Comments on: The Sermon

By: Show and Tell - Asymptotia

Show and Tell - Asymptotia — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 07:12:33 +0000

[...] Of course, this is a very good thing overall (see earlier discussions here, here, and here -including the illuminating sometimes depressing discussion threads- (and more recently here, here and here, for example) about increasing the number of times that young people are made aware of a career choice that they can make that society, through the media, etc, tells them that they can’t make), and I’m very willing to help where I can. [...]

By: The Yankovic Singularity - Asymptotia

The Yankovic Singularity - Asymptotia — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 01:51:54 +0000

[...] I laughed, I’ll admit. I find his fresh-faced and cheerful style quite funny at times. But then I got thinking. I can’t decide whether I should be depressed at the potency of the stereotypes he is playing with, or just carry on giggling. For example, why did the guys who were representing the complete opposite of being nerdy (and into science, reading, and the like) have to be cast as black? Worse than that (or at least equally as bad) is that fact that not one of his friends (on the chess team, or at the Renaissance fair, or other apparently nerdy activities, is black). In fact, the only thing that the white people and the black people in the video have in common is bowling, apparently. This really does not help at all, but he’s not to shoulder the whole blame of course – he’s merely reflecting the prevailing biases of the culture at large. Images all around implicitly and sometimes explicitly tell young black kids that science is not for them. Either because they supposedly can’t do it very well, or because it is not part of their “culture”, or because it is just not “cool” (I’ve blogged about this before. See here and here for example, and the discussion threads that followed). So Al and his people toed the line in trying to make a funny video. Nobody is going to laugh as much if the main “cool” guys were white, or if the principal “nerd” was black. They’d just think it was unrealistic. But did it have to be so completely polarized? Could there not be one “cool” guy who was white, and one “nerd” who was black? Just in the background somewhere? Would it really have reduced the impact of the joke so much? Sigh. [...]

By: Church-going | Cosmic Variance

Church-going | Cosmic Variance — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 19:06:04 +0000

[...] Since today, 6/6/06, is (granted some typographical latitude) International Number of the Beast Day, I should tell you about my visit on Sunday to the Augustana Lutheran Church near the University of Chicago. (Not to disparage my kind hosts, but I have to say that sacred architecture really took a turn for the worse after the Reformation; give me those Gothic cathedrals any day.) I was invited by Shane Caldwell, a student in my cosmology class, to speak to a group that meets to talk about science and religion. Of course, my take on the matter is that science and religion are in stark conflict. But they understood where I was coming from, and were interested in hearing my spiel on cosmology and atheism. (All practiced academics understand that it’s important to have a small number of spiels that can be adapted to multiple circumstances at the drop of a hat; mine was rather different than Clifford’s.) [...]

By: Nick Greene

Nick Greene — Tue, 09 May 2006 15:37:37 +0000

Clifford,

This was awesome. I hope the church takes your advice and continues and expands this program.

This echoes to some extent a conversation My wife and I had last weekend. We attended a Charleston Symphony Orchestra pops concert at a local Baptist church which has a mostly black congregation. It was a shame that the turnout was so sparse. First, other than most of the musicians and ourselves, there were few white people. We wondered if people stayed away because it was a “black” church. That would be a shame.

There also was not that many black people, either, especially considering the size of the congregation. We wondered if some people felt the symphony was part of the white culture and that blacks were not welcome. That would also be a shame.

Back to science, I think part of the problem is the way society decides who should be role models. This is a problem all across society, but it may have a larger impact on young blacks. Athletes are raised to hero status while scientists are forgotten.

More emphasis should be placed on letting youngsters know about such great people as Benjamin Banneker, Rebecca Cole, George Washington Carver and Dr. Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker II. How about Dr. Mae Jemison (whom I admire not just for her pioneering work in space but also because she was a guest star on Star Trek; the Next Generation. How cool is that?). How about Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, the youngest director in the long history of the Hayden Planetarium (another personal hero of mine)?

OK, off the soapbox. That long comment was really just to say, “Way to go!” Keep up the great work.

By: Spatulated

Spatulated — Thu, 04 May 2006 04:43:35 +0000

One time i asked a friend of mine to join the ski club with me, and he told me, i mean, this is dead serious, “black people dont ski man” i nearly laughed in his face till i realised he was serious. Then i asked him “your kidding right? seriously, snowboarding is sweet, i can teach you myself”

we debated, we got angry, and he doesnt snowboard with me. its sad, really really sad.

By: Clifford

Clifford — Wed, 03 May 2006 14:56:14 +0000

Haelfix (#27)…Yes…. in your last paragraph of comment #27 I agree with you. This is what I was talking about before. Why are African Americans not taking advantage of all those things in the city they are paying their taxes for….etc., etc. A lot of it is simply not feeling comfortable where it is perceived by other people “they don’t belong”. I know that feeling very much from my own earlier experiences. It is powerful. The cycle has to be broken.

It has nothing to do with “a culture of not being interested in education”. That is ridiculous, and is what I wanted to make clear in my ealrlier comments.

-cvj

By: IrrationalPoint

IrrationalPoint — Wed, 03 May 2006 13:29:05 +0000

That sounds like wicked fun, Cliff.

–IP.

By: Haelfix

Haelfix — Wed, 03 May 2006 12:47:54 +0000

I should point out, that when I said ’shun traditional forms of education’ I really meant ‘places of education’, at least the apparent ones.

By: Haelfix

Haelfix — Wed, 03 May 2006 12:45:02 +0000

Its anecdotal evidence really, and the fact that I lived in a predominantly African American suburb at one time and used to go to the public libraries a lot. Despite the heavy 60% AA population, it was mostly other groups that chose to go there. So much so that it was hard not to notice.

That was just my observations, and I have to explain them somehow.

Anyway, obviously tons of AA’s are extremely literate and many proffesions require reading, so one wonders where they get their books from. After further review I found a few more local bookstores (smaller and run by AA’s) that seemed to attract a much larger percentage.

The point was, its kinda a clumping phenomenon. The presence of a sizable percentage of AA’s seemed to just attract more, whereas the lack thereof seemed perhaps threatening, leading to an all or nothing situation.

Now the obvious concern is: the clumping phenomenona is independant of the worth of the bookstore/museum/education etc. Aren’t people ultimately shooting themselves in the foot by not taking advantage of the best possible situation, rather than the place that feels most safe.

By: Sam Gralla

Sam Gralla — Tue, 02 May 2006 18:00:57 +0000

Hi Clifford,

I must have overreacted–sorry for the misunderstanding. I’ll write more about what I think and where I formed my opinions when I get a chance tonight or the next night.

-Sam