Let me start out saying, I'm not quitting dance. I've simply changed course. I discovered a teacher who is really teaching me...not throwing choreo at me and expecting me to master it in 55 minutes. I've gone to the basics...things I've never learned before. This new teacher doesn't hesitate to correct me, with either verbal or physical queues. She will put my arms in the correct position, turn my hips the right way, etc. She explains the muscles involved, and where I should be concentrating for various skills. It is a long process for me, but I'm slowly getting it!
I had to go outside of my "home" studio to find this. Sadly, my home studio stopped being "fun". This is what led me to re-evaluating...I mean, what did I really want from dance, and what kind of dancer did I want to be? If I was no longer having fun, if I was no longer FEELING dance, what had changed?
After reflecting, I realized that there were a few key things I wasn't getting from my studio.
First of all, I wasn't feeling the music selections and choreo any longer. The instructors were moving more and more toward "sexy" dancing to songs that I truly didn't like! (Sorry, I just don't see what Cardi B has to offer in terms of music, and there is no real musicality to her stuff.) I get it...this brings people to class, because it attracts a broader group of skills (from no skills who just want to learn things for the club to higher skilled dancers just wanting fun routines). But I wanted to be a BETTER dancer. I wasn't just there to have fun! Twerking isn't my thing at all...I personally don't see why so many think it looks sexy, because I actually think it looks stupid...but I digress.
Next, there have been new folks coming to the studio who do not get the concept of "dance under yourself". This actually does a lot to ruin the experience! When I'm trying to learn choreo, I don't want to have to be worried about avoiding people who simply are too into it to realize they need to use a smaller space in a full class. I know how to dance under myself when I need to, and I expect others (especially folks who claim to have been in high school dance squads and such) to know how to stay in their own space. It ruins the experience for me if I'm spending more time avoiding people than actually dancing.
And finally, the instructors who actually taught skills have left the studio, and no one does this any more. I don't feel like anyone is actually trying to make anyone better. They obviously have favorites (and sadly, I've always felt this), and these same people get all of the attention. As my new teacher said, "...and you give them your money!" I think that is when I started re-evaluating things! It was about 3 classes in when I was telling her what I've been getting from her class (i.e., the correction and explanation of how to actually do things correctly), and how I wasn't getting that from the studio I had been at for years..."...and you give them your money!" That hit me hard!! I was paying these people twice as much per month as this new teacher for them to not really TEACH!
So I haven't lost my passion for dance, I've just decided what kind of dancer I want to be. I don't want to be that twerking club dancer. I don't want to be that person who is always positioned at the back of the stage for performances because I'm not as skilled as the others (and EVERYONE who wants to perform gets to perform). I'd rather not perform at all and take the time for someone to teach me, than just be thrown on a stage with no real feedback, and lackluster choreo...because the instructor "dumbs down" the choreo so everyone gets it. I WANT TO DANCE!
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
People are not asking for "free" stuff!
I saw this posted by my son the other day:
I didn't respond to his post, because, well, our relationship is strained already for various reasons (as you can guess, I'm suspicious that my view on certain things are part of it). My first reaction to seeing him post this was anger. Why?
1) I'm paying on a parent-student loan of over $30k for 1 year of college which he goofed off and then quit after. He has not offered to help pay this at all.
2) Right after my divorce from my ex-husband (my son's legal father), my son moved friends into my home. At this time my son was 20/21 years old! Neither he nor his friends paid me a single cent in rent or toward utilities. The whole while, he was bringing home nearly $1000/month. At the time, between mortgage, utilities (which were high for that house), and my bills, I was struggling. Instead of helping, he and his friends would complain when I had to make cut backs like turning the thermostat up in the summer. During this time, he and his friends also would keep my home a total mess, and would not help with yard work. I sold the house and got an apartment on my own...forcing my son to get his own place. This didn't help on the strain of our relationship.
You can see why I didn't respond to him! Once my anger subsided a bit, and I read this again, I started to develop a new reaction, which I will go into details here.
1. Free Tuition - No, people are not asking for FREE tuition...they want affordable tuition! People want a level playing field so that someone coming from a low income family can also have the opportunity at an education to better themselves...thus, allowing them to break the cycle of poverty and have a chance at a good job, without being buckled down by thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loan debt (or their parents).
2. Free Healthcare - Again, people want AFFORDABLE healthcare!! We live in a time where pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and healthcare providers are allowed to arbitrarily set their prices without justification. Many cannot afford the medications they need. Insurance companies continue to raise rates leaving folks to take lesser coverage just to afford insurance (in many cases, people are paying for policies they cannot use, because their deductibles are so high). Medical costs are rising out of control. What the people want is for government to start putting some regulations in place so that these providers and such are required to justify their pricing!
3. Free Abortions - People do not want free abortions. What people want is their CHOICE protected!
4. Free Housing - This is another one of those that all the people are asking for is affordability...NOT free! Housing costs continue to rise, while incomes are not. Where I live, the average rent on a 2-bedroom place is $1400/month. When you consider a family still needs to pay for utilities, food, INSURANCE, etc., it is easy to see that your average low to lower middle income family cannot afford this price! Instead of affordable housing, more and more expensive condos and luxury apartments are built. To be able to afford a $1400/month place, the first $5.83 of the households' hourly income goes to rent. Current minimum wage is $7.25! In order to be able to afford all the other necessities, minimum wage needs to be at least twice what it is...and that is simply to afford the BARE necessities!
So, no...people do not want free this and that. And to correct...
Life (to be healthy enough to work and take care of your family)
Liberty (to have to right to make your own choices)
Pursuit of Happiness (have the opportunities to reach your goals, rather than everyone wanting to put up walls to stop you)
I didn't respond to his post, because, well, our relationship is strained already for various reasons (as you can guess, I'm suspicious that my view on certain things are part of it). My first reaction to seeing him post this was anger. Why?
1) I'm paying on a parent-student loan of over $30k for 1 year of college which he goofed off and then quit after. He has not offered to help pay this at all.
2) Right after my divorce from my ex-husband (my son's legal father), my son moved friends into my home. At this time my son was 20/21 years old! Neither he nor his friends paid me a single cent in rent or toward utilities. The whole while, he was bringing home nearly $1000/month. At the time, between mortgage, utilities (which were high for that house), and my bills, I was struggling. Instead of helping, he and his friends would complain when I had to make cut backs like turning the thermostat up in the summer. During this time, he and his friends also would keep my home a total mess, and would not help with yard work. I sold the house and got an apartment on my own...forcing my son to get his own place. This didn't help on the strain of our relationship.
You can see why I didn't respond to him! Once my anger subsided a bit, and I read this again, I started to develop a new reaction, which I will go into details here.
1. Free Tuition - No, people are not asking for FREE tuition...they want affordable tuition! People want a level playing field so that someone coming from a low income family can also have the opportunity at an education to better themselves...thus, allowing them to break the cycle of poverty and have a chance at a good job, without being buckled down by thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loan debt (or their parents).
2. Free Healthcare - Again, people want AFFORDABLE healthcare!! We live in a time where pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and healthcare providers are allowed to arbitrarily set their prices without justification. Many cannot afford the medications they need. Insurance companies continue to raise rates leaving folks to take lesser coverage just to afford insurance (in many cases, people are paying for policies they cannot use, because their deductibles are so high). Medical costs are rising out of control. What the people want is for government to start putting some regulations in place so that these providers and such are required to justify their pricing!
3. Free Abortions - People do not want free abortions. What people want is their CHOICE protected!
4. Free Housing - This is another one of those that all the people are asking for is affordability...NOT free! Housing costs continue to rise, while incomes are not. Where I live, the average rent on a 2-bedroom place is $1400/month. When you consider a family still needs to pay for utilities, food, INSURANCE, etc., it is easy to see that your average low to lower middle income family cannot afford this price! Instead of affordable housing, more and more expensive condos and luxury apartments are built. To be able to afford a $1400/month place, the first $5.83 of the households' hourly income goes to rent. Current minimum wage is $7.25! In order to be able to afford all the other necessities, minimum wage needs to be at least twice what it is...and that is simply to afford the BARE necessities!
So, no...people do not want free this and that. And to correct...
Life (to be healthy enough to work and take care of your family)
Liberty (to have to right to make your own choices)
Pursuit of Happiness (have the opportunities to reach your goals, rather than everyone wanting to put up walls to stop you)
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Need to rant a bit
This one isn't a political rant or anything like that. No, I need to rant about the "renovation" project at my apartment complex.
So, my complex decided they needed to repaint all of the buildings. I guess they are having a problem attracting tenants. They sent out a schedule of this project, showing the dates each step would happen on each building. Well, first of all...they start my building late...but this isn't what bugs me.
The day before any work was to actually start, they send out an email to clear our patios for the work. This email says that the entire process will take 2-3 weeks, and that we need to keep our patios clear until the building is done. Now, our apartments in this building are not that big. This is a building full of 1-bedroom units with the largest being 600 sq ft. As you can imagine, many of us use our patios as a kind of living space. Some have patio furniture (I have a chair out on mine that I like to curl up in on rainy days to read), those of us with bikes have to store them on our patios, and several of us have plants or some other type of patio garden. Yes...ALL of that has to be brought in. The issues I have are:
1. My living space is cramped.
2. My plants require a couple of hours a day fo DIRECT sun, which means I have to block my patio door with my plant tables.
3. Because I have to have my blinds open during the warmest part of the day to try to get my plants enough light, my A/C runs non-stop in the afternoon, which increases my utility bill.
So, the work began Friday, 6/28. That day saw 1 painter on a lift with a power sprayer painting a majority of the siding. Monday, most of the day saw only that 1 lonely painter on the lift again, until after lunch. At that point, the rest of the crew showed up to prep the court yard portion of the building to have the walls/siding painted (covering the floor, covering all the fixtures on the doors and apartment numbers, etc.). At this point, I was basically confined to my apartment with the painting going on right outside my door, and the locks on my door covered on the outside, so that I could not lock my apartment if I left.
Tuesday, the painters show back up at 8 a.m., but sit around their van for a hour eating their breakfast. When they finally do start working, they spend some 2 hours covering all the windows on the patios. I take this to mean that they will start painting the patios. Yay...maybe I can soon move my stuff back out! I then hear a bunch of banging around out there, a little spraying, and after a full day of this, I leave the apartment to see them closing shop for the day. The only work completed was a small part fo the court yard paint that needed completing, the trim on 4 windows (yes...only 4), and the trim around the doors and windows on only 3 patios spray primed (yes, sprayed, which means it took them maybe 5 minutes per patio). They definitely did not complete 8 hours worth of work!
So, Wednesday comes around...the day before the July 4th holiday. The lone painter that runs the lift returns to take the lift away. I don't see any sign of the painters the rest of the day. I figure their supervisor gave them an extra day for the holiday, and they took the lift off of the property as to not have it messed with the 5-day weekend. I expect them back Monday.
Monday was yesterday! Guess what...no painters! I had to pick up a package in the office, and mention that we haven't seen the painters at our building since Tuesday afternoon, and wondered when they were going to return to finish. They stay they thought the building was done, which I assured them it definitely wasn't, and was looking in a sad state! I later get a call from the office staff. She said she called the supervisor, and was told they have to let the paint dry for a couple of days, and why they let the paint dry, they work on another building. The next two buildings on the list are within sight of my windows, and the painters surely were not there. I also told her that didn't make any sense, because it has been 6 days thanks to the holiday and weekend...plenty of time for the paint to dry.
NOTE HERE: I have owned a house, and painted said house...and you only need to give exterior paint about 4 hours in the sun to dry before applying the next coat!
I suspected the supervisor was giving our office staff a BS story...that he probably sent his painters off on another job to make some money, since he cannot collect on this job until the contract is done (and it's not scheduled to be done until September). Keep in mind, this is a large construction company apparently, and I'm sure there are multiple crews working multiple jobs. I drive around the complex before heading to the store, and see a group power washing a building that isn't even scheduled to be starting until late August. Additionally, another building that shouldn't have even been touched until August has an entire side painted. However, there are no sign of the actual painters...just a bunch handful of power washers. Looks to me that the crew dropped off the power washers (as all the equipment was in a pile in the grass and none of their vehicles were around), and then took off to another job!
So, either the office staff is dumb enough to believe the supervisor's bullshit story, or they are trying to bullshit me. Seriously, I don't care if they decide there isn't enough shade around my building to work on it during the hottest month of the year...and they decide to skip down the schedule and work on other buildings to come back to mine. I seriously just want some damn communication!!! If that is what they are going to do, tell us...so we can put our stuff back on our patios and quit being cramped in our apartments unable to even use the square footage of the patios we pay for! I have no problem pulling the stuff back in at a later date! I just want some communication as to what is going on! No way in hell will I be okay with this current situation for months because they can't communicate when they will return to finish our building!
So, my complex decided they needed to repaint all of the buildings. I guess they are having a problem attracting tenants. They sent out a schedule of this project, showing the dates each step would happen on each building. Well, first of all...they start my building late...but this isn't what bugs me.
The day before any work was to actually start, they send out an email to clear our patios for the work. This email says that the entire process will take 2-3 weeks, and that we need to keep our patios clear until the building is done. Now, our apartments in this building are not that big. This is a building full of 1-bedroom units with the largest being 600 sq ft. As you can imagine, many of us use our patios as a kind of living space. Some have patio furniture (I have a chair out on mine that I like to curl up in on rainy days to read), those of us with bikes have to store them on our patios, and several of us have plants or some other type of patio garden. Yes...ALL of that has to be brought in. The issues I have are:
1. My living space is cramped.
2. My plants require a couple of hours a day fo DIRECT sun, which means I have to block my patio door with my plant tables.
3. Because I have to have my blinds open during the warmest part of the day to try to get my plants enough light, my A/C runs non-stop in the afternoon, which increases my utility bill.
So, the work began Friday, 6/28. That day saw 1 painter on a lift with a power sprayer painting a majority of the siding. Monday, most of the day saw only that 1 lonely painter on the lift again, until after lunch. At that point, the rest of the crew showed up to prep the court yard portion of the building to have the walls/siding painted (covering the floor, covering all the fixtures on the doors and apartment numbers, etc.). At this point, I was basically confined to my apartment with the painting going on right outside my door, and the locks on my door covered on the outside, so that I could not lock my apartment if I left.
Tuesday, the painters show back up at 8 a.m., but sit around their van for a hour eating their breakfast. When they finally do start working, they spend some 2 hours covering all the windows on the patios. I take this to mean that they will start painting the patios. Yay...maybe I can soon move my stuff back out! I then hear a bunch of banging around out there, a little spraying, and after a full day of this, I leave the apartment to see them closing shop for the day. The only work completed was a small part fo the court yard paint that needed completing, the trim on 4 windows (yes...only 4), and the trim around the doors and windows on only 3 patios spray primed (yes, sprayed, which means it took them maybe 5 minutes per patio). They definitely did not complete 8 hours worth of work!
So, Wednesday comes around...the day before the July 4th holiday. The lone painter that runs the lift returns to take the lift away. I don't see any sign of the painters the rest of the day. I figure their supervisor gave them an extra day for the holiday, and they took the lift off of the property as to not have it messed with the 5-day weekend. I expect them back Monday.
Monday was yesterday! Guess what...no painters! I had to pick up a package in the office, and mention that we haven't seen the painters at our building since Tuesday afternoon, and wondered when they were going to return to finish. They stay they thought the building was done, which I assured them it definitely wasn't, and was looking in a sad state! I later get a call from the office staff. She said she called the supervisor, and was told they have to let the paint dry for a couple of days, and why they let the paint dry, they work on another building. The next two buildings on the list are within sight of my windows, and the painters surely were not there. I also told her that didn't make any sense, because it has been 6 days thanks to the holiday and weekend...plenty of time for the paint to dry.
NOTE HERE: I have owned a house, and painted said house...and you only need to give exterior paint about 4 hours in the sun to dry before applying the next coat!
I suspected the supervisor was giving our office staff a BS story...that he probably sent his painters off on another job to make some money, since he cannot collect on this job until the contract is done (and it's not scheduled to be done until September). Keep in mind, this is a large construction company apparently, and I'm sure there are multiple crews working multiple jobs. I drive around the complex before heading to the store, and see a group power washing a building that isn't even scheduled to be starting until late August. Additionally, another building that shouldn't have even been touched until August has an entire side painted. However, there are no sign of the actual painters...just a bunch handful of power washers. Looks to me that the crew dropped off the power washers (as all the equipment was in a pile in the grass and none of their vehicles were around), and then took off to another job!
So, either the office staff is dumb enough to believe the supervisor's bullshit story, or they are trying to bullshit me. Seriously, I don't care if they decide there isn't enough shade around my building to work on it during the hottest month of the year...and they decide to skip down the schedule and work on other buildings to come back to mine. I seriously just want some damn communication!!! If that is what they are going to do, tell us...so we can put our stuff back on our patios and quit being cramped in our apartments unable to even use the square footage of the patios we pay for! I have no problem pulling the stuff back in at a later date! I just want some communication as to what is going on! No way in hell will I be okay with this current situation for months because they can't communicate when they will return to finish our building!
Friday, June 7, 2019
So......
A white cop shoots and kills a person of color, because they "feared for their life" and they get off with no conviction. A black cop shoots a white woman, because they "feared for their life", and he gets 12 1/2 years in prison! I'm not saying that the cop who shot the woman should get off with no conviction. I'm just pointing out how slanted the justice system is! Why aren't the white cops convicted? Oh, yeah....
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Best pro-choice argument I've seen to give to Christians!
I was reading comments on a thread today, and I came a cross one smart lady!! She was in the argument about what constitutes life, and at what point a fetus is considered a "person" by definition. This BRILLIANT woman put it to these folks with their own "good book"!
GENESIS 2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the BREATH of life; and man BECAME A LIVING SOUL."
She went on to point out: "Breath - life - soul. Get it? God didn't make Adam alive by giving him breath until he was a finished product. Because God is smart and logical. The rest of y'all I don't know wtf you learn at church, because it surely isn't the good old book."
I love this!!! It is right there in your Bible...it is the BREATH that gives life to a person! Not a "heartbeat" or anything like that. If the fetus is unable to take a breath...according to your Bible...it is does not yet have a living soul! PRICELESS! Until that point, it is merely a vessel for a living soul, and life does not happen until that soul is breathed into the body.
GENESIS 2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the BREATH of life; and man BECAME A LIVING SOUL."
She went on to point out: "Breath - life - soul. Get it? God didn't make Adam alive by giving him breath until he was a finished product. Because God is smart and logical. The rest of y'all I don't know wtf you learn at church, because it surely isn't the good old book."
I love this!!! It is right there in your Bible...it is the BREATH that gives life to a person! Not a "heartbeat" or anything like that. If the fetus is unable to take a breath...according to your Bible...it is does not yet have a living soul! PRICELESS! Until that point, it is merely a vessel for a living soul, and life does not happen until that soul is breathed into the body.
Friday, May 31, 2019
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Can't believe I'm addressing this...AGAIN!
In recent months, we have seen laws passed in several states that effectively make ANY abortion illegal. States wouldn't have even considered these laws in the past, but with our current Supreme Court, they are feeling more confident about when these laws get challenged. They see it as a way to overturn Roe v Wade.
But at what cost?! Can these people even call themselves pro-life? I mean, pro-birth is a better label. These people do not care about the well-being of the child after it is born. If the mother cannot provide medical, food, etc. on her own, well then, she simply shouldn't have even been having sex in the first place. I say that, because these same people want to teach an abstinence-only sex education curriculum, and like to tell employers that they don't have to carry insurance that contains birth control coverage if birth control and such is against their religion. They also say that medical providers do not have to perform responsible sterilization procedures, if such is against their religion. These people do not care if the woman's life is at risk should she get pregnant, or the fact that if abortion is illegal in this country, desperate women will still take desperate measures...measures that could kill these women. These people do not care if a sonogram shows a fetus has a critical birth defect that would cause it to live a very short, painful life outside of the womb...if it lives beyond the first few minutes after birth, or that the woman in such a case must live with prolonged grief as she carries the child to term knowing that it will not live after. They also do not care if the "mother-to-be" is an 11-year-old girl who was raped by an older man or a family member.
These very same people ignore the fact that at any given time in this country, there are about 400,000 children in our country's foster care system. They ignore the statistics with regards to foster kids...low graduation rates, higher rates of abuse, higher teen pregnancy rates, higher drug use and criminal rates. If being a foster kid were such a great option, why is it such a large number of foster kids come out of the system wishing they had never been born because of their terrible lives?
The abortion laws being passed have nothing to do with saving lives, and everything to do with controlling a woman's (or girl's) body!! Do you see them viciously going after absent fathers? No! Men are constantly allowed to shrug their responsibilities to their children, while the court systems say the woman should work harder, or consider giving the child up to a family member who can raise them, or to the system. Do you see a court system that fiercely goes after men who commit rape? Nope!! Rapists often spend less time in jail than a person convicted of a non-violent crime, if they spend any time at all. The whole while, the victims are blamed for being raped in the first place (they shouldn't have worn those clothes or been at that party, or hell, even been jogging alone at 7 a.m.)! Do you see them working to improve the foster care system, or insuring there are programs for single parents to have access to medical care and food for these children? Do you see them making sure that ALL schools afford the same eduction and opportunities for all children to succeed? Nope, and nope!
These people in these positions of power simply want to push their religion on us women using their power to control our bodies! That is all there is to it!
But at what cost?! Can these people even call themselves pro-life? I mean, pro-birth is a better label. These people do not care about the well-being of the child after it is born. If the mother cannot provide medical, food, etc. on her own, well then, she simply shouldn't have even been having sex in the first place. I say that, because these same people want to teach an abstinence-only sex education curriculum, and like to tell employers that they don't have to carry insurance that contains birth control coverage if birth control and such is against their religion. They also say that medical providers do not have to perform responsible sterilization procedures, if such is against their religion. These people do not care if the woman's life is at risk should she get pregnant, or the fact that if abortion is illegal in this country, desperate women will still take desperate measures...measures that could kill these women. These people do not care if a sonogram shows a fetus has a critical birth defect that would cause it to live a very short, painful life outside of the womb...if it lives beyond the first few minutes after birth, or that the woman in such a case must live with prolonged grief as she carries the child to term knowing that it will not live after. They also do not care if the "mother-to-be" is an 11-year-old girl who was raped by an older man or a family member.
These very same people ignore the fact that at any given time in this country, there are about 400,000 children in our country's foster care system. They ignore the statistics with regards to foster kids...low graduation rates, higher rates of abuse, higher teen pregnancy rates, higher drug use and criminal rates. If being a foster kid were such a great option, why is it such a large number of foster kids come out of the system wishing they had never been born because of their terrible lives?
The abortion laws being passed have nothing to do with saving lives, and everything to do with controlling a woman's (or girl's) body!! Do you see them viciously going after absent fathers? No! Men are constantly allowed to shrug their responsibilities to their children, while the court systems say the woman should work harder, or consider giving the child up to a family member who can raise them, or to the system. Do you see a court system that fiercely goes after men who commit rape? Nope!! Rapists often spend less time in jail than a person convicted of a non-violent crime, if they spend any time at all. The whole while, the victims are blamed for being raped in the first place (they shouldn't have worn those clothes or been at that party, or hell, even been jogging alone at 7 a.m.)! Do you see them working to improve the foster care system, or insuring there are programs for single parents to have access to medical care and food for these children? Do you see them making sure that ALL schools afford the same eduction and opportunities for all children to succeed? Nope, and nope!
These people in these positions of power simply want to push their religion on us women using their power to control our bodies! That is all there is to it!
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Been away for a bit
I've had to step away from the issues for a bit, because...to put it mildly...shit was simply pissing me off!!
Today I want to discuss the argument that certain folks keep presenting when faced with the fact that there is in fact racism and discrimination still very much alive and well in this country:
"What laws prevent you from....?"
I've heard this a lot when I've tried to discuss discrimination that we woman face, or that those of different skin color, sexual orientation, gender identification, faith, etc. face every day. What laws? Of course, the truth is that there are no laws that prevent anyone from being treated equally, for the most part. Yes, I will concede that there are civil rights laws and anti-discrimination laws at the local, state, and federal levels that call for equal treatment of all.
However, the reality is that it is not an issue of laws. Yes, the laws exist. However, they are not always followed, and their interpretation are often twisted in the process. As a woman, are there laws that say I should get the same pay for the same work as a man? Yes. Does that mean it is a reality? Nope!!! There is still a huge wage gap between men and women in the workplace, and employers use every excuse in the book to justify why women are getting paid less...justifications that are passable under the law. It is so easy to fudge a work review to make it look like the male employee is performing so much better than the female employee, and thus it becomes a case of her word against the employer. And they don't even have to report that she is doing a bad job...just that she is meeting expectations while her male counterpart is going "above and beyond"...whatever that means.
Or what about people of color getting the same opportunities as whites? Yes, one can say that there are laws that say a person of color must be given the same consideration for things such as schools, jobs, etc. Those who argue that racism doesn't exist claim circumstances or class as the deciding factor, pointing out that a person of means will naturally have more opportunities than a poor person...suggesting that all the poor person has to do is work harder. They fail to recognize the discrimination that helped create the disparity!! Sure, there are laws, but that does not stop local governments from spending more money in more affluent, white neighborhoods than they do say black or Latino working class neighborhoods. It becomes really hard to work your way up when all you see around you is poverty. It is also hard when your schools don't give you adequate tools to advance yourself (as schools in these poor neighborhoods typically are struggling financially, as well, which effects the quality of education). Government policies have been in place for years that work to limit the number of people of color who succeed at the same level as their white counterparts.
Crime rates higher among people of color? Well, if you live in impoverished circumstances, you tend to become a bit more desperate to survive. So much crime is the result of people feeling they have no other choice! Slinging dope? It's an easy way to make money when you don't have money to pay for a higher education. And, we all know that drug dealers have their "territories" and what not, which then brings in the issues of gangs and violence. And let's talk gangs for a minute. Ask most gang members, and the biggest reason they join the gang is because the gang made them feel like family. This is what happens when you incarcerate fathers and/or mothers for petty pot possession (which there are a lot of folks in jail for this...many who are people of color...because, the justice system is lopsided). This is what happens when fathers are not held to the same accountability as mothers (yes, she is supposed to carry, birth, and then raise the child...because god forbid she need medical or food assistance...while the fathers are left to go on their way creating even more babies they will not support). With so many kids being brought up in single parent homes where that parent is off to work most of the time just to put a roof over their heads and food on the table, you can see how someone may think they have more family in a gang!
And what about that justice system?! A white male who commits rape in today's environment gets LESS TIME than a man of color caught with an ounce of pot on their person for personal use! Let that sink in!
So...what laws? What is worse, is that this argument comes from the same people who say that gun laws do not stop people from illegally obtaining guns when opposing any kind of reasonable gun reform! They acknowledge that laws don't stop everyone from certain actions, but they are quick to say that there is no racism and discrimination, because...well...there are laws against such things!
Today I want to discuss the argument that certain folks keep presenting when faced with the fact that there is in fact racism and discrimination still very much alive and well in this country:
"What laws prevent you from....?"
I've heard this a lot when I've tried to discuss discrimination that we woman face, or that those of different skin color, sexual orientation, gender identification, faith, etc. face every day. What laws? Of course, the truth is that there are no laws that prevent anyone from being treated equally, for the most part. Yes, I will concede that there are civil rights laws and anti-discrimination laws at the local, state, and federal levels that call for equal treatment of all.
However, the reality is that it is not an issue of laws. Yes, the laws exist. However, they are not always followed, and their interpretation are often twisted in the process. As a woman, are there laws that say I should get the same pay for the same work as a man? Yes. Does that mean it is a reality? Nope!!! There is still a huge wage gap between men and women in the workplace, and employers use every excuse in the book to justify why women are getting paid less...justifications that are passable under the law. It is so easy to fudge a work review to make it look like the male employee is performing so much better than the female employee, and thus it becomes a case of her word against the employer. And they don't even have to report that she is doing a bad job...just that she is meeting expectations while her male counterpart is going "above and beyond"...whatever that means.
Or what about people of color getting the same opportunities as whites? Yes, one can say that there are laws that say a person of color must be given the same consideration for things such as schools, jobs, etc. Those who argue that racism doesn't exist claim circumstances or class as the deciding factor, pointing out that a person of means will naturally have more opportunities than a poor person...suggesting that all the poor person has to do is work harder. They fail to recognize the discrimination that helped create the disparity!! Sure, there are laws, but that does not stop local governments from spending more money in more affluent, white neighborhoods than they do say black or Latino working class neighborhoods. It becomes really hard to work your way up when all you see around you is poverty. It is also hard when your schools don't give you adequate tools to advance yourself (as schools in these poor neighborhoods typically are struggling financially, as well, which effects the quality of education). Government policies have been in place for years that work to limit the number of people of color who succeed at the same level as their white counterparts.
Crime rates higher among people of color? Well, if you live in impoverished circumstances, you tend to become a bit more desperate to survive. So much crime is the result of people feeling they have no other choice! Slinging dope? It's an easy way to make money when you don't have money to pay for a higher education. And, we all know that drug dealers have their "territories" and what not, which then brings in the issues of gangs and violence. And let's talk gangs for a minute. Ask most gang members, and the biggest reason they join the gang is because the gang made them feel like family. This is what happens when you incarcerate fathers and/or mothers for petty pot possession (which there are a lot of folks in jail for this...many who are people of color...because, the justice system is lopsided). This is what happens when fathers are not held to the same accountability as mothers (yes, she is supposed to carry, birth, and then raise the child...because god forbid she need medical or food assistance...while the fathers are left to go on their way creating even more babies they will not support). With so many kids being brought up in single parent homes where that parent is off to work most of the time just to put a roof over their heads and food on the table, you can see how someone may think they have more family in a gang!
And what about that justice system?! A white male who commits rape in today's environment gets LESS TIME than a man of color caught with an ounce of pot on their person for personal use! Let that sink in!
So...what laws? What is worse, is that this argument comes from the same people who say that gun laws do not stop people from illegally obtaining guns when opposing any kind of reasonable gun reform! They acknowledge that laws don't stop everyone from certain actions, but they are quick to say that there is no racism and discrimination, because...well...there are laws against such things!
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