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I readily concede that this is an exercise in futility from the beginning, but try and be as objective as your integrity will allow. tell me which set of beliefs is more "racist".
Philosophy A: Black Americans have been so oppressed for so long and the odds are so stacked against them, that they can't realistically over come the obstacles put in front of them. Due to institutionalized racism, they need government programs to level the playing field.
Philosophy B: Despite certain disadvantages, black Americans are just as capable as any other group to be as successful as anyone else and do not need any special treatment to get ahead. They can succeed on their own skill, talent and intelligence.
I readily concede that this is an exercise in futility from the beginning, but try and be as objective as your integrity will allow. tell me which set of beliefs is more "racist".
Philosophy A: Black Americans have been so oppressed for so long and the odds are so stacked against them, that they can't realistically over come the obstacles put in front of them. Due to institutionalized racism, they need government programs to level the playing field.
Philosophy B: Despite certain disadvantages, black Americans are just as capable as any other group to be as successful as anyone else and do not need and special treatment to get ahead. They can succeed on their own skill, talent and intelligence.
A, obviously, since it's affirmative action.
However, philosophy B won't work either unless there is true equality of opportunity which we have yet to achieve.
However, philosophy B won't work either unless there is true equality of opportunity which we have yet to achieve.
Thanks for your answer. I'm curious as to your second point. Why do you believe that we haven't reached "equality of opportunity" as you put it, and what would determine that we did? Thanks
Racism depends of stereotyping a member of a group to a view of the group, rather than an objective analysis of any member as an individual capable of existing outside its various memberships.
Like, who ever heard of a black lawyer? It would be an impossibility.
Thanks for your answer. I'm curious as to your second point. Why do you believe that we haven't reached "equality of opportunity" as you put it, and what would determine that we did? Thanks
I'll just point to the yawning gap in test scores that runs along race and socio-economic lines. Until we figure out how to effectively educate all children instead of a one-size-fits-all approach that favors the affluent/involved, that equality will elude us.
I think what we are facing is a change in our society and thus, determining to what degree somebody is disadvantaged by the general workings of society has become a very tricky undertaking. Even more so, if you do not subscribe to the belief that two wrongs make a right - or, in affirmative action terms, that you can somehow wipe out the effects of discrimination on one group by artificially discriminating against another group.
In the past, doing so was, apparently, much easier.
The highest office anyone can hold in the US is that of President. Our current president is certainly (from his complexion) not white. In private industry, many successful Americans are also from just about any racial and ethnic background. Thus, it has become increasingly difficult to argue that "minorities" cannot overcome the hurdles placed in front of them by society.
The question is whether they are just statistical outliers or if they are a reflection of a reassessment of our societal principles.
In that respect, your two questions are very difficult to answer because neither fully encompasses the issue at hand. It would appear, though, that the first statement is the more racist one since it clearly states that blacks lack the ability to overcome obstacles and can only be successful if there is government involvement that basically dictates discrimination against other groups in order to bolster Black Americans (such as lowering test standards, etc.).
Your second statement assumes that our society has completely overcome discrimination and prejudices of the past. It is an ideal that we, in reality, have not achieved. Thus, one could argue that there is an element of racism involved here as well because it completely disregards the effects of ingrained and lingering racism in today's society. Pretending that the issue does not exist does not mean that it has really been eradicated.
In other words, the two items are not a true dichotomy - they both contain some truth and they both lack more factors than they encompass.
And yet you chose to post any way. Pad that post count boyfriend; pad that post count.
I clicked on this thread because i thought you had a halfass salient point to make. Then i looked up top and found a poll that makes little to no sense even to a kindergartener.
For example, Jim Crow was institutionalized. How exactly were we supposed to get rid of it without government intervention?
And therein lies the stupidity of your poll.
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