You meet a black Ivy League grad - what are you secretly thinking to yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think s/he must be smart.

I agree. Then I listen to what they have to say and see what I think after that, just like most people I meet.

[Anonymous]

What do I secretly think to myself? "Girl you look good!" To my mirror. Every morning.

[Anonymous]

Honestly? I dont think anything. I actually just google stalked a new neighbor of mine who I like a lot but don't know well and saw that she went to Brown. My reaction? Cool, a Brown girl - I wanted to go there, but didn't get in. But I know why I didn't get in and she did................wait for it.....................Oh, it was the fact that I had crappy SAT scores and didn't try very hard in high school. It never, ever occured to me to feel surprised or anything race-specific when I found out where she went to school. I just thought, oh yeah, she seemed smart!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do I secretly think to myself? "Girl you look good!" To my mirror. Every morning.

ha ha lol

[Anonymous]

I think OP is a racist!

[Anonymous]

If they went to Cornell, I think, "I wonder if they were there at the same time as me?" If they went to Brown, I think, "I wonder if they were a crunchy liberal arts person?" If they went to Dartmoth, I think, "I wonder if they are really conservative?" If they went to Harvard, Yale, Penn., etc, I think "They're probably really smart."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do I secretly think to myself? "Girl you look good!" To my mirror. Every morning.

LOL! I love you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:@14:11 Pls tell me you're kidding. It would make you feel better if minorities at Ivy Leagues came from impoverished backgrounds??? If an applicant's mother isn't "collecting" welfare it makes you sad? Are we talking about colleges or auditions for American Idol?

Are you saying minorities at Ivy Leagues must be on financial aid?

You misunderstood 14:11's post. He/she is not saying it makes him/her feel good. S/he was referring to the feel-good kinda movie (The Blind Side, Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers) where poor minority kids are "saved," typically by white people. S/he is referring to the type of movie, not how it makes him/her feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is the first thing that comes to mind is Affirmative Action.

I hate this. Yet another reason to get rid of this notion.

Depends because I know Caucasians who are graduates of Ivy League colleges who come under "affirmative Action," I think the same thing about anyone with an ivy league i=educatin who thinks they are superior to everyone else--they are ivy league assholes.

[Anonymous]

Usually I think something along the lines of, "Dang. Wish I'd studied in high school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is the first thing that comes to mind is Affirmative Action.

I hate this. Yet another reason to get rid of this notion.

Depends because I know Caucasians who are graduates of Ivy League colleges who come under "affirmative Action," I think the same thing about anyone with an ivy league i=educatin who thinks they are superior to everyone else--they are ivy league assholes.

Exactly. Affirmative action in the form of donations or being a legacy.

[Anonymous]

nobody answered what is black Ivy League grad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think "Damn, not only do they have brains and a work ethic they have the multi cultural thing going too." Secretly I'm feeling deeply jealous on so many levels. Why am I so boring white and mediocre? Hell, all the affirmative action in the world wouldn't get me into an ivy!

I call BS on this post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nobody answered what is black Ivy League grad?

An African-American man or woman that graduated from one of the Ivy league schools - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, U Penn - that is if you accept the definition of Ivy League as an athletic conference of the NCAA.

And before someone responds about black people in America not being from Africa - some of us like to be referred to as black, others like the term African-American to signify our past connection to the continent.

And to answer the OP's question - I think, I am so proud of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:@14:11 Pls tell me you're kidding. It would make you feel better if minorities at Ivy Leagues came from impoverished backgrounds??? If an applicant's mother isn't "collecting" welfare it makes you sad? Are we talking about colleges or auditions for American Idol?

Are you saying minorities at Ivy Leagues must be on financial aid?

You misunderstood 14:11's post. He/she is not saying it makes him/her feel good. S/he was referring to the feel-good kinda movie (The Blind Side, Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers) where poor minority kids are "saved," typically by white people. S/he is referring to the type of movie, not how it makes him/her feel.

Yes, exactly. I didn't say anything about how a person's circumstances make me feel. I was noting the prevelance of kid-from-the-hood-makes-good movies, compared to the scarcity I perceive of those stories in the real world. In entertainment media, black ivy league grads usually come from a disadvantaged background. And so that's what I think about, hence my answer to the original question.

As to what I feel... I suppose it makes me sad to see that in most cases, your upbringing really does determine your future. Which is great, if your folks were educated and hardworking and involved in your life. As mine, and I assume most of ours, were. But it means that most of the disadvantaged kids around me, of all colors, won't have radically different lives from their parents'. No matter how many "Blind Side" style movies are made.