As I receive a plethora of comments for my posts about Ron Paul I have noticed a theme to the ones that talk about affirmative action. Somehow people are equating affirmative action with some sort of hand out or some sort of mandated free job system for all these unqualified opportunistic blacks who don’t deserve to have them. Now I personally equate these comments to racist mindsets. I feel this is due to the fact that if they didn’t already feel that blacks were unworthy of the jobs that they do receive.
Now what exactly makes these people think that the blacks are getting jobs that they aren’t qualified for? I have never nor has anyone I know ever been able to fall into a job that they were not qualified for. This is just more racist thinking that many have and refuse to acknowledge as such. I have repeatedly asked these people to explain why these blacks are unqualified or how and where these jobs were gotten.
With the thinking that no blacks are ever qualified this is contrary to the truth. Blacks getting jobs usually have to be twice as qualified as the next person in order to get the jobs they are going for, affirmative action or not. Just like one commenter said, blacks have to work twice as hard to prove to whites that they are worthy. I have to laugh that people are so quick to judge all blacks as unqualified even though they don’t know the qualifications of just a hand full of any particular blacks.
So from what they are saying, blacks just want a handout, that we should be shamed to be given something for nothing. When did trying to get a job become wanting a handout? Is it a handout when white people are applying for a job, of course not because it is accepted that they would be qualified for any job they apply for. Yet they turn right around and tell me of the racist nature of affirmative action.
When has anyone ever talked about the affirmative action that whites receive? All the while blacks were kept from the workforce due to Jim Crow and other racist programs aimed at preserving white domination in the workforce. Why are they not complaining about all the white women who are benefiting even more from affirmative action than any black person?
We have been led to believe that all the while whites have benefited from their own brand of affirmative action it is somehow now a problem when there is a program aimed at someone other than white males. We as blacks should somehow be ashamed that someone was trying to come up with something, anything that would even the playing field between white males and minorities even though it is woefully inadequate.
I understand that people feel that this is nothing more than a handout that disenfranchises white males. Because we all know that white males have such a hard time finding jobs in this white male dominated marketplace. By all accounts if affirmative action is this big job handout program there really shouldn’t be any unemployed black who have applied for more than one job. Since if the jobs are being handed out the first one they applied for would be theirs no questions asked. Yet we know full well that blacks or over represented on the unemployment lines.
Should we believe this is due to the fact that blacks somehow don’t want jobs? Even these free handout jobs that they don’t even have to be qualified for. I suppose that I should just clear the air and let people know that the Eddie Murphy movie Trading Places was a joke. Black homeless people really aren’t being snatched off the streets and thrown into the lap of luxury running a stock brokerage firm. Yet this is what comes to mind when some people talk about how blacks are receiving these handouts in the form of employment. Or the fact that they are saying that blacks are not qualified yet they got the job at the expense of a more qualified white man.
Affirmative action is a catchall phrase referring to laws, customs, and social policies intended to alleviate the types of discrimination that limit opportunities for a variety of demographic groups in various social institutions. And for us to believe that these laws, customs and social policies are hurting people you would have to first believe that the playing field for all people is an even one. Yet if you believe that then you would need to explain a whole slew of other problems facing our society. Such as blacks only earn 78% of what whites earn, blacks are still under represented in all facets of corporate America and black unemployment is more than double that of white unemployment.
These discrepancies between blacks and whites are just the tip of the iceberg. There are tons of other “documented” differences that can’t be explained away with blacks just don’t want to do better etc. A person named Ana who replied to my Blog once said “what group? white people are not a ‘group’ that has some special, common interest. white people are individuals whose foremost concerns is their own good and the good of their families and friends – not the good of other white people.”
This is exactly my point if every white person is doing what Ana said, whites are looking out for the concerns of their friends and families who happen to be white like them. This is the epitome of the white privilege or white affirmative action of which I speak. And for Ana to say this is showing her protection of the white group and how they do come together to protect the group Yet a black person having affirmative action which is a suggestion of sorts that if they are most qualified for a position they will not be passed over merely for the color of their skin. But the facts show that this so called suggestion has no real teeth. Blacks are constantly passed over and this is due to the ingrained thinking that most whites have that blacks are unqualified, unworthy and thus undeserving of whatever employment they are seeking.
The Black Sentinel 
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I would say that affirmative action helps, in the short term, the people it gets jobs, etc for, but hurts in the larger sense. If the goal is to have a naturally integrated society, where people are color blind, then affirmative action has the opposite effect. It legally divides us along racial lines and it establishes a precedent for setting different rules for different groups, which, as we know, is dangerous.
The real question is does it solve the problems it sets out to solve? Obviously not. If the source of the problem is white nepotism, then it can only blunt that edge by the slightest degree. If the source of the problem is that black culture lacks traditions that would make blacks competitive in modern American society, then affirmative action, and all government interference, is disastrous. It can only address the symptoms and not the source of the problem.
Orientals, Jews, Hispanics, Italians, etc., have won their places in American society despite being confronted with harsh discrimination and shut out of the mainstream. On the other hand, poor whites, who generally come from a culture that has no comprehension of success or sensible living (unfortunately, this happens to be my group, although I’ve broken away) continue to fail.
Think about it: poor whites fail in spite of white privilege … Why? Because they have a deeply flawed culture. Other non-white groups succeed in spite of white privilege … Why? Because they have a strong and functional culture.
So where do blacks fit in? The only conclusion can be that it’s a cultural failing. Your theory that whites bear all the blame is unsupportable. Every other group has made it in spite of white privilege–and whites sub-groups have failed!
Affirmative action may help the miniscule handful of blacks who directly benefit, but it can’t address the real problem. Black communities and black families are the issue, and these things were probably much stronger pre-civil rights, pre-affirmative action, etc.
So, not only does it fail to address the problem, it could arguably contribute to the problem by distracting from it and distorting it. The system is telling blacks, you cannot compete against white privilege, so we have to step in and help you … This is a dismal, defeatist message (and you seem to have fully absorbed it). Also, affirmative action makes people more race conscious, which overall is bad; and it makes the statement that the government has the right to interfere with private businesses, educational facilities, etc., which, as I keep saying, is dangerous.
Anyway, look at the economy and the dollar. If things don’t change we’ll all be shit out of luck … Economic and monetary policy is enough to make Ron Paul the only candidate for any sane person, all racial issues aside.
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H.R.,
You DO realize that blacks are not the only beneficiary of affirmative action, right? So these races that you have cited are also benefiting from this program and that is also a reason for their success.
It has been widely studied that whites prefer to hire races that are what was termed not black. White people respect Asians as thus they do much better than blacks or Hispanics. Hispanics do well largely because they have a close knit community in which they can stay and do not have to depend on working as closely with the white community. That makes a world of difference.
You continue to tell me about my defeatist disposition etc. Yet you don’t begin to explain how anything you say is going to help. If white domination is a fact then WHAT will stop it or at least give others a fighting chance. And since you feel that blacks lack any redeeming qualities that will make them productive members of society. Then what exactly do you propose for the black community? A sink or swim mentality?
Isn’t that what happened right after slavery ended? We were pushed away from the plantations with NOTHING, just the clothes on our backs. We started our own communities which were prospering and did very well. What happened next? They were systematically burned to the ground and destroyed by white people. Why, if they want us to succeed so badly on our own as you claim?
I could care less if the dollar NEVER turns around. In fact I would love to see how the uppity crew will react when they are on the bottom rung for a change. Should I then take pity on them, or help them? So sure don’t let government interfere with people’s god given right to discriminate. Sure that will help us ALL!
The problem that we face here is that you seem to believe that there IS NO discrimination. So by letting nature take its course without meddling by the government we will somehow do what they couldn’t encourage us to do. Blacks aren’t in the workforce because they lack this trait or that. Blacks aren’t in the workforce because white people control who is or isn’t in the workforce.
Defeatist attitude or not, I hope you aren’t going to tell me that this is not the case. If you are, then cite for me all the fortune 500 companies that are predominantly black and I don’t mean the cleaning crews or the lawn care. It is a fact that whites have been in the position of denying blacks opportunity to do what is necessary.
I think you are simplifying things when you try and blame a culture for failing. Black culture does not cause us to fail. Trying to fit into white culture causes blacks to fail. Trying to achieve a status in a society that does not believe you deserve that status will cause you to fail. Whites have created a culture that you now deem is somehow failed. Well then we only have you and other whites to thank for that. Even though I think it is full of crap.
Thanks
You’re a fool. Everything you put forth is racist against me, and you think you have the right because you think of yourself as nothing more than an ex slave. You’ve said you’d like to see an economic collapse just to spite white people … Do you see how asinine this is?
First off, it shows deep, deep ignorance. An economic collapse, especially the gradual slide we’re looking at, would affect the “uppity crew” least of all. Those who own their homes outright aren’t the ones who will lose them. Those who have access to the money when it’s first printed will be able to buy up the country for pennies on the dollar. It’s the tens of millions upon tens of millions who are living paycheck to paycheck that will be destroyed. But this will be okay with you, so long as you get to see the hurt put on some white people, eh?
I’ve been killing time, trying you out just to see where your head’s at, and you’ve failed every step of the way … You have no understanding of history, economics, government—or much of anything. Everything, as I’ve said, is viewed only in light of your demented race obsession.
H.R.,
You are a FOOL. I did not say WHITE people. I said uppity people. You are sooo racist you of course took that to mean white. That means blacks, whites and all the rest who feel they are so superior to others.
And you are also dumb enough not to understand that a gradual collapse or any collapse at all would of course affect everyone. If those on the bottom lose out those on top will eventually as well. If the housing market slide showed us anything it is that if you constantly screw the poor and middle class it will inevitably move up the food chain.
History, you my friend who feel Africans came out of some dark age is woefully unqualified to state anyones understanding of history. You hide behind the fact that you feel I am race obsessed while you attribute failure of people to the fact that their ENTIRE culture is somehow inferior etc.
You know you CAN kill time elsewhere. My head is in a far better place than you know, especially since you’ve known me all of about um, NOT AT ALL! And the only failing here is your constant barrage of insults and ignorance.
Thanks but no thanks.
Sigh. I feel like Moses coming down from the mountain to find my people squabbling.
What happened?
I say MY people not because I OWN you, rather because I am able to see myself in you.
I too am a fool because I see ignorance, insults, race, haves and have-nots.
We can kick each other in the balls and the teeth and steal from each other and find ways to cheat each other and force each other to do things we don’t want to do. We can go to our graves pointing our fingers saying, “…if only it wasn’t for him.”
But there is an answer for every question and whispered on the wind in the graveyard in the stony silence will be the words “…you lived my brother but not alone, that…if only for him, it wasn’t…alone.”
Happy New Year Brothers and Sisters!
Live long and prosper!
Just a brief comment. I second much of the opinions of Thomas Sowell on (against) affirmative actions. His studies of the affirmative actions around the world show how this is pernicious in many ways.
But at the same time I think that “affirmative actions” for whites or people of all sorts should be illegal and abolished as well, does not matter wheter they’re promoted by private parties. Which may be troublesome, as would probably require more state intervention (something I don’t like) or at least governmental inspectons.
But with concernment with Sowell’s points on the various problems that affirmative actions raise, I think it would be preferable than creating more affirmative actions to counter-act the “affirmative actions” for whites and elites, as it would be creating more discrimination to fight discrimination, and generating more collateral inefficiency than the preferences for whites/elites generate already.
Blacks cannot make it without preferential treatment. 60 years of preferential treatment, millions of dollars spent on education and blacks are as bad off today as they were in the days of Jim Crow. Blacks will never make it on their own. Blacks have never successfully ruled themselves and never will. Blacks murdered the whites in Africa and now they are starving. That is the future of the black race.
Ron,
It is interesting that you say this. After slavery ended blacks started towns that were extremely prosperous and there was no preferential treatment then. The problem came when whites decided to burn these cities and through terrorism harass the blacks. This continued until the blacks ended up in small ghetto’s right next to white towns, cities etc.
Now if blacks never successfully ruled themselves then I don’t know what was going on in Africa centuries before whites ever made it out of the caves. Blacks will never be able to run themselves because no matter what happens whites will always want to have their hands in it.
If blacks had towns that were prosperous what was the reason whites had to demolish them? Was it a superiority complex that made them scared that the black towns were “too” successful?
Do some research on black townships before you come here with your uneducated, racist propaganda. So it seems that with the comments I get that the preferential treatment and millions of dollars spent on education etc and whites like you are still just as stupid as ever. Also just as racist as they were in the days of Jim Crow.
Put my tax dollars to use and get an education.
Affirmative action does not create inequities; on the contrary, it mandates AND COMPELS equitable treatment of historically disadvantaged and abused minorities (Blacks) and oppressed-marginalized majority groups (Women) in a country steeped in perniciously vicious racism, and unrelenting institutionalized sexism.
A minority group e.g. women, which has characteristics which make them easily identifiable and distinguishable within a population, need special laws to protect them from THOSE within the majority who have the power to limit or destroy their ability to survive and thrive in said society.
I have worked on enough class action lawsuits to know that racism and all types of discrimination are alive and well EVERWHERE in society.
Man is by nature TRIBAL, and when those in authority have the power to systematically (whether intentionally or otherwise) exclude those who are not a part of that tribe in an unfettered LEGAL way, the effects are long lasting and horrific!
I am an overnight manager at a Super Market, and I once hired an African American man. He could physically and mentally handle all aspects of his job, he just had a very poor attitude. Every time I asked him to go outside to bring in the shopping carts, he would say something like “send the BLACK man out to do it”, in spite of the fact that he was being sent out mainly because he had the least seniority or because there was only 2 or 3 people counting myself and him in the store. He was very rude to customers and had an obvious dislike for Hispanic and Asian people. I was very glad to see him quit after less than 2 months. I know he was not a very good representation of Black people everywhere, but I did get tired of always hearing about how much he was being discriminated against. What ever happened to people of any race being grateful just to have a job?
Al,
So your point is exactly what? That you hired a black man and he made your work life bad? Get over it. I have seen the ultimately worse workers in my life were white. AND, what does that mean. You hired one black man once, oh my get this man a cookie. You ask what happened to people being grateful to just have a job. What happened to that? Who knows. That is NOT what I am discussing nor talking about. Sorry, but you have not added much to the conversation.
Thanks but no thanks to replies that go nowhere.
I get so tired of affirmation action being thought of as hiring some unqualified African American. The biggest winners of affirmation action are white women. Look around you, and see the face of affirmation action. Who do you see making the most progress in the work place? But they remain silent as they’ve acquired more professional jobs in all areas, whether in the media, higher education, you name it.
Yes Ethel, there are many white women hired because of affirmative action, but are they paid as well as the men? I really don’t care. And I don’t think blacks should be compared to whites, men to women, Asians to Jews. I think we all have strengths and weaknesses, and HUGE differences. Why can’t we just accept them? It is okay to be different, to have a penis instead of a vagina, to have brown instead of black skin, to be albino or purple or magenta. Who gives a damn? But if you want to be a lawyer or doctor or physicist, you better have the knowledge required and the skills. Everyone should be able to answer the same questions correctly. If a purple woman scores a 80% and a green guy gets a 69% — hire HER. What the hell is color? Obama isn’t black. Or white. I’m not white. I’m not Native American or English or Irish or Scottish. I’m all that shit rolled together. What the hell difference does it make? I couldn’t do Obama’s job (which he was not given because of skin color). I could never pass the bar exam. But when a smart person wails about discrimination I want to puke. When a dumb person wails, I just nod and say yeah, you didn’t get in because you’re dumb. White dumb, black dumb, purple or green. Dumb is dumb. Average (me) is average. I get by fine. “White” and female. Never for a second did I feel discriminated against as a woman. Never have I sensed a nasty attitude from a black person fresh from Africa. What grace and beauty! But if you’re black and raised here, you’re more likely to have the ghetto strut and pants hanging around the bottom of your ass cheeks. Whites next door will strut the same. Whatever “whites” and “blacks” are, they apparently want to be each other. I guess it’s a polar opposites thing. And I’m rambling, I know. But I think color is an excuse and lawmakers want to hush the public, keep the peace, so they make these ridiculous laws like affirmative action. Unless it regards health, no form should inquire about race/ethnicity. THAT is wrong. Asking sex is wrong. We’re just a bunch of variant blogs of protoplasm. Show up. Test. Score well and you’re in. Score poorly and you’re either dumb or average and if you’re the latter, you can sit by me. Even if you’re green.