General Discussion

tpsbmam

(3,927 posts)

31. I have mixed feelings.....

Mon Jul 2, 2012, 05:56 PM

Jul 2012

I support it in general, but I've also seen it HUGELY abused.......to give one example, when I was in college I had a close working relationship with the head of the neuroscience department -- I TA'd for her for 3 years. She had an absolute FIT when a mediocre student, who was part of a rich & privileged white family, applied to medical school and was accepted over a couple of outstanding white students in his class.....and she knew he was accepted due to AA. Huh? He claimed Native American ancestry. He had about a drop of NA blood in him, as I'm sure many thousands of Americans do (I'm one of them -- I'm descended from Pocahontas). He manipulated that to make it appear that it was a much more significant part of his heritage than it was. And it worked. This very liberal prof was LIVID! I agreed and still do. And I've seen a few more instances of that. But as far as I know, those instances are relatively rare. I remain in support of AA and would just love to see the loophole I described closed.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

54 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Robert's "long game" is to dismantle affirmative action [View all] Skidmore Jul 2012 OP

I'm not quite sure what to make of John Roberts lately permatex Jul 2012 #1

Don't be fooled. Look at the overall track record...... marmar Jul 2012 #8

Exactly. Remember Citizens United. Bake Jul 2012 #38

Its a scam... dtom67 Jul 2012 #32

Hadn't thought of it like that permatex Jul 2012 #36

I am reading how some Labor historians think AA split the economic working class that used to patrice Jul 2012 #2

I agree its created a tremendous split among Democrats. Peregrine Took Jul 2012 #3

The abuse of authentic meritocracy is part of what HAS enslaved ALL of us. I'm old, patrice Jul 2012 #5

Workers need their own in-situ collectively developed job-specific evergreen merit assessment proces patrice Jul 2012 #6

Cowie says all of that was the end of the New Deal Coalition & the beginning of the Southern Strateg patrice Jul 2012 #7

But everyone doesn't start from the same place. marmar Jul 2012 #9

People who resent AA really don't understand what it does -- EFerrari Jul 2012 #13

Pretty clear you don't know much about it either ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #17

i would like to meet some of these unqualified minority students who fail because of AA EFerrari Jul 2012 #18

There were any number of them in most of the big name schools, including Cal ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #19

So you say. EFerrari Jul 2012 #21

Please note that the Punahou graduate with less than stellar grades ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #22

Ah, the "Affirmative Action President" canard Scootaloo Jul 2012 #30

Just how fecking illiterate can you be? ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #33

Wait a minute. I graduated from Punahou ('68) panader0 Jul 2012 #37

And your were probably better prepared for college than many other schools ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #39

WOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!! uponit7771 Jul 2012 #43

Lack of adequate preparation in high school is not the same as lack of adequate preparation by race. Gormy Cuss Jul 2012 #23

It has the same result... ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #24

No it doesn't, thats false...AA has nothing to do with quotas and that's what you're pushing logical uponit7771 Jul 2012 #44

I am pushing nothing ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #51

To me it's not about "unqualified students" (everyone is qualified in a different way, imo). Romulox Jul 2012 #28

Clearly not everyone is qualified, especially at high end universities ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #34

American Universities don't even BEGIN to teach the skills necessary for life in the 21st century. Romulox Jul 2012 #40

I was referring to entrance qualifications and skills ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #49

Then that's the insititutions fault NOT AA.... uponit7771 Jul 2012 #45

For which definition of AA? ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #50

That has nothing to do with AA, that has more to do with racist memes than anything uponit7771 Jul 2012 #42

It was the effect in the real world ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #52

We *must* comes to grips with the reality of a white underclass, then. To pretend it's all race is Romulox Jul 2012 #25

Yeah, it split off the Southern Democrats who couldn't accept that black people were citizens. n/t EFerrari Jul 2012 #11

I have mixed feelings..... tpsbmam Jul 2012 #31

You've not listened to both side of the issue either, you'd never thing it was unfair if the true uponit7771 Jul 2012 #41

Since AA began in 1961 under JFK and the Voting Rights Act didn't even pass until later, EFerrari Jul 2012 #10

I've condensed about 50% of the book into that post. It was a much larger and longer process patrice Jul 2012 #12

I have to say that I probably agree more than I don't, though it may be close, with the patrice Jul 2012 #4

So was MLK Jr.'s banned from Kos Jul 2012 #14

that is RW disinformation Enrique Jul 2012 #47

I would like to see the focus of affirmative action change SickOfTheOnePct Jul 2012 #15

I'm wondering if we couldn't see that as a change in its priorities. A systematic relationship patrice Jul 2012 #16

Then you'd go back to race, seriously people...blacks and Hispanics didn't wake up and say lets be uponit7771 Jul 2012 #46

You are correct, many of the same people that benefit now would continue to benefit SickOfTheOnePct Jul 2012 #54

how quaint librechik Jul 2012 #20

His sole purpose, and 'long game', is to serve corporations. Simple really. -eom Huey P. Long Jul 2012 #26

Roberts is a snake Homer12 Jul 2012 #27

The last couple of posters have nailed it. Start by guessing which position most helps corporations Romulox Jul 2012 #29

I don't know what one thing has to do with the other Orangepeel Jul 2012 #35

CRA and VRA are enforced under the Commerce Clause, weakin that and you can get rid of those two law uponit7771 Jul 2012 #48

Concur ProgressiveProfessor Jul 2012 #53