Most recent public comments by Andrew Board https://nowcomment.com/users/2611 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505976 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505976 I think, with what we have learned from the Wire and this class in general, we can see that Affirmative Action is a surface level answer to a problem that is much deeper. Affirmative Action has, in many cases, become a quota system. As we have seen in the Wire and our readings, structural issues are what hold back African Americans, especially those who are poor and from the inner city. Affirmative Action, as a quota system, does nothing more than combat against racist admissions officers or hiring managers, which misses the actual cause of the problem. The main reason, as we have seen in the Wire, that there isn't proportional representation of African Americans in certain parts of the workforce or universities is because the institutions that have failed to provide them with the skills and opportunities necessary to reach higher levels of achievement. In many ways, Affirmative Action as a quota system can be viewed like CompStat. Policy makers shouldn't be worried about their "stats" and an easy fix, but should rather address the institutional problems at hand. Tue, 05 Apr 2016 01:07:43 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505974 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505974 I totally agree with Margaret here. It is mostly due to the fact that once someone does time in jail for a felony, once they get out their record and reputation will always follow them. The structures are not set up in a way that truly allows someone who commits a crime to come out of jail and reintegrate into society and get away from what got them into jail in the first place. This is especially true for poor inner city African Americans who, once they leave jail, head right back into an environment that can lead to someone getting right back into illegal activity. Tue, 05 Apr 2016 00:52:17 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505970 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505970 I agree that the idea of colorblindness is highly dangerous when in fact racism and racial tensions do still exist. I believe that colorblindness comes from those who want to believe that racism doesn't exist and don't want to have to face issues of race that are much more difficult to confront than just about any other. I'm just not sure that we're ever going to get to a point in time when issues of race don't exist. Hopefully race relations in the U.S. and throughout the world do improve, as they have at times in the past, but its hard to see us ever living in a world that is truly colorblind. Tue, 05 Apr 2016 00:37:33 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505962 https://nowcomment.com/documents/52798?scroll_to=505962 For me, as well as for many others I'm sure, this point, that the Founding Fathers found it essential to deny African Americans equal rights, Alexander makes is hard to deal with. We have always been taught to laud the founding fathers. We read about their triumphs in textbooks, visit monuments named after them, and even attend a university created by one. You can argue that Alexander is a bit brash with her semantics and that the Founding Fathers simply decided to keep in place the institution of slavery that already was in existence (and that made many of them rich). However, Alexander's broader message here, that institutionalized racism in the U.S. goes back to its very construction, spot on and is very important to consider when studying history. We must look at history, especially American history, with less bias in order to uncover useful facts. Tue, 05 Apr 2016 00:25:44 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481900 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481900 This mention of "decent people" shows a slight distinction between this piece and the Wire itself. In the Wire, as we have discussed in class, there isn't much distinction between characters as "good" and "bad". All the characters are nuanced and many that are involved in crime have redeeming qualities that outweigh the bad, such as Bodie. The Wire doesn't have many instances where it includes people who live in the inner city who aren't in some way connected with "the game". One instance I can think of is the old woman who Bunny Colvin realizes is still living in Hamsterdam after he allows the drug dealers to set up shop there. Obviously a reading such as this isn't able to develop characters like a fictional television program, but is this portrayal of "decent people" somewhat problematic? Tue, 01 Mar 2016 14:53:38 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481892 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481892 I think one of the main points of this reading and also the Wire is that violence becomes the only option in inner city settings, due to a lack of resources. The Wire goes out of its way to show that it is the system, not just evil people, that lead to the way inner city life plays out. Due to failures of institutions such as the public school system, kids in inner cities are surrounded by street culture and have to resort to violence, due to a lack of other outlets, in order to gain respect and survive. Mon, 29 Feb 2016 16:51:21 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481873 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481873 Throughout this reading I have continuously thought of the movie "Friday" when the subject of violence and gun possession have come up. Obviously, the movie "Friday" is a comedy that doesn't nearly go as deep into the different aspects of street culture as this reading or the Wire do. In "Friday" Ice Cube's character Craig has a gun in order to protect himself from the neighborhood bully Dee-Bo. Craig's father lectures him on the dangers of guns, and that he must confront his problems with his own hands and that he may lose in a fight, but at least he'll live. This portrayal isn't unlike the portrayal of guns and violence in other Hollywood films, which almost always stick to a set of morals, one way or another. Comparing this to the Wire and other more accurate interpretations of inner city life show just how off this film's portrayal is. People carry guns in the inner city because they are risking very much more than a black eye if they don't. This is where larger productions aimed at larger audiences like "Friday" aren't up to snuff with a production like the Wire. Mon, 29 Feb 2016 16:33:59 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481857 https://nowcomment.com/documents/49884?scroll_to=481857 I do agree that religion may play a bigger role in the inner city environment than is portrayed in the Wire, however I don't think that the church as an institution is able to overcome the wide ranging effects of street life that are laid out in this piece as well as the other readings we have done and, of course, the Wire itself. While some kids may be brought up in strong, religious, moral families, that is often not enough to raise them above the world that they live in and are around every day. For some reason this reminds me of a scene in American Gangster, where Denzel Washington's character Frank Lucas, a crime boss in Harlem, takes his mother to church near the climax of the movie, where he is about to be arrested. This movie is a much more glorified take on inner city life and crime, but I think this scene captures what many inner city males that are involved in crime do. They go to church with their elders on Sunday to do their good deed and show a sense of morality and love of family, but still live the rest of their lives immersed in street culture. Mon, 29 Feb 2016 16:21:12 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455188 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455188 I too, am very excited for the final season of the, and believe that Bowden brought way too much of his personal agenda into this article. However, it isn't always the worst thing to have someone like Simon, who is lauded in most circles, criticized at some point, although the criticism here does seem to be off point. Back to the final season, I am extremely interested to see Simon's portrayal of the inner-workings of a newspaper. I'm sure that the organizational problems he will uncover will striking and great for discussion. Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:39:37 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455179 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455179 I feel that the use of a fictional TV series allows someone like David Simon to uncover certain things that he wishes he could've at the Baltimore Sun. This goes along with his quote in the next paragraph with his anger at the political structure, which has a much larger influence on the way in which news stories are written about things such as police departments and the War on Drugs than it does on something like fictional television. Fictional television allows viewers to gain an understanding of just what is actually going on, when it is done with the expertise of someone like Simon. Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:33:36 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455142 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455142 I'm wondering if Simon's thought behind this set piece was to outwardly show support for drug legalization or decriminalization, or if it was simply to further highlight the ills of the War on Drugs? It certainly may be both, and one might even argue that it must be. However, I think there is a middle ground between the War on Drugs and legalizing hard drugs such as heroin that Simon may try to be getting to. Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:24:04 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455089 https://nowcomment.com/documents/46407?scroll_to=455089 This point by Bowden referencing the fact that the show juxtaposes the structure of the police with that of a drug game truly summarizes what Season 1 is all about, in my opinion. Season 1 is meant to break down a viewers perception of the police as inherently good and the gang as inherently bad, and to show that they are, in fact, two somewhat similar organizations with hierarchies and nepotism playing large roles. One might even argue that the Barksdale gang is much more efficient in its organization in the show than Simon's portrayal of the Baltimore City Police. Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:17:29 -0500