3 ms·

> How well are black people's interests represented in the US? Reasonably well it would seem from the outside. 11% of congress is "black", which is roughly in

> How well are black people's interests represented in the US? Reasonably well it would seem from the outside. 11% of congress is "black", which is roughly in line with population and there seem to be hundreds of laws and programs aimed at helping them. And there's also lots of media attention to their problems and struggles.

buran77 6y ago
> And there's also lots of media attention to their problems and struggles. People treated well don't need lots of media attention to remind those treating them well that black lives matter, in 2021. I'd say that for a democracy that's a pretty bad track record that isn't improving fast enough. Democratic majority decisions sometimes leave the minority far behind.
freeflight 6y ago
> Reasonably well it would seem from the outside. 11% of congress is "black", which is roughly in line with population That picture turns to the opposite when looking at statistics of jail and prison inmates representation, or when looking at how the wealth in the country is racially divided and whole neighborhoods still racially and economically segregated. In that context BLM is not really a new thing, it's just the most modern manifestation of a rather old and still very on-going issue [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_riots#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_riots#United_St...
- concordDance 6y ago
  I don't think that necessarily indicates that their interests aren't represented (which was the statement I objected to). A group can have plenty of political representation and institutional and legal support and still struggle for other reasons (e.g. historic oppression or cultural problems depending on whether you lean left or right). Though on second thought there still are a few laws with racist intent on the books aren't there? Though they're being undone at a decent clip.

buran77 6y ago

> And there's also lots of media attention to their problems and struggles. People treated well don't need lots of media attention to remind those treating them well that black lives matter, in 2021. I'd say that for a democracy that's a pretty bad track record that isn't improving fast enough. Democratic majority decisions sometimes leave the minority far behind.

freeflight 6y ago

> Reasonably well it would seem from the outside. 11% of congress is "black", which is roughly in line with population That picture turns to the opposite when looking at statistics of jail and prison inmates representation, or when looking at how the wealth in the country is racially divided and whole neighborhoods still racially and economically segregated. In that context BLM is not really a new thing, it's just the most modern manifestation of a rather old and still very on-going issue [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_riots#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_riots#United_St...

concordDance 6y ago
I don't think that necessarily indicates that their interests aren't represented (which was the statement I objected to). A group can have plenty of political representation and institutional and legal support and still struggle for other reasons (e.g. historic oppression or cultural problems depending on whether you lean left or right). Though on second thought there still are a few laws with racist intent on the books aren't there? Though they're being undone at a decent clip.