<p>admission to college should be based on MERIT only... America takes this race thing too seriously... Race is only skin deep, whats on the inside counts</p>
<p>See now, I disagree with that too. I respect that, being from rich white suburbia (yes, I can call it that, 2% of my school is not white), I have had many opportunities that others have not had. I believe that there is a need to consider a person's background as a context for their accomplishments, rather than their accomplishments alone.</p>
<p>why doesn't everyone go have sex with people of difference races... The whole world would be one race, and there woudln't be AA... solves all this stupid racism sh_t</p>
<p>Ummm...when you arrange that whole system, call me. I'll sign on. For now though, I'll stick with something a little more pragmatic.</p>
<p>And it only takes a few generations! ;)</p>
<p>Well, mankind would probably be wiped out by then anyway. :D</p>
<p>
[quote]
[quote]
I was granted this privilege because my not-so-distant relatives were lynched and sold and worked like oxes
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You can equally say that i am denied admissions to top colleges because my not-so-distant relatives (circa 1980s) decided to work hard and get to good colleges. Because of this there are too many Asians at colleges and I will not be able to get in due to AA.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is a flawed analogy; you cannot apply the words "equally say" to two injustices that are vastly unequal. Chances are, you will go to a good college and graduate; it may not be an elite college. Maybe you deserve to go to an elite college, but you will still go to college. The injustice here is vastly less significant than being whipped into a state of total subordination. I, for one, am willing to make some slight personal sacrifices for the broader issues of society.</p>
<p>Yeah, that is a really bad comparison. Boohoo, I won't get into Caltech because of my skin color...not at all comparable to being lynched. If you believe it is, then you've been on this forum way too long.</p>
<p>Groenveld, or however you spell it, do you know of Grunewald, the painter?</p>
<p>just wondering, because your moniker sounds like Grunewald</p>
<p>
[quote]
This is a flawed analogy; you cannot apply the words "equally say" to two injustices that are vastly unequal. Chances are, you will go to a good college and graduate; it may not be an elite college. Maybe you deserve to go to an elite college, but you will still go to college. The injustice here is vastly less significant than being whipped into a state of total subordination. I, for one, am willing to make some slight personal sacrifices for the broader issues of society.
[/quote]
First of all, I would like to clear the misconception that blacks were whipped all the time. I mean look at it this way, blacks were very expensive private property, owners would not want to ruin such good workers by whipping them without reason. And it was after blacks had been emancipated and during the Reconstruction period that blacks were really lynched and beat up.
Now you says that blacks should get amends for their injustices 150 years ago? Well in that case, why aren't Jews ensured admissions at all colleges in Germany?</p>
<p>Because Jews take responsibility for their future?</p>
<p>hahaha. and yesterday, I was sitting in the community college cafeteria, reading a pamphlet about post-traumatic slavery syndrome.</p>
<p>So, by loving AA, you are saying, in effect, that minorities are not smart enough to get into college on the basis of intellect alone (as that as how whites are admitted); you would rather get into college on the basis of the uncontrollable factor of race.</p>
<p>^I was going to say that. If you like AA, then you could be considered racist.</p>
<p>Affirmative action began as a corrective measure for governmental and social injustices against demographic groups that have been said to be subjected to discrimination in areas such as employment and education. The stated goal of affirmative action is to counteract past and present discrimination sufficiently that the power elite will reflect the demographics of society at large, at which point such a strategy will no longer be necessary.</p>
<p>Some groups who are targeted for affirmative action are characterized by race, gender, ethnicity, or disability status. In India, the focus has mostly been on undoing caste discrimination. In South Africa, the focus has been primarily race-based and, to a lesser extent, gender-based discrimination. When members of targeted groups are actively sought or preferred, the reason given is usually that this is necessary to compensate for advantages that other groups are said to have had (such as through institutional racism or institutional sexism or historical circumstances)</p>
<p>One thing... "I was granted this privilege because my not-so-distant relatives were lynched and sold and worked like oxes." To me, that sounds like you do not feel you gained admission through your hard work, personal sacrifice, and dedication. Maybe you did or maybe you're right, but I think that opinion is important. As others have mentioned (DannyLS3), AA might be counter-productive to self-worth among minorities.</p>
<p>Hey, that's funny, because some of my not-so-distant relatives were gassed and burned at Treblinka. Funny how I don't benefit from AA. Oh, that's right. My people actually value education.</p>
<p>Face it. AA has nothing to do with making up anything to anyone. It has to do with making up for the general lack of value placed on education by black culture, in addition to helping American African students "catch up" (unfairly surpass) to their American European peers who worked just as hard, or possibly - sadly - harder.</p>
<p>You were never lynched. Nothing ever done to you warrants your advantage in obtaining a college education. I'm tired of being sensitive. I'm tired of this crap. Nothing in the past month has enraged me so much as the original post. </p>
<p>And ironically, nothing could possibly fuel old stereotypes about blacks more than the original post.</p>
<p>What are you talking about? Minorities have to work WAY harder to get to where you and your family always took for granted you would end up. Institutions of higher learning not even being open to blacks isn't that far back in time, buddy - whereas your family has had the cultural, monetary, and personal resources to encourage and support you many black kids do NOT. Not to mension the white bias of education, standardized testing, and the crappiness of schools in poor neighborhood. Also, I don't think you even realize what kind of strain living in a poor family and rough place puts on you as a student. Spoken like a true privilege kid. "Unfairly surpass"? Puh-lease.</p>
<p>Or, we could stop hiding behind race and public relations and put the best kids in the best universities, not saying your not - but since you are thanking affirmative action, you must question whether or not you would have stood a chance if you were in the main applicant pool.</p>
<p>What's the most funny about this is, the "best" kids are today measured by how well they do in the educational system... which by a far shot measures actual intelligence as opposed to the skills and characteristics it takes to adapt to this institution.</p>
<p>Also, why is it, ckmed, do you think, that so few black kids apply to college? Get accepted at college? Stay in college as compared to white? They're just not "best" enough, as a group, as a race? Unless this is the conclusion you want to arrive at, think long and hard on how preposterous it is with the current state of education to expect black kids to have the same opportunities as white. ONE way of breaking that cycle is to make college, and other key institutions, more accessible to minorities.</p>