Just a Few Observations
Looking throughout the crowds of young people here at MGA, it’s obvious to see that many people will encounter each other in the future. In that, there are lots of JMU, Radford, Tech and UVa shirts and ties being worn throughout the entire conference. Lots of diversity among future plans of the young leaders of not only the Commonwealth of Virginia but the entire country exists however, that is the only form of diversity. An elephant stands in the room, in every committee meeting and at the banquet last night but nobody seemed to notice its quite large presence. Minorities, of all ethnicities, seem to have opted out of this wonderful program, but why? Perhaps it’s the cost of this program that not only minorities, but everyone as a whole considers to be higher as our economy continues to remain in trouble. Or maybe it’s the lack of advertisement within the schools to attract more people, not just minorities. Or, this being the more pragmatic reason, it just doesn’t appeal to us. But why? Socrates would be elated to see that blogs have become places where questions are answered by continuous questions, but sadly the mind of the average student does not work like his, so we need an answer. Maybe “why” isn’t the perspective that needs to be taken on this stance, rather than treating the symptom, why not cure the disease? To begin however, let us view possible reasons for these “observations”.
1. Lets view where the majority of people at this conference, again by my observation not any statistical evidence, come from. A typical MGA-er is a white male or female from a region other then Tidewater, Richmond or Northern Virginia. Given the concentration of population in those three regions aforementioned, it only makes sense that this conference would be over-run by students from this area- wrong. Students in the more rural regions of the state tend not to be minorities; therefore the pool of students to draw from with respect to minorities dwindles.
2. When the Legislative Branch of government was established, it was meant to represent all of the people within their respective district. Was this supposed to be a literal representation even down to ethnicity and sex, or by ideas? The answer to that question can be found in the Constitution of both Virginia and the United States. Neither of these historical documents ever mentions that the race or sex of a person gives them an advantage or disadvantage with respect to positions in the legislature. The goal was to represent the people in ideas, desires and concerns. If race or sex was meant to describe the type of person who would represent a district, I would love to see U.S Congressman Robert Wittman, from Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, with an all white body until you reach his neck, which would be Hispanic neck, his African-American arms and Asian elbows. So, to see that the majority of the people at this MODEL General Assembly, MODEL after the overall makeup of the real General Assembly actually makes sense.
3. Politics for minorities, specifically American-Americans, hasn’t quite been the same since a certain day back in 2008. Rather than to unite a race or even a country, Americans have reached a polarizing point that is fixed upon the actions of our beloved, President Barack Obama. An African-American who supports President Obama gets told, “oh its only because he’s black,” but should that same person not support President Obama he is instantly an “Uncle Tom.” There isn’t a real medium on this issue, and that is what truly hurts the progress of African-American interest and participation in politics. Internal and external political efficacy is down, by a lot, and it became clearly visible in the failed attempt of Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds to rally on the coattails of President Obama’s historic campaign. Politics has become a touchy subject in the African-American community, before President Obama was elected the general assumption and feeling, once again from observation, was that “regardless of who it is, he won’t really understand or help us.” With President Obama that feeling and outlook on politics changed, and quickly as African-Americans were forced to take note of political action as their leader could finally “understand us.” This feeling and strategy transfers over into the political realm of young people as well. Is it possible that African-Americans are now shying away from the political realm and diving into more science and technology specific fields—pushing their students to MIT instead of Georgetown? To be an African-American male in politics isn’t easy, every action seems to be compared to that of our President, but is that truly fair? Would a young white male’s actions in a mock political, scenario such as MGA have been compared to any President Washington through Clinton’s actions? People hated Bush, the world hated Bush, and I even believe that Bush hated Bush—but I’m yet to see such a strong and deep-seeded dislike for a person as I have for President Obama. Racism doesn’t exist in science; a beaker of sulfuric acid will be a beaker of sulfuric acid regardless of the color of hand that holds it. But a bill introduced into the House’s effect and outcome could very well by changed by the race of the presenter. So, in theory this lack of diversity at MGA could be simply based upon the slow creep, or fast dash, away from politics within the African-American community.
4. Minorities are called minorities for a reason—they are the minority members of a group. America in itself isn’t a country made up of African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians or other ethnic groups; rather it is a majority white country. Simply stated, to have a large percentage of white people at a conference or any other function, unless specifically for a certain minority, wouldn’t be considered outlandish at all. If this were a conference on minority relations or ethnic studies or even basketball, the roles would be quickly reversed—it’s all in the nature of the beast.
MGA in itself is a wonderfully designed plan that reminds me of a Boys/Girls State program, but co-ed and less competitive, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When considering the few minorities who are present at this event, they can be considered the true crème of the crop, just like any other person here. To be ideologically sound, race shouldn’t matter in the decisions made by a person with respect to governing others, but as Communist quickly found, humans are inherently flawed. --Trent Johnson
1. Lets view where the majority of people at this conference, again by my observation not any statistical evidence, come from. A typical MGA-er is a white male or female from a region other then Tidewater, Richmond or Northern Virginia. Given the concentration of population in those three regions aforementioned, it only makes sense that this conference would be over-run by students from this area- wrong. Students in the more rural regions of the state tend not to be minorities; therefore the pool of students to draw from with respect to minorities dwindles.
2. When the Legislative Branch of government was established, it was meant to represent all of the people within their respective district. Was this supposed to be a literal representation even down to ethnicity and sex, or by ideas? The answer to that question can be found in the Constitution of both Virginia and the United States. Neither of these historical documents ever mentions that the race or sex of a person gives them an advantage or disadvantage with respect to positions in the legislature. The goal was to represent the people in ideas, desires and concerns. If race or sex was meant to describe the type of person who would represent a district, I would love to see U.S Congressman Robert Wittman, from Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, with an all white body until you reach his neck, which would be Hispanic neck, his African-American arms and Asian elbows. So, to see that the majority of the people at this MODEL General Assembly, MODEL after the overall makeup of the real General Assembly actually makes sense.
3. Politics for minorities, specifically American-Americans, hasn’t quite been the same since a certain day back in 2008. Rather than to unite a race or even a country, Americans have reached a polarizing point that is fixed upon the actions of our beloved, President Barack Obama. An African-American who supports President Obama gets told, “oh its only because he’s black,” but should that same person not support President Obama he is instantly an “Uncle Tom.” There isn’t a real medium on this issue, and that is what truly hurts the progress of African-American interest and participation in politics. Internal and external political efficacy is down, by a lot, and it became clearly visible in the failed attempt of Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds to rally on the coattails of President Obama’s historic campaign. Politics has become a touchy subject in the African-American community, before President Obama was elected the general assumption and feeling, once again from observation, was that “regardless of who it is, he won’t really understand or help us.” With President Obama that feeling and outlook on politics changed, and quickly as African-Americans were forced to take note of political action as their leader could finally “understand us.” This feeling and strategy transfers over into the political realm of young people as well. Is it possible that African-Americans are now shying away from the political realm and diving into more science and technology specific fields—pushing their students to MIT instead of Georgetown? To be an African-American male in politics isn’t easy, every action seems to be compared to that of our President, but is that truly fair? Would a young white male’s actions in a mock political, scenario such as MGA have been compared to any President Washington through Clinton’s actions? People hated Bush, the world hated Bush, and I even believe that Bush hated Bush—but I’m yet to see such a strong and deep-seeded dislike for a person as I have for President Obama. Racism doesn’t exist in science; a beaker of sulfuric acid will be a beaker of sulfuric acid regardless of the color of hand that holds it. But a bill introduced into the House’s effect and outcome could very well by changed by the race of the presenter. So, in theory this lack of diversity at MGA could be simply based upon the slow creep, or fast dash, away from politics within the African-American community.
4. Minorities are called minorities for a reason—they are the minority members of a group. America in itself isn’t a country made up of African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians or other ethnic groups; rather it is a majority white country. Simply stated, to have a large percentage of white people at a conference or any other function, unless specifically for a certain minority, wouldn’t be considered outlandish at all. If this were a conference on minority relations or ethnic studies or even basketball, the roles would be quickly reversed—it’s all in the nature of the beast.
MGA in itself is a wonderfully designed plan that reminds me of a Boys/Girls State program, but co-ed and less competitive, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When considering the few minorities who are present at this event, they can be considered the true crème of the crop, just like any other person here. To be ideologically sound, race shouldn’t matter in the decisions made by a person with respect to governing others, but as Communist quickly found, humans are inherently flawed. --Trent Johnson
Comments
Post a Comment