On Condescension, Prognostication & The Educational Gap

via Forbes.com:

He’s right. The spread between rich and poor has gotten wider over the decades. And the opportunities for the 99% have become harder to realize.

The President’s speech got me thinking. My kids are no smarter than similar kids their age from the inner city. My kids have it much easier than their counterparts from West Philadelphia. The world is not fair to those kids mainly because they had the misfortune of being born two miles away into a more difficult part of the world and with a skin color that makes realizing the opportunities that the President spoke about that much harder. This is a fact. In 2011.

I am not a poor black kid. I am a middle aged white guy who comes from a middle class white background. So life was easier for me. But that doesn’t mean that the prospects are impossible for those kids from the inner city. It doesn’t mean that there are no opportunities for them. Or that the 1% control the world and the rest of us have to fight over the scraps left behind. I don’t believe that. I believe that everyone in this country has a chance to succeed. Still. In 2011. Even a poor black kid in West Philadelphia.

*gets in time machine and goes back to 2008*

Oh, snap!!! Obama's the President of the United States!! You know what that means! We live in a post-racial society! Race doesn't exist anymore. A charismatic, smart, half-Kenyan man from Hawaii can ascend to the top of the political world, so that means that every minority should be able to do comparably!

*gets back in time machine and goes to present-day*

Oh, wait... Educational gaps are still tremendous. Poverty is still rampant. Employment is sparse. But Obama's President, so none of that matters.

Such is the society we live in today... A society where the haves continually look down on the have-nots... A society where even in the face of mounting evidence that the system is no more fairly skewed that the lottery, people continue to cry 'self-determination'... A society where a man with admittedly no knowledge of growing up poor feels compelled to cast judgment on the poor. While I am no urban sociologist, I've seen enough of the ills of urban sprawl to know that the odds do not favor children in the inner city. From dilapidated and underfunded schools, to a lack of a successful network supporting them, is it really that hard to see why poor black children gravitate towards endeavors far-removed from academia?

The author, a 'mediocre accountant' and owner of a 10-person accounting firm, is engaging in what I like to call condescendent prognostication - the use of one's lofty ideals to scrutinize the actions of and portend the paths of those in a more precarious situation than he. He claims to be a supporter of Obama and the 99%, but is essentially echoing the unfounded sentiments of the 1%, namely:
- If you're poor, underprivileged, or the like, it's your fault
- The government and related entities have no responsibility to help those who can't help themselves
- There are more than enough resources to help the underprivileged

The author gets even more haughty in his rhetoric:

President Obama was right in his speech last week. The division between rich and poor is a national problem. But the biggest challenge we face isn’t inequality. It’s ignorance. So many kids from West Philadelphia don’t even know these opportunities exist for them. Many come from single-parent families whose mom or dad (or in many cases their grand mom) is working two jobs to survive and are just (understandably) too plain tired to do anything else in the few short hours they’re home. Many have teachers who are overburdened and too stressed to find the time to help every kid that needs it. Many of these kids don’t have the brains to figure this out themselves – like my kids. Except that my kids are just lucky enough to have parents and a well-funded school system around to push them in the right direction.

Technology can help these kids. But only if the kids want to be helped. Yes, there is much inequality. But the opportunity is still there in this country for those that are smart enough to go for it.

This type of grandstanding is only upended by the fact that the author says himself that his children have the resources (parents and good schools) to properly advance. When did complete hypocrisy and sociological blinders replace the social contract of Roosevelt's New Deal? When did the American tenet of every citizen's unalienable rights to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' fall victim to 'you're on your own social policy'? The problem here isn't the author's proclamation that the will to succeed doesn't go unnoticed. It's that he fails to fully acknowledge the crumbling systems around the same 'poor black kids'. Rather than addressing the systematic failures, he asserts that these children should aspire to be the best of the worst. How is that remotely inspiring? Even if an poor black kid in West Philadelphia does gain straight A's in a terrible school, chances are he will still be drastically behind his affluent counterparts across town.

The educational gap in this country is beyond detestable, not because kids don't want to learn, but because most people removed from the worst education systems in our country have little stake in it. They can point the finger and be condescending because they admittedly have never lived in conditions anywhere close to the ones they criticize. It's like a king pointing down at peasants, scoffing at the squalor they live in: easy. I beg the question to Mr. Marks and any other critic of 'poor black kids', what would you do to improve these schools, aside from claim that the kids need to try harder? What solution do you have for the dwindling quality of teachers, curricula, infrastructure and resources? What answer do you have for the student who have no clue what Google Scholar, SparkNotes, Evernote or the CIA World Factbook are? My guess is none.

That is the plight of the condescending prognosticator. They scream that if you're not winning the race, then you should run harder instead of blaming the busted soles on your sneakers. Maybe I'm rambling. Maybe undue outrage is coming towards the author for his clearly misinformed stance. The one thing I'm certain of is that there are many more Gene Marks' out there. They live anywhere from quiet, isolated suburban neighborhoods to high rise penthouses believe that self-determination is all one needs to be successful. For the amount of technological resources they espouse can help 'poor black kids', it would behoove them to use these same tools to see that the world isn't as cut and dry as they think.

Dear Entry-Level Employer

We all need the right job... Not just 'a' job.

I'm writing this letter for my generation... for my friends, roommates, epoch, what have you, who are on the precipice of what adults would call 'adulthood'. Since my graduation from undergraduate college, my life has been filled with wanted ads, Craigslist posts, Monster.com profiles and resume-writing, all in search of you, an entry level employer. Your presence is what fuels every college career fair, resume workshop and self-imposed library-lockdown. You make it so that without you, the last four (or five, depending on who you ask) years are seen as a waste by everyone outside of my generation.

Entry-level job, I won't comment on where I am in my search for one of you (this blog has to keep something private). Everywhere I look, my friends are essentially losing their wills to live their dreams because they have to look for one of you. Whether it's to pay off college loans, placate parents, or just so that we're not in line at the soup kitchen, if we don't have one of you, times get rough.

In this economy opportunities are running slim, not to make that a scapegoat. Yet, our prospects can't help but make us dismal. We can go to events and send cover letters for eternity, but the fact is, the average unemployed citizen stays that way for nine months. For graduates that's a double strike. Not having years of experience over older job-seekers. That might make you wary of hiring us. It can be a strenuous process on both sides. Even so, we both have to be fair to one another. That said, here are some pointers:

1. I will not be losing my soul to one of you. Call it what you want, whether it be career exasperation, quarter-life crises or cognitive dissonance, your emergence leads to a crossroads of sorts: whether to continue following some semblance of 'going after my dreams' or to join the ranks of the employed with one of you. While most of my compatriots take the latter road, and find themselves burned out by a decent-paying job that they hate, I vow to leave if ever I feel the same way. It's not you, It's me. These days, no one is happy at their job. The recession made it so that people have to take on positions that they wouldn't normally take on, just to make ends meet. Yes, the poorhouse sucks. But I'd rather take my chances than go bald and have an aneurism at 24 due to work related stress and depression. Wouldn't you rather have the right employee for the position, who feels vindicated by it, than an unhappy laborer who can't wait for 5:00?

2. I am not expendable. As much as college graduates outnumber the Israelites on the way to Canaan, that doesn't mean that we are all the same. Nor does it mean that one graduate is the same as the next. Take the time to learn that. Generic postings such as 'high GPA needed', 'top college', 'go-getter', and 'high achiever' are like trying to sell fake iPods at a flea market in China. Stop trying to cast a wide net so that every graduate with a pulse will apply to you, and tailor yourself so that we know what we are getting into. Like I said, I am not expendable and you should treat me as such. I have ideas, cool stories and probably more expertise on a computer a lot of entire office. Regardless of how many rolodexes you have filled and continuing education seminars you've hosted, you can't possibly have potential that I (as a younger, more technologically adept employee) will have. Know that. Believe that. Understand that I will be in your position soon. Do you really want to be the employer that undervalued the college graduate with the 'next big idea'?

3. Pay me! No seriously, pay me. Please. Do you see what's going on in the news? The rich and huge corporations are making a killing and have been doing so for the past decade. I know your (probably) corporate bank account has more commas than an English sonnet. That comes with the territory of a lot more employers than before. Stop trying to reel us in with promises of 'Great commissions' and 'Incentive-based pay'. No. For all of the 'not-in-the-job-description' caliber work that I will most likely be entrusted with, it behooves you to pay me what I am worth, especially if I'm doing my job well. The bottom of the pyramid makes it so that the point can look good. Underpaying your employees, especially entry-level ones makes it so that YOU are the expendable ones. Tired of employee turnover in the lower rungs? Stop paying recent graduates peppercorns and give us an incentive to want to stay with one of you.

4. Make the job at least worth talking about. Account Executives, Account Associates, Executive Associates... They all do the SAME thing: get business for whatever firm in question. At this juncture in the economy, jobs are like Dunder-Mifflin paper: maybe not the same, but all serve the same function. Yes, pay is important. But what is your company doing to make it jump out at ME? Is there travel involved? Are there company outings? Firmwide streaking? Health benefits? Networking events? Happy hours? Take your pet rock to work day? Anything? Do something to make that 9-5 seem a little shorter. There's nothing worse that a job that offers nothing but work. In that case, the employees usually offer the bare minimum too. That company might not be around for much longer.

I think those are fair. Like I said, I won't remark on where I am in my job search, but I will be looking for one of you that fulfills those four needs. Maybe those aren't even as specific to you, as they are to jobs in general. We know it's a recession. That doesn't mean jobs have to become these lifeless, dreadful places that you want to leave as soon as you walk in.

Entry-level employer, I can guarantee you that I'm a top-notch employee with a track record to improve it. It's just that you guys aren't what you're hyped up to be, and signal a serious crossroads in our lives. In our complex journey for self-actualization, and as a recent graduate, your appeal has to be more than a salary. My greatest fear in life is having my paycheck be my bane, and I'm sure I can find 100 other grads thinking the same thing. They don't call us 'the Future' for nothing. We'll work. We'll slave. We'll blow your company up. (in the best way possible) Think of it as the 'it' that makes the salary not even register in our minds, the quid pro quo that makes both of us happy. I'll hold up my end of the bargain. Will you?

Illecism - Disregard All Turbulence (ft. Yae)

Illecism - Disregard All Turbulence (ft. Yae)

This time of year is especially rough. As a student, the impending weight of final exams, papers and other buffoonery is turning you into a hunchback, while the winter weather is enough to turn a sunny day into a disaster. That said, music is always a cure. This new Illecism track landed in my inbox and not only woke me up from a day-long funk, but is serving as a great vibed-out study song from henceforth. I suppose blogging and schoolwork should never cross paths, but at some points they're destined to collide. When they do, find yourself some tunes to ease the tension. This track did the trick for me, and hopefully can be of some use to you as well. Check out this cut from Illy's 'Molotov' mixtape...

Dear Internships

If you get assigned an internship like this, LEAVE

Monday, I tackled the teachers in the first of this week's 'Back To School' series. Today, I'm getting a little more abstract and introspective about something every student should experience or at least should explore: internships. The modern internship was created to give students the opportunity to experience their field at a (very) basic level. Sometimes it results in a rewarding duration, and other times it's a period of pure drudgery. Let's dive into that a little more...

It's funny, I've always had one of you during the summer. As a matter of fact, all of my summer jobs were internships. Working retail never suited me. Working at one of you was just a nice thing to say: (insert name here)'s working at (insert company here) for the summer, and is doing (insert tasks here). It seemed prestigious. Along with having a physical job that I had to go to, every day, rain or shine, I've grown to loathe you, in the nicest way possible. Internships, you're like training camp for the big leagues, ie: a full time position. I can't say that I don't enjoy you. Meeting new people in a professional sense, getting to experience a field first-hand and getting the perks of having a job (depending on the locale) all make you something coveted and wanted. You give students an opportunity to see an office at it's most basic level: administrative. That lends itself to dealing with office politics, professional courtesy and understanding operations, which are all beneficial. At the same time, you bring a lot of different stuff to the picture that most students don't think about.

For one, you give kids the illusion that they're actually doing something in the big picture of XYZ Company. That's not the case. Oftentimes when students embark on you, they're given the most menial of tasks, usually ones that full-time employees should do. This work, aptly titled 'grunt work' for the grunts of discontent coming from an intern, is simply given so that the intern has something to do. Next, you put students under the supervision of people, who might not be the best to be under. Oftentimes, the person that an intern works under isn't a professional in their field, but an administrator whose job it is to oversee them and make sure that they're completing what drudgery they're given. That supervisor might not have any experience in the field and sometimes might not even be open to the idea of an intern being there, leading to tension in the office. You may advertise a professional experience, but what happens usually borders on general office help at a cheap price, sometimes free. Internships, you're not all that you're cracked up to be. Overall, I'd say that you are a good look, but not for everyone. Your system lends itself to students who work well in organized, and often rigid systems, or students who are extremely proactive. If a student has a problem with authority or are slow to be motivated, you aren't the right way to spend a summer. That said, you're definitely something that students should look into. If not to know whether an office setting is right, then just to be able to tell those 'Worst Internship Ever' stories. Lord knows I have a few...

Dear Teachers

There is a realization that I've come to about my academic life. It took 4 years (and counting) for me to turn this realization into an actual ideology, and now that I'm a senior I still can't fathom how this goes down: Teaching college kids SUCKS. Yes, it's that simple. And the sad part is, no one knows how much it sucks. Most of you are paid less than you should for getting large groups of sleepy, rude, self-absorbed, ignorant, 18-22 year olds buried in their phones and laptops, to recall some arcane subject that either A) is too general to mean anything to them or B) too focused for those not requiring it to care. I can't tell you how many times I've mentally checked out of a class because I simply didn't care about the material, and the teacher exacerbated that. Have no fear, though, professors. As a part of Dear Whoever's 'Back to School Week' I've got a few pointers that'll have your students (myself included), not only attentive, but wanting to pay attention and participate in class. Keep it locked this week for more school-related letters..

1. Make the curriculum, syllabus and requirments as clear and as concise as possible. Too many times the classes that we students need to take have these ridiculously convoluted class policies. Whether it's a lack of gradeable material, too much material on exams or what have you, get your administrative and logistical sh*t down pat. There's nothing more annoying than a professor who's whole class is spent trying to figure out when stuff is due or when we have to cram because they don't know. I suppose that's all a matter of organization and preparation. Yet, every year there's that one teacher who's syllabus and course direction look like he/she made it up while high off some amazing shrooms, driving to class that morning. I guarantee if your requirements are clear, then your head will be too at the end of the term. Having a clear syllabus prevents you from switching it up on us after 10 weeks and it gives us an understanding of how much we can or can't afford to slack off.

2. Drop the TA's. Seriously. It's one thing to have another professor cover for you when you either don't have the time or are grading papers or something of that nature. It's another thing to completely drop your duties as a professor and hand it off to someone less than a year removed from the same position we were. Come on. We barely want to see your faces in the morning handing out exams and lecturing us for an hour and a half. What makes you think we want some extra-bubbly, brown-nosed kid with a taste for power and not enough friends doing the same thing, trying to impersonate you? Not only do most of these heads know diddly squat compared to you about the material, it's almost an insult when they try to reprimand the classroom (think having your nana as a substitute in grade school). We don't come to school for another student's expertise, we came for yours. Just suck it up and show up. We're there, and there's no reason you shouldn't be.

3. I don't know who you guys have got to talk to about this one, but someone's got to take a stand. Because it's you, the teachers, providing the material, it should be you: FIND A WAY TO GET LESS EXPENSIVE BOOKS!!! That is really one of the things that irks me about college. If I'm going to get stuck for my paper (Biggie voice), I'd rather it not be by hunks of paper and cardboard that I can eschew reading by coming to class and taking notes. For God's sakes, one of my textbooks is over $200!!!!! Do you know what I can do with that money? Is McGraw-Hill or whichever textbook company the only entity on the planet with some of this information? Or better yet, have all the textbook companies banded together with Barnes and Noble to make some kind of 'textbook Illuminati,' destined to run our pockets and come out with the same information in a different version next year? Professors, if you're going to be the ones setting the curriculum for us, at least have some sympathy and try to use older versions, or something...

4. Enough with the group projects already, teachers. I don't like groups. As a matter of fact, groups are the reason I'm glad I'm done with all of my business classes. You guys seem to think that placing a bunch of us students together for the common purpose of writing some BS paper, that we each could've written by ourselves will help us build our people skills. SIKE. This ISN'T 'The Real World', and I'm certainly not really trying to be polite with the kid who hasn't been to class all term or the kid who'll give everyone in the group a bad grade for dumb crap. The thing is, most of us already don't want to do any work, much less get graded harshly for it. What makes you think we want to let a bunch of strangers have some bearing on our grade? I'd rather mess up a project on my own and be upset with myself, than have a gang of fools I'll probably never see again have a hand in determining it...

5. I don't think I'm alone in saying that class can be more boring than watching baseball highlights, so teachers, do yourselves and us a all a favor: BE MORE ENGAGING!!! If you're going to teach about molecules and atoms, be peppy about it! If you're lecturing on economics, have some umph in your voice! Quit reading from PowerPoints and droning on about insignificant topics for half the class. Quit trying to fish for answers from us when you're not even trying to keep us interested. There's nothing worse than a teacher with no wit and no personality in their class. It's like trying to stay awake after a 3 AM trip to Waffle House, with some soothing music playing and the warmest Snuggie draped around you: it won't work. Period. Use weird voices and stupid stories if you have to. Make fun of some of the class (that's a great way to get me interested). Hell, dress up like a clown if you have to. Do something to make me feel like I'm not hearing 'Beuller.. Beuller.. Beuller' for 2 hours...

There you have it professors. We students know your job is thankless and annoying sometimes. We just wish you would try to make it easy for us. After all, you've been through the same stuff going to school. At least try and be sympathetic and hey, maybe we'll all learn something this term (corny tie-in)...

Graduatin' Ain't Shit - sent by iGoon

So, ummm, if you were following Dear Whoever earlier this month, you would have seen the two letters about college (here's the one to freshmen, and here's the one to the colleges themselves). I wanted to include some verbiage for all my college graudates. Unfortunately, I still haven't graduated yet. So, I had to get some knowledge from my man Ricky (aka InternetGoon; check the blog and the Twitter). Check out his take on being a graduate...


Smile!! Unemployment is right around the corner!!

If you didn't know, the iGoon is a graduate...I looked the word up just in case I wasn't and it means: a holder of an academic degree or diploma. Pretty simple..I've been a graduate all my life..

It first started in Kindergarten where I was prone to taking naps, kissing girl under tables, and just being a great kid. I didn't go to Pre School...I didn't need that shit..My preschool was my sister teaching me my ABC's and 123's...And by the look of it I turned out great..haha..

Then the next time I became a graduate was from Elementary School...5th Grade was actually good..I went around having different girlfriends..I actually had one girl that I took to the prom (yup we had one) and I used to call her using the house phone while I hid under a table in the living room..I didn't want my parents knowing anything so I tried to be very discreet...I wonder if it worked...By the way I was mayor of my school...All I did was make announcements on the PA speaker, get free periods off, and went on a free trip to DC...Pretty good...

Now we're in middle school...Big boys...I lived 2 minutes away from my school...I found a love for sports and became a solid athlete..Had a couple girls, experienced some major kisses...Escaped on freshman friday..(Basically every Friday, if you were a freshman you were bound to get beat up by the 7th and 8th graders) Not only was I fast as hell but I knew the upper classmen so no one was touching me...I graduated and it was great...

High School was one of the best experiences...I went to a boarding school in Delaware...did some great things..found my first love...made some great friends...had the best classes ever..was taught by the best teachers ever...I would definitely go back and experience it again...Damn...Some great times and great stories...Great graduation in which I was sad as hell..cried all over the place but I had to move on...

I moved on to college...To be honest, I didn't know there was an institution after high school..Sometimes you get so comfortable with high school that all I knew was Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other Ivy Leaguers that I didn't have plans or dreams for college...But I made the move to a great college in Chestnut Hill, MA...Didn't like it first but realized that it would become the greatest place for me..Alcohol, women...education....more alcohol, more women...An abundant amount of nearby schools..It was just the place to be...

Now this is why graduating ain't shit...I ain't got no job...And yeah I could hide under a rock and blame the economy but fuck that...It's hard as hell out here in the real world...I wish I would have known what life would be like because I definitely did not sign up for this crap...I'm getting tired of people telling me the same thing, I'm getting tired of unpaid internships (I got bills bitch!) I'm tired of people saying "It'll get better." I haven't given up..Cause if I did I wouldn't be here..But this shit is rough..I remember last year I wrote an article saying I won't be jobless at this time next year...SMFH...Here I am, jobless...And don't get me wrong, I worked my ass off in college..It may not seem like that to you but I really don't give a fuck..I networked with what I thought were the right people...But if my connectors can't do any connecting then I'm fucked...

I got loans up my ass...It's getting real...It's not a fucking game...Now if I had a job would I be writing this article? Nope...Hopefully I get somewhere and some door opens...My resume is out there in the hands of people I trust, opportunities like blogging for Dr. Jay's may open some shit...But who knows...Right about now, graduating ain't shit...

How do you feel? I leave you with this great skit from Kanye's "College Droput"

Obama's Speech to School Children

Seriously, President Obama is an unbelievably good orator. The man just has a penchant for connecting with his audience and showing his empathy through his speech. While I'm not sure that the kids in the U.S. will pick up Obama's call, I am sure that he turned some heads yesterday. It's also obvious that conservative America has met it's match. The speech that was supposed to 'indoctrinate Socialist ideas' in America's youth, was nothing more than a display of good faith and a call for American students to be responsible for their own educational futures. No propaganda or mud-slinging here. I really hope to hear more from this man. Hopefully he can change minds on our health care, just like he did in Arlington yesterday...