-cvj

-cvj

peace,
A

Maybe someone will just send them the link to this very blog post to which this comment thread belongs.

Cheers,

-cvj

“yes. Well-meaning attempts like this only serve to reinforce racial stereotypes. By comparing you to blacks only, it’s as if you couldn’t compete with whites. Just the message they want to send! It’s a sad and frustrating feature of the left’s current approach to the racial problem.”

but appreciate the feedback. Perhaps you should ask the LBHE to compare the acheivements of African-Americans to researchers outside of their race. They might be open to the idea. A new category in their studies =)

peace,
A

three things:

(1) I don’t have a problem with the existence and aims of the JBHE. I just think that they are missing out on doing the best job they can if they do not compare the academics they are studying to their peers in comparable fields, regardless of race. You need to track all aspects of progress, but remember to put it correctly in context….

You said: “I don’t think tracking by race is the problem, I think perceiving by race is the problem.” Yes: This is precisely my point!

(2) I am not African American, but I am black. The journal is JBHE, not JAAHE. And I live and work in America. So it is appropriate to track me.

(3) I replaced your extract with a link to the reporter’s page with the same material.

Cheers,

-cvj

peace,
a

While I agree these “mathematicians of african descent” articles do seem a little condescending, I don’t think the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education is attempting to be condescending to people of African descent. It’s list of Black Mathematicians is there becuase the JBHE assists African-Americans in entering Academia. Why their tracking Clifford I don’t understand becuase he’s not African-American, but the point of the institute is to keep track of the number of African-Americans in Academia and to do something about it. The JBHE is almost exactly like the Irish and Jewish institutes for higher learning that popped up hundreds of years ago in the U.S. to assist then minority and concieved of as “outsider” groups into academia etc.I don’t think tracking by race is the problem, I think perceiving by race is the problem. The JBHE also publishes the race relations reporter which if your looking for a genuine scare is worth a read sometime.

[cvj replaced extract with a link to same.]

I completely agree with the above remarks, and I think it was an excellent post.

That having been said–65 citations is fantastic for anyone, and I am really quite confident saying that you are not being cited as such because you are African American, but because you are an extremely talented theoretical physicist.

Cheers,

NM

A theorem or an experimental result could (in theory )be presented and critiqued w/o any allusion to the originator’s demographics. (I presume that this is not the case in disciplines such as Sociology.) It would be nice if we could all hide behind cartoon Disney characters and discuss Physics/Math (or anything else) over the internet. But unfortunately at some point the human beings involved have to come out of their hidey holes and interact with their audience in person. This is when human biases enter into the equations.

Is it a “good thing” to deliberately refer to a scientist’s demographics? I would suggest that it is unneccesary in written communication UNLESS the context is biographical. Often a name and/or photo points to one’s demographic traits so why belabour the point? Also, with the global mixing we see now, it could often result in useless or misleading connotations, as in the case of Clifford who grew up outside the USA. As much as possible, let people judge your work w/o judging YOU in the process.

As far as being role models for kids, let them see the diversity in science (and in the world in general!) as a matter of course w/o someone consciously pointing out demographic traits. Hopefully they will grow up less conflicted about this whole issue if presented bereft of the unease it currently evokes.