> Someone posted the awakening he had at a camp > where one of the young campers said that he and > his neighbors weren't likely to make it past > twenty-five. That was bravado and perhaps naivete > on the part of the camper. Even in the worst part > of Chicago, the vast majority of residents survive > past twenty-five. A lot of them might go to jail, > but I bet there's a pretty low chance of the store > manager ending up there.
I made the original post, and you're absolutely correct that it was bravado and naivete. My awakening was not a mistaken belief that this might be true, but a shock that this was this thought and response would be in this child's consciousness. I can't really imagine what it would be like approaching life with that belief, even if it is mistaken. One of the purposes of this camp was to allow these kids to see that they did have other options. An amazing thing - many of them had never even seen Lake Michigan! I don't like to focus on race issues because I generally feel that it can build divisiveness, but we can't ignore the fact that we have a problem. I don't know about Chicago, but I do know that in Minneapolis many people would believe that a black store manager has a much greater chance of going to jail at some point than a white store manager. I don't know if the facts would support this belief, but whether it is truth or perception, this keeps the divisions in our society alive. I do know that the percentages of arrests appear to be very skewed when taking demographics into account. One of the effects of these divisions is that they make it much harder (not impossible, but harder) for someone to bootstrap themselves. - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
