SCHOLARSHIPS FOR WHITE MEN ONLY- demographic is often left out when it comes to college funding. (page 3)

mrsjones5

Incompetence has no race.

You got that right.

I can tell you that my step-kids are oriental (Vietnamese) and that most universities no longer consider oriental kids as a "real" minority - because they usually make good grades and don't need special considerations for entry.

My personal opinion is that scholarships should go to people (regardless of race) who have great academic qualifications but who have an economic disadvantage. Anything else is either discrimination or "reverse" discrimination.

OUTLAW

James_Woods..

I used to be able to jump..As I get older its not something I think about..

Do I want to Jump today?..Whats the point?..

I`ll only come down..

It`s way to much effort to stay in the air,for long periods of time..

..................... ...OUTLAW

garyneal

Reperations isn't a fair concept because you're flooding the market with minorities who only got to where they are based on their race, not on their ability. All that'll do is sour the market on minorities because deep down inside, sellers and employers would only think they got there by virture of their race and not by their ability, and they will simply work around the rules so they wouldn't hire a minority.

I've seen this happen on two different occasions at two different companies within my career. In one instance, it was decided that I needed a helper in the computer room (I did not). Every temp that we hired was black, EVERY temp. The first two had second jobs and were not really performing well and I was doing the bulk of the work (hence why I was convinced that we did not need a helper). However, the third one measured up and became quite respected in the company (I still keep in contact with him today even though neither one of us work there now).

What made it so obvious was the fact that my boss would look at me with a 'glazed over' look when I told her that we did not need any additional help and the people she was bringing in were actually hindering me. Also, one of my co-workers (half asian-half white) had a younger brother who applied and was not even considered. In fact the temp company even saw what was going on.

The second instance occurred more recently. We hired a totally incompetent programmer because it was decided that we needed a third programmer. His resume was impressive but when we hired him, we learned that it was a lie. His programming skills were so bad that I ended up having to teach him basic programming techniques. But, within a year, he left for a much better job and within a year after that, he left for another hob.

What made it so obvious here is that all candidates we interviewed except one were black. I hardly believe that in an economy like ours, this was all of the people that were willing to apply for the job. The clincher was what I heard our HR person say a few years earlier: We are pretty diverse in all areas of our company, except engineering. We really need to more proactively seek out minorities for these positions.

The message I took away, "If you're black, you have an advantage in finding an engineering type job ."

Band on the Run

I've devoted most of my life to civil rights and champion affirmative action in very concrete ways. It is fair to point out what Bakke so highlighted. If society were not racist, those black applicants would have had equal or superior credentials to white applicants. Race does not make them less qualified. They probably had access to less elite schools, science and math aren't readily picked up on your own. I graduated from a mostly black urban high school. Three-quarters of my class failed a fifth grade arithemtic test. Those students were bright. No one had bothered to teach us. Despite As in math, I had to teach myself percentages after law school and pay for a tutor to take the law boards. People don't have equal opportunities. The most striking thing about "all men are created equal" is its basic untruth. I could qoutes Les Miserables by Victor Hugo about the poor having equal opporutnity with the rich to sleep out of doors and starve.

Bakee almost unhinged the civil rights movement which was funded by Jewish people for the most part. Jews were held back by express quotas. They could compete on merit based programs and did extraordinarily well. Bakee almost shattered this alliance permanently. My personal belief is that college should be affirmative action, even based on race. Four years should be enough time to learn the skills necessary. Black colleges have been underfunded historically, though. I believe a lawyer can get by without a rigorous four year college experience. Medicine requires hard science and math, however. Without affirmative action, all people assumed a black doctor was equal to whites in preparation. Indeed, my hometown had a big blowup when black students only failed a neutral medical test. They demanded a test they could pass. This outraged people. We are not talking all black people. Middle class blacks more than hold their own.

There is an effect that seems to continue. Part of school and profession is culture. Law school was strictly merit for membership in law review which selects the very top students to edit and write scholarly articles relating to law. No black students were making law review after five years of competitive study. Harvard and some other law schools, including my own, decided past discrimination was not so easy to remedy and developed special slots for blacks. I submit this the dillemna. Sometimes people must compete solely on merit. Defining when that time occurs is problematic.

I am not racist. Yes, I am an ethnic white. But I have thousands and thousands of hour in this field to prove my statement. Racism is wrong. Is reverse racism correct? Maybe for a limited duration. Many black middle class students decline affirmative action preference. I would certainly claim it if I could. They want to compete evenly. Saying that an African-American baby will not have straight hair forever is not sensitive but it is not incompetence or malpractice. White people are reaping what they sowed. The Bible says God visits calamity down generations.

Affirmative action crudely applied can result in a separate but equal system. Minorities can quickly become professionals but not perceived as full professionals. The Supreme Court's stance on proven past discrimination feels right. This is social engineering. It is ugly and certainly not the American norm. The American norm, though, never existed. There are ugly consequences to slavery and Jim Crow.

I look forward to a time when affirmative action is not needed. Unlike others, I have no magical solution. President Obama addressed this during the campaign. Not all whites were slave owners or profited from slavery. I attended a program at the National constitution Center about present family members of the largest slave traders. Northern whites were even more complicit than white slave owners. Ethnic whites could use affirmative action, too. The system is very unfair to us, too. Restrictive covenants included blacks and Jews, but also Irish, German and Slavic citizens in their prohibition. Why should whites who arrived here long after slavery was abolished pay for slavery?

The solution would be to never have slavery. I don't know whether Obama personally benefited from Affirmative Action programs. It is abundantly clear he would have made his way without them. I suspect if he had, it would have been used against him. Obama tackled several issues with clarity. I was riveted when he addressed the Democratic Convention asking why we were ceding religion to the Republicans when the black church fostered the civil rights movement. I believe that being biracial gave him the courage to acknowledge the tensions in this area. Race is such a hot issue. Mere acknowledgmetn is courageous.

james_woods

OUTLAW - was that taken of you on your Space Shuttle mission?

mrsjones5

Saying that an African-American baby will not have straight hair forever is not sensitive but it is not incompetence or malpractice.

I didn't say the doctor was incompetent. But for her to say that showed that she believed I would think my baby's hair would stay straight (made me feel like she doubted my intelligence, ie *dumb nigga*) showed she had a lack of tact and was somewhat jaded by the area in which she worked which has a high black population. My trust in this woman to be a doctor for my child was gone as soon as those words left her mouth, completely gone. I exercised my right to not take my baby back to that woman.

OUTLAW

LOL!!@Josie!!..

But for her to say that showed that she believed I would think my baby's hair would stay straight

(made me feel like she doubted my intelligence, ie *dumb nigga*)

I think a White woman instructing a Black woman about Black people..Is funny..

You are not the one,whose Intelligence I would be Questioning..

..................... ...OUTLAW

wasblind

Watchtower 1999 10/1 p. 8 par. 13 Of course, the fact that Jehovah?s servants "weep" over the sorry state of world affairs does not preclude their being happy. On the contrary! They are actually the happiest group of people on earth.

BTTT

beksbks

I'm with you Leesa!!

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR WHITE MEN ONLY- demographic is often left out when it comes to college funding.

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