“I’m sorry. Just because your born with wonderful white pale skin that glows in the sunlight under a bright moon does not mean that you have more abilities, powers or privileges then the rest of us in the US.”
— Paul
Anytime you try to have a conversation about race in America, one of two things instantly happen. Either people shut down afraid to say the wrong thing and being labeled a racist, or they go off on tangents not related to the topic at hand attempting to skirt around the uncomfortable topic at hand. On this week's episode of Use Your Words, we are attempting to talk about affirmative action in America. This can be an uncomfortable topic at times, but when you look at it objectively we can see that we are trading one form of racism for another in an attempt to be politically correct and rectify the racism of the past.
While there is no question that America has a racist past (one need only look at our history and see the slavery, segregation, hate crimes which has been documented in our past) we have as a country and as a society have moved very far from that time. We are not perfect by any means, but we are getting better as a whole. Do we still hear about hate crimes happening? Yes - but for the most part they are decried by everyone and these are becoming more and more fringe.
With all of that in mind, this leads me to ask a few questions. Why is it acceptable that someone is admitted to a college not based solely on their work, and work ethic but instead on the amount of melanin in their skin? Are we conflating socio-economic status with racial status? Does any of this make sense in America as it is today? Why are we not insisting that people be chosen for positions/schools based solely on their character and skillset?
That's a lot of questions to go through in one episode - and I'll be the first to admit we didn't get to every question I wanted to get to. This is a large topic that cannot be easily covered in one lifetime let alone sixty minutes - and we may need to revisit this at some point in the future.
That being said, I know full well that this can be a very divisive issue. So that being said - I will ask that if you choose to engage in conversation regarding this topic you do so with grace, humility, and kindness.
Your local Wisconsin Latino,
Paul
P.S.
A few weeks ago I did a Monday episode related to this topic when I was a little frustrated with a few things. The audio player below has been updated with a copy of that conversation for you to listen to if you so choose.
Links
The following links were used in this Podcast. Beyond these links, Paul's personal experience also came into play here here as well. Unlike news sites - personal experience cannot be quantified and rated by newsguard.
- https://www.employmentlawfirms.com/Affirmative-Action.cfm
- https://www.theroot.com/the-merit-myth-the-white-lies-about-race-conscious-col-1828231903
- https://changeaview.com/post/1uyo/affirmative_action_is_racist
- https://www.vox.com/2018/3/28/17031460/affirmative-action-asian-discrimination-admissions
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action_in_the_United_States
- https://secure.understandingprejudice.org/readroom/articles/affirm.htm
- https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/the-rise-and-fall-of-affirmative-actionhttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/the-rise-and-fall-of-affirmative-action
- https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/race-relations-position-of-minorities-better-under-trump-than-obama
- https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/color-blindness-is-counterproductive/405037/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfEk8UJIwTc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZheWh1cMOFM
