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And we're supposed to be shocked that a good looking, college-educated white kid succeeded in South Carolina? If you don't see how this proves nothing, you've

And we're supposed to be shocked that a good looking, college-educated white kid succeeded in South Carolina? If you don't see how this proves nothing, you've never lived in the south. And to use this as proof that people who are poor are poor because they -choose- to be is to defy reason.

ardit33 19y ago
People that are poor, are poor b/c they 1.Don't know better. 2. Health illness (major cripling one, or mental reason). 3. You come in this country at a late age (i.e. 55+) There are really no other reasons. I have two families, one of my uncle, and one of my first cousin, that came to the US (with green cards), and had to restart their lives all from the beginning. All they had was 5k. For a family of 4, that is very little, and goes by very fast, yet, 10 years later, they are both doing great. My uncle had to work as pizza deliver person, then truck driver, until found a good job in a car dealership. His wife, had to be a waitress for a while (it sucked, as she was not good for it), but eventually ended up becoming a "accountant helper" for a hospital. 8 years later, she is primary person, managing their money, both of their kids ended up in good private schools, and now one goes to Dartmouth, the other to a good college. They own a house, (bought at reasonable rates, before this buble), cars and all that, living the true american dream. My other's cousin family, is having a little bit harder time, as they have to get menial jobs, but my cousin became a teacher assistent, (teaching french), and eventually she would move up to something better, while their kids are doing great in school. As I said, poverty is b/c ignorance. If these two families, can move from a different continent, and re-build everything from scratch, and provide great education to their kids, then everybody else can. In this country hard work, and perseverance will pay off. B!tching about your conditions, and doing nothing about it, wont. Sure, you can blame racism, but from experience, it is not that. It is the huge amount of hard work and ethical mentality, and the strong family values that drives all these immigrant families, who while starting dirt poor, they do well, and much better than the american born poor.
- wallflower 19y ago
  In the city where I live, some of the homeless are mentally ill. A friend who works for one of the city hospitals says a lot of homeless hang out near the hospital, they scare her when she goes to work there early but they are desparate to be admitted and taken off the streets.
  - Shooter 19y ago
    I think the MAJORITY of homeless people are mentally ill. I live in a suburb of Chicago, and I run into quite a few homeless people around our shopping districts and public transportation. I usually strike conversations up with them - which terrifies my wife, by the way - and most display fairly obvious symptoms of mental illness even in the brief moments I spend with them. I can't begin to imagine what symptoms they might exhibit if I was around them for longer periods of time. I think mental illness is much more widespread than people realize, and our society really doesn't have an appropriate way to deal with the situation. I'd like to see this young author try to 'pull himself up by his bootstraps' if he was paranoid schizophrenic and hallucinating. It's rather hard to interview for a job when you think the interviewer is trying to kill you and you have leeches crawling out of your ears, for example.
    - kingkongrevenge 19y ago
      > our society really doesn't have an appropriate way to deal with the situation They used to all be committed in mental institutions. The laws changed and now they're out on the street. Pick your poison: government power to lock non-criminals up and force treatment, or free crazies wandering the streets and hurting themselves.
chaostheory 19y ago
I've lived in the South, and I've seen both "good looking" white people fail and "bad looking" black people succeed. I don't see what's wrong with pushing the message that as long as you have the mindset and will to succeed, you will succeed. Don't get me wrong, there are still places in the South where racism is extremely prevalent and a hinderence to success; but typically those are extremely remote/rural areas (where more than likely the racists themselves are poor too). It's very different from the more progressive metros. Given your post I can probably ask you the same question, "Have you ever lived in the South?"
- shawndrost 19y ago
  "typically those are extremely remote/rural areas" This study (conducted in Chicago and Boston in 2002) indicates that resumes with names like Todd and Brendan get a 50% higher callback rate than names like Rasheed and Kareem: http://www.chicagogsb.edu/pdf/bertrand.pdf http://www.chicagogsb.edu/pdf/bertrand.pdf Presumably it's worse in the south. Not that I've ever been there.
  - yummyfajitas 19y ago
    That may be a "silly name" effect, not a racial effect. I read a while back a similar study done (sorry, can't find a link), but comparing different white names. Jennifer and Meghan got far more callbacks than Rainbow, Peace and other hippy names. More anecdotally, my friend Dikshit Gupta got far fewer callbacks than Dave Gupta, even with identical resumes (both are obviously Indian). I'd be curious to see a similar study done comparing generic names to generic "dead president" names (George Smith vs George Washington Smith), rather than made-up african sounding names.
    - wallflower 19y ago
      Unfortunately, pen names and screen names are chosen to obscure ethnic origins, by marketing necessity, more than choice. My Indian and Asian friends used to know if a telemarketer was calling because the maybe-it-sounds-like this mangling of their surnames and sometimes first names. With the recent outsourcing of telemarketing to Indian call centers, I wonder if pronunciation of their names has improved, if any.

ardit33 19y ago

People that are poor, are poor b/c they 1.Don't know better. 2. Health illness (major cripling one, or mental reason). 3. You come in this country at a late age (i.e. 55+) There are really no other reasons. I have two families, one of my uncle, and one of my first cousin, that came to the US (with green cards), and had to restart their lives all from the beginning. All they had was 5k. For a family of 4, that is very little, and goes by very fast, yet, 10 years later, they are both doing great. My uncle had to work as pizza deliver person, then truck driver, until found a good job in a car dealership. His wife, had to be a waitress for a while (it sucked, as she was not good for it), but eventually ended up becoming a "accountant helper" for a hospital. 8 years later, she is primary person, managing their money, both of their kids ended up in good private schools, and now one goes to Dartmouth, the other to a good college. They own a house, (bought at reasonable rates, before this buble), cars and all that, living the true american dream. My other's cousin family, is having a little bit harder time, as they have to get menial jobs, but my cousin became a teacher assistent, (teaching french), and eventually she would move up to something better, while their kids are doing great in school. As I said, poverty is b/c ignorance. If these two families, can move from a different continent, and re-build everything from scratch, and provide great education to their kids, then everybody else can. In this country hard work, and perseverance will pay off. B!tching about your conditions, and doing nothing about it, wont. Sure, you can blame racism, but from experience, it is not that. It is the huge amount of hard work and ethical mentality, and the strong family values that drives all these immigrant families, who while starting dirt poor, they do well, and much better than the american born poor.

wallflower 19y ago
In the city where I live, some of the homeless are mentally ill. A friend who works for one of the city hospitals says a lot of homeless hang out near the hospital, they scare her when she goes to work there early but they are desparate to be admitted and taken off the streets.
- Shooter 19y ago
  I think the MAJORITY of homeless people are mentally ill. I live in a suburb of Chicago, and I run into quite a few homeless people around our shopping districts and public transportation. I usually strike conversations up with them - which terrifies my wife, by the way - and most display fairly obvious symptoms of mental illness even in the brief moments I spend with them. I can't begin to imagine what symptoms they might exhibit if I was around them for longer periods of time. I think mental illness is much more widespread than people realize, and our society really doesn't have an appropriate way to deal with the situation. I'd like to see this young author try to 'pull himself up by his bootstraps' if he was paranoid schizophrenic and hallucinating. It's rather hard to interview for a job when you think the interviewer is trying to kill you and you have leeches crawling out of your ears, for example.
  - kingkongrevenge 19y ago
    > our society really doesn't have an appropriate way to deal with the situation They used to all be committed in mental institutions. The laws changed and now they're out on the street. Pick your poison: government power to lock non-criminals up and force treatment, or free crazies wandering the streets and hurting themselves.

chaostheory 19y ago

I've lived in the South, and I've seen both "good looking" white people fail and "bad looking" black people succeed. I don't see what's wrong with pushing the message that as long as you have the mindset and will to succeed, you will succeed. Don't get me wrong, there are still places in the South where racism is extremely prevalent and a hinderence to success; but typically those are extremely remote/rural areas (where more than likely the racists themselves are poor too). It's very different from the more progressive metros. Given your post I can probably ask you the same question, "Have you ever lived in the South?"

shawndrost 19y ago
"typically those are extremely remote/rural areas" This study (conducted in Chicago and Boston in 2002) indicates that resumes with names like Todd and Brendan get a 50% higher callback rate than names like Rasheed and Kareem: http://www.chicagogsb.edu/pdf/bertrand.pdf http://www.chicagogsb.edu/pdf/bertrand.pdf Presumably it's worse in the south. Not that I've ever been there.
- yummyfajitas 19y ago
  That may be a "silly name" effect, not a racial effect. I read a while back a similar study done (sorry, can't find a link), but comparing different white names. Jennifer and Meghan got far more callbacks than Rainbow, Peace and other hippy names. More anecdotally, my friend Dikshit Gupta got far fewer callbacks than Dave Gupta, even with identical resumes (both are obviously Indian). I'd be curious to see a similar study done comparing generic names to generic "dead president" names (George Smith vs George Washington Smith), rather than made-up african sounding names.
  - wallflower 19y ago
    Unfortunately, pen names and screen names are chosen to obscure ethnic origins, by marketing necessity, more than choice. My Indian and Asian friends used to know if a telemarketer was calling because the maybe-it-sounds-like this mangling of their surnames and sometimes first names. With the recent outsourcing of telemarketing to Indian call centers, I wonder if pronunciation of their names has improved, if any.