Weapon of mass dissent.

Fancy this. A Census report (which I cannot find on the Webternet--can you?) finds that income among bachelor's degree holders varies with sex and race.

Here's the story: Black, Asian women with college degree outearn white women

Among women with bachelor's degrees:

• Asian women average $43,700 annually;
• Black women average $41,100;
• White women average $37,800;
• Hispanic women average $37,600.

(If you're wondering how these numbers compare to the general population breakdown by race...then you're like me. Here's a link to get you started: national population estimates - characteristics)

Add about 18 grand to those numbers and you've got the income stats for men with bachelor's degrees:

• $66 grand for a white male;
• $52,000 for an Asian male;
• $49,000 for a Hispanic male;
• $45,000 for an African-American male.

What do you suppose this all means?

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Some other noteworthy facts on the Census site: College degree nearly doubles annual earnings, Census Bureau reports
(all numbers are for 2004 and for people over 25. This is a very short press release.)

• Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana had the highest proportions of people with high school degrees--around 91%.
• Women tended to graduate high school slightly more frequently than do men; 85.4% to 84.8%.
• A larger proportion of men than women had a bachelor's degree or higher (29.4% to 26.1%).
• While 90% of non-Hispanic whites had graduated from high school or higher, 58.4% of Hispanics had attained the same level.

The first statistic interests me the most. Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana...solid red states, are they not? Consider this prevalence of high school education in light of the various controversies in Red America regarding creationism and evolution qua "theory".

• Jim Lehrer's Newshour did a very interesting story today about the issue (note particularly how one teacher approaches creationism by allowing students to voice their beliefs before they learn anything about evolution; note also that the religious right does not do well with scientific jargon like "theory")
• An NYTimes op-ed today described how some Imax theaters in the South have stopped playing science documentaries because some viewers have considered the content blasphemous.

Blasphemous? Those documentaries scarcely even touch the surface; they are primarily designed to delight--really, to maximize the incredible audiovisual experience--not teach, and they don't exactly focus on the hard science in astronomy, anthropology, geology, whatever. If these are blasphemy, telescopes and the periodic table are anathema.