“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King spoke these words in 1963, and they still resonate today. Affirmative action programs were established to create this very type of equality, but have they brought us closer to Dr. King’s dream or hindered it?
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Affirmative Action is a Critical Tool
More Equal Citizens2
In another discussion...
Society: "Can the Obama presidency end racism in America?"
The discussion drifted off topic and am (dual) posting a reply here.
***
RE: "if no one captured stats on people's race or heritage, we might never know if..."
"...some people who want to keep tabs on stuff like that."
"That would be an important thing to know..."
Why?
How about if these "stats" were completely done away with, then...
"with the same grades and standardized tests scores"
...would really mean something and the truly qualified would be selected
All it does is perpetuate the divide and make some citizens more equal than others.
For higher education-after meeting/exceeding entry scores,the only Q's should be:
Are you an American citizen?
Are you a resident of said state/county?
...which are used for tuition costs
Then can apply to 3rd party organizations for tuition assistance based on ethnicity and other criteria.
The schools are in business to educate their students for the betterment of society.
I've heard that the Obama campaign has "lots" of money leftover and it's being given as
bonus's to the staffers. Why not being given to/starting up 3rd party org for educational
opportunities of said individuals?
RE: "With no way to measure racism..."
Believe your confusing race/color of skin with ethnicity/heritage.
Just because I'm of Polish/Italian heritage... does not indicate the color of my skin
Racism/sexisim/etc is illegal and all stats pertaining to should also be.
===
This is all "needed" for equal opportunities argument...
I went to:
...a public grade school
...a public high school
...a public 2yr tech college on the GI bill
I'm now classified by the incoming administration as "rich" (based on some arbitrary
income amount)...
Now tell me how many others in this nation do not have the same opportunities that I had/used?
I spent my time and energy, as an individual, on working and getting an education...
...not mislead/deceived by the rhetoric that this race/heritage requires this and
deserves that. Each individual makes their own "bed".
Like the current automaker bailout debate...
...Temporary help is earned, not permanently blindly given
***
To this topic... as stated in multiple previous posts-
for higher education, it's the preparation, roles models and K-12 system at fault.
The symptoms are still trying to be fixed, after how many years?, and not the actual "illness".
- Joe6Pack
November 24, 2008 8:33PM
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Discussion Moved
Look I was arguing that I think it makes sense to keep track of people's race and heritage so we know if any discrimination is happening or not.
That's the type of data that would really help me understand how/if Affirmative Action is working or not.
In general, I believe that in the US, everyone should have an equal opportunity. When that's happening, we don't need programs. When that's not happening we need to be aware. Personally, I think that the type of racism that used to exist, where qualified candidates were getting turned away based on their race has really declined. The inequality we see now is that people who are poorer tend not to have the same opportunities. The way to combat that in my opinion is to improve public schools and make sure that standardized tests and teachers are as unbiased as possible.
- GreenLove
November 25, 2008 11:19AM
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