The @nytimes bizarrely highlights Rashida Tlaib as POC while marking Chris Sununu (who is also Palestinian!), Alex Azar (Lebanese), Farnam Jahanian (Iranian), and probably others as white.
Why not use the same criteria across all sections? nyti.ms/2GGD7k5?referr…
Why not use the same criteria across all sections? nyti.ms/2GGD7k5?referr…
Thank you to the people who pointed out that Justin Amash (independent member of Congress from Michigan) and Tom Gores (owner of the Pistons) are both ALSO Palestinian, like Tlaib, but are listed as white. Marc Lasry (owner of the Bucks) is Moroccan, and is also listed as white.
My point here isn't to try to discredit this entire project — it's striking how few of the "most powerful people" in this country aren't white. But it would still be striking if they had actually done the reporting correctly.
There used to be a saying, something like "be kind, everyone you meet has something going on you know nothing about." I wonder how many of these people have overcome things unrelated to race — how many are gay, or not Christian, or grew up poor, etc — to get where they are.
A stats-obsessed friend adds a great point: Americans aged 50+ (basically everyone on this list) are whiter than the US as a whole. So, while it's still disproportionate (this list should be ~30% POC in order to be proportionate), it's not as bad as the Times suggests.
Some in the replies are saying the reason why Tlaib is counted as a POC and Amash, Sununu, etc. are not is because the Times doesn't believe that Rs can be diverse. That doesn't explain why they count Rep. Donna Shalala (Lebanese) and Marc Lasry (huge D donor) as white.
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