Let me put it to you this way:
The obsession with the Playstation 2, an expensive game console that most minorities won't even be able to afford, is disgusting. That fact that this site, Slashdot, would choose to focus so much attention on such a topic when there are people (especially African-Americans) starving in the streets and/or not getting an education, it's a shame. It shows that the people running Slashdot are either racist or ignorant or both.
African-Americans in the United States, have to struggle just to get by. They don't have the luxury of buying luxury items like the PS2. Slashdot is once again showing a strong slant against the African-American by posting many stories about the PS2, and ignoring African-American and minority issues. This cannot stand.
The fact that the PS2 game console is going to be mainly in the hands of Caucasian suburbanites, is once again evidence of the increasing discrepancy and disparity in wealth distribution in the US. This diseven spread of wealth is a direct result of slavery, and reparations are the only answer.
Forty acres and a mule is a start, but only a start. I want mine with interest. My ancestors were kept down for centuries, and there has to be some kind of reckoning. That's what reparations are about. The blood and sacrifices of my anncestors and antecedents can't be allowed to go unpaid for. Maybe if these snotty Caucasian kids would give their 500 dollars to African-Americans instead of wasting it on a nintendo, that would be a start. Only a start, though, mind you.
This is the second installment in my 'The Fine Perspective' essay series, an ongoing series of essays which will focus on African-American issues vis a vis Slashdot articles and the world of high technology. The theme of reparations for African-American slavery will be one of the strong threads running through my work.
About the Author:
In 1995, Tyrone Fine was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts in African-American Studies from Amherst University. After spending time at several large name computer companies, Tyrone grew tired with the racism and caucasian old boy network in the technology world. Tyrone is presently involved in founding an organization to fight racism in the high-tech arena.
Hey, I AINT anti-science. I think science is fine. What I am against is throwing money down the white hole that is the space program. I think we should fund science to cure diseases like sickle cell anemia and AIDS, and other deadly diseases (note: I do not support the type of science funding that went into the creation of AIDS; that's a whole nother post). We should fund science that improves peoples lives, and only science that imporves peoples lives.
Sending probes to Mars doesn't improve no one's life, except maybe the scientists who make a living that way, sending probes places. I aint' going to see the results of this research in my lifetime, and children won't likely neitherr.
That's my problem, do you understand? When we have people starving in the streets and not getting an education, that's a shame. What's even more a shame is when we have the money to do something about it, but we waste it like sending probes to Mars.
The way I look at, why are we sending missions to mars when we could be putting the money to better use right here at home.
What are these missions going to do for me, and African-Americans in general. That's the question you gotta ask yourself. Even if these missions lead to the eventual habitization of mars, you think they're going to be taking any African-Americans? I don't.
If America doesn't even think it's got enough money to pay reparations to those of African ascent for the harms done by slavery, why do we have enough money to go to mars? Answer me that. On top of that, there are even more ways we could use this money.
For starters, we could expand the war on poverty. And there are many social programs that are underfunded. And if it turns out that we can fully fund all these programs and have money left, why not put it to a GOOD use, one that will benefit us here on earth. Like, funding fro the arts and education.
If indeed your allegations are true, we have a problem on our hands. It's unfortunate that something like this would come to pass in the open-source movement, it is not surprising.
The only possible surprise is that the racism is directed against Asian-Americans instead of African-Americans. And since African-Americans bear the brunt of discrimination in this country, especially in the high-tech industry, it's likely that where there is smoke, there is fire. That is, where there is discrimination against Asian-Americans, there is almost certainly discrimination against African-Americans, perhaps at the source code level.
I do not have time, myself, to read through the source code and make sure the comments (not to mention the source itself) is free of racist content. But I urge any right-thinking person to do so, so we can root out this problem at its source.
If there is only discrimination against Asian-Americans, we don't have much of a problem (though the situation is still not good), since Asian-Americans have a strong power base in the United States. But if anti-African-American content is discovered, we should take some kind of action.
Slashdot Mirror
The obsession with the Playstation 2, an expensive game console that most minorities won't even be able to afford, is disgusting. That fact that this site, Slashdot, would choose to focus so much attention on such a topic when there are people (especially African-Americans) starving in the streets and/or not getting an education, it's a shame. It shows that the people running Slashdot are either racist or ignorant or both.
African-Americans in the United States, have to struggle just to get by. They don't have the luxury of buying luxury items like the PS2. Slashdot is once again showing a strong slant against the African-American by posting many stories about the PS2, and ignoring African-American and minority issues. This cannot stand.
The fact that the PS2 game console is going to be mainly in the hands of Caucasian suburbanites, is once again evidence of the increasing discrepancy and disparity in wealth distribution in the US. This diseven spread of wealth is a direct result of slavery, and reparations are the only answer.
Forty acres and a mule is a start, but only a start. I want mine with interest. My ancestors were kept down for centuries, and there has to be some kind of reckoning. That's what reparations are about. The blood and sacrifices of my anncestors and antecedents can't be allowed to go unpaid for. Maybe if these snotty Caucasian kids would give their 500 dollars to African-Americans instead of wasting it on a nintendo, that would be a start. Only a start, though, mind you.
This is the second installment in my 'The Fine Perspective' essay series, an ongoing series of essays which will focus on African-American issues vis a vis Slashdot articles and the world of high technology. The theme of reparations for African-American slavery will be one of the strong threads running through my work.
About the Author:
In 1995, Tyrone Fine was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts in African-American Studies from Amherst University. After spending time at several large name computer companies, Tyrone grew tired with the racism and caucasian old boy network in the technology world. Tyrone is presently involved in founding an organization to fight racism in the high-tech arena.
I am,
Sending probes to Mars doesn't improve no one's life, except maybe the scientists who make a living that way, sending probes places. I aint' going to see the results of this research in my lifetime, and children won't likely neitherr.
That's my problem, do you understand? When we have people starving in the streets and not getting an education, that's a shame. What's even more a shame is when we have the money to do something about it, but we waste it like sending probes to Mars.
I am,
The parent and parent of parent are posts by me.
I am,
What are these missions going to do for me, and African-Americans in general. That's the question you gotta ask yourself. Even if these missions lead to the eventual habitization of mars, you think they're going to be taking any African-Americans? I don't.
If America doesn't even think it's got enough money to pay reparations to those of African ascent for the harms done by slavery, why do we have enough money to go to mars? Answer me that. On top of that, there are even more ways we could use this money.
For starters, we could expand the war on poverty. And there are many social programs that are underfunded. And if it turns out that we can fully fund all these programs and have money left, why not put it to a GOOD use, one that will benefit us here on earth. Like, funding fro the arts and education.
I am,
I am,
The only possible surprise is that the racism is directed against Asian-Americans instead of African-Americans. And since African-Americans bear the brunt of discrimination in this country, especially in the high-tech industry, it's likely that where there is smoke, there is fire. That is, where there is discrimination against Asian-Americans, there is almost certainly discrimination against African-Americans, perhaps at the source code level.
I do not have time, myself, to read through the source code and make sure the comments (not to mention the source itself) is free of racist content. But I urge any right-thinking person to do so, so we can root out this problem at its source.
If there is only discrimination against Asian-Americans, we don't have much of a problem (though the situation is still not good), since Asian-Americans have a strong power base in the United States. But if anti-African-American content is discovered, we should take some kind of action.
I am,