting.  Past television used to use the term “least objectionable programming” as justification for shows such as Ozzie and Harriet, a sitcom of usual of others of its time, which portrayed an all white upper-middle class family.  “Least objectionable programming” was placed to give its viewers seemingly endless vibes of euphoria. 

To appreciate the magnitude of the shift, you need only rewind the tape to the late seventies and contemplate the governing principle that reigned over prime-time programming in the dark ages of Joanie Loves Chachi — a philosophy dubbed the theory of “Least Objectionable Programming” by NBC executive Paul Klein. LOP is a pure-breed race-to-the-bottom model: you create shows designed on the scale of minutes and seconds, with the fear that the slightest challenge — “thought,” say, or “education” — will send the audience scurrying to the other networks.(ABC News) 

Yet during the 1950’s things were not as they were televised.  Problems not discussed by the sitcoms were going on such as supression of black rights and an occuring poverty amongst whites.  Things that did not gain recognition by television.

Today television has made a complete turn in the broadcasting of contreversal topics, and material which gains public ambiguity in deservance of a title of “pure genius” or “uncouth”.  Todays tevelvision content I feel deserves a greater respect than that of the 1950’s in that it depicts a some what true America, regardless of the images of dystopia it may deliver at times, it does not shelter the truth in a 1950’s sitcom.

It is the public which decides what is to be aired and what is to be cancled, television shows are running due to public approval, and while it may seem controversial these programms are fueled by the public.  If a show was not approved it by the public it would not remain on the air.  Television is what it is because in today society it is what we are asking for, and it is what we want to see, the truth.          

The difference between blacks and whites interms of class seems to be an issue in which i believe derives majoritively due to past prejudices and very small but contemporary acts in which I feel deserve acknowledgement, but not any major blame.  I still feel the past had a great influence on creating the current gap in wealth between blacks and whites but I fear inclined to recognize small subtleties in contemporary affairs which should be acknowledged for delaying the uprising of the black middle class. 

Redlining, a loan safety net constitued and practiced by the banks, was a technique in which banks would determine maximuns set on loans to be given out to people depending on where they lived.  The idea was that loans given to poorer people would be less likely to be paid back and so redlining was derived to insure the banks would not lose money.  But redlining is no longer legal and it is no longer pracitced by banks to this day. 

Redlining is the practice of denying or increasing the cost of services, such as banking or insurance, to residents of certain areas. In the United States, the practice is illegal when the criteria are based on race, religion, gender, familial status (if there are children in a family), disability, or ethnic origin. The US Government has imposed regulations that require all banks to provide a map to anyone who asks showing the locations of home loans they have made so that individuals can ensure that redlining is not taking place.(Wikipedia)

It seems unfair to let a subtle issue such as redlining take blame for causing a great divide between black and white income and real estate values. 
I still feel it is the past prejudice, a racism that supressed black economic prosperity and the historically resent removal from slavery which takes great effect in causing the struggle that blacks faced and still continue to face in creating a middle class that can be deemed equal in size to that of the one whites currently have. 

Today, wealth gaps between people tend to corolate with race.  Minorities such as blacks tend to live in lower class areas with less demand for housing, while whites themselves live in more middle class, upper middle class neighborhoods, and tend to live in places of higher demand for housing.  This common placement of blacks in lower class areas and white in more upperclass areas is not due to coinsidence.  History towards blacks and present influences are found to be the cause for the seperation in class between minorites and whites. 

In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, in Plessy v. Ferguson the right of U.S. states and localities to mandate racial segregation. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the segregation of the federal Civil Service. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman ordered the desegregation of the U.S. military; in 1954 the Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, largely reversed Plessy…(Wikipedia)

This is proof that black suppression existed much longer than simply the end of slavery, and only began to end half a century ago. 

I feel history places a great influence in the wealth gap with the former slavery and racism that used to exists between blacks.  After slavery had ended blacks were left uneducated and without and knowledge on how to find work, and so they were forced to take low skill, wage jobs.  The racism towards blacks in the early twentieth century also caused obstacles in the treatment of those blacks who attempted to make improvements in their lives.  People would give preferential hiring towards whites suppressing blacks from rising above their poverty.  
To me it seems that this great gap in class and race is caused by past influences.      

The GI Bill of the 1950 dawned from creation in attempts to support working class whites.  Inexpensive loans for education, business, and homes, along with preferential hiring were all part in aiding the white veterans.  Today economic incentives cause for an increase in hispanic and blacks to join the military in a disproportionate amount compared to the inlistment of whites.

The Montgomery GI Bill provides up to 36 months of education benefits for college, business, technical, correspondence or vocational courses, apprenticeship or job training, or flight school. Participants can receive over $36,000 in tuition.(GI Bill)

   I think that a good future comes at a price, and if it takes a few years serving your country to do so then there is nothing wrong in doing it.  The military give everyone a second chance at a better life regardless of racism disposition and educational backrounds.   

Hurricane Katrina was one of

“the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States”(Wikipedia). 

Causing over $81.2 billion and over 1,836 deaths, Hurricane Katrina was a devastation.  Most of the attention from the devastation and most of the concern was placed where Katrina made its greatest impact; on New Orleans, Louisiana.

One of the most contreversial parts of Hurricane Katrina was what happened in the aftermath of the great devastation.  Was the amount of aid given by the government to the Katrina survivors the right amount? 

I feel that the government itself had some responsibility towards the Katrina victims in the refurbishment and rebuilding of New Orleans along with the supply of food and basic necessities.  But I do not think that the government is totally made to be responsible, this was an unpredictable catostrophic event and it seems that the people of New Orleans were a little too reliant on the government for aid in that it seemed they expected the government to do everything.