I love rags to riches(?) stories. A lot of families have them, even mine. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. It’s what America is all about right?

Dad’s people, like a lot of Italians immigrated in the early 1900’s. Great grandpa came first and then sent for his family. When we looked up the records at Ellis Island, the passenger list showed that Great grandma had some money on her which the docent told me was highly unusual for immigrants. She was met by her husband and went to live in an Italian community where they brought up their four daughters, one of which was my grandmother.

Great grandpa owned a grocery market (we actually have a picture of him in the store) and ran a bar with his partner, a gypsy (I kid you not) who got the liquor license cause great grand pa wasn’t a citizen. They arranged my grandmother’s marriage. Grandpa worked in the mines but when he got miners asthma the thought was that he needed “fresh air”. They sold everything they had and and bought a dairy farm ( that included the barns, etc Mo). He died anyways within a year and my poor grandmother was stuck there with seven kids. It was do or die for her. Thankfully two of her sons were older and some how from scratch they learned the business and made a go of it.

Of those seven children, they were all successful. There were even two college graduates! My father, the baby, went on to college to become an engineer after a stint in the Air Force and first working as a machinist with a company in NY. It wasn’t the GI bill but free college tuition at SUNY schools that helped get him started. Where dad went, they also offered cheap married student housing and I have fond memories of living on a college campus when I was young.

I’ve got to say, up until this point though, I had never seen a black person and the first one I met was actually a black exchange student from Sierra Leone! He used to stop by the desk in the student union where my mom was employed part time in the evenings, and where I’d hang out while she worked. I was fascinated. I can’t say, because I was so young if there were other POC enrolled at the school during those years but I don’t remember seeing any. Can you imagine?

This was, of course, before the civil rights movement but there were ways to keep POC down like red lining in real estate which prevented POC from living outside certain prescribed areas. BUT you say, things aren’t like that now so why can’t everyone succeed?

You tell me. It’s interesting psychologically. Take Jama’s story of his father breaking out of a cycle that his uncles couldn’t. What would have happened to your dad and his sister if they hadn’t been adopted out? What makes people give up trying to chase a dream of bettering themselves? I don’t have the answer, but you both sound so hard.

Early in our marriage, my husband and I purchased an inexpensive house in the city. I got an opportunity to live amongst all sorts of people. It was an Americanized urban version of The Durrell’s of Corfu (Lindigo gets that, lol). It got....bumpy at times but I think we navigated it more or less successfully. I got hit in the face with a whole lot of WTH that I never encountered growing up in the burbs. For instance, I admit that I could never understand why some residents wouldn’t get out and at least keep the front of their properties up. I later learned they they didn’t cause it made them a target for robberies. We were never robbed thankfully. I also discovered that most of the people I eventually met were decent. I got fooled once. The Jamaican man living next to me at one point, turned out to be a drug dealer, but who knew? He kept the house up, wasn’t noisy and was always nice to me as we exchanged pleasantries when we both happened to be outside, lol. I was told he conducted his business a street away behind a legitimate business.

Somehow, I can’t begrudge other groups of people from getting a hand up though, even if it happens through government programs. And believe me, I’m no saint, but it’s no skin off my nose either.

 

Say what you want about Bloomberg, but his people really know how to use media:

https://twitter.com/MikeBloomberg/status/1229369357471551488

 

Those are interesting thoughts. Sometimes it IS someone eles’s fault. However, When it comes to giving people high expectations it should start in the public schools beginning with kindergarten or before. Education can do so much for people if they make the most of it. Again, I have some experience with both urban and suburban schools.

We stayed in that city house longer than most would have but it was paid for which allowed us to spend our money on travel and entertainment for years, lol. We even stayed for awhile after our daughter was born, so she started out in city schools. The first one she attended until second grade was good, but I wasn’t thrilled with the one after that. They treated those young children like they were in military school. I didn’t see a lot of “nurturing” going on, and I really believe some of those teachers were probably in the wrong profession.

I became a member of the PTA and ended up being the treasurer and the person in charge of fundraising. I was very good at my job. Since I spent a lot of time physically in the building, I got acquainted with staff and administration. Through my efforts I was able to raise the money so field trips could be taken, books could be given out for summer reading and at the end of each year a big festival could be thrown for the kids with prizes and activities like bounce houses etc. along with food for a large barbecue which some of the parents were kind enough to step up and work at, among other smaller things going on during the year.

Thing is, is that it was very difficult to keep the POC involved with PTA. A few were dedicated but many would float in and float out. I was the one who had to get things done, even though we were in the minority (my daughter was one of two white kids in her class). There’s more to that story, but my point is that if the parents didn’t value education (and I’m excluding those who were working full time and couldn’t participate) it should have been the instructors who stepped up to the plate to light that fire and to be honest, some did their best.

I’m convinced that the vibe was totally different from the suburban schools that my daughter later attended after observing both even though my experiences were but a small microcosm of the whole picture. Why public schools? They’re free (not counting taxes) and it’s required that all children attend unless they’re home schooled. That’s why good teachers are so important and IMO, undervalued in today’s society. They’re required to wear so many hats but none the less, there’s where you start. If for whatever reason, POC need help then you help them, because it’s the right thing to do.

If you can get that child through high school with out dropping out or getting pregnant (more sex education and easy access to birth control) that’s a start. If the poorest among all of us benefit from free tuition, good, if it means that the child benefitting becomes a functioning member of society. We also need more programs that involve learning the trades and other non-professional options.

After all that, you need to look further into why someone isn’t succeeding. Lazy? Drugs? Too many single mother births? Child care unmanageably expensive? What ever but I don’t think it’s necessarily because POC think they’re owed something. That usually can be applied to entitled white kids, lol, JK.

 

I was watching Firing Line and Steve Bannon was being interviewed. He said that Bloomberg was probably the biggest threat to Trump. From Bannon no less, lol

 

Who says that we forgot about that? I'm genuinely curious.

 

Ya know.... I really don't think that any of us (as far as I'm aware) are disagreeing with one another when you take in the full essence of our discussion. We all have different points of view about the little things, but we all have good hearts and genuinely want to see every person living in a better world. I'm okay with the government offering various programs to people of color. Especially native Americans. But sometimes those types of things also cause a dependency that is unintended. That doesn't mean I'm against them however. Just trying to be objective.

My opinions about this are formulated from a.... well, kind of a weird life that I honestly believe is very unique when it comes to people of color. I've already talked about my father. But my mother's side of the family has had some racially charged moments in life as well. My maternal grandmother is half black. Which means that my mom is 1/4 black, which makes me 1/8 black.

What exactly does that mean? Well I've got a black man's booty and that about sums it up! LMAO. Culturally speaking, my family is pretty "white" if you get my drift.... We can't dance at all and we have ZERO soul. And hardly any of them knew other black people. Not a lot of people of color living in small town northern NY.

But in all seriousness, my grandmother had been called some awful names as a young lady from time to time.

And my mom had a horrible experience when she went to her junior prom. If you didn't see my mom with my grandmother, then you'd just think that my mom was another white girl. BUUUUUT..... A few days before prom, my grandmother dropped my mom off at the boy's house to go to the movies. My grandmother introduced herself to dad. My mom and the boy went to see the movie. End of story, right? Nope. The day before prom, the boy told my mom that he wouldn't be able to take my mom because his dad didn't want him to go on any more dates with the daughter of a "colored person". My mom missed junior prom because of it and it broke her heart. Pretty shitty.

So here I am, being a white boy, living my white boy life and I've never had to deal with any of that. But two people I love very much, who, if you ask me, are VERY white (lol) actually dealt with some heavy racial stuff, and that happens to give me my perspective. And to be honest, I'm not sure that I'll ever fully understand because unlike them, I didn't go through it myself.

 

That’s awful what happened to your mom. Stinks actually. They made a value judgement based on the most superficial thing of all.

Perhaps you’re right. I was very insulated growing up. There were no POC in my neighborhood, none. Zero at my schools. I barely was aware POC existed aside from a couple here and there. It took me living a number of years in a fully integrated neighborhood (and a gay couple owned the house across the street, lol, I loved those guys) to get to know some. Like people everywhere, we’d talk and I got to hear their stories, especially from the people at the church I attended at the time. I learned the majority were nice hard working people. There were some SOB’s, of course, but you’d expect that even within a group of Caucasians.

I found cultural differences to be the hardest thing to accept and I think that’s a bit of a problem when whites make broad assumptions about people they know nothing about, really. I learned a lot. I’m sure there would have been more to learn but I finally had to get my kid into better schools, which was a shame, as she got older.

One good result is that I believe my daughter is truly color blind, lol, something I’m not but I strive to be better and not make race part of my initial evaluation of an individual.I also try to look beyond why something is the way it is because my experiences made me think that way. I wish it was easier for people of different looks and backgrounds to get along better. I have no idea what the ultimate solution is.

 

Some kids are so disruptive they do get kicked out of high school. But they can go to continuation schools if they want to get a HS diploma. Some are free, some aren't. This one might be appealing to kids who want a HS degree light on academics.

"Ida B. Wells High School is an alternative school established to serve students who are age 16 and older who are seeking to complete the high school portion of their education in a setting with smaller classes, an array of credit recovery opportunities, and a supportive, family-like learning environment. We provide a small school setting and individualized attention. Special programs include Culinary Arts, Drama, Computer Applications and Robotics, Ceramics, and Surfing."

One of my BFF's daughters got kicked out of both private schools, public schools, and some continuation schools. The last continuation school gave her a diploma even though she spent the last few months of her senior year sitting in SF County Jail for attempting to murder her boyfriend.

The kid was excited to go to public high school because somehow in her privileged world she thought only private schools were "good." She was so disappointed to discover the same curriculum in public schools and that she was expected to do the work. I found that fascinating.

 

She's happy. She's working at a doggy day care. My BFF is basically raising the granddaughter that came along. BFF provides housing for her daughter in an in-law-type space on a lower level. She comes up every evening to hug her little girl and visit about how her day went. Not a great resolution. Not as bad as it could be.

 

Nah, it's Bernie's fault. He the Trump of the left wing.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/michael-bloomberg-women/

So Michael Bloomberg is a pig. I don't think Democratic voters will excuse that. I'm sick of rich pigs. Yes, I know these are allegations, but I don't trust a man who puts victims under nondisclosure agreements and won't release them from legal roadblocks to establish his character to be president.

While allegations about Bloomberg’s comments and treatment of women have received notice over the years, a review by The Post of thousands of pages of court documents, depositions obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with witnesses underscores how Bloomberg and his company, Bloomberg LP, have fought the claims.

A number of the cases have either been settled, dismissed in Bloomberg’s favor or closed because of a failure of the plaintiff to meet filing deadlines. The cases do not involve accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct; the allegations have centered around what Bloomberg has said and about the workplace culture he fostered.

Now, as Bloomberg is increasingly viewed as a viable Democratic candidate for president and the #MeToo era has raised the profile of workplace harassment, he is finding that his efforts to prevent disclosure are clashing against demands that he release former employees and complainants from their nondisclosure agreements.

The allegations that he tolerated a hostile office culture could undercut his ability to criticize President Trump’s alleged sexual misconduct and efforts to keep such claims private.

 

Can anyone explain the Nevada early caucus voting to me? I see how you can early vote for the first round, because you know who the candidates are. But how do you cast a vote for the second round? Don't some candidates get conked out in the first round? Which is why you have to go to a second round? So you don't even know who is left at that point? And yet you HAVE to vote for THREE rounds or your early vote just gets thrown away. WTH. I didn't mind the Iowa caucus with people milling around in cafagymatoriums, but Nevada's caucus doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

Mayor Pete lying about his support from black leaders (again, apparently):

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dem...edges-support-black-leaders/story?id=69053705

 

What I find most interesting about Bloomberg is that he dissected the race last fall and noticed an avenue open for himself that most people didn't see. I didn't think he'd get the traction he has. Money alone isn't going to do that. It also is due to the weaknesses of the other candidates.

The existing campaigns aren't being run very well either. It's like we've rewinded to pre-2008, when Democratic campaigns were plodding, uninspiring, tone deaf and incompetent. So he's capitalizing on all of that with just a skilled operation.

Out of the entire field I really don't know what the hell Warren and Biden are doing. Warren was embarrassed in her backyard last Tuesday. Since she, for whatever reason, is still in the race she should've rebooted her campaign and tried something new. Instead she's ranting about Bloomberg being a billionaire. Warren is still stupidly chasing the Bernie voters that she'll never get. And I don't know who Biden is even talking to at this point. His SC speech after the NH vote was terrible.

So much of the problem is Sanders too. He's polluted the water and has thrown the whole nomination process off kilter. You have decent candidates running too far left early on and, like in the case of Harris, it completely destroyed her campaign. Then you have others afraid to criticize Sanders because they don't want to turn off his cult. Well, most of those people aren't going to vote for a non-Bernie nominee anyway, so they better get it together fast and attack the guy. The base of the party wants him challenged, and if Bloomberg is the only one that goes into the debate tonight and attacks Sanders it's only going to get worse for the rest of the field.