I'm "African American"

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What disadvantage are blacks still at? Specifically.

I'll talk as a minority....I'm a woman. I have a bachelor's in business, I was in the business world for some time. I would not accept a job based on them needing a woman to fill that spot...I either win the position because I'm the best candidate there is, or I don't want it. I wouldn't want to start a job with the office thinking I needed some sort of 'head start' that had nothing to do with merit.

The disadvantage is in the statistical disparities between blacks and whites..

[FortLaudy 10]

What disadvantage are blacks still at? Specifically.

I'll talk as a minority....I'm a woman. I have a bachelor's in business, I was in the business world for some time. I would not accept a job based on them needing a woman to fill that spot...I either win the position because I'm the best candidate there is, or I don't want it. I wouldn't want to start a job with the office thinking I needed some sort of 'head start' that had nothing to do with merit.

I like your kind of thinking, bravo !

[Ban Hammer 14,815]

So you believe black people have no imagination?

i was waiting for someone to pick up on that

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Those are your words, I definetely don't believe they're savage or uncivilised. I think how they live in Africa is first of all their own damn business, they don't need free Western handouts. I have great respect for people who live self-sufficient and sustainable lives, I definetely don't look down on them, these people get to spend all their time with their families and friends, if we weren't chasing the almighty dollar as much as we do in the West we can learn a thing or two from them.

The question in my mind is whether those countries would be self-sufficient and sustainable without foreign aid.

So you believe black people have no imagination?

I believe that people get involved in gangs because they don't aspire to anything better. I believe I said something similar a few posts back.

[FortLaudy 10]

The question in my mind is whether those countries would be self-sufficient and sustainable without foreign aid.

Maybe the foreign aid should be cut off and we can see? What the heck did they do before the white man set foot in Africa? They'll be Perfectly fine, not living up to Western standards, no doubt. But hardly scrounging for food or shelter. Who gave the Europeans or Asians a free hand out in order to keep them surviving btw?

Do a bit of research on the last 30 years of Zimbabwe, it's very interesting.

[Peikko 1,575]

What disadvantage are blacks still at? Specifically.

I'll talk as a minority....I'm a woman. I have a bachelor's in business, I was in the business world for some time. I would not accept a job based on them needing a woman to fill that spot...I either win the position because I'm the best candidate there is, or I don't want it. I wouldn't want to start a job with the office thinking I needed some sort of 'head start' that had nothing to do with merit.

How would you even know if you had benefitted from positive discrimination. Did you have access to all the information about the other candidates who applied for the jobs you applied for? Did you ask whenever you were offered a job if they had given you 'extra points' because you were female? How many jobs did you turn down because you had been?

That's even supposing women are a minority in the US, I wasn't aware that they were . However, yes, in some areas of business there is discrimination against women, even today.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Maybe the foreign aid should be cut off and we can see? What the heck did they do before the white man set foot in Africa? They'll be Perfectly fine, not living up to Western standards, no doubt. But hardly scrounging for food or shelter. Who gave the Europeans or Asians a free hand out in order to keep them surviving btw?

Do a bit of research on the last 30 years of Zimbabwe, it's very interesting.

The problem is I've heard this opinion from you on everything from development aid to disaster relief. You don't seem to want to discriminate between one example and another as far as that goes, because you are of the opinion that people should stand on their own two feet or die via some sort of survival of the fittest social Darwinism.

What you are advocating is essentially isolationism and if you are familiar with the background to both world wars you'd know why its a dangerous idea.

[FortLaudy 10]

The problem is I've heard this opinion from you on everything from development aid to disaster relief. You don't seem to want to discriminate between one example and another as far as that goes, because you are of the opinion that people should stand on their own two feet or die via some sort of survival of the fittest social Darwinism.

What you are advocating is essentially isolationism and if you are familiar with the background to both world wars you'd know why its a dangerous idea.

I'm not advocating isolationism and xenophobia, but yes, I do believe all societies/communities can do Fine without interference or free handouts. I was not saying the same about disaster relief, that's entirely different. I only stated why I decided not to send any money to Haiti - because there are people in my own family who could use some help and that's where my charity is going. I don't see why a whole country cannot and should not take the same stance some times, take care of your own people when they need the help before helping others, maybe America is not in such bad shape yet to not be able to help out other countries...

[Fandango 1,440]

Did you notice that you sidestepped my comments? You failed to address the issue of discrimination in America today.

As for your Black friends/family, are you saying that none of them have ever been discriminated against?

No, I didn't sidestep anything...you wrongly assumed something and I set you straight. However, I don't need to 'validate' my opinion with 'oh but I have black friends/family!' Tbh, I SHOULD have sidestepped it, because whether I do or not is irrelevant to my opinion. But I couldn't help just proving you wrong.

Your comment was snide, and did not ask if I had black friends or family who have been discriminated against.

However, whether they have or not is really not the point....affirmative action will not cure individual ignorance. Have you ever asked if *I* have been a victim of discrimination? No, you haven't. And yeah, I have. But whether I have or not is not the government's place to Heisman every individual who has a constitutional right to his or her own opinion.

I, along with my black friends/family still assert that affirmative action is inherently racist, does more harm than good. You don't build a ramp up some stairs for a person who is able bodied to walk them. But my opinion is JUST as valid if my black friends/family didn't agree, or if I didn't know any. So why you keep throwing that around this thread to me and others is curious. It's like the 'oh but my black friend likes it, so that makes it ok'

Gimme a break.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Happy Bunny

[Jenn! 918]

The disadvantage is in the statistical disparities between blacks and whites..

Right. I'm not trying to suggest that they are at a disadvantage as a result of current legal discrimination. Rather that there is a legacy of disadvantage resulting from historical discrimination that doesn't go away overnight, or even after 40 years. High school attrition rates are a good example of this. Unless, as you said, one believes that blacks are just have less aptitude for academic success.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Here Marc....have a cigarette.

Are they free?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Right. I'm not trying to suggest that they are at a disadvantage as a result of current legal discrimination. Rather that there is a legacy of disadvantage resulting from historical discrimination that doesn't go away overnight, or even after 40 years. High school attrition rates are a good example of this. Unless, as you said, one believes that blacks are just have less aptitude for academic success.

Indeed - when the civil rights movement and segregation were both within living memory, its kind of expecting a lot that society will be truly egalitarian within a short space of years.

[FortLaudy 10]

You don't build a ramp up some stairs for a person who is able bodied to walk them.

Get used to him being cranky, the Colts lost yesterday

[Peikko 1,575]

i was waiting for someone to pick up on that

What you are asking me to believe is that had you, a white guy, been brought up in the exact same circumstances as your black counterparts who become gang members, something about being 'white' would prevent you from 'choosing' gang culture. Do you know how absurd and yes racial that is?

Edited February 9, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

No, I didn't sidestep anything...you wrongly assumed something and I set you straight. However, I don't need to 'validate' my opinion with 'oh but I have black friends/family!' Tbh, I SHOULD have sidestepped it, because whether I do or not is irrelevant to my opinion. But I couldn't help just proving you wrong.

Your comment was snide, and did not ask if I had black friends or family who have been discriminated against.

However, whether they have or not is really not the point....affirmative action will not cure individual ignorance. Have you ever asked if *I* have been a victim of discrimination? No, you haven't. And yeah, I have. But whether I have or not is not the government's place to Heisman every individual who has a constitutional right to his or her own opinion.

I, along with my black friends/family still assert that affirmative action is inherently racist, does more harm than good. You don't build a ramp up some stairs for a person who is able bodied to walk them. But my opinion is JUST as valid if my black friends/family didn't agree, or if I didn't know any. So why you keep throwing that around this thread to me and others is curious. It's like the 'oh but my black friend likes it, so that makes it ok'

Gimme a break.

T- aroma just got his ####### handed to him! :rofl: