Disparity and DISPARITY

There I was rolling along the George Washington Parkway, listening to my usual "traffic, weather and 'news'" radio station, when the datum fell upon my ears. Northern Virginia educational nabobs had uncovered disparity at an Alexandria school. This school caters to kids who are viewed by "authorities" as gifted intellectually or exceptionally talented. Are idiot savants welcomed? I can't say authoritatively, but they probably don't fit in.

Where is the disparity? Most of you would probably guess that the school was disproportionately Asian-American. Wrong! There seemed to be too many white students. Parenthetically, white students are the only students who don't possess a dignified, specifically geo-racial characterization.

Why is that? It allows census takers more flexibility in setting preferred proportions. That's not the only reason, but I don't want to get into hate issues in this blog. There is a sort of quota system operating. Having one category into which anyone can be tossed is very useful. Let me give you an example.

In the old Spotlight tabloid there was a second page which had several "News You May Have Missed" items. One day, I saw a brief article about an American citizen who had arrived from Egypt not so many years prior. He was classified as "white." He wasn't aware that this might be a liability until he applied for a minority grant or "set-aside." As I recall, he was an academic type, but he may have been otherwise employed. He was turned down because he wasn't a defined "minority," according to the law. The law provided some sort of affirmative access to the grants, et al, for African Americans, Asian Americans, women, sexually confused, and the like. I am referencing the "usual suspects" in minority set-asides/grants.

This Egyptian American was tagged as "white" and ineligible. He was pissed! In the story he lamented because he was darker and more African in his appearance than General Colin Powell, who was legally categorized as "African American." He planned to sue.

I've always maintained that it isn't easy being a white person. You are always both in a limbo category and - at the same time - you are "it" in all legal issues, as well as the "bad guy" in movies.

I believe that you have by now gotten my drift about the flexibility of this white category in the hands of census takers. I'm sure that there are sensible people working for the census bureau, but no one can strike a rational position, where asylum inmates command the institution.

The issue is disparity. Now this doesn't operate at the supreme Court, where Jews are represented at a disparate rate. It doesn't operate at the White House nor in the top positions of the Executive Branch, where Jews hold positions at disparate rates. It doesn't operate in the U.S. Senate nor the U.S. House of Representatives where the staffs of the collective committees and subcommittees are Jewish at a disparate rate. They gather the information and shape the policies that are basically "rubber-stamped" by senators and representatives.

Usually, the issue of disparity doesn't "touch" the high and mighty. The issue of disparity reaches down to the mensch, the little guy. Yet, it is still a good training exercise for the ascending "talent" that there is such a thing as power - and they don't have it. Since all these federal and state-sanctioned educational commissions/councils/associations are composed of Stepinanfetchits, they are anxious to please the "boss in the big house." Coming down on the side of "disparity" will never hurt your standing nor injure your resume among the powers that be in America presently.

As I recall, this Alexandria school had something like 58% white students. According to the report, there was under representation of African Americans and Latinos. How could there be such a result, unless discrimination - however subtly employed - was not a factor?

Equalitarianism is viewed as the first inflexible law of America. Since inequality cannot exist in nature, disparity of results is the first mortal sin. It is a sin of man against nature.

What I personally wondered was this: Of the 58% "white" student population, how many, or what percentage, were Jews? If a "correction" occurs in the future to rectify this disparity, will the resultant white category be disproportionately Jewish? (It may already be disproportionately Jewish).

Jews are counted as whites except when white are getting pummeled by the system; then Jews are a "religious" minority, who are exempt.

America is a nation where a minority rules over the majority, and confusion is the "letter of the law."

PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL

The recent incidence of Mayor Adrian Fenty's mayoral regime provokes normal sensibilities. However, Washington, D.C., has so few such citizens remaining in the town that outrage cannot and isn't expected by anyone. He glibly signals his innocence and near inability to commit errors. Else, he merely refuses to answer. He peddles his political goods to his 500 dearest friends. Adrian's well-liked by "capitalist pigs." His intentions are noble, even visionary, as he fights "for ole D.C." He sees a shining D.C. nestled upon the Potomac River; it will be a beacon to all mankind (especially well-heeled ones, who share his love of the finer things.) He's part "Little Lord Fauntleroy" in garish sportswear that resembles "pantyhose" and part Artful Dodger.

What is truly disturbing about Adrian Fenty is that he is not alone. He represents a type of Post-Yuppie, Post-Urban Pioneer citizen, who dominates the levers of power in Washington, D.C. This is not to say that they are the ultimate "caller of shots" in D.C. Rather, the real power behinds the scenes allows these people to run amok throughout D.C. They are children on a tear. There is no half-baked idea that doesn't "grab" their imaginations. The only issue in debate is the matter of funding. In the language of children, they seek an "allowance" from Congress, tourists, and commuters.

They are all car-haters. Hence, any idea that is anti-car seems "responsible" and "wise." They hope to force a metropolitan area that has its population zooming to ride public transportation, forgetting utterly in its inability to do that task. They envision every street in D.C. to be a ghetto each of which is walled-in by buses which have been purchased as a "smarter way to travel."

They are seriously considering a trolley system. Why? Why use this older mode of travel when the government has previously abandoned it, and the provision of electricity suitable to keep it going is entirely outside the District officials' ability to guarantee? As Congress wrings its hands over exactly how to provision the booming population of America with electricity and other basic utilities, including water, the District of Columbia will have a vast quantity of trolley cars awaiting the required electricity, not to mention the construction of the system. People, such as Mayor Fenty, will be peddling about expressing enthuasiasm for the project and talking about the new jobs and tourist money that the trolley will bring to Washington. You should understand that what these D.C. creeps are expressing is "San Francisco-envy."

As a real leader, Mayor Fenty peddles around Washington, protected by motorcycle cops and provided by them with an eternal "green light," greeting his people (The Urban Arrogant), promoting fitness, and "envisioning" D.C.'s future. He sees twenty years ahead routinely. What do you call someone who sees things no one else can see? Whatever the proper term, one can say with certainty that he's not alone in dreaming. In the old days this collective "spell" was blamed on "swamp fever."