S/O- Affirmative Action- where does it end?

[Anonymous]

It's got to the point that people are strategizing how to win the admissions game by selecting or not selecting certain races. When it gets to this point, you know there is something wrong with the policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Obama checks it, with absentee Kenyan father in Africa and his white mom and grandparents raising him in $50k private school in Hawaii for 23 years, you can check it.

Yeah, sure. But -

Obama is 1/2 Black, 1/2 White, looks Black, Identified with and culturally is Black, Married a Black woman, had kids who are 3/4 Black.
OP is 1/2 Black, 1/2 White, looks White , Identified with and culturally is White, Married a White man, had kids who are 3/4 White.

So there is a big difference between Obama being 1/2 Black and OP's son being 1/4 Black. But go for it. There are all kinds of dishonest people in the world, maybe OP's son can also do that. Who knows, he might become woke and find his Blackness in college.

[Anonymous]

I think Affirmative Action is necessary and a force of good. Yes, some people will abuse it but it is a minuscule population. I don't have any skin in this game. I am an ORM and I cannot benefit from Affirmative Action quota. But I have benefited from the Civil Rights movement and so I am cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's got to the point that people are strategizing how to win the admissions game by selecting or not selecting certain races. When it gets to this point, you know there is something wrong with the policy.

NP (I think) and I agree. Things are ridiculous at this point. And it's going to HURT the people that these policies are trying to help. People are going to start thinking that people of certain races only got entrance to certain colleges because of their race. That's unfair for the people of those races who would have achieved entry based on merit and hard work without "playing the race card".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one drop rule does not apply. Your son is white.

OP here and in that case genuine question- what would you say defines when someone can/cannot claim a racial affiliation? Racial percentage (and if so what percent is acceptable ), skin tone? Cultural affinity?

I agree that it seems somehow wrong, given the goals of affirmative action, but I’m struggling with if/how I should tell my son not to claim a legitimate part of his heritage because the benefit is not meant for him, especially knowing that the college game is rigged in so many other ways.

What has he been selecting all along to register for school, medical forms, and census etc.? My kids are bi-racial and every form has checked both black and white. They aren’t white their whole lives on every form and suddenly two races for college applications.

OP here- up to this point we have been the ones filling out these forms for him and we have usually left it blank or checked the « decline to state » box.

Am I the only person who thinks this is a great topic for discussion but feels that more likely than not we are being trolled by someone opposed to affirmative action? This reminds me of the BIPOC thread.

[Anonymous]

What’s not to love about white people bitching about affirmative action, you know, after they gamed the system for centuries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's got to the point that people are strategizing how to win the admissions game by selecting or not selecting certain races. When it gets to this point, you know there is something wrong with the policy.

No one is gaming the system. There is no evidence of that. None. Just because some erroneously think that you can has no bearing on what is important to colleges as they build a class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one drop rule does not apply. Your son is white.

OP here and in that case genuine question- what would you say defines when someone can/cannot claim a racial affiliation? Racial percentage (and if so what percent is acceptable ), skin tone? Cultural affinity?

I agree that it seems somehow wrong, given the goals of affirmative action, but I’m struggling with if/how I should tell my son not to claim a legitimate part of his heritage because the benefit is not meant for him, especially knowing that the college game is rigged in so many other ways.

What has he been selecting all along to register for school, medical forms, and census etc.? My kids are bi-racial and every form has checked both black and white. They aren’t white their whole lives on every form and suddenly two races for college applications.

OP here- up to this point we have been the ones filling out these forms for him and we have usually left it blank or checked the « decline to state » box.

Am I the only person who thinks this is a great topic for discussion but feels that more likely than not we are being trolled by someone opposed to affirmative action? This reminds me of the BIPOC thread.

OP and I guarantee that I’m not a troll. In answer to prior questions as to why we declined to state his race on past forms...it’s complicated. My own racial identity is something that I always struggled with when growing up given my background and upbringing (and this was back when we were told you could only pick one race when filling out forms, and other often wasn’t even an option). Under the circumstances, and especially when he was very young, I kind of wanted to wait until he was old enough to have a say in how he chooses to identify.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's got to the point that people are strategizing how to win the admissions game by selecting or not selecting certain races. When it gets to this point, you know there is something wrong with the policy.

No one is gaming the system. There is no evidence of that. None. Just because some erroneously think that you can has no bearing on what is important to colleges as they build a class.

hahaha everyone knows what the colleges want, which is why everyone is trying to game the system in one way or another. If you want to increase your odds, you have to play the game. Don't hate the player, hate the sick, racist game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's got to the point that people are strategizing how to win the admissions game by selecting or not selecting certain races. When it gets to this point, you know there is something wrong with the policy.

No one is gaming the system. There is no evidence of that. None. Just because some erroneously think that you can has no bearing on what is important to colleges as they build a class.

hahaha everyone knows what the colleges want, which is why everyone is trying to game the system in one way or another. If you want to increase your odds, you have to play the game. Don't hate the player, hate the sick, racist game.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one drop rule does not apply. Your son is white.

OP here and in that case genuine question- what would you say defines when someone can/cannot claim a racial affiliation? Racial percentage (and if so what percent is acceptable ), skin tone? Cultural affinity?

I agree that it seems somehow wrong, given the goals of affirmative action, but I’m struggling with if/how I should tell my son not to claim a legitimate part of his heritage because the benefit is not meant for him, especially knowing that the college game is rigged in so many other ways.

What has he been selecting all along to register for school, medical forms, and census etc.? My kids are bi-racial and every form has checked both black and white. They aren’t white their whole lives on every form and suddenly two races for college applications.

OP here- up to this point we have been the ones filling out these forms for him and we have usually left it blank or checked the « decline to state » box.

Am I the only person who thinks this is a great topic for discussion but feels that more likely than not we are being trolled by someone opposed to affirmative action? This reminds me of the BIPOC thread.

OP and I guarantee that I’m not a troll. In answer to prior questions as to why we declined to state his race on past forms...it’s complicated. My own racial identity is something that I always struggled with when growing up given my background and upbringing (and this was back when we were told you could only pick one race when filling out forms, and other often wasn’t even an option). Under the circumstances, and especially when he was very young, I kind of wanted to wait until he was old enough to have a say in how he chooses to identify.

Well what does your son have to say about it? Again I would just strongly urge you to make sure you understand what race actually is - it is not biological, it was created to justify subjugating people. Fast forward to now, colleges care about how you identify because it speaks to what your life experience might be. I think you understand this or else you would not have asked the question. Most kids that check the AA box will have other things in their background that speaks to the fact that they identify as African American. For all of the hand-wringing here I can tell you that colleges, especially the top ones can tell the difference. It's the same as someone who has identified as white all of their life all of a sudden checking the Hispanic/Latino box because their grandmother was from Spain. It did not help that child in the college admission process one bit. You do what is best for you and please allow your child to have a say. Also this is the type of thing that can blow back on a person later in life, so there's that too. - See Elizabeth Warren.

From my view the problem isn't with affirmative action - the problem is with racism as you can see from this thread.

Signed - a black woman with two kids in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's got to the point that people are strategizing how to win the admissions game by selecting or not selecting certain races. When it gets to this point, you know there is something wrong with the policy.

No one is gaming the system. There is no evidence of that. None. Just because some erroneously think that you can has no bearing on what is important to colleges as they build a class.

hahaha everyone knows what the colleges want, which is why everyone is trying to game the system in one way or another. If you want to increase your odds, you have to play the game. Don't hate the player, hate the sick, racist game.

Nice job just ignoring the point and reiterating your BS.

I repeat: No one is gaming the system. There is no evidence of that. None. Just because some erroneously think that you can has no bearing on what is important to colleges as they build a class.

[Anonymous]

It ends with a 5-4 decision.

[Anonymous]

Where does it end? Based on my personal experience, it ends when people start calling you a racist and you stop posting on the thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's got to the point that people are strategizing how to win the admissions game by selecting or not selecting certain races. When it gets to this point, you know there is something wrong with the policy.

NP (I think) and I agree. Things are ridiculous at this point. And it's going to HURT the people that these policies are trying to help. People are going to start thinking that people of certain races only got entrance to certain colleges because of their race. That's unfair for the people of those races who would have achieved entry based on merit and hard work without "playing the race card".

Agree it's getting pretty ridiculous at this point.
I wonder if any other country has currently implemented such rigorous systems for reparations.