Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 1
Opinion Piece:
Sometimes, however, bad facts highlight the need for better law. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that, in the case of college admissions, the bad facts of racial discrimination created the necessity of a new standard. The defendant, Harvard, had repeatedly undermined its own case for race-conscious affirmative action, and the court's new precedent outlaws racial discrimination in admissions while still preserving the state's ability to respond to the legacy of past injustice...
... First, the evidence is overwhelming that Harvard actively discriminated against Asian applicants. As Chief Justice John Roberts notes in his majority opinion, a
Black student in the fourth-lowest academic decile had a higher chance of admission to Harvard than an Asian student in the top decile......s Chief Justice Roberts makes clear, the
University of North Carolina ' which was a defendant in a separate case about its admissions process ' also
imposed far tougher admission standards on Asian students. Compounding the injustice, Asian Americans were already historically marginalized. As Justice Clarence Thomas details in his concurrence,
'Asian Americans can hardly be described as the beneficiaries of historical racial advantages.'... The top-line answer is simple, but the consequences are complicated. The court struck down the use of race as a factor in college admissions, but it left in place a number of alternative admissions measures that can both increase diversity and address real injustice. First, as Justice Thomas explains, 'Even today, nothing prevents the states from according an admissions preference to identified victims of discrimination.' In such a case, the preference is related to a specific injustice.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/opinion/affirma...
No. of Recommendations: 1
The defendant, Harvard, had repeatedly undermined its own case for race-conscious affirmative action, and the court's new precedent outlaws racial discrimination in admissions while still preserving the state's ability to respond to the legacy of past injustice...
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LOL - I hear they have a good Law School at Harvard :)
Regardless - in the end - the groups that Harvard and other White Liberals discriminate against - have excelled and will continue to displace the discriminators. It's happening in every single arena of life and it's only just begun.
Jewish people rose above this crap.
Asians are easily doing it also.
And critical mass isn't even close yet.
From I.T, to engineering, to politics, to commerce...the times are happily changing.
No. of Recommendations: 4
It's really not helpful to lump people into a category (e.g. "liberals"), and then attribute a characteristic to that group. Firstly, it is almost never accurate, and secondly, if puts people on the defensive. Then you get "us" vs "them", and no talking. Which is what dominates our politics today.
A quick google provided multiple links saying that conservatives are having a racism problem. The first few hits that weren't op-ed pieces.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/are-white-rep... (several years old, but actually shows it's a lot closer than might be expected)
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/08/12/de... (Republicans are more likely to want to avoid teaching about slavery)
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/2/17/racis... (a history going back to FDR, his programs, and the slow push for equal rights)
Heck, the Democrat Party used to own the South until LBJ pushed the CRA. Then all the conservatives from the Dems became Reps, and Nixon played on this to win the election ("Southern Strategy").
And yet it would still be unfair to say "white conservatives discriminate...". It's sometimes true, but not always true.
As for Affirmative Action, it has to end sometime. I am not learned enough to know when. Originally it tried to compensate for the disadvantages that were inherent in the black communities due to many decades of persecution and oppression. And I think it was relatively successful. Should we now abandon it? That would be a worthy discussion. I don't know the answer. At some point we should because it will give preference where it is no longer needed, and discriminate against other groups (e.g. whites). I'm skeptical we are at that point, but I'm willing to listen to data on the subject.
Some people changed their minds about racism. LBJ did. I read an interesting biography wherein he started as a racist, and then ended up working with poor black communities, and became a champion of equality. Others will never change their minds, and we'll just have to wait from them to grow old and die. A change that has taken generations, and is still on-going (e.g. lots of baby boomers left, but baby-boomer parents are pretty much gone and had more racist attitudes than their baby-boomer kids, who have more racist attitudes than their generation-whatever kids today).
No. of Recommendations: 2
1pg responded to
You hear strange sounds, but they are completely unrecognizable..
I'm trying to read about educational institutions penalizing Asians. Unfortunately, my PC decided to act up. :) I had a friend who thought he didn't get into Med school in California due to that. Then I read that California is held up as an example of how to achieve a balance without Affirmative Action. My friend thought it WAS Affirmative Action that kept him out. Id like to look a little further, but am prepared to never find out.
As for Racism I usually refer to two quotes.
"You start out in 1954 by saying, 'N!**er, n!**er, n!**er.' By 1968 you can't say 'n!**er''that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states' rights, and all that stuff, and you're getting so abstract. Now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.' 'We want to cut this,' is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than 'N***er, n***er.' Lee Atwater 1981
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." Lyndon Johnson 1960
When Filipinos asked me about racism in the USA, I'd tell them it's always there, but just below the surface. They seemed surprised. So I'd pull out these two quotes.
No. of Recommendations: 1
It is always there. I think it is MUCH less than when I was growing up. But it isn't gone, and likely never will be. At least not completely.
1poorkid encountered it a few times when she worked in a sandwich shop. They would be mean to her, but nice to the white girl (1poorkid is clearly Asian). I never really see it because I don't think anyone would dare show it in my presence. Or maybe it's "ok because they are with that white guy". Dunno. If I witnessed a racist attitude towards my family, that person would have a problem on their hands. I'm not shy about speaking my mind. I'm the guy who calls out "back of the line" when someone tries to cut...and that's trivial compared to discriminating against my ladies.
No. of Recommendations: 2
It is always there. I think it is MUCH less than when I was growing up. But it isn't gone, and likely never will be. At least not completely.
Yes, I agree. Though I was an Army brat, and when I lived on base, none was apparent as a kid. My family traveled in the south and I remember colored entrances to drive in theaters, etc. In my early teens we lived off base at times and I heard n!**er a bit and the exp0ression "n1**er in a woodpile" many times. As a young man people would get irate if I asked them not to tell me n!**er jokes down south. I wasn't aware at all in my 20s that we were sterilizing Indian women. I never heard of Tulsa till recently.
Then I found one friend talking about the Bell Curve - people liked having a pseudo scientific cover for their bigotry.
We've only been back in the USA for 15 months, but my wife has been treated fine - so far. :)
No. of Recommendations: 1
My family traveled in the south and I remember colored entrances to drive in theaters, etc.
As a kid in Kerrville, TX in the 1950s I experienced segregated hours for the public swimming pool. No mixing. And, of course, the blacks got fewer and less convenient swim times.
No. of Recommendations: 4
My family traveled in the south and I remember colored entrances to drive in theaters, etc.
In the early 1950s, on a trip from New York down to Richmond VA to visit relatives of my mother (who had grown up in Newport News) and friends of my parents (who had lived in Richmond when I was born), my parents warned my brother and me about what we would see. And I will never forget the impact of what we saw at highway gas stations, where the two worlds came together. Two water fountains, attached to the same plumbing but far enough apart to ensure no inadvertent touching, with one labeled "Colored Only" and the other labeled "White Only." And two bathrooms....."Colored" and "White."
My parents were clear about how wrong this way. But they obeyed those rules....at least in those public settings. But not in their private lives, when they had lived in the Richmond area (and then Tappahannock), nor during at least one of our visits.
No. of Recommendations: 2
I'm surprised there weren't separate pools. I recall the movie 42 (Jackie Robinson), and when his family used the pool at a posh hotel, the white folks were horrified. They actually drained and scrubbed the pool before allowing anyone to use it again. Assuming the movie was accurate.
No. of Recommendations: 1
segregated hours for the public swimming pool.
I missed out on part of civil rights - not sure completely why. I was a kid in the Canal Zone, Panama from 63-67 and the news was controlled by the Zone, but have no real idea why my mind draws a blank on the Civil Rights movement. I should query my brother, but he's a MAGA bro, and pro DeSantis. He can become a little Mt Vesuvius at the drop of a red hat. :) I do remember some of George Wallace though.
The Koran burning pointed out that Erdogan has shifted his position. A previous burning caused his to drop talks with Sweden about joining NATO, now he's ignoring it. Sweden has changed how it handles terrorism, which he didn't like. (Don't know what changed yet) Observers say any Koran burning serves Putin's interests. The Wagner rebellion seems to have weakened Putin in Erdogan's eyes.
No. of Recommendations: 5
My parents were clear about how wrong this way(s). But they obeyed those rules....at least in those public settings.
My father didn't discuss that much - we just knew it was wrong. Later I had discussions with him. I do remember being sat down to watch Gentleman's Agreement, but it seemed more abstract to me. I could see bigotry against the blacks and people would openly express it. But I never met anyone who expressed bigotry against the Jews until much later. Went to a year of HS in Atlanta, Georgia. There was some there, but it wasn't open. In Pennsylvania, all those expressing bigotry loved the Temptations - go figure. In the canal Zone bigotry was expressed and some Panamanians resented us there. Well, here was the swath right across the center of the country filled with whites supervising Panamanians. Went to school with Panamanians, and they were as smart as we were. My Philippine friends know history much better than most Americans.
