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I really don't understand, and bluntly I am sick of the absolute laser-focus on race by the media right now. It's a story about high temperatures affecting poor

I really don't understand, and bluntly I am sick of the absolute laser-focus on race by the media right now. It's a story about high temperatures affecting poor people, yet they immediately start with "Unequal Burden Also for Latino Communities." They are blatantly fishing for a racism narrative, even pointing out that the temperature difference between black and white areas is statistically insignificant. They capitalize the word black while leaving the word white lower-cased as if it can't be part of their identity. It's all so tiresome and seemingly unnecessary. Why can't we just focus on socioeconomic inequality? The people affected are poor.

jayd16 6y ago
It's not so complex. The argument is that the fact that socioeconomic inequality unequally effects a certain race indicates a form of systemic racism. The story is about the southwest so the history of how our cities were settled is different between each demographic. Blacks, latinos, asians and others all have specific histories in the southwest that differ. There's no reason every minority should be effected in the same way.
- ttyprintk 6y ago
  I want to point out that the abstract of this paper mentions Asians but the full text does not.
  - jayd16 6y ago
    As far as I can tell, the linked study mentions "Asian" once in the introduction but not the abstract. >Our primary variables of interest were median household income, percent Latinx, percent Black, and percent Asian.
ttyprintk 6y ago
This isn’t the media, but an academic study. The media is prone to latch onto some conclusions from it, while probably ignoring the lack of support where statistical significance is unmet.
klmadfejno 6y ago
You're taking a very strong stance on the assumption that white and hispanic/latinx communities are the same, normalized to wealth. I don't think that's a given at all.
- TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
  I never made such a claim. I implied we should focus on socioeconomic status, not race. If Latinos are disproportionately lower-income, then focusing on improving socioeconomic issues would disproportionately improve their lives while avoiding being racist or pushing a divisive, unproductive narrative.
  - klmadfejno 6y ago
    Unless there are race-specific drivers of poverty, which there are. Saying it would be racist to address race-specific factors is tacitly implying that the current status quo is either equal or acceptable. If a blanket policy designed to help the poor fails to accurate consider the current situation, they may help "the poor" by layer on yet another disadvantage to minority communities. It isn't racist to apply nuanced solutions to help different communities with unique problems.
    - TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
      "Saying it would be racist to address race-specific factors is tacitly implying that the current status quo is either equal or acceptable." This is an absolutely counter productive use of language that implies if I'm not 100% onboard with your ideology then I'm some sort of closeted racist, which is insulting and ridiculous. Such wordplay is part of why we are in such a polarized political environment. As to the rest of your comment, other than direct and actual racism, I personally don't think there are race-specific drivers of poverty that aren't explained by socioeconomic factors.
      - klmadfejno 6y ago
        I didn't call you racist. I said not addressing race-specific factors has a tendency to exacerbate race specific factors. Though I will note you seem very eager to defend yourself against being called racist.
indymike 6y ago
I had a mentor that used to say "sometimes the problem is the problem". A lot of good could be done if we focused on the problem instead of ingroup/outgroup politics. If the problem is lack of money to afford climate control, it is easy to get people to agree to help provide that money (as evidenced by the many, many local level government and charity programs that have been created, all over the US). When we focus on identity politics instead, we lose sight of how easily solved the actual problem is, and end up in a stale-mate where nothing gets done.
throwaway0a5e 6y ago
Making something about race is an instant way to get a loud, vocal minority to champion your cause which is why activists do it. The news runs with it because anyone with half a brain know that most of this stuff has little to do with race other than as a rough proxy for wealth so they get rage clicks from all those people in addition to the aforementioned loud vocal minority. I think it's stupid but if "it will screw black people more" is how we justify not screwing poor people that doesn't seem all that bad. That said, I'm aware that any justification (e.g. "think of the children", "national security", etc ) that side-steps the requirement for something to stand on its own merits is very dangerous.

jayd16 6y ago

It's not so complex. The argument is that the fact that socioeconomic inequality unequally effects a certain race indicates a form of systemic racism. The story is about the southwest so the history of how our cities were settled is different between each demographic. Blacks, latinos, asians and others all have specific histories in the southwest that differ. There's no reason every minority should be effected in the same way.

ttyprintk 6y ago
I want to point out that the abstract of this paper mentions Asians but the full text does not.
- jayd16 6y ago
  As far as I can tell, the linked study mentions "Asian" once in the introduction but not the abstract. >Our primary variables of interest were median household income, percent Latinx, percent Black, and percent Asian.

ttyprintk 6y ago

This isn’t the media, but an academic study. The media is prone to latch onto some conclusions from it, while probably ignoring the lack of support where statistical significance is unmet.

klmadfejno 6y ago

You're taking a very strong stance on the assumption that white and hispanic/latinx communities are the same, normalized to wealth. I don't think that's a given at all.

TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
I never made such a claim. I implied we should focus on socioeconomic status, not race. If Latinos are disproportionately lower-income, then focusing on improving socioeconomic issues would disproportionately improve their lives while avoiding being racist or pushing a divisive, unproductive narrative.
- klmadfejno 6y ago
  Unless there are race-specific drivers of poverty, which there are. Saying it would be racist to address race-specific factors is tacitly implying that the current status quo is either equal or acceptable. If a blanket policy designed to help the poor fails to accurate consider the current situation, they may help "the poor" by layer on yet another disadvantage to minority communities. It isn't racist to apply nuanced solutions to help different communities with unique problems.
  - TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
    "Saying it would be racist to address race-specific factors is tacitly implying that the current status quo is either equal or acceptable." This is an absolutely counter productive use of language that implies if I'm not 100% onboard with your ideology then I'm some sort of closeted racist, which is insulting and ridiculous. Such wordplay is part of why we are in such a polarized political environment. As to the rest of your comment, other than direct and actual racism, I personally don't think there are race-specific drivers of poverty that aren't explained by socioeconomic factors.
    - klmadfejno 6y ago
      I didn't call you racist. I said not addressing race-specific factors has a tendency to exacerbate race specific factors. Though I will note you seem very eager to defend yourself against being called racist.

indymike 6y ago

I had a mentor that used to say "sometimes the problem is the problem". A lot of good could be done if we focused on the problem instead of ingroup/outgroup politics. If the problem is lack of money to afford climate control, it is easy to get people to agree to help provide that money (as evidenced by the many, many local level government and charity programs that have been created, all over the US). When we focus on identity politics instead, we lose sight of how easily solved the actual problem is, and end up in a stale-mate where nothing gets done.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

Making something about race is an instant way to get a loud, vocal minority to champion your cause which is why activists do it. The news runs with it because anyone with half a brain know that most of this stuff has little to do with race other than as a rough proxy for wealth so they get rage clicks from all those people in addition to the aforementioned loud vocal minority. I think it's stupid but if "it will screw black people more" is how we justify not screwing poor people that doesn't seem all that bad. That said, I'm aware that any justification (e.g. "think of the children", "national security", etc ) that side-steps the requirement for something to stand on its own merits is very dangerous.