[Split]When are you white?

[hgc]

Do you think the United States should roll back affirmative action programs?

You should have qualified your question with a "yes or no, please."

 

[slingblade]

Do you think the United States should roll back affirmative action programs?

Until the Race race starts everyone on roughly the same line, no end-of-race tactic is going to produce across the board positive results. Some non-whites and women get access to jobs and opportunities they might otherwise not get, because of Affirmative Action. Some company and business owners who would never have hired anyone non-white or female for any reason were forced to do so under Affirmative Action. The program does do some good. But a thing that doesn't work to make the race more equal from the start, means that some people are always going to be playing catch-up for the wrong reasons. Maybe it looks like a bad deal to some folks today because they weren't around or can't remember when blacks specifically were denied jobs because of skin color, and that this was thought a justifiable, legitimate reason: "My customers are all white, and they will never tolerate a black man waiting on them. I would hire one in a minute, except for that. I mean, some of my best friends are black! None of them are my customers, but they're still my best friends." Uh....yeah.

At the very least, America needs schools which are equally equipped and staffed. There simply shouldn't exist in America any school with 20-year-old textbooks, few or no computers; teachers buying basic supplies like pencils and paper, or else the students won't have any; science labs with outdated or no equipment; classrooms in converted janitorial closets; falling ceilings and no heat....we can afford to have equally good schools across the nation. We just don't.

If stop-gap measures are all you have, you should not eliminate them just because they are stop-gap. You should be trying to solve the problems from different angles, and get rid of the stop-gaps only when you've...well...filled the gap.

 

[CFLarsen]

Do you think the United States should roll back affirmative action programs?

No, I don't. The same way I don't think we can endlessly go back in time, trying to repair old grievances. What we can, and should do, is learn from this, and move on.

What do you think about Affirmative Action? Do you think it is a good strategy to segregate people based on the color of their skin, rather than focusing on their academic merit?

 

[slingblade]

Do you think it is a good strategy to segregate people based on the color of their skin, rather than focusing on their academic merit?

Hiring is rarely about academic merit alone. This was expecially so some 40+ years ago. 40+ years ago, you could be a Yale graduate, say, and still not get the same job the high-school grad could get, if he were white and the boss was white but you weren't.

 

[Mycroft]

What do you think about Affirmative Action? Do you think it is a good strategy to segregate people based on the color of their skin, rather than focusing on their academic merit?

I disagree that affirmative action segregates people based on the color of their skin.

Maybe if you could learn to ask your questions in a way that doesn't presume issues that are controversial, you would get answers what would promote a dialogue.

You should have qualified your question with a "yes or no, please."

 

[Beleth]

What are those?

Either she lies or she doesn't.

A lie is when one believes one thing and says another, not when what one says is false.

 

[CFLarsen]

I disagree that affirmative action segregates people based on the color of their skin.

Maybe if you could learn to ask your questions in a way that doesn't presume issues that are controversial, you would get answers what would promote a dialogue.

Maybe if you could explain why affirmative action does not segregate people based on the color of their skin.

 

[Mycroft]

Maybe if you could explain why affirmative action does not segregate people based on the color of their skin.

Maybe you should explain how it segregates people, if that is your belief.

 

[Huntster]

Originally Posted by LostAngeles
To answer Larsen, being as my mother is white and my paternal grandparents are Korean and black, under common usage, I'd be described as half white, quarter black, quarter Korean.

Is it silly? Sure. But it is a simple shorthand way of denoting my ethnic background for some folks. In the context of the conversation that was going on, I used it.

Normally, if I'm asked, I rattle of the list. Because it amuses me to watch the facial expressions.

Sure, it's silly. But it still doesn't answer the question: When are you not "white"?

That ought to be easy for a "smart feller" like yourself:

When the "white folks" tell you that you aren't.

Originally Posted by Huntster
If you have to ask, you'd never believe the answer.

Try me. When are you not "white"?

That ought to be easy for a "smart feller" like yourself:

When the "white folks" tell you that you aren't.

Consider yourself "tried."

Originally Posted by Huntster
C'mon, Claus.

You're not color blind, too, are you?

When is your skin "dark"?

When it isn't light enough.

Please............you can do better than that, can't you?

Or, is it true that you really don't have a clue?

 

[Huntster]

Originally Posted by Huntster
And if everybody doesn't have enough money to live along with you, you're middle class.

Forget it, Claus. You've gotta be there to understand.........

What do you mean?

If you need to explained to you, you'd never understand.

Originally Posted by Huntster
However, attitudes regarding race are different in various places.

Originally Posted by Huntster
When somebody tells you you're not white.

Originally Posted by Huntster
When it's not "lighter" than the beholder.

So, other people determine your skin color? Based on what? Prejudice?

Based on their own definitions.\

Isn't it obvious?

C'mon, Big Guy..............

You knew that, didn't you?

Originally Posted by Huntster
When are you not black, Claus?

Am I black?

I don't know. Are you?

However, that wasn't the question:

When are you not black, Claus?

 

[Morrigan]

I've made my "thesis" clear from the start. I want to know when you are "white" and when you are "black".

It's usually fairly easy. When dealing with people of mixed ethnicities, then it's up to the discretion/judgment of whoever decides.

Is that stupid when in a government-sanctioned context? Yes. Is Affirmative Action a complete load of outdated bollocks that the US should get rid of? Yes. Do people of mixed racial backgrounds exist? Yes. Do any of these mean that races don't exist, or that it's always impossible to tell if a person is black or white or anything else? No.

 

[slingblade]

It's usually fairly easy. When dealing with people of mixed ethnicities, then it's up to the discretion/judgment of whoever decides.

Is that stupid when in a government-sanctioned context? Yes. Is Affirmative Action a complete load of outdated bollocks that the US should get rid of? Yes.

What would you replace it with? Because dumping the program without anything to replace it isn't going to help the problems that Affirmative Action was meant to address.

Do people of mixed racial backgrounds exist? Yes. Do any of these mean that races don't exist, or that it's always impossible to tell if a person is black or white or anything else? No.

What's the burning reason behind being able to "tell" a person's ancestry?

 

[CFLarsen]

That ought to be easy for a "smart feller" like yourself:

Don't waste my time with such inane posts.

It's usually fairly easy. When dealing with people of mixed ethnicities, then it's up to the discretion/judgment of whoever decides.

Is that stupid when in a government-sanctioned context? Yes. Is Affirmative Action a complete load of outdated bollocks that the US should get rid of? Yes.

What are you going to do about it?

Maybe you should explain how it segregates people, if that is your belief.

Let's say your job is to give college grants. You have two applicants before you, one white, one black. With Affirmative Action, you can legally choose the black over the white, solely because he is black.

How is that not segregating people based on their race?

 

[Mycroft]

Don't waste my time with such inane posts.

Let's say your job is to give college grants. You have two applicants before you, one white, one black. With Affirmative Action, you can legally choose the black over the white, solely because he is black.

How is that not segregating people based on their race?

Do you know what the word "segregation" means?

 

[CFLarsen]

Do you know what the word "segregation" means?

OK, you either won't or can't answer the question.

 

[Mycroft]

OK, you either won't or can't answer the question.

First, the question was put to you. If you believe affirmative action (a policy designed to de-segregate people) segregates people, please explain how.

You have not done that.

Second, your question seems to reveal a basic misunderstanding of what the word "segregation" means. If you don't understand the word, then we can't very well discuss it until you do understand what it means.

 

[CFLarsen]

First, the question was put to you. If you believe affirmative action (a policy designed to de-segregate people) segregates people, please explain how.

You have not done that.

Second, your question seems to reveal a basic misunderstanding of what the word "segregation" means. If you don't understand the word, then we can't very well discuss it until you do understand what it means.

What is wrong with my understanding?

 

[Mycroft]

What is wrong with my understanding?

You seem to believe "segregation" is something other than what it is. There are numerous on-line dictionaries that can help you with this, if you wish to relieve your ignorance.

After that, perhaps you will no longer need to dodge the question put to you?

 

[brooklyn44]

Maybe if you could explain why affirmative action does not segregate people based on the color of their skin.

This may seem simplistic but, if affirmative action gets a qualified non-white person a job( or a scholarship )in an all-white establishment, how is that segregation? It's the dismantling of defacto segregation.

 

[whitefork]

It seems that "segregation" and "discrimination" are being confounded here.