The New York Times
Sunday Review
By ALEXANDER STILLE
Published: October 22, 2011
Alexander Stille is a professor of international journalism at Columbia.
IT’S a puzzle: one dispossessed group after another — blacks, women, Hispanics and gays — has been gradually accepted in the United States, granted equal rights and brought into the mainstream.
At the same time, in economic terms, the United States has gone from being a comparatively egalitarian society to one of the most unequal democracies in the world.
The two shifts are each huge and hugely important: one shows a steady march toward democratic inclusion, the other toward a tolerance of economic stratification that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/opinion/sunday/social-inequality-and-the-new-elite.html?_r=1
Showing posts with label inequality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inequality. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2011
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Hope and a diverse nation
The Boston Globe
By Steve Crosby and Robert L. Turner
November 13, 2008
IN AMERICA, presidential elections are the ultimate act of community. Millions vote, and, though the contest is usually close, the winner is embraced as everyone's president.
Barack Obama's victory says a great deal that is good about the nation, about its optimism and its readiness to grow. Not least, it says something positive about race relations in America.
According to CNN exit polls, of those who said race was a significant factor in their voting decision, the support for Obama and John McCain closely mirrored the overall national totals - fully as many voters apparently liked the idea of electing the nation's first black president as disliked it. More telling, in the long run, is that the number was low - age was cited as a significant factor by more than twice as many voters as race.
Still, the election has put race more profoundly - and more hopefully - in the forefront of American consciousness than at any time since 1968. Frank talk about the economic and social value of diversity and inclusion, both domestically and in the globalized economy, helped propel Obama's candidacy.
But as we have found in Massachusetts, the elevation of an African-American to the highest political office provides an opportunity for progress - a culture and a tone - but solves little by itself.
Education gaps, health outcomes, hate crimes, unemployment rates, crime and incarceration statistics, foreclosure rates and housing discrimination have not resolved themselves in Massachusetts overnight. Progress in these areas will probably continue to be slow unless the community rises up with a determination to act as a community. An elected leader and a handful of committed activists can help, but significant progress will rely on broad sectors of the population rallying to take advantage of the opportunity. [Full story: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/11/13/hope_and_a_diverse_nation/]
By Steve Crosby and Robert L. Turner
November 13, 2008
IN AMERICA, presidential elections are the ultimate act of community. Millions vote, and, though the contest is usually close, the winner is embraced as everyone's president.
Barack Obama's victory says a great deal that is good about the nation, about its optimism and its readiness to grow. Not least, it says something positive about race relations in America.
According to CNN exit polls, of those who said race was a significant factor in their voting decision, the support for Obama and John McCain closely mirrored the overall national totals - fully as many voters apparently liked the idea of electing the nation's first black president as disliked it. More telling, in the long run, is that the number was low - age was cited as a significant factor by more than twice as many voters as race.
Still, the election has put race more profoundly - and more hopefully - in the forefront of American consciousness than at any time since 1968. Frank talk about the economic and social value of diversity and inclusion, both domestically and in the globalized economy, helped propel Obama's candidacy.
But as we have found in Massachusetts, the elevation of an African-American to the highest political office provides an opportunity for progress - a culture and a tone - but solves little by itself.
Education gaps, health outcomes, hate crimes, unemployment rates, crime and incarceration statistics, foreclosure rates and housing discrimination have not resolved themselves in Massachusetts overnight. Progress in these areas will probably continue to be slow unless the community rises up with a determination to act as a community. An elected leader and a handful of committed activists can help, but significant progress will rely on broad sectors of the population rallying to take advantage of the opportunity. [Full story: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/11/13/hope_and_a_diverse_nation/]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)