What A Black/Brown Man Gains From A White Man's Fault

Prompt 1: "The floor of the white man's failures is the ceiling of the black/brown man's expectations."
M. Mendiolaza

In the past it was evident that white men felt superior to blacks because of their skin color and high level of education. The white men would usually degrade the blacks in hopes that the suppression would discourage the blacks from rising up against them. In today's society, whites and blacks are equal, however, the superior complex of the typical white man still very much exists. It is typical to see a white president, CEO of a company, and wealthy entrepreneur, however, to see a black man bring himself up to become of those high-ranked occupations is definitely a milestone. The quote above makes sense because if a white man fails to meet his goals or does not get the position he wants at his job, the black man has the opportunity to prove that he can do so by working diligently and just as hard. Again, since we are so used to seeing white men hold the top-ranking position in the workforce and on an academic level, it would seem somewhat out of the ordinary if he would fail to be the best at either, allowing another man to surpass him. When a white man does not accomplish what he wants this may enlighten the black man and prove to the brown man that whites are not superior beings (as they may have been recognized in the past). A black/brown man can overcome the white man when he is given the opportunity, or when the white man falls. 

On Wealth Disparity Between Races in America

Brendan Ransom

Writing II - Spring, 2014 (In class, short-response)

Professor Mitchell Jackson

3 February 2014

"The floor of the white man's failures is the ceiling of the black/brown man's expectations"

Racial inequality is a problem that's plagued America since its inception as a country. It would be naive to think that it ended with the abolition of slavery. Though the above statement is clearly hyperbolic, there is certainly a vast amount of evidence that suggests that employers are much more reluctant to hire minority applicants over white applicants, even in cases where the minority possesses equal or better credentials (A 2009 study conducted by Harvard's Devah Pager indicates that a white applicant is twice as likely to receive an interview offer or call-back as an equally qualified black applicant). The disparity between the success rates of whites and minorities, though related to longstanding racial discrimination, is in my opinion primarily attributable to economic inequality today. High-income neighborhoods are largely inhabited by white families -- the benefits afforded by the upbringing that comes with high income are myriad (though certainly not guaranteed or universal): familial stability, low crime, and heightened quality of education are among the first that come to mind. Alternatively, low income neighborhoods suffer from high crime, hellacious percentages of single-parent households, and laughable education systems. These are neighborhoods that are largely inhabited by minorities. The racial wealth disparity emerged out of racism so blatant that it was reflected in official government policy, but its longevity is a rather predictable result of a vicious cycle that has yet to be addressed with any real competence by the American government. The wealth disparity isn't a "black problem" or a "brown problem" or a "minority problem", per sé, as it fundamentally has nothing to do with race whatsoever. How can we be surprised by unequal success rates between those who grow up with the opportunities (strong education, safe streets, etc.) that should, without any exception, be provided by the government, and those that don't? While I'm sure sheer, irrational, reflexive, pigmentation-based racism exists in some dark corners of America, I believe some employer reluctance to hire minorities stems from a misguided bias that is at least steeped to an extent in statistical fact. But if business owners in this country are looking to the ethnicity box as a tiebreaker in application deliberations, well, we haven't come a long way from the 1960's at all.

The Rambling's of a Thoughtful Student

"The floor of the white man's failures is the ceiling of the black man's expectation."

The quote is interesting and can be directly translated that the failures for a white person may very well be the best that a black person can reach. A racist short sighted concept that leaves out the idea that every individual has the power to reach their own level of thought, knowledge and the like. I hate people who judge others by color but sadly I cannot help but find myself doing so at times also. It's hard to not match one's actions and lifestyle to that of their ethnic origin. I remember the first time meeting my friend John and thought many things such as stoner, hippy, rich kid, stuck up, and obnoxious. Turned out that he was none of these things but after years of meeting people we begin to build stereotypes that make us develop these preconceptions of people. Color by default is how humans judge objects. We see color everywhere in every way both physically and mentally. Trees are green and brown. Green on top, brown on the bottom. It most definitely cannot be brown on top and green on the bottom or even red and blue. We tend to categorize things and leave them in their nice neat files ignoring the outliers that do exist. I cannot help but wonder why we do this, and if it really is bad that we do so. Everyone is proud of their own culture and the only way I believe that we can rid ourselves of these prejudice thoughts are to learn and love the cultures of others so that we no longer can judge others of their cultures for their cultures would be our own.

"The floor of the white man's failures is the ceiling of the white man's expectations."

In our society, although it has drastically changed over the years, African Americans and many other people of underrepresented races have been looked upon as being way under the superior "white man." This quote implies that the black men are only able, if lucky, to amount to what a white man's failures are. This is an awful quote and it bothers me in many ways-- especially because I've seen this to be false before my eyes. In high school I was part of a program at Columbia University called SPREP. This program accepted students from underprivileged economic and racial backgrounds. My program was mainly filled with students who were African American. My program made students who were accepted go to college leveled science courses every Saturday morning at 8 AM. Students traveled from as far as Long Island for this program, waking up as early as 5. Many of my friends in high school would wake up around two in the afternoon on Saturdays and by that time I had taken a Into to Neuroscience class and an SAT prep class. This shows quiet the opposite of "The floor of the white man's failures is the ceiling of the white man's expectations." These students worked ten times harder than any white student in my high school ever did.

You can never go home again ever

Once you step foot into the world you no longer have a home. Not because, you're not welcomed but, because what you make of yourself and your life will never live to the expectations of your family. You might be the best doctor in the world but, if that's not what your family wanted for you, you still haven't accomplished anything that they will value. Your accomplishments determine your place at "home" and if you don't accomplish the right things you don't have a "home". Homes only exist if you're young and still relying on your parents for guidance. So when you step foot out of college with  a degree in something other then what your family wanted remember, "you can never go home again, ever."

You can never go home again-ever

Well I have to disagree with the prompt that you can never go home again –ever, because I believe that you can go home any time you want whether physical or mental but you can go home again. I think that home is not the same everyday especially in a country like U.S  where you wake up and you do the same thing you did the day before , is a circle that never end but in really there is no feeling that can be compare to the one  when you get home .

Facebook serves our egos.

The quote holds truth because social networking sites have to tap in and appeal in some manner. The seven deadly sins are the perfect leeway because their temptations are hard to resist for people. I don’t know much about Zynga or LinkedIn, but I do agree that Facebook allows people to be egotistical. I think we’re in a day and age where proof matters. You can boast about your seven Ferraris, but no one will believe you if you can’t prove it with a photograph. Where else do you post these pictures? Facebook. And even as proof matters, having some humility matters, too, so it’s hard for us to brag face to face. Facebook serves as the perfect platform to post pictures of our seven cars because it’s the whole point of Facebook. We’ve attached a norm to social networking sites, especially Facebook. The norm being that we post about our accomplishments because we want “distant relatives” to know what’s going on. The truth is we could easily pick up the phone and give them a call, but a part of us wants our Facebook friends to know what we’ve accomplished so we use the site as a platform to brag without really bragging.