President Obama Says "Pain of Discrimination" Still Felt in America

[Toe Jam]

I believe discrimination based on race is still prevalent in the USA, and I'm not taking someone's word for it. There are studies that prove it:



http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...8/ai_97873146/

When this exact study is performed and the results come out neutral, then, and only then, will it be time to end affirmative action.

I disagree.

Affirmative action is reverse racism. Simple as that.

Sorry. But ANY job given to someone based on race is racism. In fact, I'm not sure "reverse racism" should even be a term allowed. It's all racism. If AA has helped white women, that's an issue too. It's not fair IMO. Jobs should be given based on qualification only. Not gender or race. Complete bull to do it any other way.

How about those firefighters in the Sotomayor case? Care to explain how her verdict was fair to them?

And to those of you taking issue with my NAACP comment: that's fine. You're entitled to your opinion. Just like I'm entitled to mine. It is a race based organization and, therefore, in my mind, I can't support it. That's all. Just like I wouldn't dream of supporting the KKK.

I can't deny racism is still out there. It's on both sides, though. Not acknowledging that is ignorance.

Even today, white people in America seem to be doing just fine.

I really have a problem with this statement. I'll tell you why, too.

You automatically assume every white guy has it easy? WRONG. Not every whtie person is America is doing alright, thank you very much. EVERY issue that African Americans struggle with are experienced by whites, too. Believe me. Just because I'm white doesn't make my life any easier than an African Americans life.

You think white people can't be poor or have to live in the ghetto? You think white people have it all? I'm apparently not the only person that needs to check their facts.

What a complete load of crap.

The rest of your post alludes to the struggles of blacks during the civil rights era. And you are absolutely correct. We didn't have to deal with any of that. But guess what? It's 2009. Not 1969. We ALL have the same rights now, correct? So maybe we should be solving the issues together instead of assuming whites have it so easy.

[Toe Jam]

How about doing some reading first about the NAACP before essentially calling them the black KKK.

Their Mission: http://www.naacp.org/about/mission/index.htm

Their History: http://www.naacp.org/about/history/index.htm

Founding group

"The NAACP was formed partly in response to the continuing horrific practice of lynching and the 1908 race riot in Springfield, the capital of Illinois and birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln.Appalled at the violence that was committed against blacks, a group of WHITE liberals that included Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard, both the descendants of abolitionists, William English Walling and Dr. Henry Moscowitz issued a call for a meeting to discuss racial justice. Some 60 people, seven of whom were African American (including W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Mary Church Terrell), signed the call, which was released on the centennial of Lincoln's birth."

The lynchings are over.

So... now what?

You hate the most tepid civil rights organization currently operating in America?

Goodness.

Hate was a poor choice of words. Disagree with might have been a better choice.

I apologize for that one.

Well reasonable people can differ, I suppose.

The ironic thing about Obama's speech is that millions of homosexuals can watch it and say, "Um.....yea, dude! It sure is still being felt."

When did this become about homosexuals? I'm all for giving them equal rights. The last time I checked, African Americans DID have the same rights as everyone else. Right? Or am I wrong? Can they not vote? What's the dealio?

I love how Obama panders to the NAACP crowd by picking up a fake and, dare I say, Reverend-Wrightesque vernacular and accent when he's speaking. Yeah, he wasn't listening to Jeremiah's sermons all right.

I agree there. Love how Obama claims he doesn't play the race card.

[Midnight Judges]

I disagree.

Affirmative action is reverse racism. Simple as that.

Applied properly, affirmative action minimizes the harmful effects of racism that are proven to exist in the workplace.

Sorry. But ANY job given to someone based on race is racism.

AA is supposed to be a tie-breaker. When applied properly it isn't supposed to give jobs to unqualified people.

In fact, I'm not sure "reverse racism" should even be a term allowed. It's all racism.

Agree. "Reverse racism" is nonsensical. It's like "irregardless" or "preconditions." Who comes up with this stuff?

If AA has helped white women, that's an issue too. It's not fair IMO. Jobs should be given based on qualification only. Not gender or race. Complete bull to do it any other way.

I don't agree. Our Government systematically discriminated against minorities and women for over a century therefor it's incumbant upon the Government to take steps to mitigate the damage.

How about those firefighters in the Sotomayor case? Care to explain how her verdict was fair to them?

You don't seem to understand the case. Sotomayor applied federal law as it is written. It was the county that those firefighters live in that made the decision to ignore the test results. It is the county you have a problem with. The Republicans on the supreme court decided to engage in judicial activism and expand the meaning of the 1965 civil rights act because they didn't like the county's decision either.

And to those of you taking issue with my NAACP comment: that's fine. You're entitled to your opinion. Just like I'm entitled to mine. It is a race based organization and, therefore, in my mind, I can't support it. That's all. Just like I wouldn't dream of supporting the KKK.

I can't deny racism is still out there. It's on both sides, though. Not acknowledging that is ignorance

Ignorance is pretending 350 years of slavery and oppression don't influence the standards that ought to apply to different sects of society.

[Sticksboi05]

What did you expect?

What's our president doing speaking to the NAACP anyway? Isn't that playing the race card he said he didn't play?

We're all Americans, we all have the same issues. Seriously. Tired of this weaksauce crap.

Focus on solving the nations problems and not those of one particular group. Everything else will fall in place.

Dude, if you honestly aren't intelligent enough to know minorities are still disadvantaged in this country....that's too bad. And it stems from right after the removal from slavery, the social/financial discrimination that ensued right after is still felt today because many cannot get out of the cycle. Nobody is saying all white people are rich and without problems.

And yes we need to focus on the nation as a whole but different groups come to the same problem in different ways and sometimes you gotta do it separately.

The lynchings are over.

So... now what?

Did you forget Michael Donald? In the racial scheme, 1981 isn't that long ago, it's well after the Civil Rights Act.

And affirmative action, used correctly is not that big of a thing. That certainly doesn't mean seeing a black transcript and white one and automatically choosing the black one.

[Toe Jam]

Dude, if you honestly aren't intelligent enough to know minorities are still disadvantaged in this country....that's too bad. And it stems from right after the removal from slavery, the social/financial discrimination that ensued right after is still felt today because many cannot get out of the cycle. Nobody is saying all white people are rich and without problems.

And yes we need to focus on the nation as a whole but different groups come to the same problem in different ways and sometimes you gotta do it separately.

I see a disadvantage. I do. I'm not an idiot. I know the worst schools are in the inner city areas. I know there is more violence in poor black areas than even some of the poor white areas. I live in a city that is still somewhat segregated. Evidence of that are the two high schools. I went to the nicer one while most of the African Americans got stuck at the other one.

My problem is that I believe there are ways to solve these issues without a ton of intervention. Personal responsibility for one. Obama talks about it all the time.

If parents don't want their kids aspiring to be a thug, then do something about it. Isn't that their job?

More funding is needed for poor schools and poor areas. Absolutely. I'm all for it. My only complaint is that, to me, it doesn't seem fair that if I get the same score on a test as an African American then they should be picked over me. I'm sorry but that's not right. If there is going to be a "tie breaker" then it should definitely be something else.

[Sticksboi05]

I see a disadvantage. I do. I'm not an idiot. I know the worst schools are in the inner city areas. I know there is more violence in poor black areas than even some of the poor white areas. I live in a city that is still somewhat segregated. Evidence of that are the two high schools. I went to the nicer one while most of the African Americans got stuck at the other one.

My problem is that I believe there are ways to solve these issues without a ton of intervention. Personal responsibility for one. Obama talks about it all the time.

If parents don't want their kids aspiring to be a thug, then do something about it. Isn't that their job?

More funding is needed for poor schools and poor areas. Absolutely. I'm all for it. My only complaint is that, to me, it doesn't seem fair that if I get the same score on a test as an African American then they should be picked over me. I'm sorry but that's not right. If there is going to be a "tie breaker" then it should definitely be something else.

The problem is they pick it up from one or more of their parents too often and sometimes, they have no real parents because they are on drugs.

[Larry]

I love how Obama panders to the NAACP crowd by picking up a fake and, dare I say, Reverend-Wrightesque vernacular and accent when he's speaking. Yeah, he wasn't listening to Jeremiah's sermons all right.

Nothing unusual about that at all.

Look how many people on Tailgate try to claim that they have factual, logical, justifications for their irrational positions.

[Teller]

The hell?

Do you honestly believe that?

It may happen to African-Americans. It has been legislated that it DOES happen to whites.

[Major Harris]

Anybody care to actually comment on the entirety of what President Obama said rather than what you perceive the NAACP to represent?

i like how he spoke to personal responsibility in all of it. i could be wrong, but from my view, a lot of what ails the minority community is self imposed. not all of it, and i can't even say most of it.
(no different in whites that have multiple issues)

[Teller]

this country was one big AA program for white peoplet....nepotism, inner circle referrals, legacies in education, segregation, country clubs, social clubs, you name it...

Emphasis by me.

As for your law firm story, I raise you not even getting an interview at my local police department despite a nice resume, recommendations from two of their then-currnet officers and a detective, and the #2 score on the test out of 50+ candidates.

A few weeks later, they hired to black men and a white woman.

We all have our anecdotal stories, but it remains fact that discrimination in employment vs. whites is law. Discrimination vs. blacks is not.

[Tut77]

It may happen to African-Americans. It has been legislated that it DOES happen to whites.

You're just demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of AA or how it works. Studies (w/in the past 5 years) have shown that it is still easier for a white male with a criminal history to get a job than a black man without. AA does not mandate discrimination against whites, it does not direct anyone to choose a "less qualified" minority, and it actually allows for tokenism----pick some minority and put them in the front of the store so everyone can see how openminded and diverse we are, and behind the scenes, it's business as usual. Set asides and quotas are actually illegal. And do you honestly think that a mere 40 years of laws intended to combat the most blatant and pernicious forms of discrimination that have existed in this country and its institutions for over 450 years have sufficiently leveled the playing field? Do you honestly believe that being white is a liability when looking for a job, loan, promotion or anything else?

[Tut77]

Emphasis by me.

As for your law firm story, I raise you not even getting an interview at my local police department despite a nice resume, recommendations from two of their then-currnet officers and a detective, and the #2 score on the test out of 50+ candidates.

A few weeks later, they hired to black men and a white woman.

We all have our anecdotal stories, but it remains fact that discrimination in employment vs. whites is law. Discrimination vs. blacks is not.

I guess it never ocurred to you that maybe the people they hired had better credentials than you? You automatically presume that they were hired just because they were black, right?

The difference in my story is that I got into the interview on my qualifications and that's when the tone changed. I won't fit into the culture of the firm? That doesn't sound like "code" to you?

[twa]

Do you honestly believe that being white is a liability when looking for a job, loan, promotion or anything else?

Yes, beyond a doubt in any federal program

[Toe Jam]

The problem is they pick it up from one or more of their parents too often and sometimes, they have no real parents because they are on drugs.

But those are problems that affect blacks and whites. My mom is out pandering on the streets right now looking for her next fix.

I'm not out there with her.

Sure. I can see how that could drag a young person down and make them think they have to join gangs and stuff to survive. But there comes a point where you do grow up and realize you have a choice. It's a black and white issue.

[Toe Jam]

I guess it never ocurred to you that maybe the people they hired had better credentials than you? You automatically presume that they were hired just because they were black, right?

The difference in my story is that I got into the interview on my qualifications and that's when the tone changed. I won't fit into the culture of the firm? That doesn't sound like "code" to you?

You're assuming he was talking about your race. That's an assumption. Can you prove that?

You're asking h_h if he can prove his case but you can't prove you were turned down over discrimination either.