Posted on 12/02/2013 9:09:37 AM PST by jazusamo
Depressing news about black students scoring far below white students on various mental tests has become so familiar that people in different parts of the ideological spectrum have long ago developed their different explanations for why this is so. But both may have to do some rethinking, in light of radically different news from England.
The November 9th-15th issue of the distinguished British magazine "The Economist" reports that, among children who are eligible for free meals in England's schools, black children of immigrants from Africa meet the standards of school tests nearly 60 percent of the time — as do immigrant children from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Black children of immigrants from the Caribbean meet the standards less than 50 percent of the time.
At the bottom, among those children who are all from families with low enough incomes to receive free meals at school, are white English children, who meet the standards 30 percent of the time.
"The Economist" points out that, in one borough of London, white students scored lower than black students in any London borough.
These data might seem to be some kind of fluke, but they confirm the observations in a book titled "Life at the Bottom" by British physician Theodore Dalrymple. He said that, among the patients he treated in a hospital near a low-income housing project, he could not recall any white 16-year-old who could multiply nine by seven. Some could not even do three times seven.
What jolts us is not only that this phenomenon is so different from what we are used to seeing in the United States, but also that it fits neither the genetic nor the environmental explanation of black-white educational differences here.
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
BTTT!
NHS anecdote sez so, it must be so. /s
Thanks jazusamo.
I wonder if that is a key role of fathers, to teach their children not to be victims. Dads regularly encourage and push kids to overcome obstacles in life, not just people, but skills, nature, etc. I wonder if that is why socialism is so anti-male?
IIRC the nickname for native born whites at the bottom in England is yob. Not very inspiring.
they need to step up to the dignity of redneck
Outstanding story, verga. May I toss Helen Keller into the mix? I believe human potential is unlimited with very few exceptions. We waste an enormous amount of human capital on government schooling.
The native born whites at the bottom in England have probably been near the bottom for a few centuries. This might be evidence of the role of genetics, and that, regrettably, those at the lower end of intelligence gradually settle at the lower end of societal success and remain there.
Not true. I recommend the writing of Theodore Dalrymple re “life at the bottom”.
There will always be variation in individual intelligence, but the UK ‘social welfare’ system of “supporting” (keeping down) whole communities of unproductive people has created a dead zone of parasites. It is evil and ever more destructive of the larger community!
I read quite of bit of mid and early 20th century literature. By the thirties in GB there was a character standard creature that was disruptive, feckless, without moral standards or norms and with uncared for children.
Correct. Many people confuse a redneck with a hillbilly, but they are distinct forms.
That’s an interesting observation (about fathers encouraging children to not be victims). There’s no doubt our society is becoming more matriarchal, but mothers generally coddle children when children stumble and fail. Fathers, on the other hand, seem more likely to encourage their children to get up, dust off, and keep trying.
That’s my experience. Plus, dads are more likely to scold a petulant child or a kid that quits. Moms have a hard role to both demand high standards and be a comforter.
Yeah, I've come across 'yob' and 'chav' that refer to some lower social class English, but certainly don't understand all the connotations.
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