I’m a little slow on the uptake because I just found a link while going through my comments from last week. It’s an article written by an undergrad at the University of Michigan who writes for the school paper. He hates my stance on skin color preferences. Oh, and I’m a pawn of you white conservatives, too. Bet you didn’t know that. James David Dickson writes:
It took but one look and one click on Townhall.com’s front page today for me to remember why, exactly, I hate the conservative position on affirmative action.
This article written by a black, female beneficiary of affirmative action, is what Townhall chose to present as its argument against racial preferences.
Its author, La Shawn Barber, was the beneficiary of affirmative action in college admissions, but also in another way, a way she might not even realize. Barber herself admits that she’s nothing special; she is, simply, a “Washington, D.C. based writer” and a self-proclaimed “regular person.” So why would Townhall ever link an article written by a “regular person” to its front page?
First of all, I don’t like being referred to as “a female.” The female sex exists throughout the animal kindom, and I’m not an animal. I’m a woman. Anyway, I don’t have the time or energy to post long about this.
Those of you new to the blog probably haven’t seen my article archives. Here’s a column I wrote where I discussed why I’m against skin color preferences even though I’ve benefited from them.
Don’t laugh at my old photo, either.
Michelle Malkin has a new book!
(Hat tip: Instapundit).
Update (8/3/04): I realize I should’ve linked to the article that was the topic of the student’s indignation. It’s actually a transcript of a speech called “The Evolution of Affirmative Action.”
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Mr. Dickson seems to forget that in most areas of moral failure it is those who once benefited from it or were harmed by it who make the staunchest advocates against it. The real question, and one I didn’t see answered in the article, though I believe I know the answer, was whether you would have succeeded without the advantage?
Well, there is an archive of the townhall.com front page, and guess what?
They link to “regular people” all the time. That’s the problem with rhetorical questions; if you don’t know what the answer is, they blow up in your face.
With hard work, study and faith in God, anyone can succeed.
Given La Shawn’s story about her background, if anything, AA held her back, and had she succumbed to her inner demons, could have permanently damaged her.
Who knows? Instead of taking up to her late twenties to realize her calling, she may well have started her writing career in her teens instead.
RE: your pawn comment. What’s always been hilarious about this, and which nobody ever seems to think through, is that the conspiracy believing Left (of all color varieties) is under the absurd impression that we “white conservatives” actually WANT pawns/stooges. Like I want the responsibility! You have to feed them, provide them protection against natural disasters and invasions, etc. Who’s got the time or energy for that? Half the time I forget to water my plants, much less to make sure all my purported “stooges” are doing my bidding. Here is what conservatives (including the white variety) really want: “all y’all just leave me alone.”
But, there’s good news: Dickson puts you and Ward Connerly in the same sentence. Connerly isn’t such shabby company.
Being a ‘mature’ college student, I run into this type of attitude all the time. All I do is look at the person speaking as if they’re an authority and tell them “Oh yeah? Have a family and grow a little older – THEN tell me what is what”.
BTW La Shawn? Your older photo is quite good. No laughing here….
Girl, you’re making it into the big time! Folks dissing you across the land? Geez!
Could it not be said that a person who has benefited from affirmative action but now opposes it is precisely the best qualified person to argue the anti- side? Because of their experience? I guess La Shawn can’t come to her own conclusions about an issue, but must be “brainwashed” into it. Perhaps Townhall.com likes her writing as a conservative (regardless of her race) since she writes well? Why is it that liberals can argue for diversity in virtually every arena except black ideological diversity?
However, I do agree with one of his positions. Too many other conservatives only discuss racism in this realm, and not racism that still occurs against blacks when it occurs.
Why is it that liberals of all colors have such a hard time believing that Blacks can hold conservative views without being a “pawn of White conservatives”.
It is as thought they think that “being Black” is akin to being one of the “Borg” from “Star Trek” where all the “Borg” were connected into one consciousness.
This is one of the great failings of liberals today. While they will do almost anything to accomplish diversity of skin color and culture, but they have absolutely no tolerance for diversity of thought or opinion.
Hi La Shawn:
Was just linked here by Donald Sensing’s site. I enjoyed your article on Affirmative Action and why it must end even though you benefited from it.
The greatest, most succinct logical argument against Affirmative Action was delievered by Justice Clarence Thomas at GWU (I believe) when a smart aleck law student asked him about his opposition to AA despite HIS having benefited personally from it.
Thomas replied that many white Americans benefited directly and indirectly from the institution of slavery so did that make slavery moral?
The law student had no real response to that.
Enjoyed your work. Look forward to reading more of you.
Bob Diethrich
Okay, let me get this straight. If you aren’t a “pawn” of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Barack Obama, et al, and blindly following the Black, Liberal ideology, then you’re a “pawn of White Conservatives”? Sheesh! I tried to find the strings and sticks that I could use to make LaShawn my marionette and have her dance and talk my agenda, but she doesn’t have any.
Molotov – This is making it to the big time:
http://www.coulterwatch.com/
http://users.rcn.com/skutsch/anticoulter/linkswelike.html
Thanks for the comments, everyone. This is what I have to deal with all the time. That’s why I want to speak across the country about these and other issues, especially on college campuses where students are being fed liberal garbage every day.
Welcome to your new home. Sheesh, a guy goes away for a week, everything changes.
Oh, sorry, on topic: How dare you suggest people be rewarded on the merit of their ability?
Spot on as usual, thanks
Molotov – This is making it to the big time:
http://www.coulterwatch.com/
http://users.rcn.com/skutsch/anticoulter/linkswelike.html
True, true. However, you are making steps on your way. Give it time. Doesn’t Ann have a good 7 years (or so) of age on you? One day, folks may even call Ann Coulter the “white La Shawn Barber.”
Any one ever notice a pattern among groupthinkers like Dickson, who are pawns of the race pimps, of constantly accusing all dissenting views as coming from “pawns”? The sad thing is that they have no clue that they are being used like chess pieces. And in cases like this, they have no idea how grossly insulting it is toward blacks to imply that they will get nowhere without “special treatment”.
In the real, non-university world, the only folks who normally merit “special treatment” are those who have some type of physical or mental handicap, or those who are being rewarded for special accomplishments.
Mr. Dickson, either you think that black people are somehow inferior, always in need of special help and “leaders”, or you believe them to be a superior “master race” deserving of a perpetual red carpet.
Either way, you’re in trouble!
La Shawn, you know I have a veritable army of tough guys who type really hard ready to be your phalanx. All you need to do is whistle and we’ll be there.
The Left requires a permanent underclass in order to justify their position. That is why they work so hard to keep it inside its box.
They get very uncomfortable when people get off their plantation… they can’t act the minions of the Great White Burden if you go thinking for yourself and all.
Luv ya, kiddo!
Yeah, James’ a classic. In one post, he berates La Shawn for being a traitor to the cause, in the next, he takes umbrage at someone who was offended that he was planning to get trashed and then go to the zoo.
In other words, every black is responsible for toeing the line in the sand on white guilt, but how dare anyone criticize him as irresponsible and ig-nant for wanting to make an ass of himself in public.
What was that Coz said again?
what is wrong with the old photo?
I liked your response, but wanted to point out one thing.
You said “My black peers imply that I lack the authority to speak out against race preferences because I’ve benefited from them.” You didn’t add, but could have, that according to liberals white opponents of race preferences also lack such authority. In our case because we might benefit from a policy reversal we’re simply greedy, and it’s often implied that white opponents are racists as well.
So to recap, if you don’t currently benefit you’re trying to return to Jim Crow, and if you do currently benefit you’re a traitor. In neither case is a principled argument supporting racial preferences made or defended.
The saddest part about his article is that he doesn’t even understand the issues. He refers to “a Supreme Court which realized that racism still exists”, implying that this was the issue in the recent Supreme Court cases. This is wrong on so many levels it’s rather embarassing.
1. Opponents of racial preferences don’t deny racism.
2. Government sponsored discrimination doesn’t solve the problem of other discrimination against blacks.
3. The “bad” racial discrimination which provides the basis for his “good” racial discrimination is against the law.
4. He assumes that because this program attempts to remedy racial discrimination it is actually successful in doing so.
5. He ignores that his basis of support is against the law: racial discrimination for the purpose of remedying past or current discrimination violates the CRA and both the Bakke and Grutter SCOTUS cases.
The sole legal basis for racial preferences is “diversity”. While it’s true that most people understand this is one of those polite lies we don’t discuss openly, it’s rather ironic he’s trying to defend UM’s position (or school admission generally) but doesn’t seem to know what that position is.
Hm. La Shawn, I’d say that “female” is not objectionable when used as an adjective. It has a distasteful, too-clinical sound when used as a noun to describe a woman, but that’s not how he used the word. The word “woman” is really a noun, and some people don’t like to use it as an adjective.
I’m a female blogger, or a woman. I’d rather not be a woman blogger, since that’s grammatically a bit dicier–though certainly allowable if your approach to usage is more liberal ( more permissive). It has a sort of 1970s, old-fashioned feminist feel to it.
Just my thoughts.
“So why would Townhall ever link an article written by a “regular person” to its front page?”
Because she’s an interesting writer with a fascinating point of view. Note the author’s hidden assumption that no black person, much less a black woman, can suceed on a level playing field. Segregation once assumed that blacks couldn’t measure up to white standards. Now affirmative action does. If a black woman succeeds, he feels, it can’t be because she has talent and ability.
–Mike Perry, Inkling blog , Seattle
Thanks for the support, everyone. All of you make good points, especially MJ. The Michigan law school case justified discrimination of the basis of “diversity.” Having us black folks around “enriches” the eductional environment of white students!
I found a study that measured whether that was true. Conclusion: No. I’ll dig it up and blog about, hopefully this week.
Ahem,
I must say that discrimination based on race is still occurring in the USA to this day.
I will also say that being the most skilled and highly qualified does not get you a job.
The theory that blacks should become more skilled and that will even the playing field is just that, a theory. In the real world, there are many other factors that go into hiring and advancing up the corporate ladder.
I am not familiar with law schools, but a person admitted still has to perform to a certain standard in order to graduate, right?
I understand the “conservative” point of view on Affirmative Action, but I think that that view lacks credibility and sincerity. Alan Keyes would at least be Vice President of the US if skill, qualifications and intelligence were the only criteria by which people were judged.
Your blog would be as insightful if written anonymously…
Because you are…
I laughed at the photo. What happens to me now?
I’ll think of something.
I second your desire not to be referred to as “a female”, yes I’m female, but I don’t like being referred to that way, in makes me think of animals as well.
Wow, James Dickson comes across as smug and elitist on his statement about why would Townhall link a “regular person”. Sheesh!!!
So, by Mr. Dickson’s logic, white people should never have opposed slavery (much less fought a war over it) because they benefited from it?
…Not a good argument.
Like people have already said, maybe some day JDD will get a little older and start thinking for himself…
As to Montie’s earlier comment about the Borg…
Ever notice that the Borg were all white? Coincidence? Hmmm.
LaShawn…
Were you, “Damaged and demoralized” when you benefitted?
How about Colin Powell?
The argument that somehow a black will feel inferior due to his receiving affirmative action has not been proven.
I would submit the images of blacks shown daily on the news, in the papers, on music videos (whom white male executives and shareholders of these corporations are being enriched from) are much more damaging to the black psyche than someone say, hey guy, I am going to give you a shot at success.
YOU BENEFITTED. The word benefit implies the positives outweigh the negatives. That alone damages a portion of your argument.
Secondly, I agree with you, logic dictates that an argument must be judged according to it’s logical validity, and not the credibility of the one making the argument. So I am not critiquing your position based upon you benefitting or not benefitting. But purely as a stand alone logical argument.
Furthermore I understand you wanting to be consistent morally even if what you did was immoral. It was obviously immoral for you to take advantage of a system that you find immoral. But understanding we have the right to change our perspectives, I can appreciate you attempting to be morally consistent.
However, that being said, I don’t agree with the logic you use to prove it is immoral.
Let us approach this argument from a biblical perspective…
Did the hebrew slaves in egypt free themselves? Or did God intervene, provide a leader, provide 10 plagues, provide a split sea, kill the egyptians in the sea, so the people could be free?
According to your logic, should they have not been morally accountable to free themselves from the bondage of pharoah without “External” help?
This is a quote from your article:
“Race preferences are damaging and demoralizing.”
To whom, and where is the statistical data to back up this premise? I have never seen any, and I make it my business to know.
“Under such policies, blacks are treated not as responsible moral agents with accountability”
Here you are highly incorrect and this is why. Entry in, does not equate to success in. In otherwords, just because I get a job doesn’t mean I can perform and keep the job. You are taking a narrow view on a broad issue making your reasoning flawed.
That being said, I am not necessarily a fan of Affirmative Action as currently administered. I also do believe that the democrats pimp the black vote.
But let me ask you a question. No doubt you believe that blacks have progressed since 1965. being that 95% of blacks are democrat, do you think the progress is a result of republican policies or democrat policies and why?
Well, more Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than did Democrats…
I think the implication of that is obvious.
La Shawn:
I often wonder at the reasoning behind affirmative action. It seems motivated by a lack of faith: not only in the power of the individual to overcome adversity, but in the power of a culture to heal over time. And it seems to me that the critical difference between the liberal and conservative approaches is that liberals lack patience and (furthermore) faith that blacks possess the strength and the will to overcome. Conservatives believe that, no matter what the obstacles, you will make it. It may not be easy and it may take time, but history has shown that quick and easy solutions are often counterproductive.
The damage that has been done to the black community did not happen overnight. Why do we expect it to be fixed overnight?
Cultures that value hard work and academic achievement have an infrastructure in place to nurture these qualities in their children. These values are passed from generation to generation and rest on years of tradition. That tradition has been eroded within the black community by a corrupt and defeatist message that says, “hard work isn’t enough – you can’t make it unless we help you”. What hundreds of years of slavery couldn’t destroy, we crushed with pity.
So many times I have heard black speakers say that they will never vote for a Republican because Republicans don’t “care” for them. It saddens me to I hear that, because I don’t believe it to be true. But more importantly, I think it is beside the point. I always wish I could respond, “Maybe what you really need is not for someone to care about you, but for them to respect you.”
And we do respect you. Enough to believe you capable of whatever you put your minds and your wills to solving. Enough to treat you like adults, instead of children who must be taken care of by a nanny state. Enough, even, to hold you accountable to the same standards we apply to ourselves.
And whether or not anyone believes it, we do care. More than you will ever know.
Well, more Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than did Democrats…
Not true. A higher percentage of Republicans voted for it than Democrats.
There is a difference.
I often wonder at the reasoning behind affirmative action. It seems motivated by a lack of faith: not only in the power of the individual to overcome adversity, but in the power of a culture to heal over time.
Great comment, Cassandra. This whole country has so many problems, and some of those problems affect certain people more than others. But to think that a certain group needs special or remedial help, and not just particular individuals, is distasteful to me. Perhaps I don’t articulate myself very well when it comes to describing my pride in being considered an American before I’m referred to based on the color of my skin.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Darkstar,
My faux paus. I think my point still stands though.
Tell him to quit projecting and grow up.
If I could respond to just one of Hirez’s points: I tutored College Algebra and Statistics for 3 years at the college level. An overwhelming number of my students were black. It was absolutely heartbreaking working with them, because they needed the courses to graduate they wanted to succeed, and almost to a woman (because they were almost ALL women) they were woefully underprepared academically.
They should not have been allowed to take the class in the first place. Some of them (in my opinion) should not have been in college. None of them were stupid. They all wanted to succeed, or they would not have been paying me.
There was almost no way, short of dropping all their other classes and studying full time, that they could make up for their lack of preparedness in time to pass.
How can that not be demoralizing?
Would it not have been better for them to be in a program that fit their academic level? Not their intelligence level, but their level of academic preparedness – you can only pour water into a glass so fast – too much too soon, and it just spills out.
They felt like failures when they couldn’t absorb the material fast enough. Because they were failing, the teacher had to make the tests easier for the rest of the class and the material got dumbed down (and if you don’t believe that happens, you’re crazy). Teachers get rated on their D/W/F rate. I know, because I was hired to teach supplemental courses to reduce those rates for high-risk classes.
Affirmative action has a rippling effect that goes far beyond the individual who is admitted (or not admitted because he or she is discriminated against).
My last post of the night…
Cassandra…I appreciate your sentiment, and your attempt at compassion…but telling a kid who is getting beat up by a bully to just hang in there and fight until you win is irrational…and that is what you are saying…
Trust me, I believe in my people more than you ever will, and I love them more than you will ever comprehend. I believe in self-determism and the necessity of self-sacrifice of the great ones in our community to elevate the community as a whole.
That being said, there is a duality of responsibility that it seems you people just don’t understand. I hate to keep going back to the bible to prove my point, but being that pure social arguments are falling on deaf ears, maybe biblical arguments will open some minds.
Within the bible there has always been the duality of responsibility between civic leadership in the form of governmental authority and individual responsibility. This was never demonstrated more evidently than when Jesus went out alone to pray after John the Baptist died, and the people followed him. The bible said he had compassion on them because
“Mark 6:34 – And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. ”
Yet you had a political system in place that was dominate by a religious governmental structure, the lay Pharisees and the Higher Up Sadducees.
We know how Jesus addressed the religious leaders (White washed tombs, etc.) indicating a failure to minister to the masses.
But according to the model of compassion that you have, the ability to address and minimize the struggles of a people group who have been treated as no other in this nation, is…GET UP YOURSELF, PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY, etc. etc.
The number times in the bible Christ talks about looking after the poor and the widow and the orphan. I could go on and on.
My point being that there is a tremendous burden placed on the shoulders of the black men and women in america. Is there a critical need for self-determinism. Yes. Is there also a need for the government to correct the social injustice “SOCIAL” injustice past and present, I believe the bible would say so.
Good night.
Hirez- I can “listen” to you defend skin color preferences, but using the Bible (capital “B”) to defend race discrimination is deplorable. Many people, usually liberals, like to use Jesus as an example of someone who fought for “social justice”, whatever the world that means.
Reference to orphans and widows in Scripture is usually in context of people of God taking care of their own, namely others in the church.
Christ came to heal sin sickness, not to make sure people get what they desire by way of worldy pleasures or what they believe is “fair.” His teaching specifically and directly contradict such notions. Remember that all Biblical references are contained within a context. You can’t just pick something that may or may not support your position. I berated John Kerry about this in March: http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2004/03/29/brstrongkerry-cites-scripture-to-battle-bush-viewstrong/
Hirez:
I will leave this for you in the morning
I find it interesting that you don’t seem to entertain the possibility that there might be people in the world who might be willing to give black people a chance regardless of, or even because of their race. Here’s a real shocker for you: there are even conservatives who feel that way. Given two people with exactly equal qualifications, many conservatives would give the nod to a black job candidate.
For a number of reasons: call it white guilt, altruism, goody-two-shoes impulse, or just the desire to bridge a gap that makes us uncomfortable and that we’d like to put behind us.
If racism is as pervasive, burdensome, and hard to overcome as you maintain, how do you explain the thriving black middle class of today?
Better yet, how do you explain the prosperous black merchant class during the Jim Crow era? Because it existed. You can’t tell me they didn’t have more to overcome than modern blacks do. Yet they were able, in that time, to make money and get ahead.
The fact of the matter is that, by any objective sociological standard: teen pregnancy, divorce, drug use, literacy rates, you name it, blacks are worse off now than they were before the Civil rights act of 1964, and the welfare state is to blame.
It has destroyed the black family: the social infrastructure and values that made blacks successful under the harsh conditions they lived under then, and would really allow them to soar under today’s far better conditions.
The true burden on the shoulders of black men and women is the burden of trying to succeed without the support of a culture that values hard work and morals. Without God – traditionally the strength of the black family. To me, this is a tragedy.
Hirez,
That is the crux of Cassandra’s assertion that unprepared students have no business being allowed into the deep-end of the pool, before they are able to swim.
Perhaps “rippling” is not the optimal word, since it implies that the environment eventually attenuates the ripples. In the case of education, cascading or amplifying effect would be more apt.
Anyhoo.
The rippling effect actually begins in 1st grade, and systemically progressed that by graduation from HS, many are unprepared for college coursework. Hence the proliferation of remedial classes to get a student where they need to be in the first place. To say this is not demoralizing is crazy.
Much has been made of the failures of the public school system, suffice to say, AA is part and parcel of the problem within the education system.
Blacks are not the only group that is damaged by AA. AA, on occasion can be colorblind.
Colorblind??? Deaf students, as a group, are comprised of all races, yet they are served by the same mentality that says; “they can’t make it on their own, so we’ll have to level the field by dumbing down”. Here is a group that is discriminated not by race but by handicap, so it doesn’t matter if you’re Black or White [Disclaimer: the core of my direct involvement in the Deaf World took place between the 60s up until '82, so I'm not up on the latest codewords]
Instead of Ebonics, the Deaf have ASL–Ebonics equivalent of Signed English, ironically called American Sign Language, with its own syntax, grammar etc–also known as Amslan or American (Sign) Slang, cute eh. ASL is not to be confused as traditional Sign Language or Signed English, which is grammatically correct–there is a difference.
Anyway, ASL had its roots in the rise of the educational elites of the 70’s that said, instead of emphasizing the language of the marketplace–Business/Proper English–, it was necessary to give them their own language more fitting to their “culture”. My beef with the whole concept is that to get ahead in the real world, one needs to be able to deal in the real world. It’s one thing to be “bi-lingual”, using ASL at home or with friends, but in the classroom, they need to understand and use proper English.
As a result, Schools for the Deaf proceeded to churn out HS GINOs (Graduates In Name Only). That’s where I, as a student, interacted with them in community college both as tutor and translator, sometimes while taking the class myself as part of my own course load. Where possible, I would try to get assigned to a student that was taking something outside of my major, but was personally interested in, so it was sort of like auditing the class. So between taking my own classes, and working with the Deaf students, I generally spent 10 – 12 hours on campus everyday. At least I got paid well above the minimum wage, so it was a pretty good gig.
Usually I found it necessary to interpret, rather than translate, in order to help the students keep up–in the Deaf World, translate implies a literal word for word, while interpret gets the basic idea across. Hence translators are usually called interpreters.
As for tutoring, my experience was that the average Deaf–like Cassandra, most students were women, as were the translators/tutors–required an hour of tutoring for every hour of coursework. If scheduling permitted, the ideal schedule would have the tutoring session immediately following the class while the subject was still warm.
Then there were the foreign (Francophone) Deaf students, which believe it or not, were actually better prepared for higher education. Here, the emphasis was on ESL (English as Second Language). Technically speaking, one could claim English is the second language for most Deaf. Anyway, since English wasn’t my 1st, or even 2nd language, I got assigned to them as much as possible–for one student, it was a two-fer, in that it wasn’t necessary to take ESL classes, since I could do it on the fly and I was taking the English Comp/Lit classes anyway.
Also ideal, when having more than 1 student in a given class, that they be more or less equal in language skill, since the traditional language student got frustrated being interpreted to instead of translated. One of the girls would rather forego an interpreter and try to keep up by herself by lip-reading the instructor. Needless to say, without the coordinated triage by the Handicapped Student Services department, the failure rate for Deaf students would have been higher and most students end up in society underequipped, underemployed and consigned to being less than they could be.
Just as history is replete with examples of Blacks who have made it under Jim Crow, before CRA and AA, there are Deaf people that have made it without AA, ADA etc. In my give & take with Boy Wonder at UM, I gave him a prime example of being Black & Deaf in the 40/50s.
Bottomline, AA may have been noble in concept, just as Marxism was, but do we need it? No. Do we need to crank the academic standards back up? Yes. Anything less than rigorous is a disservice to the student and in the long run, damaging to society, as people are prevented from reaching their full potential.
Where does accountability/responsibility fit in regarding the students themselves? Nowhere really, since it was denied to them and alternatives fewer and farther between than for black students. We’ve met the enemy and it’s the liberal edcuation system.
La Shawn, the worst fun I can think of to make of your old picture is that it’s “cute”. The current one is “pretty”, so you must be part of Ann Coulter’s “pretty girl allies”?
That said, I was rather offended by Hirez’s assumption that a white person cannot “believe in” and “love” black people as much as he(?) does. I love and believe in PEOPLE, period. I’ve spoken to, worked with, and gone to school with some of the best people you would ever want to meet, of all races, but I have also had to deal with some of the most worthless excuses for human beings imaginable – again, of all races.
One of the hardest people I ever had to deal with, however, was a woman who worked with my wife in the mid-to-late 80’s. She was married to a man who made considerably more money then than I do even now, and the only reason she worked was to buy herself stuff and to keep from being bored, yet she was constantly harping on how we “couldn’t understand what it was like to grow up black”. Well, maybe I couldn’t, exactly, especially since there were about 5 black students in my whole high school, and four of them were from the same family, which was close friends with my family. On the other hand, how many people understand being a geek growing up in a redneck school? The (admittedly small number of) black students I knew were treated far better than I was by the other students. Ok, maybe I was never told something like “Y’all look the same to me”, but I was still excluded from things by other students because of being different, so I’m not totally lost on understanding the issue.
As far as Affirmative Action goes – fact is, there IS racism still in this country, I know some people who are. The problem with the way Affirmative Action is structured, however, is that it not only denigrates the very people it helps (if they back up and look at the implications of having to be ‘helped’), but it also makes worse the very problem it purportedly seeks to correct, because it generates resentment from the people who lose out to someone less qualified because of it. If you want to help out underprivileged people, whatever their race, set up tutoring assistance for students, beginning in primary school, adult education, and job training assistance for people of working age; don’t just force acceptance by an organization of a certain number of people of a certain race regardless of qualifications. That just lowers respect for the ones who really did not need the “help” in the first place.
Hirez,
You said
“Cassandra…I appreciate your sentiment, and your attempt at compassion…but telling a kid who is getting beat up by a bully to just hang in there and fight until you win is irrational…and that is what you are saying…”
I think the solution is preparing the kid to face the bully, not to stand beside him and fight for him, or to hobble the bully so the kid is on par with the tormentor.
In this context, that means making sure the students are prepared and ready to compete before sending them off to college.
How does lowering the standards help the kids in the long run, unless you lower all the others after that? And if you do, doesn’t that diminish the achievement?
When I played sports competively, if we weren’t fast enough, strong enough or savvy enough, we didn’t change the definitions and lower the bar so we could all have a shot of making it into the finals. The ones who were falling behind worked harder, practiced more and caught up; those who didn’t stayed behind and got left. Some of us had it easier than others, because of natural talent or a family tradition. Some had it harder, having to work to support themselves or their family, or had comitments to family (young siblings, sick or elderly family).
But the responsibilty the rest of the team had was to help those behind them whereever they could. Stay late and help them make their laps, work on developing weak skills or help take some of the burden off their shoulders at home. But those struggling athletes had to work for it or be left behind.
Anyway, that to me is what AA should be. Helping those who are falling behind because of a bad situation (who will also help themselves) to catch up and meet the requirements. Not to change the rules to meet their situation.
And it shouldn’t come into play once someone is an adult, because by then it is too late. The young adults Cassandra mentioned needed the help before they got to her class, when they were still in elementary and high school. They needed to build up their mental muscles and reflexes then, in the pre-season. Instead they were let into the play-offs without having the A-game that should be required.
But hey, that’s just me.
-SCSIwuzzy
SLE says:
“The theory that blacks should become more skilled and that will even the playing field is just that, a theory. In the real world, there are many other factors that go into hiring and advancing up the corporate ladder.”
It worked for the Jews who were heavily discriminated against in 1900. It was said then that if you were a Jew you had to be twice as good to get a job. OK. So why stop at twice? Why not three, four, ten times as good? And we have all benefitted from that.
Now because of Jew’s efforts to excell they get preferential treatment.
Affirmative action by their own efforts (not politics). What a novel idea.
Of course because of political AA it is often thought that the black candidate for a job is the inferior pick.
AA made sense in 1967 to break the log jam. I thought it might last 20 years. What was an advantage then is now a handicap.
BTW it is my observation that the average white man is lazy and comfortable with his status and is easily bested by some one willing to make the effort.
What does this say about the black community that wants even lower standards for blacks.
What a disservice when the white man, with some effort, is so easy to best.
BTW some of my best friends are white. Like my wife for instance.
M. Simon,
Too right. While I may disagree with the assertion that the average (if you mean common place) white man is lazy, there sure are enough out there to make a valid observation. Some of us buckra are lazy, sitting on the shoulders of those that came before, thinking they’ve reached great heights. But plenty are up on their feet and grasping at that next rung on the ladder.
If my family had believed in the current Dem logic, I’d be a hardscrabble farmer like my father’s family or a factory worker like my mother’s, speaking something other than english, or at best, with charming accents that much of the entertainment industry loves to mock fly-over country about. But I digress…
Anyway, I will agree that there are plenty of ‘white’ Americans ready to be overtaken, and the effort to do so shouldn’t be beyond the reach of anyone with some gumption.
And the quotes around white… the whole AA issue assumes that blacks are monolithic in their need of special help, and whites therefore are also uniformly in great condidtion to move up in society.
I can tell you from persoanl experience, if a white fella of any background (ethnicly) comes to an interview in the wrong clothes and speaks the wrong way, he’s also going to miss out on the job. They way I sound at home and with family is very different from how I sound at the office
Sorry for the extra dose of rambling there…
But hey, that’s just me.
First time I saw this one. I actually like that old picture.
I also agree with the writer. You are being used by the conservative party as I have addressed before. Does this make it negative? I don’t believe so, as long as your vision is aligned with those whom are using you. I have this same situation going on down here, people look for vehicles to enact there desires.
To me it becomes a very personal issue, I would submit that as much as you hate race based evaluations and elevations based upon race that you are in effect the beneficiary of them in terms of popularity, access into certain media streams, and your acceptance by the conservative party with open arms.
As I believe I asked before, do you think if you were a white male conservative, that your writings or “blog” would be garnering a similar amount of attention? If you say no, then you too agree that it is your “race” the very thing which you decry being evaluated on, that is giving you a leg up in your journalistic endevours. If that is the case then what makes what is occuring with you in an informal manner, any different than what occurs in a formal manner through affirmative action?
As I said, I am with you on about 50% to 75% of the issues, but that other 25%, specifically in areas that I believe are directly related to the progress of African Americans in this nation I simply disagree. Affirmative Action is one of them.
http://www.dellgines.blogspot.com
You are being used by the conservative party as I have addressed before
HiRez, HiRez, HiRez. Just when things are going so nicely you have to go and say something like that. Good grief. For the peace of this Saturday morning, I’ll take it for what it’s worth: about 2 cents.
Well, you are, and I didn’t frame it negatively, as I am being used the same way for different purposes down here. People use individuals to execute there strategies and positions, this doesn’t make it a win/lose as you are assuming I am implying, it can be a win/win if both those who want to execute strategies, and you, have the same ultimate vision.
I can’t believe Dickson (whom I know personally) would criticize a person and publication for publishing “regular people.” The best writers (in fact, all writers) are regular people. Some just won’t admit it.
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