Affirmative Action Stupidity

[EMS49393]

I was going to steer clear of this debate because it was supposed to be about fire, and frankly I could care less about firefighters. However, since someone had to throw the slavery issue into this, I am compelled to chime in.

After much soul searching, I finally am pursuing the degree I should have been working on whilst I was earning my worthless EMS degree. I am working on a masters in history, so with that being said, I am fairly qualified to give a lecture on the lies a person learns in their regular high school, and often college history classes.

White European people were not the first to enslave any population. They were also not the first to begin to enslave people from Africa. Would you like to know who the first to enslave them happened to be? I thought you might. Once upon a time in a land far, far away...

Slavery is a system of servitude. In the early part of the 16th century, the Portuguese, yes I said PORTUGUESE arrived in Africa to negotiate slave trades the muslims, yes the MUSLIMS had already been trading slaves for hundreds of years. The Akan had gold and needed labor, the Benin had labor (slaves) and needed weapons, the Portuguese had weapons but wanted gold. They went to the Benin to trade guns for slaves, and then to the Akan to trade slaves for gold. Eventually the Benin have only women and children left, which the Akan can't use. Enter the Congo. They want guns and culture and negotiate to collect more slaves in return for guns. The Congo also offer to accept Christianity. The only thing the Portuguese originally wanted out of this deal was to spread Christianity and gold. The slavery thing was already in full swing within the African nation long before any sort of "white man" arrived. I don't have to get into the issue of slavery in the Americas, unless people are interested, because I have proven my point.

Slavery existed long before the American/African episode of slavery in the 17th through 19th centuries. It still exists in many countries today. There are many people that have been enslaved throughout the course of history, not just the Africans. Yet, it's the Africans we hear griping about how hard their lives are because of slavery and the white man. Well, they proved their point, they are not educated, because they are completely ignorant to the fact that it was their own people that had been trading them for centuries before any white people got involved.

I am the third generation of my family, on both sides, to graduate high school. I am the second person of my father's family to have an associates and bachelors degrees. I will be the first to obtain a graduate degree. I am the fifth generation of my family on my Mother's side that is literate. My father's grandparents immigrated from Czechoslovakia and Russia with nothing, and settled in Pennsylvania during the depression. My family NEVER owned slaves. I grew up poor. By the time my father was able to actually cash in on his degree and experience I was in high school. Where in the hell is my 200 years of education? Since that is the reason you put forth about why blacks can't pass standardized tests, I should be about as dumb as a tree stump with my history.

Oh, and I'm also a woman, my "people" had no rights until the 1920's. We were slaves to our men-folk. Cooking, cleaning, and putting out, all without a paycheck. At least your people's slavery ended in the 1860's.

I don't buy that black people are stupid. I think they are ignorant. I think most white people are ignorant. If you can't distinguish between the two, get yourself a dictionary. Grow up and stop using your heritage as a crutch.

Edited April 26, 2009 by EMS49393

[joesph]

Well let see its normal for the conquering nation to enslave the losers its found threwout most of history. I think its still done today. What we did to Indians is a lot worse we put them on a reservation and took away there will to succeed. We used a incideous tool, welfare, sorry. White (mostly) Americans enslaved black people (mostly) and used them as personnel property. Sorry. What we did next was worse we kept them here and made them live in our country were they had to climb in (white) society. Sorry. We should have sent them back to there country of origin.

Rome had some interesting concepts some of the peoples from every country they conquered eventual got citizenship. Unfortunately Jews and Christians also got to be cat chow and lamp ornaments. (they should say there sorry) So with all of this history to choose from if any conquered people feel victimized and still need some closer for something that was perpetuated by a person that is worm food by now I would sincerely like to apologize to them. And offer this bit of advice the best way to get even is to live well and out perform the bastards at there own game.

Sincerely a native born Montanan

[Dustdevil]

pwn3d. literally.

Edited April 27, 2009 by Dustdevil

[celticcare]

I agree Ruff once you play that card it makes everything else mondane. But honestly getting back to the subject of the article the last time I checked standardized test are just that standardized when you set down to take it it does not know if you are black white purple or green pink etc etc, it is only worried about what your brain knows.

(wonder if I could say the NCLEX was biased because I am a white female and I failed it. Where as if I was a white male I would have passed it. Its discrimating against me cause I am a WOMAN! )

Another case of the minority speaks, but remember Terri, international nursing exams, including the NCLEX are not gender biased, the only reason rates of success for men passing are primarilly we are in lower numbers in the profession, the higher the number passing from a small group, then naturally the percentile will be higher

And its not exactly a hard test

[itku2er]

Another case of the minority speaks, but remember Terri, international nursing exams, including the NCLEX are not gender biased, the only reason rates of success for men passing are primarilly we are in lower numbers in the profession, the higher the number passing from a small group, then naturally the percentile will be higher

And its not exactly a hard test

Nah its cause I am a Woman it has to be no other logical explanation. I am pulling the gender card on that one. (I learned well eh ruff?)

[celticcare]

Lol, you made me chuckle there Terri, at least it broke the tension in the thread.

[Lone Star]

Then you also have to understand that many questions that you find easy on a standardized test, are not so easy for blacks. For instance:

Coffee cup is to saucer as napkin is to __________________ (table cloth, toaster, salad fork, or butter dish).

Sounds easy enough, but when you are a poor child (regardless of race), you may have never seen a coffee cup, saucer, table cloth, salad fork, or butter dish in your home.

Ok, that’s an over dramatization! I grew up in a ‘poor home’, and I still knew what things like those were. How? It’s called ‘focusing on education’! If one actually applies themselves, there’s no telling how much they can accomplish! (I didn't know the difference between a salad fork, apetizer fork and a desert fork until I was well into My 20's).

Whites held our race back for 100s of years in the US, now you have to pay for your wrongs. And yes I realize that it was not you personally who enslaved us, but it will take generations for us to catch up to whites.

And as long as ‘your race’ continues to use this as a crutch, ‘your race’ will NEVER ‘catch up to whites’! It’s a proven fact that a person that doesn’t use crutches can move from one place to another faster than those hobbling along with crutches. As long as blacks sit back and make ‘excuses’ why they can’t ‘get ahead’, the entire race will be held back.

How do you explain people like Barack Obama, Thurgood Marshall, George Washington Carver, Elijah McCoy , Booker T Washington, Dr. Charles Drew , Shirley Chisholm, Colin Powell, Madame C.J Walker, Martin Luther King, Matthew Henson, Frederick Douglass, Daniel Hale Williams? Did they reach their height of fame and success by sitting back and crying, “The white man owes us!”?

"The prevailing attitude of white supremacy has produced within the minds and hearts of Black people throughout the world, but especially in America, a serious problem in inferiority.

This attitude of inferiority has hardened into a system of beliefs and unwritten laws which govern our behavior toward self and others. Therefore, we act in a self-destructive manner, even when we know better. Many Christian preachers, Muslim Imams, Hebrew and other religious teachers, teach our people positive principles upon which to act. These principles, if acted upon, would relieve us of the heavy burden of ignorance, poverty and want in the midst of plenty.

However, the unwritten law of Black inferiority continues to permeate so effectively and forcefully that every good teacher and his message ultimately are overcome because they are unable to destroy this inferior mentality."

That was written by Louis Farrakhan

Now with all your whining and crying about ‘entitlement’ and how whites are ‘keeping your race down’, let me ask this: With all the freedoms that you take for granted, what have you done to EARN them? What part have you played in defending the very country you call ‘home’? What have you done to change the ‘status quo’?

Before you can claim 'payback' you yourself have to have been personally wronged. So tell us crotchity, exactly how long were you PERSONALLY enslaved?

Judging by your screen name, I'm going to logically deduce that you were either born in 1986 (which makes you 23 years old, or by some off chance that you've been in EMS since 1986, that would put you somewhere around 41-43 years old. That being said, it seems that you were born at least 100 years too late to claim any rights to 'payback' for slavery!

If things are so 'bad' in America, then by all means; exercise your right to GET OUT!

[crotchitymedic1986]

The jews got over it ? How much foreign aid do we send to isreal every year, and we werent the ones who did the holocaust. Funny, how everyone thinks that all the other races in America are doing just fine. Have you visited a Native American Indian Reservation lately ? If it were not for casinos infusing some cash, that race would be dead now. How about the mexicans, yes lots of mexican millionaires on every block, yeah right. And those of you who say racism doesnt exist are full of it. How many of you whites who are "not racist" have dated or would marry an african american ? Racism is alive and well in EMS/Fire, like I said, look around your station and see how many african american supervisors you have. And all of you who think slavery ended in the 1860's, think again. Slaves only gained the right to starve to death if they didnt continue doing the same work they had been doing for the last 100 years. Your ancestors did not go out an embrace former slaves and offer them a new skilled job. You also refused to let us in your schools for another 100 years. Yes, we have had a whole 50 years to catch up to your generations of being educated, sorry we disappointed.

[tniuqs]

name='crotchitymedic1986' date='Apr 27 2009, 06:47 AM' post='213007']

The jews got over it ? How much foreign aid do we send to isreal every year, and we werent the ones who did the holocaust.

So off topic and not even close to the same reasoning your knowledge level of world affairs is starting to show through quite clearly an uninformed statement, btw a few other countries receive aid that are dang near entirely black populations ... epic FAIL on this rationalization.

Funny, how everyone thinks that all the other races in America are doing just fine. Have you visited a Native American Indian Reservation lately ? If it were not for casinos infusing some cash, that race would be dead now. How about the Mexicans, yes lots of Mexican millionaires on every block, yeah right. And those of you who say racism doesn't exist are full of it.

I have worked on lots of 'reserves' the hand is always observed the palm up and tax exempt, some of our reserves the average worth per native is 23 million each, we don't get a lot of Mexicans up here they have a tendancy to freeze up stiff. Heck, I emailed Cesar Millan to train my dog, too damn cold he said ... but you insist on perpetuating other stereo types and try to draw them in your attempt to justify your position.

How many of you whites who are "not racist" have dated or would marry an African American ?

Firstly that is a double edged sword !

So love/ sex/marriage has something to do with racism, best look in the US history mirror FIRST.

Here we go again from a racist Euro-North American. I must be because I put my self through secondary education twice and I managed to pass the exams no government handout or rich parents help)

ps I'm horny enough to bang a pile of rocks ... I digress.

Racism is alive and well in EMS/Fire, like I said, look around your station and see how many African American supervisors you have. And all of you who think slavery ended in the 1860's, think again. Slaves only gained the right to starve to death if they didn't continue doing the same work they had been doing for the last 100 years. Your ancestors did not go out an embrace former slaves and offer them a new skilled job. You also refused to let us in your schools for another 100 years. Yes, we have had a whole 50 years to catch up to your generations of being educated, sorry we disappointed.

crotch

YOU ? Who is You .. Me ?

You crotch are blaming all whites for holding you back again Fail - 5 on the Dust Devil Scale.

Hint:

If my Father committed murder and was incarcerated and hung does that mean as his son I should be hung too, do you follow, guilt by genetics is not an tangible arguement.

And those of you who say racism doesn't exist are full of it.

If it is not already quite clear by now that hiring or promoting based numbers / percentage / quotas (whatever group) is wrong and continues to promote racism, crotch you are guilty of fanning the flames, do you believe this argument will help any way to free "your people from oppression?"

So continue to ignore what others are telling you !

crotch don't believe me when I tell you that you are more guilty of racism that "my people"

Barf.

Edited April 27, 2009 by tniuqs

[Brady]

The reason we blacks score lower on standardized tests is because of a little thing called slavery -- you do remember that ? If you dont, let me also remind you that blacks were not allowed to attend white schools and universities until the 1960s. That puts us about 200 years behind whites in the US, and you have to remember that the first generations of black students did not have an educated family at home to assist them with their studies.

Then you also have to understand that many questions that you find easy on a standardized test, are not so easy for blacks. For instance:

Coffee cup is to saucer as napkin is to __________________ (table cloth, toaster, salad fork, or butter dish).

Sounds easy enough, but when you are a poor child (regardless of race), you may have never seen a coffee cup, saucer, table cloth, salad fork, or butter dish in your home.

I understand why whites do not like quotas, but at the same time, look around your department and see how many african american officers you have ?

If you go to Mcdonalds and they serve you the wrong hamburger, you dont go to Burger King for your refund. Whites held our race back for 100s of years in the US, now you have to pay for your wrongs. And yes I realize that it was not you personally who enslaved us, but it will take generations for us to catch up to whites.

I would have to agree that everyone taking this test had the same opportunity. This is a test on firefighting, wich everyone in the case was educated in. I'm ashamed to say that there is still race issues out there today. However I feel like I got jipped by being white! I couldn't get extra help in school when I needed it because I was white. I got denied a ton of scholarships becuase of my color. There are over 60 colleges in the US that are for black students only. If there were colleges for white students only the people would blow a gasket. There is reverse discrimination going on just as much. I think its never going to stop because people can never forget the past.

Edited April 27, 2009 by Brady