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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 505
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 01:30 pm: | 
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Published - August, 30, 2006
Study: Quality of life lacking Chamber of Commerce report shows need for educational, economic improvements
Carlton Proctor
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com
Glaring educational and economic gaps between blacks and whites -- and a sharp rise in the number of children living in poverty -- underscore a new statistical study of Escambia County's quality of life.
Funded by the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the study released Tuesday also shows violent crime on the increase, after a low in 2000, and growing numbers of births to unwed mothers.
But the statistical picture painted by the University of West Florida's Haas Center, an economic think tank, is not all bleak.
Escambia County's unemployment rate is near all-time lows, per-capita income is up, and school violence is down significantly, according to the study led by Haas Center director and UWF economics professor Rick Harper.
Harper said the study, modeled on one recently conducted in Tallahassee, provides the community with "a benchmark for where we excel and where we need improvement."
The study is designed to challenge the community to review the statistical data each year and gauge the progress being made, Harper and others said.
"This report forces us to take action," said Gene Franklin, president and CEO of the Florida Black Chamber of Commerce, and member of the Prosperity Pensacola committee that initiated the study.
"We also believe public officials have to look at this report and be held accountable," he noted.
Franklin said the study should give local "activist groups plenty to scream and shout about."
The statistical study echoes many of the findings of a 2003 study funded by the city of Pensacola and titled "Profile of Pensacola: Demographic, Housing and Economic Characteristics."
The 2003 study found that black unemployment in the greater Pensacola area is routinely three times that of the white unemployment rate. And in the county, black unemployment is twice that of whites.
Charlie Allcott III, president of Gulf Coast Community Bank and chairman of the study committee, said the immediate task ahead is publicizing the study, getting it in front of community leaders and keeping pressure on those leaders to take action.
"We hope that when community leaders sit down and draw up their budgets they will develop it with several of the indicators in mind," Allcott said. "It's not just the city and county governments that need to act, it's the School Board, hospitals, the sheriff and the police chief that need to develop strategies to impact those numbers."
The study focuses on 63 statistical categories that include families, public safety, health, education, economy, community and environment.
Escambia School District spokesman Ronnie Arnold said there is nothing in the report that school officials were not previously aware of and are addressing with new programs and teaching methods.
"The black-and-white gap is disturbing," Arnold said of statistics showing disparities between black and white students. But improvements in curriculum and uniformity of teaching methods and textbooks are making a positive difference, he added.
"If you look at the third-grade scores, we've increased achievement each year," said Arnold. "We think uniformity and consistency is playing a big part in that."
Arnold points to Yniestra Elementary School, where 97 percent of students receive free lunches, but the school recently was awarded "A" status by the state Department of Education.
"We're confident that what we have in place is working and maintaining consistency," he said.
Franklin said the educational disparity issues highlighted in the study are not "racial," but "cultural."
Overcoming what he calls a "culture" of poverty, Franklin said, can be achieved through improved educational opportunities, access to capital and equal distribution of local, state and federal taxes.
"This is the people's report," Franklin said. "That's the beauty of it. It is what it is."
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/NEWS01/6 08300353/1006 |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 506
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 02:38 pm: |
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((("Franklin said the educational disparity issues highlighted in the study are not 'racial,' but 'cultural.'")))
This is a prime example of why there need to be a distinction. Lighter-skinned blacks mostly comprise the upper echelon of black Americans while those more likely to suffer from poverty are dark-skinned blacks. With this being the case, the disparities cited are clearly due to color not culture. But such truth cannot be recognized when all blacks are counted as one group. Thus, "culture" (in other words behavior) becomes the issue...putting the blame on poor blacks, who are probably not being discriminated against for their race, but are indeed being victimized for their COLOR. Upper class blacks are not doing well because they’re prone to good behavior. Studies show they have better access to wealth and education because of their skin color. Placing the focus on behavior after lumping us in one group without accounting for color gives a false picture. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2667
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 03:29 pm: |
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Tonya: That is bullshit. You are sick. You need help.
How do you explain Clarence Thomas? Oprah? James Brown?
How do you explain a whole continent full of dark skinned blacks producing diplomats, scientists, businessmen, leaders of every type.
You are making a racist arguement. You are dooming darker skinned blacks to the genetic scrap heap (involuntary sterilization? After all, they are doomed.
Look at Tonya good, people. A race that produces a Tonya has no hope. |
Brownbeauty123
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 938
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 04:49 pm: |
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James Brown??? LOL
In the entertainment industry colorism doensn't affect darkskin Black males. There's an endless supply of darkskin men in that industry.
Oprah Winfrey is by far the exception--dark or light.
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 507
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 06:51 pm: |
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((("How do you explain a whole continent full of dark skinned blacks producing diplomats, scientists, businessmen, leaders of every type.")))
I said in my post "black Americans."
((("How do you explain Clarence Thomas? Oprah? James Brown?")))
Clarence Thomas, himself, made it painfully clear that Colorism meant he had to fight much, much harder than other black men in his position. James Brown would probably tell you the same. It was the Smokey Robinson's and 'safe' looking Negroes like him that whites were eager to promote, not the darker ones (as depicted in "Five Heartbeats"). If James Brown wasn't as BAD as he was, we wouldn't have been blessed with his soulful majesty. (Btw, thanks for reminding me to add The Godfather to my Amazon shopping cart.) Anyway, Clarence Thomas and J. Brown are also the exceptions to the rule….Silly of you to name a handful of black superstars to paint a portrait of an entire class. You're starting to sound like white people. It is no secret that the upper class is high yellow. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5027
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 06:54 pm: |
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It doesn't sound like Tonya is "sick" and needs "help" to me. She is drawing her conclusion from "studies". Citing Oprah Winfrey as being "dark-skinned" is what inadvertantly reveals the problem here. Oprah isn't dark. Just because someone isn't high-yellow, doesn't mean they are dark-skinned. Among the many things that divide AAs is the disparity of opinions in regard to color delineation and perception. Everyone has a different concept of what "dark" and "light" are. To me, that is why Tonya's theory has to be challenged. But to say that the race has no hope because of someone like Tonya, is ridiculous. Obviously, we have to consider the source of this silly accusation. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 508
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 07:03 pm: |
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I agree, Cynnique. Oprah is somewhere in the middle - perhaps medium brown. It's her features that make her look African, IMO. |
Lil_ze
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Lil_ze
Post Number: 414
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 03:06 am: |
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i see light skin, brown skin, and dark skin black people in the same "boat". the idea that "lighter skin blacks mostly comprise the upper echelon of black americans, while those most likely to suffer from poverty are dark skin" is just TOTAL b.s. where is the proof of this. when im in the "hood", i see light, brown, and dark skin people all living there. likewise when ive visited friends and family at colleges like Hampton, morehouse, and HOWARD. all shades of our people are represented. in Baldwin Hills california (which is known as the "black beverly hills"), most of the people i saw there were brown skin. lighter skin black people are never the majority representatives in any area of black american life (including the "upper echelon").
more of the same old "divide and conquer" madness. when will we wake the hell up? |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6323
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 10:42 am: |
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Tonya,
You make an interesting argument. It might be interesting to randomly select 2,000 African Americans of similar backgrounds, track their progression from ages 14 - 35 and compare/contrast how well those who are as light as or lighter than, say, Will Smith and/or Beyonce do (e.g., crime, education, employment, marriage, health, earnings, etc.) in comparison to those who are visibly darker/blacker in appearance.
And striations could be done on the basis of sex-gender, geography or other demographic criteria.
Such certainly would be an ENORMOUS task. It would take years and years to complete. But the results of it might emphatically prove the degree to skincolor, not race, impacts an African American's life prospects. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2670
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 12:39 pm: |
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Let us say you are right--
What are you going to do about the WHITE folks who are enforcing this bar?
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Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2672
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 12:52 pm: |
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Excuse me? I would love to be suffering on the Supreme Court--it didn't even hurt him that he's married to a white woman.
What do you have to say about that?
I could list dark skinned blacks who are doing well all day here and you would either deny they are dark skinned or use anecdotal evidence--
What we have here, ladies and gentlemen is somebody who's mommy or daddy favored her lighter skinned brothers and sisters and now she is bound to take it out on everybody.
Hey. Go back and get the one who did all that dirt instead of trying to foment trouble in the race.
This is not Haiti. The "black upper class" is not light skinned.
What is going on here is some way you can weasel out of confronting white folks for instituting and maintaining racial situation--
Funny. A white man can hit you upside your head and you blame a black person for it.
As for Cynique:
Well, you know how they beat them black folks down in them small towns. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5030
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 12:59 pm: |
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Actually, the kind of experiment you suggest, is done all of the time ABM. That's how all of these sociological studies are compiled.
And white folks ain't that hung up on skin color, if we are to believe what a lot of people claim about them thinkin all niggas look alike and that they treat them all the same until they have proven themselves. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5031
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 01:03 pm: |
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Ol light-skinned chrishayden is just embarassed because he accidently revealed that he himself is color conscious when he implied that anyone who isn't his color is dark. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6325
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 01:10 pm: |
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Cynique,
Can you refer to a report that summarizes the results of the kind of study that I propose? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5033
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 01:18 pm: |
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I was referring to the subject matter, ABM, I meant the technique. Researchers always select a representative sampling and then follow their behavior over a long period of years. My point was that the length of time these studies take should not mean that they shouldn't be done. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2674
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 02:18 pm: |
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Cynique:
You better get your mind off me and on Jesus! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5034
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 03:01 pm: |
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Make ya deal, crissy boy, If you'll get over your obsession with Cynique, I'll swallow my revulsion for you and we can both move on. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2677
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 04:37 pm: |
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Speaking of ourselves in the third person, are we? Tch Tch And you call me a megalomaniac. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 511
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 04:44 pm: |
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Thank you, Abm. That's why I'm so intrigued by conservative blacks and what they are now asserting (ergo: my “question” thread). I'm almost certain that one of the reasons why they are coming to such conclusions is because they are not accounting for color. I agree; more studies need to be done.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5038
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 05:32 pm: |
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Obviously since you don't know me personally and have never met me, the cyber persona known as "Cynique" is who you interact with, crissyboy. (Do I have to explain everything to you? You get dumber by the minute.) |
Schakspir
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 580
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 05, 2006 - 02:10 am: |
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Why are so many conservative blacks very dark-skinned, though? |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6374
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 05, 2006 - 07:09 am: |
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Schakspir,
I don't know the percentage of darkskinned conservative Blacks. But if most of them are darker, I imagine it might be due to much of what Kola describe: Dark Blacks feel as though they're on the low-end of the color-based totem pole that prevails amongst African Americans and seek refuge and revenge amongst conservatives, GOP, etc. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5089
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 05, 2006 - 10:26 am: |
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Maaaaaaaaaybe some dark-skinned people because of their color are anxious to avoid being stereotyped, and rejecting the liberal persuasion helps them to cultivate the image of an individual who doesn't follow the crowd. |
Sohra
Newbie Poster
Username: Sohra
Post Number: 10
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 05, 2006 - 10:36 am: |
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Dark Blacks feel as though they're on the low-end of the color-based totem pole that prevails amongst African Americans and seek refuge and revenge amongst conservatives, GOP, etc.
good lorddd.. I am speachless.. color this color that.. waht the hell is wrong with you people it must be the slave mind that still excist god.. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6382
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 05, 2006 - 10:45 am: |
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I've seen Clarence Thomas (somewhat painfully) describe being made fun by other Blacks because of his dark skin and African features when he was a child and young man. Could that have effected his views about other Blacks, his politics and even his mating (White wife) choices?
Perhaps... |
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