If you are coming to the beach this summer, please, please be careful. Numerous people have been lost to rip tides along the Gulf Coast in the last couple of weeks.
For the first time in 100 days since our accident my back is not hurting my movements. My renewed health comes at the same time that our heat index is above 110. My yard and garden will just have to wait for next year. The temperature and humidity are way too high to spend much time outside.
I believe climate change is occurring, but I am not certain of the causes. I am not sure we can change it. But I am certain we need to think proactively about how to survive in it.
Last week I did not do a good job of explaining my concern about representation. My blog was too wordy and not very clear. I will try today to simplify my concern about representation and give examples. I will not raise my concern again for a long time—if ever.
The racial/cultural distribution for the 2020 census is 61% whites, 13% Black and 19% Latino. The point I was trying to make last week is we can easily tell when a group is over or under the percentage, but we cannot automatically assume any minority situation below distribution is an underrepresentation caused by racism and discrimination, nor can we automatically assume any above representation for minorities is justified. When we make a claim of over or underrepresentation, we are saying something with moral and legal consequences and we should have proper justification for making that claim.
There is a long history of injustice against Blacks in America that continues in many areas today. We should be fighting for justice and an end to injustice for Blacks and for everyone. My fight is against human injustice and for human justice. Seeking justice for one group and not for everyone will not build a better world.
My concern is that our dialog about the issue of fair representation is not about all cultures. When that happens, the concern is not about justice or injustice but about personal interests.
I have three situations to consider. First, critics have cried racism for the limited participation of Blacks on “The Batchelor.” However, no one has said anything about one of my favorite shows, “Family Feud.”
Jeny and I love Steve Harvey and regularly watch Family Feud. Black contestants on the Family Feud are considerably more than 13% of the contestants and Latinos are less than 19%. Is it proper for critics to be concerned about Black underrepresentation on one show and say nothing when overrepresentation occurs on another?
For a second example, consider the media. The ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC morning shows have 18 main people in front of the cameras. Seven are Black, one is middle Eastern in heritage and 10 are white. That means 55% are white, 38 % are Black, and 0 are Latino. The evening news has 4 anchors on the week day shows. For the evening anchors 75% are white 25% are Black and 0 are Latino.
In the pursuit of justice, the claim of underrepresentation often leads to lawsuits and claims of discrimination. Again, is it fair when overrepresentation occurs and nothing is said?
To see if you understand my issue, please consider one final example.
The number of television anchors is a small sample but people in advertising is a large sample. For many years, people of color were underrepresented in advertising. The Michael Floyd incident changed that situation and we see many more Blacks in advertising.
I certainly appreciate the sensitivity to a better representation of diversity but if a concern for being labeled racist causes every company to have least one black in their ads, then representation is skewed unjustly in favor of Blacks and causing injustice to other cultures.
To make my point, watch TV tonight and consider the following: Afro-Americans are 13 % of our population, Hispanics are 19 %. To have fair representation, either 13 % of the ads should have African Americans in them or 13% of the people in all the ads should be African Americans. Thirteen % of the speaking parts should be African American. In all cases there should be more Latinos than Afro-Americans.
What do you observe?
My final word — again, our fight has to be against human injustice. It is okay to fight in your own sel-interest, but if all you are fighting against is injustice in your self-interest, then you are not really fighting for justice.
Good News
Mom Is ‘Overwhelmed’ By Stranger’s Kind Act To Daughter With Cancer (sunnyskyz.com)
Incredible Turn Of Events As Community Rallies To Save Little Girl’s Birthday (sunnyskyz.com)
Heroic Rescue Effort Saves Lives After House Boat Capsizes Off Florida Coast (sunnyskyz.com)
Peace
Jerry
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