Suchergebnisse

If San Francisco, then everywhere? -- Public housing, black ghettos -- Racial zoning -- "Own your own home" -- Private agreements, government enforcement -- White flight -- Irs support and compliant regulators -- Local tactics -- State-sanctioned violence -- Suppressed incomes -- Looking forward, looking back -- Considering fixes -- Epilogue

Following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody last week, this week has seen rioting in Baltimore and protests across the country decrying police brutality towards the black population. Richard Rothstein argues that while improvements in police quality are needed, the roots of the unrest go deeper, having been shaped by the history of intentional segregation in Baltimore and other cities like it. He writes that without suburban integration to address ghetto conditions, Baltimore's riots are unlikely to be the last.

In the second of two posts investigating racial segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas, Richard Rothstein looks at the history of residential segregation in the 20 th century. He writes that in the mid-twentieth century federal housing policy was suffused with segregationist intent, and the effects of these policies still endure. He argues that the vast present-day disparity between black and white household wealth is almost entirely attributable to 20th century government policies which excluded African-Americans from suburban homeownership, and that with this in mind, policymakers should understand that they have a constitutional obligation to pursue aggressive policies to desegregate metropolitan areas.

Nicholas Kristof is a great humanitarian journalist. In his New York Times columns, Kristof exposes third world famine, sex trafficking, genital mutilation, and genocide. He chides readers for championing human dignity in the abstract, but doing little to advance it in the concrete. He shames us by noting our attention to high-profile tragedies while we ignore more routine and systematic disasters. He doesn't merely report; he promotes Web sites where readers can contribute money, time, or political pressure to combat the suffering and exploitation he has documented.

It is strongly argued that the US federal government should not become more involved in the movement to make public education institutions more accountable for student achievement. Eric Hanushek's (2005) contentions that poor educational performance damages the national economy, that previous reform efforts have largely failed, & that states will not support accountability measures because of student relocation are challenged. In addition, it is asserted that Hanushek has overstated the success of the federal government's previous initiatives to enhance school accountability, eg, the George W. Bush administration's No Child Left Behind of 2001. It is contended that elementary- & secondary-level students must be taught basic & higher skills simultaneously & that standardized tests can be created to evaluate students' higher skills. Recommendations for getting the federal government more involved in redressing problems associated with state educational systems are offered, eg, adopting more equitable distribution plans for government funding. 16 References. J. W. Parker

Critiques various free market economists' (such as Nicholas Kristof) defensive views of sweatshops & their workers. Describes assumptions they make in defending sweatshops -- sweatshops are bad because the alternatives are worse -- without using evidence to support their claims: raising wages results in job losses for workers, global sweatshop wage disparity is never questioned, wanting labor standards in only specific countries, minimum wage increases will increase unemployment. History of sweatshop & worker regulation since the early 1900s in the United States & globally is considered followed by discussion of the industrialized nations', progressives' & New Dealers' views on sweatshop regulation & wages. It is concluded that future international efforts to improve labor standards & wages for sweatshop workers will require more thorough thinking by the labor movement, students, & consumer groups about what are fair wages along with the development of an international standards regime to monitor compliance. R. Rodriguez

Suggests ways of "saving" Social Security when costs rise from higher retiree-to-worker ratios, and ways that current surpluses can be spent to help the elderly in the future; US.