Letters to the Editor
Allene Swienckowski
Published Letters: 191 Editor's Choice: 10
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Guilt and Opportunity
[Read the article: To have and have not]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Both of these comments were rife with naivete. I shall reserve comment on Sasha's entry and focus on Vera Charles. There are just so many holes in her logic. To begin with, I have never read Ruby Payne's "A Framework for Understanding Poverty," but I can tell you that if Ms. Payne sincerely believes that "individual achievement is the primary, white middle-class goal and relatiohsip building is the goal of poor, non-white people (especially in poverty)" I would counter and say that she is egregiously mistaken. To prove my point: what is the accepted rationale for the tens of thousands of illegal aliens that migrate illegally into the U.S.? I've never heard of one of these individuals sending home letters to their relatives and friends about the warm relationships that they have developed since leaving their homes in Mexico. No, each come to America to earn money, money that they can't earn in Mexico to support their families. All poor people want to find ways out of poverty, unless of course they suffer from an extreme inferiority complex or some other debilitating mental illness, despite their emotional ties to the people in their communities. Like Vera Charles' family before she was born, hard-working minorities have for generations in this country regardless of race have worked long hours in poorly paying jobs in hope that their children would live better lives than they.
I too read the excellent article that appeared in the Times Sunday Magazine and maybe I missed the subtelty hidden within the voluminous article but I don't recall anything that suggessted that researchers and/or education specialists advocated poor children should "fake an upper- middle-class attitude" in order to close the gap in education that exists between poor minority students and white privileged students. Note where the gap in education really exists but almost never stated; poor minorities which also encompasses poor whites, (poor whites is a class that is truly non-existent in the discussion of why is there an education gap or even that they exist in America in the first place), and the privileged regardless of race. Vera Charles and her students might gain a lot by reading "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. One day, ordinary people will begin to understand that poverty and failure, like wealth and success are based on a state of mind which ultimately affects the reality of the people who thinks these specific thoughts.
Vera Charles states that her student performed poorly on the PSAT. The difference between students who attend up-scale private institutions and most public schools or struggling private schools not located in upper middle-class neighborhoods is the number of books and research projects that the students are expected to complete during the school year. Reading is the best way to acquire strong vocabulary and writing skills.
Unfortunately, many sociologists try to paint ethnic groups with the same paint brush yet poverty is the great equalizer for all. When children grow up in environments without either economic nor emotinal security, how can you expect them to get up, bright eyed and ready to learn? Their basic needs haven't been met so how can they be ready to expand and learn when very basic needs haven't been met? Until we can begin to honestfly look at the inequities within our society, we will never be able to close the gap between the poor and the privileged.
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The Poor and Poor Behavior
[Read the article: Not in my backyard, either]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unfortunately, the experience of Ms. Dickerson is all too true, whether for black, white, or Latino poor. I would have preferred for her to write about the millions of dollars that have disappeared to FEMA employees; people who have jobs and a responsibility to the people they should be serving and to the people of the United States. The people who work for FEMA who have perpetrated fraud and theft are not different from the indolent poor - each group robs themselves and us of humanity and something valuable.
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Rape and Fatherhood
[Read the article: Dusting off 17th century rape laws]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree with the proposed law. I also applaud the fact that your article mentioned that it is not unlikely for some women to falsely claim being raped when in fact they weren't. But I take issue with the implication that our justice system is flawless. Unfortunately, the justice system is perverted not only by the process employed by eager prosecutors and police personnel but if a defendant and their case becomes a cause celebre by the MSM. New laws need to be passed that preempt court whores from trying a case on national television BEFORE the case goes before a judge or jury.
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Re Imus and "The Right Thnig To Do"
[Read the article: Firing Imus was the right thing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If it were all just so easy - that is to fire those who fill the airwaves with hate speak? Unfortunately, the issions of listeners that cleave to such shows are alive and well and without someone to release a lot of their pent-up hatred by listening to someone vent about minorities, women and gays. Being politicaaly correct hasn't solved the racial and gender issues in this country. The unhappy, disinfranchised males found comfort in the crude frat humor that made Imus famous and filled his bank accounts with abundance. As much as we'd like to think that Imus was the problem, Imus and his ideals are only the symbol of a bubbling hatred that is simmering in the hearts and egos of a lot of American males.
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Bush the Bully
[Read the article: "Some very thoughtless person"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's a phalanx of Americans that know that Bush is trying to push buttons to get his way in Iraq. Our only hope is that the backbone of the Dems, Indepedants and those oh so few Republicans to stand their ground and honor the wishes of the American people.
Will that stand happen? Bets anyone?