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Another terrific post. And the Biden Rescue Plan Act deserves even more attention for a couple of absurdities that were not mentioned. First, it discriminated not just against white men, but all Chinese Americans − perhaps due to the “Wuhan Virus”? Who’s in the White House now?

And second, it covers “economically disadvantaged” millionaires -- as long as they are not white or Chinese.

As Jilani notes, the Asians it covers are “Asian Pacific Americans; or Subcontinent Asian Americans.” That’s an oddly complicated way of saying “Asians.” And the reason is that “Subcontinent Asian Americans” is a term the U.C. Government uses to mean those ”whose origins are in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, or Nepal.” That very carefully excludes China. Ironically, in the US, median household income is $85,000 for Chinese Americans, $66,000 for whites, and $126,000 for Indian-Americans!

But to get special treatment you need to be both “socially AND economically” disadvantaged. So maybe that takes care of the bizarre bias favoring Indians over Chinese? Not at all. “In assessing economic disadvantage, the “SBA will look at whether the net worth of the individual claiming disadvantage is less than $750,000.” And that excludes the value of the “disadvantaged” person’s home and partial ownership of the business requesting the handout.

Income is distributed considerably less equally within the Black and Asian populations than within the White population, and what this Rescue Plan does, is to rescue those who are more affluent than most people Black people, most Asians, and most everybody.

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I am afraid I disagree with this, though I wish it were so. We merely need to look at how the GI Bill after WWII helped Whites go to college but did not help Blacks. My father went to college and so did all my brothers. He was the first and we followed. Blacks were systematically excluded from southern colleges since post WWII Jim Crow was still the standard. So Blacks simply lost out on generational benefit of advanced education and consequent wealth. https://www.militarytimes.com/military-honor/salute-veterans/2019/11/10/the-gi-bill-shouldve-been-race-neutral-politicos-made-sure-it-wasnt/

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Starting with the understanding that there is no perfect system, your comments misses the role of family wealth in driving social and racial inequality. In Boston, where I live, the average white person is worth $244,000 while the average black person is worth $8. For those of us who can trace the history of this inequality from at least Reconstruction and Federal policies through the 1900's, this inequality in family wealth is why a process that uses race as part of the decision making process has actuarial validity. For example, I have a son who, at times, can qualify for social benefits. I, on the other hand, have enough wealth to support him through those times. This is not the case for the average black, latinx, or First Nation family. That is what race has to do with it.

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“who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities.”

Who has a better right to claim that nowadays than white men? They belong to a group that is more openly and pervasively stigmatized -- by media reporters and pundits, educators, and corporate gatekeepers, among others -- than any other in the US.

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