tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308923185697655557.post2023399639080752564..comments2023-07-06T03:24:58.768-04:00Comments on Your Big Girl Pants: Are You a Segregationist?Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713092722965430212noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308923185697655557.post-45200766363929466862012-08-21T22:54:17.072-04:002012-08-21T22:54:17.072-04:00I think that's right. Supposedly one of the m...I think that's right. Supposedly one of the main reasons for white flight as a phenomenon was the desire to leave the poor and non-white/immigrant folks behind. And I suspect that has a real impact on attitudes about poverty and race, because if you never have any reason to encounter people who have less than you do, let alone poor people, your associations will be entirely based on popular culture and prejudice. It has an impact on cities, because the tax base leaves every night. One of the things I have been interested in for years is state-wide funding for public schools. Vermont did it, and Texas was on the verge of being forced by a court to do it at one point. It - in theory - levels out the discrepancy in funding from county to county, and takes away some of that drive to move to where the rich people live and away from poor people. The problem is the same problem with busing, however, a variation on a NIMBY theme - "not with my kids." Again, I'd say the perception of difference instead of community makes people dislike the idea of common solutions to problems. I think the important part is that your kids receive a good education, but I think that can happen in a school with poor and immigrant kids. Emilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11713092722965430212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5308923185697655557.post-70155707736707578672012-08-21T21:49:04.599-04:002012-08-21T21:49:04.599-04:00We certainly seem to be getting segregated by poli...We certainly seem to be getting segregated by political viewpoint, and that, I think, has a lot to do with the Internet and the myriad of t.v. choices. People are watching and reading just the viewpoints that they agree with and that encourage the opinions that they already hold.<br /><br />But I think one of the most important ways we are segregating ourselves is by income. The U.S. is far more segregated by income level than in the past; the poor end up isolated and poor kids end up in schools filled with other poor kids, and it's not good for society. My family has made a conscious effort to stay in the lower-to-middle class area where we live and to keep our kids in the local public school, even though many educated parents we know don't want to send their kids to school with poor kids and immigrants... but it's a tough decision. Thoughts?<br />--HeatherHMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17598819048997666135noreply@blogger.com