<p>Long post guys...I'm giving this part of the forum a baptist revival.</p>
<p>There's often a lot said about things like affirmative action and how they advantage certain groups over others. But the thing is, people don't consider that not only the beneficiaries' ancestors suffered some from sort of prejudice and/or disadvantage in the past, but the beneficiaries themselves had more than like suffered from some sort of disadvantage based primarily on the fact that they are a minority earlier in life, including high school. </p>
<p>I find my self thinking about this in terms of leadership roles and high school right now..lol....If you think about it and consider the context of the types of schools from which many of us come from (predominantly non-minority schools), one's leadership positions can be directly tied to minority status. Before I get the counters, I obviously know that there are many exceptions to the rule, on the site, myself included. But I wonder if you felt that you had a tougher time reaching certain leadership positions or even felt blocked out of certain roles. And this question goes to students who attend predominantly non-minority schools.</p>
<p>When I think about this subject...besides more recent events.....I remember the first time that I came to a meeting for a certain club that took place in a math classroom. Although I was clearly sitting among other students, and this was the clubs very first meeting at the school, many of the students (all asian and white) assumed that I was there for tutoring...The list goes on about my experiences within that club and my experiences moving up in other clubs...If you must hear the deets you can PM me...But in short, I often find that beyond, Multi-cultural clubs, you have to work extremely hard to assert your self as someone to be taken seriously....you have to be observant enough to make sure that your accomplishments are noticed and aren't attributed to someone else...you have to balance willingness to pick up people's slack while asserting yourself enough to make sure that the power-tripper above you doesn't think too little of you to speak "degrading-ly" to you and have the nerve to cc the adviser on their message(lol..that may just be my case)..</p>
<p>As of late, I have been finding myself regretting the choice I made for high school. Although the numbers added up and the school is one of the best in the state, I had other options--more diverse options for schooling with only slight differences in prestige and academics. While the opportunities at my school may have been good, I sometimes can't help but conclude that certain factors prevented me from many of them. I sometimes wonder about how things would be if I went to a school w/ more diverse students AND faculty. No offense to my future state college peeps out there, but I sometimes feel that these people think I take a 2 hour bus ride to school so that I can go straight to state college or less. Making people view you as a serious and competitive candidate as a minority is a struggle--with peers, teachers, and even, quite disturbingly, with college counselors.</p>
<p>Yeah you and every other intelligent African American that ever walked the face of this Earth.</p>
<p>Simply get better grades than them. So if any issues come about you can look to the numbers (GPA).</p>
<p>Of course that is easier said than done. </p>
<p>Remember!</p>
<p>“Well, in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.”</p>
<p>“A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"</p>
<p>In Short: Work Harder, Be better, Excel. </p>
<p>I don’t even know if I answered your question. lol</p>
<p>Parent of african american student speaking here…
You wrote that you have been finding myself regretting the choice I made for high school. Although the numbers added up and the school is one of the best in the state, I had other options–more diverse options for schooling. I find MYSELF regretting sending our oldest to a very good, but not at all diverse, high school for some of the reasons you mention. In her case, she is looking to a small arts group within the school (more accepting kids) to find leadership and also doing leadership outside of school. In the mainstread, not only is it harder to achieve leadership even though qualified, but she often does not WANT to lead those kids because of their attitudes and beliefs.</p>
<p>However, we have family friends who sent their kids to a very urban school. Not only do they LOVE it in terms of comfort of being one of many instead of one of few, but they have so, so many opportunities that they have to turn things down. They are part of the student body helping to make the school better, not part of the student body diversifying. They have great grades and ample time to buckle down for the SAT. They will leave there just fine. They have had to deal with some ‘roughneck’ behavior from the other kids but one said to my daughter: I would rather deal with some tough kids than deal with the snooty ones you have to deal with.</p>
<p>It is about choices and sacrifices and challenges. Leadership in an environment that does not welcome you to the role is a big challege and a tough one for many high school kids. Hang in there. Spin it write and overcome it and it can be a great hook for essays. Yet, it does limit the joy of high school doesn’t it?</p>
Exactly. Of course when your competing with a smarter and harder working group of fellow students it is MUCH easier said than done. The playing field is now level. Time to compete on your own merit and not use you race as an excuse.</p>
<p>Aglages wrote: “Time to compete on your own merit and not use you race as an excuse.” I think the point not understood here is that the playing field may not be even in that when you are in a room with no one who looks like you or who has had your experiences your inner core absolutely has to be stronger (not as strong) than that of the others and the stress you immediately feel from the experience is present and very real.
In addition, you often have to do BETTER, not as well as, others because too many assume that perhaps you do not belong and are there only because of your race.
There are other stressors too, from having other non whites outside of school either condemn your choice of attending a non diverse school to the other end of the poll where you are expected to do extremely well and make your ‘race’ proud.</p>
<p>Unless one has been in that situation, it is a hard concept to understand but a very real situationg bright educated african american high school students find themselves in when they try to ascert themselves and achieve leadership and recognition they are qualified for.<br>
T</p>
Why? You’re not competing on looks. Compete with your grades and personality/leadership skills.
Why better? What does it matter what others assume if you have the intelligence to compete and do at least as well? If anything you have an advantage. People are not expecting much from you and now you can dazzle them with your brilliance.
You don’t think Asians, Hispanics and many other 1st generation Americans are not experiencing this “stressor”? Of course they are. Time to compete on your own merit and not use your race as an excuse.</p>
<p>"What does it matter what others assume if you have the intelligence to compete and do at least as well? "</p>
<p>Didn’t we cover this? Try out the scroll function.</p>
<p>“You don’t think Asians, Hispanics and many other 1st generation Americans are not experiencing this “stressor”? Of course they are. Time to compete on your own merit and not use your race as an excuse.”</p>
<p>No one said that they didn’t and no one is using “it” as an excuse. But I think that it’s also worth noting that for the most part Asians and under-represented minorities such as hispanics and african-americans deal with a different set preconceived notions and stereotypes representing two different ends of a spectrum. And ironically, what I have noticed, at least in my school, is that all minorities (ORM and URM) aren’t usually present in leadership roles, which is arguably a cause of stereotypes that attribute to two different extremes to these two different groups.<–The reason why I titled this thread “Minorities and Extra-Curricular Leadership”.</p>
<p>This is a discussion forum. Take your lectures elsewhere. I know that I spoke a bit about a personal situation in the original post, but I posted this to generate discussion about this little discussed area and to allow younger cc’rs to know that they are not alone if they had experienced the things I detailed in my first post. This is not my rant on how everything is unfair or my excuse. I’ll have you know that I am a senior, my grades and test scores are very high, despite my challenges at this school I do have leadership positions and I have earned the respect of faculty. I worked extremely hard to achieve the aforementioned…</p>
<p>I notice that you always have something negative to say about posts concerning minorities (specifically African-Americans). If you do not like what people have to say on this forum or quite frankly the people in this forum, I would advise you not to compulsively check looking for something to be riled up about. It uncouth, unproductive and weird. </p>
<p>And just because it secretly steams more than would admit…</p>
<p>To the original poster…
I agree with your statement that this is a discussion forum to help others navigate issues rather than to hear from someone that there is no issue (and I too wonder why someone would want to continue to comment on an issue they think is irrelevant and a non issue in their eyes…but to each his own). So, let’s get back to the very real issue you face.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is looking for leadership in groups where the students as a whole are more accepting. At my daughter’s school, kids in the arts (band, theater, orchestra, art club) tend to be open minded and not make assumptions about people. We have also found that service groups that are TRULY based on the idea of helping others are good places to step into and not have race be a factor.</p>
<p>With strong grades and an even stronger inner core you will find opportunities. Also, sometimes leading those that do not want or expect you to lead ends up being a huge challenge, but also a great reward. In addition, the whole experience of navigating this type of stuff is something to write about come application time. It is a world in and of itself, isn’t it?</p>
<p>In addition, the whole experience of navigating this type of stuff is something to write about come application time. It is a world in and of itself, isn’t it?</p>
<p>^That’s sort of true…but one would have to be extremely careful about how it is worded…an essay about this subject could easily come off the wrong way with certain types of people</p>
<p>^
lol yeah now I remember! Did I tell you that I got in? Best summer of my life! Thanks for your advice. It was really helpful–I would PM you on how if I didn’t think you would put my business out on front street…lol</p>
<p>It all connects! When I saw your post on this thread I was wondering who would be arrogant enough to say they go to “THE University” but now I remember all the ish talking you were doing about UVA.</p>
<p>This is my last response to you…I don’t have time to deal with you simplicity… I have to get back to applying to this nations’s top universities.</p>
<p>“You noticed incorrectly.”</p>
<p>No I didn’t. Anyone can look up your posts in your profile and see the sorts of comments you make in this forum. It’s interesting how you fail not only to see different perspectives of a situation and have made explicitly racist remarks, but you would decry being called a racist. If you believe that certain ethnicities are inferior to others, you are a racist…it’s just that simple. Why not just own up to it? There is nothing subtle, witty, ironic or satirical about your remarks or that favorite quotation you like to post everywhere. The intent, tone and content of your comments make your beliefs very clear.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that certain ethnicities are inferior to others. I also don’t think that certain ethnicities deserve special consideration for injustices that were never visited upon them personally. I am sorry that you think you need additional help to compete. Hopefully my opinions/beliefs are now very clear to you and are not too subtle, witty, ironic or satirical for you to understand…correctly.</p>
<p>"“Our culture has done African Americans a great disservice by engendering a sense of entitlement among them, and they do themselves an even greater one by insisting on perpetuating that attitude.”</p>
<p>“Don’t respond to Aglages, unless you just like to argue…then just carry on.”</p>
<p>Lol no worries…I’m not too worn out going back in forth with him…“Protect yourself at all times”…there is only so much importance that I attach to people who would only have the courage to voice their opinion on the internet…the arguments he makes are not new, but the old recycled garbage that I had the inconvenience of stepping through many times before. Though as I wrote previously, I will not respond to him…If I post anything else in this forum, I will be certain to refer to that person indirectly…hopefully his obvious preoccupation with me and the actions of other black people will not persist…lol</p>
<p>@aglages
You contradict yourself within the same thread.</p>
<p>“Of course when [an African American is] competing with a smarter and harder working group of fellow students.” </p>
<p>This suggest that you “[DO] believe that certain ethnicities are inferior to others” specifically African Americans are inferior, in both intelligence and work ethic, to their fellow students. Their fellow students could be made up of many ethnicities ( Asian, Caucasian etc.). So you ARE saying African Americans are inferior to (potentially) every other ethnicity.</p>
<p>@emmele</p>
<p>I am not sure how I “put [your] business out on front street”.</p>
<p>I said:</p>
<p>“Random: I knew your name sounded familiar you PM’d me about LEAD not too long ago lol. =P”</p>
<p>From this sentence we know:</p>
<p>1) You are a human being in high school
2) You had questions about either LEAD Global, LEAD Engineering and/or Lead Business.</p>
<p>“no problem”
^Lol…um…I was just joking…the tone was not serious at all…Thanks for your help “big shot”…but UVA has about a 1/3 acceptance rate…I and many others on this forum have the ability to get into this school any day of the week…infact this school isn’t even one of my considerations…the point is, don’t get too high on yourself…Why search for the negative and offensive when there is none in my comment and I was clearly thanking you for your help?</p>