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Is the quote below racist?

jj

Penultimate Amazing
J
Joined
Oct 11, 2001
Messages
21,382
Not saying who said this:
Powell has never been on board - but at least he has had a dignified loyalty to his boss. As for his job - he got that the way he got everything in his life - by "affirmative action". In a second term he will be gone and replaced hopefully by someone in contact with the harsh realities of the post-9/11 world, not someone who is mesmerized by schmoozing with eurodiplomats.
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Is that quote racist? Yes, no, or planet x.
 
I voted no, assuming that the statement is accurate and can be documented. If not accurate, then the motives of the author must be examined to determine if the statement is racist.

And there are not enough rubber gloves on the planet for me to even begin to consider thinking about exaiming that particular individual.
 
I wish I was a black lesbian single mother, who walks with a limp. Perhaps I could get a job ....

Charlie (I'll take Powell's job) Monoxide
 
jj said:
Is that quote racist? Yes, no, or planet x.
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The quote is a critique of one individual, who happens to be black. I do not personally agree with the statement, however it is not racist.

If one were to state" Connnie Rice is a brilliant person and did not need affirmative action to achieve her position". It is the same thing. It is an option of one individual, not a raciest statement.
 
Re: Re: Is the quote below racist?

SRW said:
The quote is a critique of one individual, who happens to be black. I do not personally agree with the statement, however it is not racist.

If one were to state" Connnie Rice is a brilliant person and did not need affirmative action to achieve her position". It is the same thing. It is an option of one individual, not a raciest statement.
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I respectfully disagree. By claiming one black person did not need affirmative action, you are implying that others do. Inclusion of that qualifier frames the subject as the exception to a rule, or so it seems to me.

Please understand I'm playing devil's advocate here. I don't think either statement is truly racist, but by modern social standards either could be. As usual, who hears it is as important as who says it.
 
This is clearly not a racist quote.

It is obvious that there are instances where being black is helpful (or harmful) to getting appointed to positions in the US. It would be absurd to argue otherwise. The author of the quote apparently believes that Colin Powell got preferred treatment because of his race. It may or may not be true but a non-racist argument could be made for it.

IMO, Colin Powell was eminently qualified for the position but so were many others. If you take all the standard qualifications, I doubt he would have been #1 but he would have made the short list. I personally believe that being black made him the best person for the job because diversity is a good thing as long as the people are clearly well qualified. So I think he was the best qualified because he was extremely well qualified and black.

We can contrast him with Clarence Thomas. Thomas was a decent judge perhaps even much better than average. However, there is no way that he was among the best judges. He clearly got his position because he was black and ideologically pleasing not through merit.

CBL
 
Wow, the defenses here are right out of 1950.
 
Yes it is racist. Replace "Colin Powell" with "Clarence Thomas", and it might be a little less racist, but still racist. :rolleyes:

Daredelvis


Edited to add that CBL4 beat me to it.
 
jj said:
Wow, the defenses here are right out of 1950.
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What does that mean?

I would say the statement wasn't racist. If the term racist is used too frequently it loses its force until becomes an almost meaningless term of abuse like, erm, liberal for example.
 
I don't think that statement is racist. However, if the author has shown a pattern of similar sentiments (and they have), the total sum could be considered evidence of racist behavior.
 
I don't think it's racist. It's demonstrably wrong, as I don't believe the U.S. Army has much of an affirmative action program, certainly not while Powell was rising through the ranks. But just because a statement is wrong, it does not necessarily follow that it's racist.

Okay, jj, now that we've all spouted our opinions, you're going to tell us who said it so you can have a good laugh at our expense, right?
 
As for his job - he got that the way he got everything in his life - by "affirmative action".
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While I wouldn't like to say that this person is definitely racist it certainly shows his way of thinking. Some important job is equated as being 'everything in his life'. Well I bet Powell doesn't look at his wife and kids and think 'Thank god for affirmative action'.

This person must be power hungry, big time. Just a tiny bit jealous, methinks. Underachiever, loud mouth, probably a Limbaugh or O'Reilly. In fact I'll retract that and say it's some lowly senator or something. Pundits never pretend they want the job, whereas a failed politician would. I don't know enough of them to make a guess as to who said it.
 
As for his job - he got that the way he got everything in his life - by "affirmative action".
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I wonder if his wife knows that's how he got her.

As for the military career, I would think that would be verifiable. If I remember correctly, the military first goes through and promotes everyone based on merit, then goes back through a second time and evens up the race distribution. I've never thought that it allowed unqualified people to be promoted, and someone couldn't make a career just on affirmative action if they were incompetent. Of course, I see the world through rose colored glasses.
 
If the person making the statement knows for a fact...in other words, if they are intimately familiar with Colin Powell, the job requirements, and how he is lacking (or if they can post links to objective and verifiable reports of such facts) then it could just be an objective opinion.

A hypothetical example:
'I've been married to that man for 50 years, and not once in all that time has he been able to read a single word...he got that job as an English professor over the Nobel prize winner because of affirmative action, and here is the recording of the Board of Trustees saying so' ...
...would meet the non-racist standard.

If on the other hand they don't know Colin Powell's suitability for various jobs he has been chosen for, and instead substitute the notion that he is inferior because of his race, and they are *assuming* he must have needed help, then it is as racist as any other racist assumption.
 
Oh, just so it's clear, this wasn't a "mystery quote of somebody important", it's a quote of somebody here on this board, but I'm following instructions not to single people out. That's why I haven't named the author.
 
CBL4 said:
.

We can contrast him with Clarence Thomas. Thomas was a decent judge perhaps even much better than average. However, there is no way that he was among the best judges. He clearly got his position because he was black and ideologically pleasing not through merit.

CBL
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You imply that the other Supreme Court justices got there based on merit. That is not true. They get there because of politcial ties and like-abilty. (gotta make it thru the appointment process) THe justices are not dummies, but they also are not the greatest legal minds in the country.
 
Tmy said:
You imply that the other Supreme Court justices got there based on merit. That is not true. They get there because of politcial ties and like-abilty. (gotta make it thru the appointment process) THe justices are not dummies, but they also are not the greatest legal minds in the country.
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That's true...there are a lot of factors that go into the judicial selection process, but nothing that resembles a quantifiable 'best of', whereas military promotions do use tests, evaluations, etc.
 
You imply that the other Supreme Court justices got there based on merit. That is not true. They get there because of politcial ties and like-abilty. (gotta make it thru the appointment process) THe justices are not dummies, but they also are not the greatest legal minds in the country.
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You are correct but not complete. Presidents generally choose justices in order to influence the country (or their reelection) in some way. Clearly this does not mean the "best" judges. However, most justices were superior judges. Thomas clearly was not.

He was the first nominee since 1970 (Harrold Carswell) to not receive a "well qualified" rating from the American Bar Association judicial evaluation committee, although he did receive a rating of "qualified".
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http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Clarence_Thomas
BTW, Carswell was rejected by the senate.

CBL
 
I was once a white collar computer worker working in an automobile assembly plant with a bunch of blud collar pipefitters. I worked with them on a day-to-day basis, but I was definitely an outsider. I was putting in a new computer system for their use. I was working with them to find out what it needed to do, and test it. There were six whites and two blacks.

One day, one of the whites told me, "The only reason those guys have jobs is because of the quota." In case it matters, my opinion of the two men is that if I would have ranked the eight in order of capability, I would have ranked the two black men as 2 and 4.

Was that white man's comment racist? I think it was. Is that any different than the comment in question? Barely, if at all. Therefore, I voted that yes, it was racist.
 
It is racist because it assumes, because he is black, that he could only have got to where he did because of affirmative action. FWIW, I heard a quote from a US military person about his appointment that he could have been green and he would still have got to where he did. Colin Powell is a just high achiever.
 
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