SCOTUS upholds college Affirmative Action
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Anonymous
New poster: First, I assume English is your second language from your diction so I thought I might fill you in about some American History. The Ivy league Universities (and most other colleges) were created for men born into a certain social class. Historically, there were no testing requirements for entry. There are still thousand of legacy, rich kids, and famous children attending elite schools because of their ancestors who would not be admitted based on their personal record. These same kids go onto elite jobs ot based on their record but their connection. Do you want them all to walk around embarrassed? Are you angry at the multi-generations of Kennedy, Rockefeller and Roosevelt Ivy leaguers? The kids of Fortune 100 company CEOs? At people who inherit money? Or is that all fine if they are white. |
Anonymous
Isn't if funny that people on here expect you to be ashamed? They are not ashamed because they got into college as a legacy or because they got a job based on connections. As I have said on this board and to my own children many times, if people are concerned about how and why you got where you are, that is their problem - not yours. The most important thing is to take advantage of the opportunity. Let them wonder how you got it. |
Anonymous
I agree as long as that holds true for everyone. No assumptions people aren't qualified or hit a job or promoted because of AA, and equally no assumptions that whits privilege was part of the reason. Treat everyone equally, let their work speak for itself and don't waste time being divisive looking for another person's presumed flaws. I'm one of the earlier posters and I don't at all think anyone should be ashamed of benefitting from AA. I just take issue with the notion of payback for what happened generations back. I'm a first generation American, and like do very many Americans had no role whatsoever in slavery. My ancestors were suffering their own atrocities at various times in other parts of the world. It just seems unproductive to keep looking backwards, and to think that one should benefit today from atrocities that happened up their ancestors. Sadly, when you look at the most successful slave revolt (Haiti) resulting in a substantial empowerment of former slaves, things did not turn out so well in the end looking at current day Haiti. Not at all to say that that was the only trajectory possible at all, but it seems pretty speculative to assume that U.S. Slaves' descendants would have been better off financially under other circumstances. |
Anonymous
This is true unless anti-AA rules are passed by states. This, IMO, is a huge flaw. AA was a half-assed attempt at some level of reparations. One that was watered down by the inclusion of white women, and then more watered down by the SCOTUS's deference to state legislatures on the issue. The whole point of AA is to protect against inherent racism/bias from the majority. If most state electorates are populated by the majority, or those that have historically been culturally accepted by the majority (e.g. certain Asian groups, Jews, and wealthy immigrants of all races) then AA would always lose. |
Anonymous
| My kids call Fisher "Becky with the bad grades" . Thanks Beyonce. |
Anonymous
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I post this over and over. When selective colleges look to fill their classes they try and construct a class with diverse students for two reasons: one is that they cannot have the best and brightest without being inclusive. Not all the bright and talented people are white or asian and (2) if they don't have a diverse student body they cannot offer a world class education. Being truly educated means that you know about the world and who inhabits it, not just a small slice of humanity. The idea that if your child gets in and mine who has higher scores and a higher GPA from a similar school does not get in, does not bother me because grades and scores are very narrow measures of achievement. Your child might also offer the college many things that mine does not, e.g. first hand knowledge about living in a racist community or playing the french horn.This has been said again and again. A top 20 college could easily fill its class with straight A and perfect to near perfect test takers, but they choose not too. They choose to look at the whole student and judge what this student will bring to their community. There is nothing discriminatory about this. No one is entitled to a place because of any particular trait or achievement.
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Anonymous
+1000 Sadly, however, there are groups and individuals who will feel their achievements, box-checking, whatever, entitle them to a place at an elite school. No amount of reasoning, common sense or fact will convince them otherwise. You almost get the feeling that these folks need the name/status more than they want or care about what any particular university can offer them or what they might offer the university or their classmates. Thankfully, sanity reigned and the court didn't buy the h-shit Fisher (and the anti-AA folks backing her) were trying to shovel. And admissions offices don't seem keen to buy it either. Perfect scores, GPA and all those other brag-able stats are rewarded with school awards, merit scholarships, and hopefully personal satisfaction. With all the private tutoring, coaching, prepping and cramming going on these days, they shouldn't buy you any more than that. The top colleges are rightly looking for that something special you'll add to the mix, as they should be. |
Anonymous
Amen. |
Anonymous
I like you. |
Anonymous
Good for you unlike Clarence Thomas who hangs his head and won't speak on the court because he feels conflicted as a recipient of AA YET sits on the most powerful judicial seat in the world. He didn't decline that seat, did he? Instead of following the proud path of Thurgood Marshall, Thomas wallows in self-deprecation because AA worked for him. You go, girl!!! |
You do realize most people who read your post do NOT believe you, right? I mean, really...
Anonymous
You should just say "black people need to get over it." Do you understand that the what happened "generations back" has had a significant impact on the decedents of the people effected? Black people would get over it if it didn't have an impact. Guess what? It did, and it continues too. Do you think its a simple coincidence that black with college education unemployment rates = white high school drop out unemployment? To take it even further: Employment success of blacks with degrees from elite colleges = whites from less selective schools. Guess those blacks need to "work harder." Did you know that blacks/brown are still arrested and incarcerated more for similar or less severe crimes than whites? That schools with majority black and brown students generally have lower quality teachers? Teachers in general have lower overall expectations of black and brown students? That black and brown kids are suspended and disciplined in K-12 more than whites and others for similar or less offenses? They still pay higher interest rates on loans than whites and other races with similar or better credit? The evidence here is pretty large, so we can do this for a while. Does racism have to mean a whip and white hood and burning cross in order for you to acknowledge that it exists and still negatively impacts POC-- primarily those whose ancestors are from here? If you want to remove policies such as AA that attempt to correct for historical atrocities, then would you pledge to help fight for policies that help eliminate the ones from today? Also, would you support economic policy that could help restore the loss of wealth and opportunities which were mainly made available to majority of AAs over the last 60 years? Historical amnesia is convenient to those who it most benefits. |
Anonymous
Actually, it's understanding a wide enough scope of world history to understand that many, many people have been oppressed or otherwise suffered atrocities, and that African Americans are not at all alone in that. Not by a long shot. And I wouldn't blame all of the above issues on racism. Yes, it exists, absolutely no doubt (and African Americans are as likely as anyone else to be racist in my experience). But to blame the above fully on racism is incorrect. Who forces African American girls to have multiple children out of wedlock at a disproportional rate, with all of the associated and well-studied consequences? That's not white privilege at work. It's a mix of factors but don't pretend you are African Americans are the only people who have suffered. |
Anonymous
You need to focus: We're talking about Blacks in these United States (and the history that created thie AA program). The Japanese who were interned on US soil have received reparations. Native Americans have received reparations in the form of treaties and laws that recognize their sovereignty. Have African Americans received reparations? Nope. We haven't even received an official apology from the U.S. Government. I wouldn't be where I am today if I only focused on how my ancestors were treated. Unfortunately for you though, I will also never forget how they were treated. I'm not interested in playing your game. |
Anonymous
It's not a game. Current US residents are the people who suffer when one group received preferential treatment. So that includes all of us (which by the way is most Americans) whose ancestors are NOT from the US. And do you think third and fourth generation descendants of interned citizens would receive reparations? You've got to be kidding. I'm all for true, meaningful diversity, of culture, SES, religion, politics and, yes, race. But this idea that African Americans are unique in their history of (or present day) suffering is just so narrow minded. Do you actually think most of the world's populations, and their descendants living here in the US, lived in egalitarian communities where slavery, feudalism, lack of voting and property rights, and physical danger to certSin groups didn't exist? Have you been to China? Any countries in Africa? The Middle East? India? Anywhere? And you think that all of these people, now in the US, owe you something today? |
Anonymous
Why is it ok to use a vulgar nickname to describe whites women? |