Comments on: “Your Parents Must Be So Proud”: What Are Your Thoughts On Affirmative Action?

By: Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:37:06 +0000

Affirmative Action in this country was in place to prevent unfair and biased hiring practices against (minorities) and was a good thing. However, I have some concerns to the influx of Mexicans and illegal mexicans who appear to be replacing the American worker in entry level jobs throughout California and other states. Employer’s job postings are increasingly specific in their search for bilingual applicants therefore, excluding those of us who do not want to speak nor learn another language. When my daughter and two friends returned from employment interviews they were upset and frustrated with comments aimed at this employer whose office was filled with only Mexican staff. Now I am not a bigot nor am I a racially biased person however, I have to wonder if we now need a “different affirmative action hiring policy to assure that we Americans aren’t being unfairly excluded. from U.S. jobs? AFter all we were born here….

By: Diana

Diana — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:54:31 +0000

Affirmative action isn’t just for minoritites, its for women, people with disabilites, people from rual areas, ect. So Carmen Juri needs to get her facts straight. In a perfect world it wouldnt exist, but lifes tough and too bad some white kids got a problem with it. But if they’re really smart, they wont let this financial deal ruin their lives. They’ll go to school, protest, and eliminate it, which they did last fall. I’m graduating college in May and going to law school spring ‘09. And had it not of been for affirmative action, i would have never gone to college. So Carmen needs to think and talk to latinos getting their education, instead of making them up.

By: Boricua Biatch

Boricua Biatch — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:22:39 +0000

Affirmative action or not at the end its plain old survival of the fittest. That leaves some of us in a vantage position while the moronic ones, like Piruli, remain cleaning toilets and fantazising Puerto Rico is a “preeeeetty different” than USA.

By: Carrie_in_TN

Carrie_in_TN — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:10:29 +0000

Growing up Cuban in Miami in the ’70s and ’80s, no one sure as hell ever told me I was a minority…You know Cubans. Puffy and Proud. But, the world beyond has told me a few times…When I left Miami it was a shock to learn the world isn’t ruled by Cubans. LOL. And then there have been those moments that show you you’re really “not from around here” — the old lady who walked away from me when she found out I was Cuban, the guy who thought he should get easily into my pants because I am Latina, to the editor who told me I couldn’t be Latina because my name is not Spanish.

Have I benefited from Affirmative Action? Oh, Si. American newspapers (where I spent my career) make a point of rounding out their newsrooms (in theory anyway). Affirmative Action though didn’t cause the awards to be won or the deadline to be hit. That, I did — regardless of my name, the color of my skin, or who my Mami is.

I dealt with being a check mark on the HR Affirmative Action sheet because I know I brought something to my workplace no one else was bringing — a different background, a different voice. And, that’s a good thing, for the office and the reader/client/whomever you serve.

It’ll be interesting to see if my one-quarter Latina and three-quarters Everything Else daughter gets to be a check mark one day.

By: cookie

cookie — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:55:17 +0000

Are you expecting me to believe that affluent Latinos outnumber those who are not and even outnumber affluent whites? How many legacy Latinos are in Harvard? Please, it’s not even comparable.

Besides, I never said it was just a race issue. It has to do a lot with class, which in turn, was achieved through centuries of oppression via colonialism and imperialism. Whites have been offered better opportunities because they’ve been able to make the system, you know 3/5 of man, Mexicans are Indians, Jim Crow, I could go on, but to I’ll come to my point. You can’t even begin to compare Latino privilege in America with whites, they’ve had centuries of affirmative action, so now it’s time for everyone else.

By: BornAgainChicano

BornAgainChicano — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:33:37 +0000

This issue of Affirmative Action is more complex than you all are making it out to be. Going along the lines of Barack’s speech last week, there are plenty of white people in the country who are lower class. Their lack of resources, too, makes them face a host of problems: weak schools and curricula, lack of extracurricular opportunity, not enough funds for SAT prep, etc.

On the other hand, I am a Latino from the upper middle class who has benefitted from the hard work that my father put forth to rise from stark poverty to become a professional. Since I have the opportunities that more wealth allows, I do not necessarily need the benefits of affirmative action. The poor white person, however, could
definitely benefit. In my post-graduate days, I have met many white people that are either in school or recently graduated and face tons of debt. They are lower to middle class but are very talented, intelligent, and driven people. This contrasts with my Latino friends from home whose parents are wealthy enough to send them through college with little to no debt. Once they have the degree, many doors open for them, and given where I live, ethnic discrimination would not be a problem for them to get a job. Latinos and blacks are not a monolith. Why, then, should affirmative action not be based on socio-economic criteria? Then people of all races who face obstacles to advancement would be given assistance. Isn’t that really what it’s designed for.

By: Guana Bust A Nut

Guana Bust A Nut — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:04:55 +0000

@cookie: So you’re telling me that some affluent Hispanics in the United States don’t benefit from the legacy phenomenon? Hmm, maybe all the stereotypes are true. . . Hispanics in this country are all brown, disadvantaged, and incapable of achieving a level of success at the expense of others. NOT!!!! There are Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, Hispanics Americans, and other hyphenated Americans who, just like European Americans, were born privileged. And in some cases, they’re given opportunities that they don’t deserve. It’s part of almost every society. You even see it among people who belong to the same ethnic/racial group. So, it’s not just a race thing.

By: cookie

cookie — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:07:50 +0000

@guana

but that legacy was achieved after centuries of oppressing people of color and besides, we’re talking about the US, who has its own distinct history and relations with minorities

By: Guana Bust A Nut

Guana Bust A Nut — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:58:54 +0000

particularly*

By: Guana Bust A Nut

Guana Bust A Nut — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:47:38 +0000

@Gwenny: That type of thing isn’t reserved for “White folk.” Some Latinos are guilty of the same exact thing. It’s particulary prevalent in Latin America.

By: la roncha

la roncha — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:40:33 +0000

it’s all fucked up either way.

By: Gwenny

Gwenny — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:23:11 +0000

White folk practice affirmative action all the time…it’s called a “legacy”…

By: AfroRican

AfroRican — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:51:14 +0000

This reminds of what Chris Rock, when he mentioned that affirmatived action was alright to a point. He said if a white person did better then me on a test then by all means he deserves the job or entry into a school. But if we both got the same grade then I deserved it, the white man had a 500 year start. The white man will be alright. Which I have to say is pretty true.

By: piruli

piruli — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:37:48 +0000

@ boricua bitch: Pretty sure Puerto Rico, while a commonwealth of the U.S, is still a distinct and separate country. Preeeetty sure.

Union City and Elizabeth, NJ have large, homogenous pockets of Cuban immigrants. Same goes for sections of NY in terms of Puerto Ricans.

By: mare

mare — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:35:22 +0000

i am absolutely NOT belittling her accomplishments. But statistically speaking the fact that she accomplished this AND is latina is quite impressive. Why? Because she’s gone far for the little resources she had compared to a rich white girl in lets say the Upper East Side. They have the money to hire private tutors, name a building at a school, yada yada yada.