well, i read all of the post that were commented on my last entry. i had meant to respond in some capacity but only am still reeling from the conversations i had with my friends. it is moments like those that are pretty pivotal. when you're no longer high school friends wondering when the next lan party is. this is when you know, you've come to that cross road and things will never be the same again. it doesn't come all at once like some large car wreck. this was a gradual rocky road we have traveled together.
situations like these have happened to several good friends before. a very good friend, my very last "girl" friend, suddenly developed strong attachments to the libertarian party. she also had it out with me over the issue of pro-choice. and it's like once they know how i feel about things, they are highly offended, probably as i am of them. but i don't deliberately attack people by saying, "well, that's okay. because you're going to hell anyways." or "if you wanna be a commy, you should move to russia."
i'm not sure how even the idea of mentioning equality causes people to pin me down as an communist. hell, i'm not calling for every man or woman to be the same or have the same things. all men are not created equal despite what our founding forefathers wanted to delude themselves into believing (sarcasm). there is no solid solution the drastic inequalities that exist, at least that i know of for fact, in austin. so if there exists a program that gives people in poorer neighborhoods a chance to attend college whereas they wouldn't have, i support that. i'll be the first to admit that it is causing a lot of racial tension and is unfair on many levels. but in the end, i say, "go home and cry toy our mommy, whitey."
what made me so mad the other day..and not while i was arguing but as i reflected back on the conversation was when one of the guy said, "i worked hard to get where i am today. and if i can do it, so can everyone else." and that's the statement i hear from everyone who feels that there shouldn't be any programs that reach out. and why should they, they're the ones on top. the guy who said that had parents who paid for his entire college tuition. who FLEW him home for visits when the drive is only 3 and a half hours away. his parents call him every day to this day. and while he sat on his ass for two and half years after graduation without a job, his parents paid for his living.
now he's a spoiled as i say i was quite spoiled too. the difference is that i recognize that i was privileged when getting to where i am today. i don't delude myself into thinking that i am who i am today because i only worked really hard. i don't think it is as simple as that. just as this conversation isn't as simple as the words i am jotting down.
the hard evidence asked for by the replied post isn't here in neat little tables and charts. this isn't a paper based off of sources cited. this is an entry based off of my entire existence from the reality i perceive. but i see things. i read things. i have studied these things before.
i know that in the poorer part of austin which is east austin (where i live in a tiny college nook), 58% are hispanic, 9% white, and 33% african american. whereas in this entire county, 21% are hispanic, 73% white, and 11% african american. and i guess my friend would tell me that regardless of the racial zoning that went on in 1928 in the City of Austin Master Plan, anyone who wanted to could pick up and move somewhere else today. probably even despite the fact that real estate agents and banks have purposely tried to cap the growth of the ethnic minority in the northern and western parts of austin by redlining certain areas where minority buyers could not secure loans. sure, it's all in the past. these things don't happen now, right?
the census data in 1990 shows that the median household income of east austin residents was half that of all travis county residents. east austin residents averaged a median household income of 13,000 while travis county as a whole had a median household income of 27,000. that's more than double that of east austin residents. in west austin the larges range of income was from 100,000 up and that consists of 21.3% of the residents. in east austin, the largest income ranges from 20,000 a year consisting of 65.4% of the residents. in the education department, west austing has 35.4% of residents having at least a bachelors degree, 30.3% a graduate degree, and 20.5% some college. whereas in austin, 30.3% have less than a 9th grade education, 28% 9th through 12 grade with no graduation, and 21.5% with a high school graduation.
these numbers speak something to me. they tell me that with that much disparity, something should be done on the primary education level so that those who want to can have some sort of an opportunity. education is key in everything. not just academic education but life knowledge. knowing where you stand and where you can go. knowing what must be done in order for things to improve. i don't think that even these basic things are being taught. for example, without educating the public, how are they to know how to combat industrial zoning in their neighborhood. without education, how are people in "revitalized parts of the downtown area" supposed to know that they have a right to secure their property without being displaced so their homes can be converted to cozy expensive bungalows? i care that my friends refuse to see that injustice exists. at least recognize that you're not super geniuses who climbed their way to the top. their privileged children who never had to walk a day in their lives.
it's really all about perception, i suppose. the world is an existence full of a cluster of truths and half truths, and reality and disreality. who knows what we're really perceiving. in the complexity of what is there or what i believe is there, i feel there is something off. i recognize that and what i do with that recognition is of my own accord as it is with everyone else. but i'm glad i at least see it.
and regardless of my political position in 10 years, i am who i am now. and that will effect who i am tomorrow. and in my opinion, that's probably a good thing for me.
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