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" That division has been increasing for decades." Only in pop culture. Almost every single material measure of integration has been improving. Wage gap, educa

by jariel 6y ago

" That division has been increasing for decades." Only in pop culture. Almost every single material measure of integration has been improving. Wage gap, education gap, representation gap etc.. And from 1969->2001 even in pop culture things were improved. It started to heat up with Obama (I love the guy, but many didn't) and went into overdrive in the last 5 years. Watch CNN from 2005. It wasn't directly divisive, it was just somewhat biased news. Now, it's full on culture war.

jfengel 6y ago
Only in pop culture. And on the Twitter feed of the last President.
- jariel 6y ago
  Yes - Trump is an artifact of populism, and it's a tragedy that that kind of rhetoric had any kind of legitimization. But even during Trump's presidency, African Americans had their lowest unemployment rate in history. I don't credit him with much of that directly, rather, but he did preside over an area of 'open business growth' for which that was the result. Which is my point. Even despite the toxic rhetoric of a public official, things on the ground can improve.
  - jfengel 6y ago
    Yes, things on the ground definitely improve. After eight minutes, for example, they'll stop cutting off your windpipe. But that's OK, because he might have had fentanyl in his system, and that means it was definitely not kneeling on his neck for eight minutes that killed him. I'm quite certain of that because HN tells me that, over and over. I'm using sarcasm because it's disingenuous to talk about "a public official". He was the President of the United States, and 75 million people voted for him. They approved that rhetoric. I think it's likely that many of them preferred that rhetoric, and why he finally won the Presidency after two losses by vastly more competent politicians. This is not just one person. Your dismissal of the seriousness of this is, in my opinion, one of the reasons it's so serious. African Americans are being mocked on one side, and on the other side they feel that their concerns about literally being murdered are being met with "Well, you have a low unemployment rate".
    - jariel 6y ago
      Sarcasm is not data. Tweets are not actions. There will always be sadomasochistic cops. There will always be blowhards who are interested in promoting themselves who are confused as 'racists' when really they are just mega jerks. During Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump 'things got better', broadly.

by jariel 6y ago

jfengel 6y ago

Only in pop culture. And on the Twitter feed of the last President.

jariel 6y ago
Yes - Trump is an artifact of populism, and it's a tragedy that that kind of rhetoric had any kind of legitimization. But even during Trump's presidency, African Americans had their lowest unemployment rate in history. I don't credit him with much of that directly, rather, but he did preside over an area of 'open business growth' for which that was the result. Which is my point. Even despite the toxic rhetoric of a public official, things on the ground can improve.
- jfengel 6y ago
  Yes, things on the ground definitely improve. After eight minutes, for example, they'll stop cutting off your windpipe. But that's OK, because he might have had fentanyl in his system, and that means it was definitely not kneeling on his neck for eight minutes that killed him. I'm quite certain of that because HN tells me that, over and over. I'm using sarcasm because it's disingenuous to talk about "a public official". He was the President of the United States, and 75 million people voted for him. They approved that rhetoric. I think it's likely that many of them preferred that rhetoric, and why he finally won the Presidency after two losses by vastly more competent politicians. This is not just one person. Your dismissal of the seriousness of this is, in my opinion, one of the reasons it's so serious. African Americans are being mocked on one side, and on the other side they feel that their concerns about literally being murdered are being met with "Well, you have a low unemployment rate".
  - jariel 6y ago
    Sarcasm is not data. Tweets are not actions. There will always be sadomasochistic cops. There will always be blowhards who are interested in promoting themselves who are confused as 'racists' when really they are just mega jerks. During Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump 'things got better', broadly.