[Discuss] Legitimate discimination and corruption

[Stuart D Gathman]

On Tue, 16 May 2023, Arturo Davila Andino wrote:

> You mentioned Thomas Sowell's work, and while I am still not familiar with
> his specific research on the subject, I would like to clarify something.

Try "thomas sowell redlining" in your favorite search engine.

> Discrimination can be categorized into two types:  taste-based (prejudicial)
> discrimination and statistical discrimination. Prejudicial discrimination
> occurs when a hiring manager rejects resumes from black individuals based on
> personal prejudices, while statistical discrimination happens when a hiring
> manager makes decisions based on statistical averages, such as assuming that
> black individuals are, on average, less productive than white individuals.

If he is assuming that without actual data, then it is prejudicial 
discrimination.

> In summary, we have two conflicting forces at play: prejudicial
> discrimination, which economic forces would naturally suppress, and
> statistical discrimination, which economic forces would support. Over time,
> without political intervention, prejudicial discrimination would likely have
> diminished due to economic factors. However, statistical discrimination may
> have persisted, as there were historical disparities that impacted the
> productivity of black individuals, such as lower education levels.

You do realize that redlining has nothing to do with the color of
residents?  Predominant white areas are redlined too.  There are
perjorative terms for those inhabitants as well, e.g. "white trash"
or "trailer park people".  And redlining does not mean you are
not productive, it simply indicates a lack of income needed to make
loan payments.

Defaulting on a loan impoverishes the family "helped" by laws forcing
loans to people who can't afford them when they default and lose their
house.  This also reinforces prejudice.

 	Affirmative Action Loans

In fact, the REAL problem is reverse redlining.  A greedy unethical bank
is only too happy to make loans to people who can't afford it - because
then they can foreclose an make even higher profits! (And impoverishing
the affected families.)  When clueless activists demand reverse
redlining, unethical banks (notoriously Bank of America) are eager
to take advantage of this explicit societal permission to exploit
minorities.  And even this is not racism, just greed.  The racism
was the "affirmative action" policy that enabled destructive greed.

> The civil rights acts, spearheaded by Johnson, achieved something that

You seem unaware of LBJs actions and words at the time.

> natural economic forces alone may not have accomplished as quickly—reducing
> statistical discrimination. These measures facilitated the advancement of
> black individuals at a faster pace than would have occurred naturally,
> helping to narrow the statistical gap between blacks and whites.

The Civil Rights Act simply enforced the 14th amendment, and provided
Federal troops to coerce reluctant Democrat strongholds into dropping
their separate rules for black and white (Jim Crow).  It did not address
redlining, as this was not related to race - except:

1) indirectly due to poverty caused by Jim Crow
2) possible corrupt predudicial redlining that Thomas Sowell either
    missed or didn't consider significant.

 	Affirmative Action

There were eighty years of Black prosperity in the US which is left out
of activist history.  It declined with the resumption of Jim Crow
in the form of "Affirmative Action" (once again, different rules for
black and white).  SCOTUS ruled AA unconstitutional (as it blatantly
violates the 14th amendment), but ordered that it be allowed to stand
"temporarily" as a form of restitution.  (With no time limit given).

AA was a trickier way to discriminate against blacks.  By not having
to meet the same standards, they could obtain a degree for instance,
but not an education.  Those that managed to obtain an education
had to employ special strategies.  Like asking the teacher in private,
"Did you give me this A because I earned it, or because I'm black?"
Without constructive criticism, there is little learning.

Worse, now you have poorly educated blacks with the same degree
as better educated whites - which began to reinforce predudicial
discrimation, "black people seem dumb".

While the more obvious segregation was now very unpopular, most people
did not understand the subtle evil of this new sugar coated segregation.

 	Affirmative Action Chairs

To help understand how AA works against the people it pretends to
be "helping", let me offer an analogy.

When people have difficulty getting up from their chair due to old age
or sickness, there are chairs designed to assist them in getting up.
This seems like a benefit, but use of such chairs dramatically shortens
the lifespan of the patient.  The struggle to get out of their chair
was essential exercise that was keeping them alive.  Can you squat on
the floor "indian" style and get to your feet without using any hands?
Using one hand?  If you need two hands, you have looming health issues.