DEMOCRACY NOT QUITE YET

It's colder in Flagstaff than I am used to, and my hotel room was absolutely freezing last night.  By the time I was wide awake enough to realize I had to get out of bed and fuss with the thermostat, I was wide awake.  Wide awake enough to cruise through my email and do some posting on Facebook while I waited for the temperature to rise a bit.  But not awake enough to have the presence of mind to write about the following pair of articles here.  

And this is the sort of thing that's important enough to record for posterity, rather than simply posting to my Facebook wall for a fleeting conversation.  




But post it to my Facebook wall I did, at something like 3:30 a.m..  And I suppose I'm glad because the ensuing conversation makes the post for me, saving me hours of writing.  I hope you read through the entire post below, and maybe share it with friends.

I was cruising through articles on Democracy Now's website when I spotted two articles side by side, both involving accidents and kids. However, the second article mentions that the kid is African American, while the first article doesn't mention race at all. Can you tell me why it was necessary to the story to point out this teen's race?

Brother, 5, Kills Infant Sister With Children’s Rifle

A two-year-old girl in Kentucky is dead after an accidental shooting by her five-year-old brother. The brother of Caroline Starks was playing with a .22 caliber single-shot Crickett rifle he had been given as a gift. The children’s mother was outside at the time and said she did not realize the gun still had a shell inside the chamber. The rifle is specifically made for and marketed to kids under the brand name of "My First Rifle." The website of its manufacturer, Pennsylvania-based Keystone Sporting Arms, shows photos of scores of children posing with the guns and says the weapon is meant to "instill safety in the minds of youth shooters."

Florida Teen Charged, Expelled for Science Experiment Mishap

A 16-year-old African-American Florida high school student has been arrested and expelled for a science experiment that went awry. Kiera Wilmot mixed together some household chemicals in a small water bottle, causing a reaction that produced some smoke. No one was wounded, and no damage occurred. But police led Wilmot away in handcuffs and charged her with "possession/ discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device." The school district has since expelled her. She will now have to finish out her remaining high school years in a program for expelled students. Speaking to local news station WTSP, Wilmot’s principal criticized her punishment. Ron Pritchard: "She’s a good kid, and she made a bad choice and stuff. And like I say, I don’t think — she was not trying to be malicious, to harm anybody or destroy something in school or anything else." Although Wilmot is only 16, she will be tried as an adult.

Like ·  · Unfollow Post · Share · Promote

• Wendy Starr Baker and Shana Goldstein like this.
• 

  David L Kirchner What kind of dope would give a rifle to a 5 year old kid?

  5 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Penny Thieme Thank you Sandy this is interesting question and am curious to see how people respond. I don't think it adds anything to the story and think of this often when I see things like this. Though it is not excuse, it makes me aware of how prevalent racism and all our other phobias and isms are so embedded in our consciousness we don't even know its still there. Thank you for reminding us it is a choice and they don't have to be.

  4 hours ago · Unlike · 1
• 

  Raquel Gutierrez This is why I like you. You raise interesting questions that make people think deeper. My answer to you question is this the social construct we live in...and it does not have to be if enough people tale an active stand to change it. As your friend pointed out, like most things, it is a choice.

  4 hours ago via mobile · Unlike · 3
• 

  Penny Thieme Thanks Raquel Gutierrez it is a choice and we often forget that.

  3 hours ago · Unlike · 2
• 

  John S Martinson I agree

  2 hours ago · Unlike · 1
• 

  Tali Ramo The article I read a few days ago about the second story pointed out that the incident as a classic example of the school-to-prison pipeline, which means that pointing out Wilmot's race is important. That being said, this does not seem to be the angle of this article so it could just serve to criminalize young black Americans even more. Which is obviously problematic. Do you happen to know if the children in the first article are white? Another angle to think about is that race is only mentioned when the subject of the article is not white, because white is the norm and race isn't mentioned unless it's not about white people. Just a few thoughts 

  2 hours ago · Unlike · 1
• 

  Nicolae Sinu Well, duh, it is to let us know the black kid is guilty...the white kid is a hero that was defending his/her second amendment rights..

  2 hours ago · Unlike · 4
• 

  John S Martinson David- One of my son's former classmate's father gave the son a .45 automatic for his ninth birthday...lots of idiots in the world

  2 hours ago via mobile · Unlike · 1
• 

  Robyne Stevenson I think Tali got it. White is the presumed default. If the subject is other than white, it's assumed it must be pointed out. Add to that our passive aggressive approach to the value/worth of people of color and pointing out otherness in crime articles seems natural. In Community360 we teach this as part of oppression.

  about an hour ago via mobile · Unlike · 1
• 

  Sandy Price If this article was trying to make a point about how African American children are treated, then as Tali suggested, naming her race serves a purpose. However, as you can see above, this publication did not report it from that angle. It simply reported her race, and did not tie it to the story at all. One of the most telling things for me is something I didn't mention at all and nobody here noticed. "Democracy Now" is Amy Goodman's left wing publication. If you can find this sort of insensitivity to race in an Amy Goodman publication, then there is nothing for it but to recognize how pervasive racism is - that is, part of our very social construct - as Raquel pointed out. As sensitized as I am to the way race plays out in our society, even I might not have even noticed it if it hadn't serendipitously been printed immediately adjacent to the other article. To everyone who participated here, thank you. Unfortunately, this group is more or less "the choir." I hope others read through these comments.

  about a minute ago · Like

DELL HELL REDUX

Sometimes I wonder whether placing these consumer complaints in my ethics blog is appropriate.  After all, they are sort of self-serving - I am drawing attention to myself instead of to some ethical issue.  But on the other hand, I'm also drawing attention to what I have come to think of as dishonest brokering by gargantuan companies who use their size, a phone barrier, and a bunch of overseas representatives with limited English and limited power to problem-solve overwhelm consumers so that they just go away rather than demanding a working product.  So, here I am back to talk about DELL, again.

Below is the post I wrote to a guy named David Angelo, after posting on Dell's facebook wall.  He asked me to send him a private message.  I somehow missed the private part - probably because I'm feeling pretty public in my anger.  I'm not going to retype it, because I've already wasted over three hours dealing with Dell today.

David, here is the entire story. It's long and ugly. It starts in 2008 with the purchase of an M1330. I am a tiny person, and a "older" returning student, and I needed a small computer to carry back and forth to school. Unfortunately, that computer was a total lemon. If you're interested in checking the number of service calls, here is the express tag from that computer: 96K16H1. I probably logged 80 hours on the phone with Dell. It never worked, and eventually I had to spend another $1200 for a toshiba, which I'm still using, while I sorted out the problems with Dell. 

In April of 2011, I started screaming my head off. The blog above, and help from a Dell person on Fb. Eventually, in late May, I was offered a replacement - finally. Unfortunately, they offered me a very big, refurbished laptop. I protested that I spent money for a small, NEW portable - that Dell had my money but I had yet to have a working computer. But they told me that this xps L502 was the ONLY choice I had. Eventually, hitting a brick wall, I negotiated (or so I thought) that they would put a 3 year warranty on it since it was refurbished - like the original warranty I ordered on the M1330. I also still own additional "accidental damage" warranty that I purchased earlier. But the new DELL basically has been sitting on a shelf at my house. I've watched the occasional movie on it because the screen is bigger than the Toshiba, but that's it. The toshiba is portable. 

About two or three months ago, I decided to put my dissertation work onto the Dell, since I mostly work on it at home. It is the first time I have used the Dell in earnest since I received it. Over the last couple of weeks, the computer screen started doing weird things. This morning it gave me some sort of driver display error message. I called in and got a run-around that I will explain below. It ended with me telling the sixth guy I talked to that I hate dell, and hanging up. I knew it would end with a brick wall. I'm guessing Dell saves a lot of money by letting people hit a wall and give up. Nice.

Anyway, back to today's calls, I gave the assorted representatives the service tag number from the current computer: 7SDZPQ1, the refurbished XPS. I also gave them a lot of information - service tag and tech support reference numbers - from the OLD Dell, hoping they could find a paper trail that would lead to an order number for the current computer. I finally pressed them to transfer me to a supervisor, they suddenly came up with some order number that may or may not be mine: 427227529. But they said this order number is from 2010 and I didn't get this problem resolved until late spring or early summer of 2011

NEXT some other woman gave me an entirely different order number, 795097455. I don't know what's right. Unfortunately, I am in currently Flagstaff Arizona with my daughter who had a premature baby. I cannot get at the box that the computer came in, which may or may not still have an order number attached, is in Phoenix. I will not be able to get anything from that box until the baby is out of the hospital and I can go home. Meanwhile, the display device on my Dell is malfunctioning and if my computer goes down, I will not be able to work. 

Finally, I was transferred me to a FOURTH person who "attached" the second order number to the service tag number, and the call dropped. When I called back in, the FIFTH department informed me that this order number goes to the lemon m1330 I had before. Oy. He transferred me to person # 6. Your company SUCKS.

The last jerk I just spoke with did acknowledge that I owned the xps. But then he said the stupidest things ever. He said, "you were HAPPY when we sent you the replacement Dell, and it's not our fault you didn't use it." He also said nobody would have told me that they would give me a warranty with the refurbished computer. Well, how would he know? He wasn't on the call. Maybe they said it to shut me up - and then did nothing - but they did say it. Since they did not do the work to connect the order number to the express service tag, etc, why should we be surprised that they did not provide the promised service warranty? 

So, to recap, first Dell replaced the lemon with a HUGE HONKING refurbished computer, even though I purchased a tiny little NEW portable one. Second, while Dell has had the use of my money for several years, I actually had to buy a second computer - a Toshiba that is still working - to use while i got the first thing settled out. When DELL finally offered me a replacement, and I objected to it's being both big and used, DELL said this was my ONLY CHOICE, and that i had to take it or nothing. But they DID tell me I would have a 3 year warranty on it. Yes, it's DELL's fault it's been sitting on a shelf for two years. If I had wanted an over-sized computer, I would have purchased one in the first place. I've continued to carry the Toshiba because it's tiny. When I finally found a use for the DELL, and moved my dissertation to it because the screen is bigger, it malfunctions within about two or three months. The display is wigging out, and a simple call for help triggered a six person hell, during which people tried to make it my fault that the service tag number didn't connect to a computer, that I ended up with a refurbished DELL without a warranty, and that I didn't immediately start carrying the monster when I did get it. So once again, DELL takes no responsibility and it's all my fault. THIS REALLY SUCKS. 

So I'm right back where I started in 2011. DELL has my money, I have a bad Dell, nobody in DELL cares, and the whole thing wasted so much time. 

Think you can do anything about this?

I bet nothing improves. David Angelo probably doesn't have the authority to make this right.  But if he does, I'll be sure to let you know.  Moral of this story: buy Toshiba.

Funders: Untie Our Hands - a Plea for Nonprofits

This morning I glanced at an article that started with this quote:  

"Dan Pallotta created two huge charity initiatives - AIDS Rides bicycle journeys and Breast Cancer 3-Day events. These initiatives raised $108 million for HIV/AIDS and $194 million for breast cancer. Both had their best years in 2002 … and then Pallotta’s nonprofit went out of business.

In the final session of TED2013, Pallotta shares why that happened: Major sponsors pulled out following a slew of bad press over the idea that his organization was investing 40% of their gross into recruitment and customer service."

There's a tension today for nonprofits.  We're told to "act like a business," but on the other hand, we're told to keep our overhead to a minimum, and as many dollars as possible in programs.  In fact, there are websites set up where donors can go, just to see what percentage of an organization's dollars are in administrative overhead.  Measuring programming dollars to administrative dollars is one way to help donors  know their dollars are productive, and also serves as one demonstration that funds are not being misused.  And yet, using this ratio as the barometer of good management can be short-sighted, and can prevent an organization from reaching its full potential.

In an economic environment where nonprofits are called upon to step up to the plate as governments reduce services, at the same time donor and funding dollars are shrinking, it absolutely behooves an organization to think more like a business.  I find myself advising organizations to look at their special skill sets through new eyes.  Ask "how can you 'sell' something you are good at to create new revenue streams?"  For example, if you're a drug rehab organization, why not offer classes to social workers, psychologists, school counselors, police and others in working with addicts?  This is a skill you have, and you can purvey it into a revenue stream that can be spent any way the organization needs to spend it.

That example is fairly straightforward and doesn't require much money.  Just a few extra hours of staff time to do the training, and whatever it costs to advertise your training events.  But other ideas may require an upfront investment of capital.  Take, for example, a botanical garden I consulted for.  They raise, sell and even patent plants that thrive in their local geographical area.  Their plant sales have been so popular that the organization has to purchase plants from other sources to satisfy the demand.  Plants they grow themselves cost pennies.  Plants they purchase for resale cost dollars.  If this organization could increase the size of their propagation beds, they could change the cost:revenue picture for their plant sales by quite a bit.  But doing so would require a large infusion of upfront cash in building and planting materials, and human time.  The organization felt it could go to a major donor and ask for a one-time investment that, leveraged into this project, would create an on-going source of revenue.  But it would also shift their administrative to program dollars ratio for "the worse" for a year or two.

If nonprofits are to succeed like a business, where there is a solid, mission-driven reason to do so, they need to be given the latitude to spend money on research, on pilot programs, on hiring good people, on investment in ideas with a down-the-road payoff.  All items that cost more in overhead than conventional wisdom allows. This tension between acting like a business and presenting the conventional low overhead image is something that the nonprofit "industry" needs to spend more time talking about, and educating board members, funders and donors.

No Horns. Don't Look So Surprised.

Can you sum up your thoughts about race in six words?  









NPR's RACE CARD PROJECT asks you to write your story about race in six words. Then it lets you provide some back up material, if you have something else to say. I heard this on NPR, and immediately wanted to participate. 

Here is my six word race card story:
No horns. Don't look so surprised.

I was moved to participate in this project after reading a story about a museum in Germany housing a "Jew in a Box" display. Every day during the exhibit, a Jewish person sits in a glass box for two hours, so that passersby can look at him or her, and ask questions about Jews. Today there are only about 200,000 Jews in all of Germany, since the Holocaust cleared most of us out. Many Germans have never seen a Jew.  This exhibit triggered memories of growing up in Kansas, where I was generally the token Jewish kid in my classes, and the same later in Arizona. The Jewish population of Arizona is fairly substantial now, but when I first moved out here, the city was much smaller, and so was my Jewish community. I've been peppered with questions like "You don't have horns?" and "Can I learn the things Jews know about money, or would I have to convert?" and "I thought all Jewish women were loud and bosomy" (ouch at two levels!). This might sound like the stuff of Catskills humor, but taken to its extreme, the lack of awareness about Jews has enabled entire populations to believe we do horrible, crazy, cultish things like killing children to use their blood for making Matzah and wine (blood libel). These claims that have been - and still are being - used to instigate hatred and violence toward Jews throughout history. But, you ask, who could believe that? Well, why not believe it? There are religious societies practicing animal sacrifice. There is a cannibalistic tribe or two out there somewhere. Why not believe this about those exotic Jews? And it's also hit close to home. I once bit my tongue when a neighbor, who came by to borrow sugar, stood telling me how much she and her husband hated their Jewish tenant. I bit my tongue. I was a single mom living alone with two toddlers. Her hatred was palpable and it frightened me. It was hard to explain this hatred to my children, who wondered why we only decorated for Chanukah inside our house, not outside like our Christian neighbors. Some will ask, even so, is this about race? "Jew" is not a box you can check on the census race form. Many people see Jewish as a religion. I could argue it either way. If you want to convert, it's not a racial thing, and I welcome you in. If you're my nephew, who suffers a rare double recessive Jewish genetic disease called ML4, it is a racial thing. But the real reason to participate is because of what the "other" person thinks. He thinks I should have horns. That can only be true for him if he sees "Jew" as a race. Come get to know me. I'm more normal than you might think.

Most of you leave your posts on my Facebook wall, but this time, I hope you'll tell me what six words would be on your race card.