[Rockhounds] They are coming for you now

[Dora Smith]

Oh, for heaven's sake, it isn't that Black people aren't as interested 
in geology, it's that in contemporary America Black people tend to be 
working class or first generation middle class.

It's on account of lack of opportunities, not some kind of Black people 
innately lack interest in geology.   First of all, people in this 
country finance an awful lot out of the property they own.  Until very 
recently Black people were prevented from having any.   They weren't 
allowed to live certain places and banks wouldn't write them loans.   
Second, Black people found it hard to complete school - and still do, 
and were kept out of universities until about two generations ago.

Now how, please, did you all get into discussing whether Black people 
like rocks!   If a Black person collects rocks next to you, are you 
going to call the police screeching he is mugging you?!!!

And it's certainly true that we don't know who's interested in what when 
we don't see them.   I haven't personally seen any Black people digging 
rocks - because even though I know enough Black people, I'm working 
class!  And honestly I haven't been prying into what people do in their 
personal time.

Yours,

Dora Smith


On 7/9/21 10:11 PM, linda at middleearthminerals.com wrote:
> I don't think anyone can make a claim about what other people are interested in based solely upon whether or not you observe them participating.  There are MANY obstacles to participation, only one of which is interest.
>
> In the meantime, here is a profile for Mike Wise, a geologist for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History:
> https://naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/mike-wise
>
> I spoke to him at a Tucson show, advancing the opinion that Tucson might just be the most magnificent temporary museum of minerals anywhere in the world.  He was totally with me until I enthused, "And at Tucson, you can actually HANDLE the minerals!"
>
> Mike looked very puzzled, then responded in true curator form, "Why would you want to?"
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf Of Edward Tindell
> Sent: Friday, July 9, 2021 6:51 PM
> To: 'Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors' <rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>
> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] They are coming for you now
>
> I believe the article is 100% B.S. as there are lots of black construction workers, surveyors, mechanics, et cetera, who work with hand tools all the time. No stigma of being shot by police there. I believe the people who enter into any field of endeavor - be it math, physics, geology, chemistry, or whatever - are those who have the aptitude and interest for it. In my experience few black people are interested in geology. I've collected rocks for 50+ years and been on hundreds of field trips and attended untold numbers of rock shows and club meetings all across the country and, in my experience, black people are the exception by far, at those activities. Few black rock hounds, few black geologist. I can also tell you that most of the black people I have met at such activities have been artist or lapidaries not rock hounds or geologist. I can also tell you that I have met many rock hounds and geologist who are not white, just not black.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rockhounds [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of Paul van den Bergen
> Sent: Friday, July 09, 2021 8:25 PM
> To: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors
> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] They are coming for you now
>
> That's the nature of systematic bias - it occupies every aspect of a society.
>
> On Sat, 10 Jul 2021 at 07:00, J Bryan Kramer <codeburner at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> " Top geologists condemned systemic white supremacy in the field of
>> geoscience, which concerns the study of earth and rocks, in a
>> manifesto published at the scientific journal *Nature*
>> *Communications*. The academics claim black people are hesitant to
>> take up geology because they fear being killed while handling basic
>> geology tools as a result of the stereotype associated with black people "holding objects."
>>
>> <https://freebeacon.com/campus/science-journal-geology-is-racist/>
>>
>> ““There exists a law…inborn of our hearts…by natural intuition. … If
>> our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or
>> enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right.””
>> Cicero
>>
>> J Bryan Krämer       North Florida, USA
>> photos at: http://pbase.com/photoburner
>> _______________________________________________
>> Rockhounds mailing list
>> Subscription Services:
>> http://rockhounds.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds_rockhounds.d
>> rizzle.com
>> List Usage Policy:
>> http://Tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Rockhounds/Rockhounds.shtml
>>
>
> --
> Dr Paul van den Bergen
> _______________________________________________
> Rockhounds mailing list
> Subscription Services:  http://rockhounds.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds_rockhounds.drizzle.com
> List Usage Policy: http://Tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Rockhounds/Rockhounds.shtml
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rockhounds mailing list
> Subscription Services:  http://rockhounds.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds_rockhounds.drizzle.com
> List Usage Policy: http://Tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Rockhounds/Rockhounds.shtml
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rockhounds mailing list
> Subscription Services:  http://rockhounds.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds_rockhounds.drizzle.com
> List Usage Policy: http://Tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Rockhounds/Rockhounds.shtml