Tags:

Writing (40) News (7) Interesting videos (3) Movies (3) Music (1) Musings (1)

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

education, equality, progress

thought-provoking articles this month/week:

NY Times | When Baltimore Burned (link)
"The real crisis isn’t one night of young men in the street rioting. It’s something perhaps even more inexcusable — our own complacency at the systematic long-term denial of equal opportunity to people based on their skin color and ZIP code."

NY Times | 1.5 Million Missing Black Men (link)
"They are missing, largely because of early deaths or because they are behind bars. Remarkably, black women who are 25 to 54 and not in jail outnumber black men in that category by 1.5 million, according to an Upshot analysis. For every 100 black women in this age group living outside of jail, there are only 83 black men. Among whites, the equivalent number is 99, nearly parity."

Bloomberg | This Is How Fast America Changes Its Mind (link)

NY Times | College for the Masses (link)
"Back then, a high school education was the new ticket to the middle class. Today, a college education is. And when it comes to people’s own children, there is remarkably little disagreement about the value of college, even when it requires taking on debt. Affluent, middle-class and lower-income parents alike, in overwhelming numbers, aspire for their children to finish college.

Americans agree that “our kids” should go to college. The debate is really about who qualifies as “our kids.”"