@yonceonhismouth nice clarification on #136. Now we can return to your earlier post #126:
“@JBStillFlying How about this non-profit, that he has been working on since before he even began high school? https://redefy.org/about/ If you take a look at the website, it works to counter stereotypes and promote equality.”
Help me out here, please. Most of the news stories are about Ziad Admed. Great - it’s his website and all. But what are these kids actually doing? (don’t quote the “About us” link because it’s pretty vague with no actual details).
Not trying to pick on this young man - I actually quite admire his marketing and promotion skills. Particularly his self-promotion. Just trying to figure out if they’ve done anything of substance to help the cause of injustice. There are thousands of kids out there raising lots of money for various causes without 1/100th of the press coverage. Just want to be able to see how he compares, that’s all.
He’s obviously great at putting together a website and getting his name in the paper for doing all sorts of important stuff. Trying to get a handle on what that “stuff” actually is.
Tweets don’t count, by the way. Anyone can tweet.
@JBStillFlying . Thank you for reading my post. Let me specify that my comment only applies to private colleges, not UC public schools. I liked your analogy of race, so I’m going to extend it, but also keep in mind that private colleges are immune to any sort of legal obligations.
For example, as an Asian applicant, there are studies shown that I must be set to higher standards than my peers and many of my Asian peers are afraid that their ethnicity will limit their opportunities. If colleges do follow some sort of " internally-defined system racial justice," then it depends on what their interpretation of racial justice entails. Is it right for racial discrimination (against Asians) to become a “justified” casualty of racial compensation (affirmative action)? Thanks and if you would like to discuss some more, please PM me also!
@AshleyMisAwesome - you undoubtedly know about the lawsuits brought by Asians against some of the Ivy’s. Interestingly, the private colleges take federal funds so they are subject to at least some of the same standards as public uni’s. One can accuse Harvard etc. of outright discrimination but another narrative that may have the same result (assuming the suit has merit) is simply that when you set racial justice goals, some groups are going to be admitted in greater numbers than before, and other groups in smaller numbers than before. Harvard didn’t expand it’s capacity of incoming 1st years.
It’s all the same thing.
However - and I could be misinterpreting the NR article - I thought the author was calling Stanford’s bluff a bit. If they care about racial injustice (and what college/uni doesn’t?) and they want to admit those who also care, then choosing someone who has demonstrated social activism on the behalf of AA’s might speak louder than a kid who shouts #BlackLivesMatter 100X (but doesn’t really have much of a track record with the group).
@JBStillFlying From looking at the website, I can see a steady stream of articles written by the Redefy team about multiple issues from dealing with stereotypes about their ethnicity to their gender identity to their religion. They have also attended the YTH Live Conference to, “discuss the importance of technology in spreading Redefy’s message and Redefy’s focus on creating inclusive high school environments to better the mental health of youth everywhere.” They also run workshops for middle school and high school, and use social media to spread their message. Garnering this info from the website and their social media pages.
FYI, I strongly disagree with you - tweets are an important form of self-expression that many, many activists use nowadays and shouldn’t be disregarded. It doesn’t replace in-person work but it is a good use of modern technology.
@JBStillFlying .Yes, I agree. I went to summer camp with a Questbridge black scholar who wrote about police brutality in her hometown Detroit. She was rejected from Stanford. So, I’m pointing out that yes, perhaps Stanford is hiding behind a veil of progressive intent with Admed. Or maybe, they didn’t enjoy his essay but accepted him in spite of it?
Back to your point earlier. AA is regulated by states, and private colleges do not receive funds from state legislatures. The federal government does provide need-based financial aid, but that would require the supreme court to rule of those lawsuits to ban AA which will not happen in the current political environment.
@yonceonhismouth - sure, tweets may be a new and effective form of communication but they don’t distinguish one as unique or special.
Now, about these “workshops” - have you found any articles about them?
I’m leaving this thread as some of the arguments below are getting too extra. There’s nothing any of us can actually do about what’s already done. This is silly talk now.
@JBStillFlying I find it really hilarious that you are bent on proving me wrong about his work.
Anyways, here you are: an article from Princeton day’s newspaper about one such workshop he organized: https://www.pds.org/school-news/news-post/~post/ziad-ahmed-17-and-the-generation-of-now-on-sunday-1213-20151210
An interview with MTV about his work: http://www.mtv.com/news/2093597/ziad-ahmed-redefy-fighting-stereotypes-islam/
Doesnt seem like self promotion to me.
Another matter, as well, @yonceonhismouth: does this young man refer to himself as a “person of color”? He identifies as Muslim which, as we discussed prior, is not the same thing. I haven’t noticed him referring to himself as a “person of color” but maybe you’ve picked it up.
The reason I bring this up is that this young man is a Bangladeshi-American. Bangladesh happens to be a very diverse country, both in terms of different ethnic groups and skin colors (if such is even important - the people of Bangladesh don’t seem to think so but maybe I’m incorrect on that . . .). It was a part of India at one point. Ethnically, many Bangladesh people are similar to Indian and Pakistani. As long as all those groups refer to themselves as “people of color” then we should respect that description. If they don’t - we are probably best off respecting THAT and not assigning them to a “color”.
@JBStillFlying I didn’t say it wouldn’t work. It does sometimes. What I am saying is this young man is a wonderful example of creativity and imagination. Some kids opt for the boring, dull, uncreative, and believe that the formula approach is superior to everything else and are really upset when someone else takes a spot that they believe they own. It is nothing more than jealousy in its purest form
@CA94309 the National Review preaches to people who thrive on racial injustice and making it worse. I don’t think it is a good example to quote from. It is hardly independent or unbiased
@JBStillFlying I see your point about the workshops was refuted and now you’re jumping on another aspect of my posts to further discredit my argument. No problem! I got this one too- in his twitter and in some of the articles written about his acceptance he has referred to himself as an “ally” and “person of color.”
Your final point seems a tad hypocritical- you’re concerned about respecting how he prefers to be identified (rightly so), but in this thread you have not seemed concerned about respecting his accomplishments, as you and others have tried to poke holes in all aspects of his resume/achievements.
@collegedad13 yes, you keep saying he’s a wonderful example of creativity and imagination. That’s an assertion, as is your claim that the “dull and boring” are upset that someone took “their” spot. Unless you and I just know different types of people. Maybe that’s it 
@JBStillFlying beauty is in the eye of the beholder
@yonceonhismouth - actually, I’m delighted that they didn’t prevaricate on their website! It’s great that you were able to dig up a workshop. Now, which articles and tweets does he refer to himself as a person of color?
@collegedad13 #150 - another assertion. If you repeat it 100 times does that make it true? BTW, what do you think of Huffington Post (which has been quoted not a few times on this thread)?
@JBStillFlying I am not able to post the screenshots of tweets here to give you the receipts (just can’t post images on CC)- please feel free to find them yourself. I am a bit tired of having to post link after link to refute you, as it is now evident that you do not seek a debate or conversation but rather proof that you are correct and there is something up with this guy’s admission. I’m done arguing now- I strongly believe Ahmed earned his admission and I don’t think it is a good use of my time to continue to beat a dead horse.
In response to # 155 @JBStillFlying I think all the articles written by that amazing young man and published in the Huffington post were fantastic
@yonceonhismouth - the original issue was about short essay #3. There is no need to refute you or you to refute me. I was requesting clarification on yet another conclusion about this young man on a thread which already had many other conclusions - some of which don’t have much substantiation. If you can find a tweet, great. If you can’t no worries. I’ve yet to see his self reference the way you described him. Others referred to him as a black Muslim teen - which he is not. Still others assumed that he wasn’t privileged (this when the guy actually refers to himself as “privileged”!).
When the issues get a bit hot, it’s best to be accurate. That’s the thing I’m most concerned about. Accuracy.
And please don’t beat that poor horse of yours!
Like you said in #153, @collegedad13 . . . ;