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> After a (semi-)black president, is this really still relevant?! When the current President has committed to rolling back much of what said President achieved

> After a (semi-)black president, is this really still relevant?! When the current President has committed to rolling back much of what said President achieved socially, economically and culturally, it's fair to say that Obama being elected wasn't the panacea people thought it would be. > Maybe because Oxford is in England and England is predominantly white? The number is off then by two orders of magnitude - and there are specific patterns of underachievement amongst black youth in England which exist when you control for other factors such as class and wealth. Black youngsters in the U.K. are twice as likely to be unemployed as white ones. Focusing resources on the specific problems these communities face is not playing 'divide and conquer' any more than is providing specific support to LGBT communities who have a higher prevalence of mental health issues. http://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/how-black-young-men-are-overcoming-the-label-of-educations-failure-to-achieve-success http://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/how-black-young-men-are-o...

tomp 10y ago
Interesting article. However, I wonder what's really causing the difference in achievement - at first, it would seem that just skin color doesn't explain it, as Indians (also darker-skinned) outperform even whites (according to the article). In theory it's possible that they're being discriminated against (in a racist way) but they outperform despite that, though I've never seen any study that would suggest such genetic superiority (in terms of IQ). Could it be culture (Asians/Chinese are well known for their "Tiger moms", maybe Indians have a similar achievement-oriented culture), or possibly family wealth (Asians coming to study to the UK are more likely to be from wealthy families)? I'm really curious.
- kristianc 10y ago
  There's an attainment gap. It's definitely not genetic. It is partly cultural, and involves for instance the lack of positive black role models, visible success stories, the idea that succeeding is a 'white' thing to do. One black guy being elected President doesn't solve that - you need to see examples of black guys as doctors, lawyers, computer scientists, engineers for it to work. Studies have shown that one of the greatest predictors of whether someone goes on to do a certain career is whether they or their family knows anyone in that profession. That's why it's important and not 'racist' to proactively point out examples of successful black people. It's not that there aren't successful white people as well - they're visible everywhere, and we recognize them anyway (ever see the Oscars?). We do it because sadly the status quo leaves some people without black role models.

tomp 10y ago

Interesting article. However, I wonder what's really causing the difference in achievement - at first, it would seem that just skin color doesn't explain it, as Indians (also darker-skinned) outperform even whites (according to the article). In theory it's possible that they're being discriminated against (in a racist way) but they outperform despite that, though I've never seen any study that would suggest such genetic superiority (in terms of IQ). Could it be culture (Asians/Chinese are well known for their "Tiger moms", maybe Indians have a similar achievement-oriented culture), or possibly family wealth (Asians coming to study to the UK are more likely to be from wealthy families)? I'm really curious.

kristianc 10y ago
There's an attainment gap. It's definitely not genetic. It is partly cultural, and involves for instance the lack of positive black role models, visible success stories, the idea that succeeding is a 'white' thing to do. One black guy being elected President doesn't solve that - you need to see examples of black guys as doctors, lawyers, computer scientists, engineers for it to work. Studies have shown that one of the greatest predictors of whether someone goes on to do a certain career is whether they or their family knows anyone in that profession. That's why it's important and not 'racist' to proactively point out examples of successful black people. It's not that there aren't successful white people as well - they're visible everywhere, and we recognize them anyway (ever see the Oscars?). We do it because sadly the status quo leaves some people without black role models.