Fill in The Bubble (05/20/10)

I can count the Park Cities residents I know who are minorities [on one hand/on two hands/only with the assistance of someone else's hands.]

(This one was inspired by the Wick Allison column you’ll find on the front page of this week’s paper.)

By Dan Koller May. 20, 2010 | 8:44 am | 11 Comments | Comments RSS
11 comments to "Fill in The Bubble (05/20/10)"
  1. kmom @ May 20, 2010 at 9:34 am
    hmmmm, “know” is a loose word. My son has more friends than can be counted on two hands and thru him I know many of their parents. Mostly Asian & Indian, one African American, one Middle Eastern. I found out a long time ago that my son barely notices – sometimes doesn’t notice at all – if someone has features/skin coloring of another race. Thankfully they are being raised in a different environment – I know some would laugh about that being said about a kid in the bubble, but it’s true. He doesn’t much notice and certainly doesn’t care one whit about it. Two of the heart throbs of last years senior class were twins of Asian descent. They were smart and successful, but more than that they were just plain hunky. I witnessed a group of girls sighing over one of them as he stepped into the doorway of a room at the school, took off his sunglasses and tossed the hair out of his eyes. The few kids I’ve run across that have any prejudice are – of course – parroting their parents.

  2. matt @ May 20, 2010 at 11:11 am
    Asians (that is people from the continent of Asia, just so we’re all on the same page) are not considered minorities for hiring or admissions purposes. Once you’ve achieved a greet deal of success they stop counting you. The official URM’s (under represented minorities) are Hispanic, black, and Native American. That last one is a super bonus. Hunt down that native American blood and your kids are set.

  3. grump @ May 20, 2010 at 11:32 am
    @matt, you are correct on the Native American front. Buddy of mine found out he was 1/16 and college was paid for by Uncle Sam. Kicked in some more for law school.

  4. HPHS Parent @ May 20, 2010 at 11:45 am
    For the actual TAKS data go to:
    http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/cgi/sas/broker?_service=marykay&_program=perfrept.perfmast.sas&prgopt=2009/aeis/alltypec.sas&year4=2009&search=campback&year2=09&topic=aeis&gifname=g_aeis09campus&title=AEIS+Report&level=campus&ptype=HTML&sublevel=camp&third=0&campback=057911103

    You will see the race breakdown across the top. Scroll down to 2009 Participation and go to the Row called “Total Count.”

    This is for Hyer so that is only 3rd and 4th grade students taking the test. HPHS is approx. 8 times the number of students because it is 4 grades and the four elementaries feed one high school.

  5. kmom @ May 20, 2010 at 12:36 pm
    Back in the 80′s you could get bonus points for minority hiring if you had native americans. Or if you were bidding on a contract that was to be awarded only to minorities, American Indian was considered the shoe-in race. Then there are the casino possibilities…….

  6. Scooter @ May 20, 2010 at 2:55 pm
    @matt Yes, you can go to college and get all the benefits from your Indian Tribe if you have your Certificate Degree of Indian Blood card. But being 1/16 blood and tapping into the system is almost like stealing. These programs were set up for native peoples with whole or half blood because they are the ones that suffered the racism, poor health care, poverty, and the stigma of being completely different, both socially and physically. Now anyone that can prove they had a relative eight generations ago can “cash in” and thereby taking money away from the REAL American Indians that have endured the racism and prejudices that Texas is famous for. I bet your friend that’s 1/16 has blond hair, perfect skin, and has never (or will never) gone to a pow wow, been discriminated against because they look Indian, or have the health problems most all Indian’s have. Our life expectancy is only 50 years. That’s what that program was originally designed for but with so many “hanger ons” like your friend, depletes resources for tribal members who really need the help. Think about it.

  7. Wow @ May 20, 2010 at 11:26 pm
    2. One Mexican and one African-American

  8. kmom @ May 21, 2010 at 10:25 am
    Great column, Wick!

  9. poorteacher @ May 21, 2010 at 1:24 pm
    @kmom I want your children to be in an environment where they are in the minority and we’ll see if they are as colorblind as you say they are.

  10. James Tucker @ May 21, 2010 at 1:43 pm
    @poorteacher

    So the only way to develop or test colorblindness is to be in an environment where you are the minority?

  11. Gadfly @ May 22, 2010 at 4:19 pm
    Hey, you guys! Being single and childless has made me feel like a minority here in UP. But that probably doesn’t count.

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