Friday, September 19, 2003
I'm still not black
Michelle Myers. How she got the Friday columnist position is unfathomable to me. I've read the same damn column three weeks in a row. "Race, prog assumptions, race, etc." This time it's Prop 54.
If passed, we'll finally be able to statistically (because financially we already do) ignore the lower test scores that black and Hispanic children receive on state wide standardized tests. We will be able to statistically ignore the numbers of black children suffering from asthma in West Oakland because of the polluting corporations in their neighborhoods. We will be able to statistically ignore the disproportionate numbers of white, and other races of women getting and dying from breast cancer. We'll be able to statistically ignore the numbers of Vietnamese women suffering from cervical cancer. We will continue to statistically ignore the decreasing numbers of minority students enrolling at college campuses throughout the state.
Man, that would be so much better than what we have now. Now, we have to listen to folks on Sproul spit out numbers and statistics like they mean something. If Prop 54 passed, we'd only have to hear two numbers: 54 and 209. I'll oppress the entire black race for that small comfort, sure.
Ceasing to collect this racial data will make it even more difficult for organizations like the California Medical Association and the American Cancer Society to address the healthcare and disease prevention needs for different communities.
Yeah, I keep hearing this one, too. I also remember reading what Mike Davis finally and firmly points out: "Clause F of the initiative reads as follows: 'Otherwise lawful classification of medical research subjects and patients shall be exempt from this section.'" It's excluded from Prop 54. Of course, no one'll listen, and no one'll actually read it. Oh, well.
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