Bake sales used to protest affirmative action

[Bob Hubbard]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/12/24/affirmative.bake.sale.ap/index.html

Excerpt:

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Campus bake sales by conservatives who oppose affirmative-action are cooking up discord -- and complaints about restrictions on free speech.

Organizers charge white students $1 for a cookie, while blacks and other minorities pay 25 to 95 cents. Doughnuts are available for 50 cents to everyone except Asian Americans and whites, who cannot purchase them.

Unfair? So is affirmative action, organizers contend.

"It's a good example of what affirmative action does, judging people based on race," said Jason Chambers, president of the University of Washington College Republicans, which held a sale in October that shut down when some students began attacking the booth.

"People were upset. People did feel offended," said Anthony Rose, president of the UW Black Student Union. "You see something like that, you feel itemized."

In September, Southern Methodist University shut down a similar event by the Young Conservatives of Texas.

Similar bake sales have been held since February at the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Northwestern University near Chicago, the University of Michigan and Indiana University.

A conservative watchdog group in Philadelphia contends some universities are violating students' constitutional freedoms by restricting the protests.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Yes Virginia there is Affirmative Action.

I have had to accept it, for what it is. The best solution that people can agree upon from the past. Maybe with some work to raise awareness like these demonstattions people will realize what is happening and try to treat everyone based upon qualifications.

i.e. I was involved in a search committee for the Registrar of a University, we chose the top 5 to interview out of 300 applications based upon ranking them on qulifications. We wanted to interview at least the top 7 if not the top ten as it was so close.

The committee made its' recommendations and then Affirmative action stepped in and chastized us for not having any African Americans. (* None of the data we had, told us gender or race. We could guess gender on some names at best. Yet, Jamie was a guy *) The data was provided to us, and it seemed an easy fix, interview the top 7, as number 6 & 7 were African American. Number 3 was Hispanic Female Number 2 & 5 were Anglican Females and number four was Hispanic Male, and Number 1 was Jamie, and he turned out to be Caucasion Male.

We were told to get number 25 and number 37 into the interviews and only 5 could be interviewed. None of the Faculty or Staff wished to object. As the only student I objected. They told me to go away. I said ok, I will go call the local News Channel. I was told I might have problems graduating. I replied, not only woudl I graduate, the school would also be paying for the rest of my life as well as paying those dropped from the list. I was upset, it was not right. When those in Affirmative action found out I was involved in lots of clubs and student government and also had the ear of the Chancelor, they backed down to interviewing 7.

Number 7 had already obtained a better paying Job.
Number 6 did not interview well.
Number 5 did interview well.
Number 4 Also did not interview well.
Number 3 Interviewed very well.
Number 2 told too much truth. She informed the U, that she was Pregnant, and would nto be abloe to start in the Fall.
Number 1 had been offered stock options and triple his salary and went elswhere.

Number 3 got the job. No one cared, that I thought the Pregnant lady was discriminated against.

I support people trying to raise awareness.

:asian:

 

[Makalakumu]

I think affirmative action needs to be scrapped and the money needs to be spent providing an equal base for all US citizens to jump into success or fall into failure based on their own internal motivation. Giving people breaks because of race is not fair, yet until that firm base is formed, its the only way.

 

[rmcrobertson]

Affirmative action sucks, as a way of responding to ongoing patterns of discrimination.

Somebody might wanna check the US Dept. of Labor hiring statistics--relax, everybody, white boys still get the majority of the good jobs.
It particularly cracks me up to see people complaining that colleges are, "too liberal," in this regard--aren't people even LOOKING at their professors anymore?

Those bake sales also suck, and the only reason these groups are getting away with them is that they are depending on those wacky, liberal free speech laws and rules that those evil, affirmative-action liberals insisted upon. Clearly, you can't discriminate like that and get away with it unless you claim some political cause, and probably only on a college campus or in an art museum of some sort.

What they're doing--and it's a reason that I find this stuff quite offensive--is imitating some of the approaches to getting people to think that you can see at the Museum of Tolerance and similar institutions.

Just by the way, two other things: don't think for a minute that this is something student groups came up with all on their lonesome. Apparently Buckley's "National Review," boys, and religious groups like the one Richard Reed heads up, have been spending a fair amount of time and money teaching people how to run these sorts of, "protests."

I just love it when those po' little white boys start in on how they're the ones being discriminated against. It's absurd--unless you take class and income into account, which their political ideology bars. But it is great to see people attacking the very people and ideas that should be on their side...

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by rmcrobertson
Affirmative action sucks, as a way of responding to ongoing patterns of discrimination.

Somebody might wanna check the US Dept. of Labor hiring statistics--relax, everybody, white boys still get the majority of the good jobs.
It particularly cracks me up to see people complaining that colleges are, "too liberal," in this regard--aren't people even LOOKING at their professors anymore?

Those bake sales also suck, and the only reason these groups are getting away with them is that they are depending on those wacky, liberal free speech laws and rules that those evil, affirmative-action liberals insisted upon. Clearly, you can't discriminate like that and get away with it unless you claim some political cause, and probably only on a college campus or in an art museum of some sort.

What they're doing--and it's a reason that I find this stuff quite offensive--is imitating some of the approaches to getting people to think that you can see at the Museum of Tolerance and similar institutions.

Just by the way, two other things: don't think for a minute that this is something student groups came up with all on their lonesome. Apparently Buckley's "National Review," boys, and religious groups like the one Richard Reed heads up, have been spending a fair amount of time and money teaching people how to run these sorts of, "protests."

I just love it when those po' little white boys start in on how they're the ones being discriminated against. It's absurd--unless you take class and income into account, which their political ideology bars. But it is great to see people attacking the very people and ideas that should be on their side...

Robert I would have to agree with you on certain points, yet, in many of the classes I took I had South East Asian, and Indian and Pakastan instructors. Many of these people are in the same said jobs and fields I am in. Yes on the whole there are many caucasions in these jobs. And I agree that it is nice to have an even representation of the population.

Yet, I have a problem when the decision to promote anyone, is based completely upon race or sex. If you were to say only Caucasion Males were to get promotions there would be revolts. Yet, if you make a statment that ok, to promote 10 people we need at least 2 if not 3 females and x of this race and y of that race. It would be fine if they all had the same qualifications to strat with. Yet, when many have half or less then the required/recommended time and do not have the skills, then this is a problem. If they all did, and they choose these people for advancement, then this is good. You need to get diversity in, to make changes.

Yet, as you stated, I believe, it would be nice if everyone could go to school and compete for these jobs. And yes, there are more Caucasions who go on to education beyond High School. Education should be given. The wealthy discrtricts should not get more than the not so wealthy districts for education.

Just some more of my thoughts

 

[Makalakumu]

Originally posted by Rich Parsons
Yet, as you stated, I believe, it would be nice if everyone could go to school and compete for these jobs. And yes, there are more Caucasions who go on to education beyond High School. Education should be given. The wealthy discrtricts should not get more than the not so wealthy districts for education.

Just some more of my thoughts

Yes! Education needs to be a priority of the government and it should never have funds that fluctuate with economic woes. This would require a stable system much like social security. If every kid had an equal shot at education in this country, there would be no need for affirmative action.