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Kuharai, I'm not in favour of affirmative action as it stands today, but I do see a wide gap in education, whether that is at home, in schools or within the community.
What I learned at home, I took into the world, and expanded, but not everyone is raised equally. So, I understand and appreciate all your comments, commend you on your ability to make the most of your life, but wish we had a better system in place to enhance others' lives without treating them, as Moth says, like "pets," although I would suggest other alternative terms of not treating others as equals.
I don't mean to browbeat anyone, but what if we "enhanced their lives" by telling them (and by "them", I mean anyone from any race, who faces economic and social challenges) that they earn respect by applying themselves and succeeding at what they do...and then took the time to tell them that we respect them when they do so, instead of shedding crocodile tears about the "racism and oppression" that kept them from succeeding?
Clearly expressing an opinion does not make one a shedder of tears, or at least not where I am sitting. So, I don't take your remarks as browbeating, but I do think it is often presumptive to read into rather than read a post...but then again, it is the internet and we aren't drinking wine over a good conversation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeledaf
I don't mean to browbeat anyone, but what if we "enhanced their lives" by telling them (and by "them", I mean anyone from any race, who faces economic and social challenges) that they earn respect by applying themselves and succeeding at what they do...and then took the time to tell them that we respect them when they do so, instead of shedding crocodile tears about the "racism and oppression" that kept them from succeeding?
Clearly expressing an opinion does not make one a shedder of tears, or at least not where I am sitting. So, I don't take your remarks as browbeating, but I do think it is often presumptive to read into rather than read a post...but then again, it is the internet and we aren't drinking wine over a good conversation.
Keep in mind that some of the references in my posts are directed at people whose characteristics are not those of the poster to whom I am responding.
Are there bleeding-heart crocodile-tear-shedding ennablers? Yes.
Seriously, how much financial planning can anyone do while making minimum wage, or less?
A lot of people of all races are employed in minimum wage type jobs. But there are avenues out. Heck there are multiple programs out there that will outright pay your down payment for you for first time low income home buyers.
And nobody is going to spoon feed this information to them. At some point personal responsibility has to be addressed.
Myth: Affirmative Action is "reverse discrimination" — let's stop giving special rights to certain groups while others are left out.
Fact: Affirmative Action is fair!
Affirmative Action levels the playing field so people of color and all women have the chance to compete in education and in business. White men hold 95% to 97% of the high-level corporate jobs. And that's with affirmative action programs in place. Imagine how low figures would be without affirmative action. Of 3000 federal court decisions in discrimination cases between 1990 and 1994, only 100 involved claims of reverse discrimination; only 6 of those claims were found to be valid.
Myth: Affirmative Action isn't necessary anymore because discrimination is illegal. Fact: Women and people of color still face discrimination.
Despite the enormous gains made by the civil rights and women's rights movements, women and people of color still face unfair obstacles in business and education. An astonishing 70% of schools are not in compliance with Title IX, the federal equal education opportunity law. For every dollar earned by men, women on a whole earn 74 cents, African American women earn 63 cents and Latina women earn 57 cents. According to the Census Bureau, only 25% of all doctors and lawyers are women. Less than 1% of auto mechanics are women. And women are only 8.4% of engineers.
Myth: Women-owned companies get fewer contracts because there aren't very many of them. Fact: Women-owned businesses don't get their fair share of government contracts.
Less than 3% of federal contracts go to women-owned firms. In Washington, less than 10% of state contracts and purchasing dollars go to women-owned firms — even though women own 39% of firms.
Myth: Affirmative Action should be based on economic need. Fact: Affirmative Action is necessary so that women and people of color of every economic class have the opportunity to enter all fields.
Women and people of color should, of course, have the chance to compete for jobs in the trades, construction, skilled labor — and they should have access to professional jobs in engineering, medicine and the law as well as policy-making positions in executive suites and on boards of directors.
Myth: Affirmative Action lowers standards in education and the workplace by letting unqualified people get ahead. Fact: Affirmative Action helps qualified candidates overcome racism and sexism.
Affirmative Action is an investment in the future. By the time today's college students are at the height of their careers, one-third of the population will be comprised of African Americans and Latinos/Latinas.
Myth: My son can't get into a good school because of affirmative action. Fact: If half of the people of color who are admitted to schools under affirmative action programs were cut, the acceptance rates of white men would only increase by 2%.
Women still face barriers in schools. In Washington, women receive only 12% of doctorates in engineering, and women are substantially under-represented in computer science nationwide.
Myth: Nobody else gets special consideration when applying to a college or for a job. Why should all women and people of color? Fact: Lots of people get "special" consideration when applying for jobs or to schools.
Veterans often get preferences in workplaces and on campuses — which usually benefit men more than women. The children of alumni get preferential treatment over others in admission to college. Friends help friends and acquaintances get jobs. Affirmative Action helps open doors for women and people of color who often don't have those connections.
Myth: Affirmative Action won't help me. Fact: Everyone benefits when discrimination is eliminated.
The majority of families depend on the income of women. When Affirmative Action opens up education, employment, and business, families and communities have greater economic security. Business leaders understand that affirmative action is necessary to develop a strong workforce. Women and people of color have a lot to offer their communities. Affirmative Action helps insure that everyone gets the chance to contribute.
Myth: Affirmative Action = Preferences Fact: Affirmative Action = Equal Opportunities
Affirmative Action programs merely acknowledge that hundreds of years of discrimination cannot be erased in a few decades and still hold women and people of color back. Affirmative Action is the bridge between changing the laws and changing the culture.
Myth: Things are different now, we don't need affirmative action any more. Fact: Until women and people of color get equal pay and education, we need affirmative action. The radical right wing would have us believe that women and people of color earn less because we don't work as hard or we're not as smart. That simply isn't the case. Laws have changed, but discrimination persists. Affirmative Action only opens doors, women and people of color have to walk through those doors by themselves.
What is wrong with WA? Are WA really that niave? I wish it did not have to be this way. I wish slavery never took place or at least once slavery was over that people just let people be, but that was not the case and that is what has directly or indirectly lead to the way things are now.
And I know BA has to step it up but it's hard to change some idiot's mind that he/she can make it w/o criminal activity when they can lean on this type of thinking as evidence nothing has changed.
I never had a need for AA even though I've seem my share of racism. I just drove on but you cannot expect everyone to be able to handle that crap like I have or to even ignore it as others have. Until WA get out of it's way of thinking it looks like AA will be around just a little bit longer.
Kuharai, I'm not in favour of affirmative action as it stands today, but I do see a wide gap in education, whether that is at home, in schools or within the community.
What I learned at home, I took into the world, and expanded, but not everyone is raised equally. So, I understand and appreciate all your comments, commend you on your ability to make the most of your life, but wish we had a better system in place to enhance others' lives without treating them, as Moth says, like "pets," although I would suggest other alternative terms of not treating others as equals.
OK:
I can under 'Affirmative Action' for so-called 'disadvantaged socio-economic' groups------under strict guidelines only.
Note: at no time did I state a specific race/ethnicity.
Some 'Anglo/Whites' have darker skin than many 'Blacks'.
I will not even touch upon the 'Hispanics'-------that word is a political label only-----they range from Black (Dominican Republic) through brown (Mestizos from Mexico through Bolivia) and White (including Neo-Nazi's in Argentina).
I think that is nonsense. I have worked in cities on the East Coast and in the South. Every single company, big or small, had plent of AAs working there and they were not brought in due to Affirmative Action.
If you are skilled and presentable, people are going to hire you. People who hold barbaric racist views generally are not those with the power to hire anyone.
That's right but problem is this days in many cases you can't even submitte the resume if you desided dont add information about who you are :
woman -no
aboriginal-no , visual minorities -no .. Some job adds started with -This job can be limited to ..visual minority group. This is total discrimination. I can't even apply because Im white . How simple is that ?
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