Pfizer excludes Asian, white applicants from 9-year scholarship program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm asian and I have no problem with this

I’m white and I also have no problem with this.

+1

[Anonymous]

OP stop using Asians to try to cause racial disharmony.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they concentrated on income of the family rather than race, this way they could help poor students of all races. And yes, this would enable them to increase URM participation while not excluding poor Asian and White candidates.

However - I am a-ok with this too. Good for Pfizer.

- Asian-American.

So is it OK for a POC from a rich family in Potomac MD that attended Sidwell and go on Princeton to apply while a poor white kid who lives in Annandale can't apply?

+1. It's not okay. It should be income-based.

Agree that it should take into generation first-gen status, income status, etc...by the way, many of the people who I see getting these scholarships are people like myself. I have a Latina name and fit the legal definition of Latina, but come from a middle/upper middle class family and am mostly European (in other words, the more privileged classes of Latin America) if you go back in our family tree.

[Anonymous]

I’m Asian. I have kept telling my children as soon as they entered high school that they will need do much better than their non-Asian peers in order to access the same opportunities. It’s the reality and no use to think if it’s fair or not. They can try to do something when they have more time in the future, but definitely not in high school.

[Anonymous]

I’m fine with this. There are tons of scholarships with very specific requirements. Some are for people with specific last names!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they concentrated on income of the family rather than race, this way they could help poor students of all races. And yes, this would enable them to increase URM participation while not excluding poor Asian and White candidates.

However - I am a-ok with this too. Good for Pfizer.

- Asian-American.

So is it OK for a POC from a rich family in Potomac MD that attended Sidwell and go on Princeton to apply while a poor white kid who lives in Annandale can't apply?

+1. It's not okay. It should be income-based.

This is correct. It also opens the door for "Elizabeth Warren-like" behavior if you know what I mean...it is a slippery slope that creates racialized resentment and asks kids to dig deep into the family tree for someone who fits the bill regardless of the privilege they have. This is not the correct path.

[Anonymous]

PP of the post immediately above this. Again, I just have so many questions about this. What about that first gen Khazak student or Uyghur student who wants to apply? Are they excluded? Just too many questions. I repeat, this is NOT the way forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they concentrated on income of the family rather than race, this way they could help poor students of all races. And yes, this would enable them to increase URM participation while not excluding poor Asian and White candidates.

However - I am a-ok with this too. Good for Pfizer.

- Asian-American.

So is it OK for a POC from a rich family in Potomac MD that attended Sidwell and go on Princeton to apply while a poor white kid who lives in Annandale can't apply?

+1. It's not okay. It should be income-based.

+1

[Anonymous]

Its discrimination but representation truly matters so double edge sword.

[Anonymous]

I doubt OP is Asian. It's a post designed to stoke anti-Asian hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s their money, they can give it to whomever they wish. If they only wanted to give it to rich white kids from the DC metro, I would be okay with it. I cannot stand anyone who tells anyone else how they can spend their money.

Not when you have Federal contract(s) with the US government.

What a crying shame. No one, nor the feds should dictate how you share YOUR wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they concentrated on income of the family rather than race, this way they could help poor students of all races. And yes, this would enable them to increase URM participation while not excluding poor Asian and White candidates.

However - I am a-ok with this too. Good for Pfizer.

- Asian-American.

So is it OK for a POC from a rich family in Potomac MD that attended Sidwell and go on Princeton to apply while a poor white kid who lives in Annandale can't apply?

Sadly with some of these programs, that may be the end result. A poor POC student may have had a mediocre basic education and not have the skills to qualify for this, and that's assuming they even have the will to apply, and think they might get it. The POC from a well-off family is more likely to apply, and more likely to succeed.

I used to give motivational lectures at high schools in low-income areas (and which happened to have plenty of whites too -- I don't know why people think white poverty is nonexistent) and teachers told me kids needed people like me to just motivate them... they hear too much in their life how they won't amount to anything and don't dream big because of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s their money, they can give it to whomever they wish. If they only wanted to give it to rich white kids from the DC metro, I would be okay with it. I cannot stand anyone who tells anyone else how they can spend their money.

Not when you have Federal contract(s) with the US government.

What a crying shame. No one, nor the feds should dictate how you share YOUR wealth.

Is it wealth or opportunity? For example, how about giving someone a job? That's sharing wealth, and you can't discriminate based on race for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s their money, they can give it to whomever they wish. If they only wanted to give it to rich white kids from the DC metro, I would be okay with it. I cannot stand anyone who tells anyone else how they can spend their money.

Not when you have Federal contract(s) with the US government.

What a crying shame. No one, nor the feds should dictate how you share YOUR wealth.

The Federal should NOT tell a company how to share your wealth; however, if a company has contracts with the government, the government is within its rights to tell you what to do. The company can decide whether to cancel the contract or not.

This will create nothing but resentment. A better way is to "mean" test who gets to qualify for this. A rich POC candidate from either wealthy background should automatically be rejected. A candidate from Baltimore city or some other poor neighborhood should be given the nod over other candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they concentrated on income of the family rather than race, this way they could help poor students of all races. And yes, this would enable them to increase URM participation while not excluding poor Asian and White candidates.

However - I am a-ok with this too. Good for Pfizer.

- Asian-American.

So is it OK for a POC from a rich family in Potomac MD that attended Sidwell and go on Princeton to apply while a poor white kid who lives in Annandale can't apply?

+1. It's not okay. It should be income-based.

This is correct. It also opens the door for "Elizabeth Warren-like" behavior if you know what I mean...it is a slippery slope that creates racialized resentment and asks kids to dig deep into the family tree for someone who fits the bill regardless of the privilege they have. This is not the correct path.

But the point is to increase racial diversity not increase income diversity (which may be a different scholarship). Sure, some wealthier POC might get it, but do you not think they faces discrimination on the basis of their color regardless of wealth? They do. Also, representation matters. Having POC in the workforce encourages more (nobody wants to be the only one).

I’m white and totally support this.