Sunday, December 02, 2007

Fair in color, not in practice.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch. And heh. Nice one.

Anonymous said...

At first I was wondering why someone with albinism would get alot of credit.

And then I realized you meant something else. Was I just dense or was I the only one confused?

Ptigga said...

I like it, but I think that Micheal Jackson nees his own point on this chart.

Anonymous said...

Everything has a first time: This is the first time I have no idea how to read this chart...

Anonymous said...

Yeah I'm with you... Been reading this blog for nearly a year and this is the first one I have no clue how to read!

Anonymous said...

Your credit worthiness depends first on age then beauty and finally race...

Anonymous said...

I can't wait until I'm old and all my credit problems begin to fade away.

mernen said...

ptigga made an interesting point. I guess Michael Jackson's line could be plotted in a Poisson-like curve on that chart.

Brandie said...

Oooh you went there. :) It's sad cuz it's true!

I'm surprised at how many people "don't get it".

tanya said...

if credit = wealth, then this chart breathes true.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Hagy often confuses the dependant variable with the independent variable (on purpose, I think, to give nitpickers something to pit nick about). This time it doesn’t actually matter since all three subjects have different dependency, which may lead to some confusion about how to read the graph. It is actually three different graphs superimposed to point out something that may or may not be true about the relationships between green and white.

Whiteness of teeth is increased by credit-worthiness (better dental care and hygiene).
Whiteness of hair increases credit-worthiness (for those who use good judgment over a period of time).
Whiteness of skin vs. creditworthiness shows correlation without causation (think trailer trash).

Anonymous said...

Ooh! sam is wise, very wise. Whether that explanation is the original intent of the graph or not, it makes sense to me!

Anonymous said...

thank you, windcat.

Some people just have trouble with the graph's ambiguities (per Sam's post). Others have been spared the bitterness of seeing privilege clearly.

You can certainly be poor and privileged. I'm living proof!

At the core of privilege lies ignorance - privilege shelters us from knowing of our privilege. I could have lived 95 years without that knowledge forcing itself upon me (as it does to nonwhite kids early on).

I didn't understand until I participated in a "matched pairs" test. I applied for jobs with a fictional, stellar resume. My counterparts had similar or slightly better resumes. I was usually encouraged to call back, or interviewed on the spot. They were often told that there were only a few openings... but you'll hear from us if your interested...

Interestingly, we got a similar percentage of offers after interviews. The difference appeared at the first-interview stage.

While I want to join windcat's sense that this is old news, I must admit it took some unusual experiences to wake me up.

I'm glad I found out, though.

Anonymous said...

yeah...sad but true.

 
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