POLS 207 Lecture 8
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Nathan Favero
Ph. D. Political Science student.
The Land of Opportunity
What is the American dream?
Success
What does it mean to be successful? How does one achieve success? (support from people and other sources; can we really take credit?)
Equality
Equal opportunity (NOT equivalent to equal outcomes!)
Local policies have effect on equity:
- Welfare
- Education
- Crime (racial profiling, etc.)
- Government
- Non-profits (philanthropy)
- For-profits (employment)
Problem, meet Solution
Everyone comes from different worlds.
Children grow up to be like parents: poverty, wealthy, etc.
Race
Does race matter?
There are more
- Poor white (3:1) people than
- Poor black and
- Poor hispanic combined
Effect of discrimination remains even after discrimination laws have been eliminated
- Structural Barriers: People born into inequality after "inertia" of slavery remains.
- Discrimination: unintentional, but real
Evidence
Median net worth:
- White: 113,149
- Hispanics: 6,325
- Blacks: 5,677
Humans form patterns
Jobs
Names really make a difference in getting a job.
Unemployment rates for non-white are usually higher...
What about reverse Discrimination
- Quotas (1978 Univ of California v. Bach?) for "slots" in a position
- Predetermined point allocations (2003 Gratz v. Bollinger) for minority groups
- Ignoring test results when minorities perform poorly (2009 Ricci v. DeStefano)
Race becomes a proxy for many inconsistencies:
- structural disadvantages in society
Governmental Policy
- Explicit discrimination
- Same policy that affects two groups differently (different environments/needs; e.g. Voter ID laws, some minorities might not have it)
Difficulties Addressing Inequality
- find programs that work
- welfare can distort incentives (if people have a free ride, will they want to work?)
- acquiring resources (volunteers, money, donors, raising taxes)