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I don't see why it would be offensive to say Thomas benefited from AA. Explain it to me. See if you can find words you are willing to write. If you can not find words you are willing to write, ask yourself why.

Don't ask me. Ask Justice Thomas. Continue to believe what you will. It is highly offensive to make the assumption he only is where he is due to AA. You have no idea what his LSAT score is, and it is the biggest factor at every IVY league school. A high LSAT can overcome less than stellar grades, but the inverse is not true. Your comments are the living definition of bias, and you don't even see it. AA is a program that creates a bias as currently implemented. The difference between the average admission scores at Baylor vs the average for blacks is a lot more than four points. And four points on the LSAT is huge. That could be the difference of Yale instead of University of Utah. Huge. U of Texas allowed a student in with a LSAT of 128. You get 120 just for writing your name.

Racism will always exist, it doesn't mean it is OK to have programs that exacerbate it. Additionally, most law students are upper middle class regardless of race. The fix is not at the admissions level, it should be before, and it all goes to the disadvantaged poor, again, regardless of race.

And in regards to what is allowed under the constitution, there is no protection against class. Race, gender, and now sexual orientation are all protected, and to be defeated a program must pass strict or intermediate scrutiny, which are nearly impossible to overcome. For discrimination against class (or anything else that is not a protected class), you simply have to pass a rational basis review, which is easy to do.
 
Don't ask me. Ask Justice Thomas. Continue to believe what you will. It is highly offensive to make the assumption he only is where he is due to AA. You have no idea what his LSAT score is, and it is the biggest factor at every IVY league school. A high LSAT can overcome less than stellar grades, but the inverse is not true. Your comments are the living definition of bias, and you don't even see it. AA is a program that creates a bias as currently implemented. The difference between the average admission scores at Baylor vs the average for blacks is a lot more than four points. And four points on the LSAT is huge. That could be the difference of Yale instead of University of Utah. Huge. U of Texas allowed a student in with a LSAT of 128. You get 120 just for writing your name.

Racism will always exist, it doesn't mean it is OK to have programs that exacerbate it. Additionally, most law students are upper middle class regardless of race. The fix is not at the admissions level, it should be before, and it all goes to the disadvantaged poor, again, regardless of race.

And in regards to what is allowed under the constitution, there is no protection against class. Race, gender, and now sexual orientation are all protected, and to be defeated a program must pass strict or intermediate scrutiny, which are nearly impossible to overcome. For discrimination against class (or anything else that is not a protected class), you simply have to pass a rational basis review, which is easy to do.

This. I've said it before but MsSerp is still a little bitter she didn't get into Princeton. At the end of the day, it meant **** because she knew she wanted to be a CPA and didn't even want to go to Princeton because of that but 2,360 out of 2,400 on her SAT's and 2nd in a class of about 800 isn't enough to get in? Give me a break...admittedly she didn't do a ton of extra **** which certainly hurt her, no doubt, and Princeton is about so much more than just grades and SAT's but still, there's no way Princeton's incoming class that year had students with an average of anywhere near that. Not even close.
 
This. I've said it before but MsSerp is still a little bitter she didn't get into Princeton. At the end of the day, it meant **** because she knew she wanted to be a CPA and didn't even want to go to Princeton because of that but 2,360 out of 2,400 on her SAT's and 2nd in a class of about 800 isn't enough to get in? Give me a break...admittedly she didn't do a ton of extra **** which certainly hurt her, no doubt, and Princeton is about so much more than just grades and SAT's but still, there's no way Princeton's incoming class that year had students with an average of anywhere near that. Not even close.

BYU is even tougher...if you are female. My daughter was 2nd in her class (3.9 or something GPA), tons of extra curriculars, including starting 3 clubs that have been adopted at other high schools in the state, killer SAT and ACT scores, and didn't get even accepted into BYU (although they did accept her into BYU Idaho, like BYU's uglier fatter sister), yet she was offered scholarships at a half dozen other schools including a partial at Stanford. And her boyfriend, who had a decent GPA (like 3.6 or so...however they measured that for a kid that was mostly home schooled) and didn't really do any extras and was very middle of the road on his testing (only took the ACT) was accepted to BYU even after applying late. Admissions at that school are a serious joke. My daughter was told by the admissions person she was talking to that lots of girls with really high credentials don't get in, but if she wants she could transfer in after a semester elsewhere and get in no problem. Bizarre.
 
BYU is even tougher...if you are female. My daughter was 2nd in her class (3.9 or something GPA), tons of extra curriculars, including starting 3 clubs that have been adopted at other high schools in the state, killer SAT and ACT scores, and didn't get even accepted into BYU (although they did accept her into BYU Idaho, like BYU's uglier fatter sister), yet she was offered scholarships at a half dozen other schools including a partial at Stanford. And her boyfriend, who had a decent GPA (like 3.6 or so...however they measured that for a kid that was mostly home schooled) and didn't really do any extras and was very middle of the road on his testing (only took the ACT) was accepted to BYU even after applying late. Admissions at that school are a serious joke. My daughter was told by the admissions person she was talking to that lots of girls with really high credentials don't get in, but if she wants she could transfer in after a semester elsewhere and get in no problem. Bizarre.

Stanford but not BYU. Oof. Very bizarre indeed.
 
BYU is even tougher...if you are female. My daughter was 2nd in her class (3.9 or something GPA), tons of extra curriculars, including starting 3 clubs that have been adopted at other high schools in the state, killer SAT and ACT scores, and didn't get even accepted into BYU (although they did accept her into BYU Idaho, like BYU's uglier fatter sister), yet she was offered scholarships at a half dozen other schools including a partial at Stanford. And her boyfriend, who had a decent GPA (like 3.6 or so...however they measured that for a kid that was mostly home schooled) and didn't really do any extras and was very middle of the road on his testing (only took the ACT) was accepted to BYU even after applying late. Admissions at that school are a serious joke. My daughter was told by the admissions person she was talking to that lots of girls with really high credentials don't get in, but if she wants she could transfer in after a semester elsewhere and get in no problem. Bizarre.

It would be interesting to see the demographics of admittance based on gender Breed 'em Young University.
 
I should say that I can live with AA much more in college admissions than I can in getting a job. If it helped a kid who had a rough life in an awful area get into a great college, cool. Now prove you're worth it. Because if I'm a hiring manager for a company four years from then (or five if you were a bum like me), I want to hire you based on your ability and the value you bring to my company. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
CNN now reporting that claims of fracture eye socket are false. CNN is trash, like most of the major news outlets, but soon enough the facts will come out about Ferguson PD's absolute failure.
 
I should say that I can live with AA much more in college admissions than I can in getting a job. If it helped a kid who had a rough life in awful area get into a great college, cool. Now prove you're worth it. Because if I'm a hiring manager for a company four years from then (or five if you were a bum like me), I want to hire you based on your ability and the value you bring to my company. Nothing more.

From what I have read, at least for post bachelor's programs, the majority of students (of any race) are generally upper middle class. That is why I advocate to tweak AA to only base preference based on class/lack of advantage (low educated parents, those who go to sub par high schools, whatever) to allow those that truly have been disadvantaged to have a chance to succeed.
 
I should say that I can live with AA much more in college admissions than I can in getting a job. If it helped a kid who had a rough life in awful area get into a great college, cool. Now prove you're worth it. Because if I'm a hiring manager for a company four years from then (or five if you were a bum like me), I want to hire you based on your ability and the value you bring to my company. Nothing more, nothing less.

Spot on.
 
I didn't include that in my facts. Nice try though. Go peddle your crap somewhere else. I'm not buying.

CNN now reporting all x-rays on Wilson's face came back negative. No fractured eye socket. Nothing I've posted in this thread has been 'crap' I'm trying to 'peddle'. It's outrage at the injustices I witness from afar as a human being.

What would it take for you to 'buy' that Brown was killed unjustly, and that the Ferguson PD didn't grossly abuse their power?
 
Yes, bigots will always exist. But affirmative action works to amplify the problem. As stated in my example, whether or not racism existed prior to AA, if you put in a program that gives preference to someone based on their race, and they are getting in with much lower scores, it will cause people to have that viewpoint. You yourself assume that Justice Thomas would not be where he was but for AA. If you do not see how offensive that is to a very intelligent hard working person like Justice Thomas, I don't know what else to say. Affirmative Action has made a lot of good changes, but tweaking the program to not be about race but about giving a benefit to those who have had less of an opportunity to succeed makes sense.




First, the poor are ALREADY discriminated against. The majority of the issues in this regard are due to class. It is class warfare, and everyone in poverty is a victim. I agree with many of the general points of the Time article I posted yesterday. Secondly, if you have a program that lets in more disadvantaged/poor, it will be much harder to have a bias as it may be harder to differentiate. For example, if AA was based on class, you would not likely argue someone is a Sup. Ct. justice because AA helped them.




I don't think that. The Supreme Court thinks that. And that is why it was overturned. Essentially, almost anyone get get 80 points without race. The last 20 were the difference makers. So race did make the difference.




https://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/the-baylor-law-data-dump-now-with-race-and-scholarships/2/

This is just one example with a clear breakdown. If you understand the way the LSAT is scored (one answer is not one point) you see a huge preference. Having applied to many of these programs with an LSAT over 160, I can tell you it is tough to get in. From a quick glance, it looks like one white student was admitted with an LSAT under 160 (list did not identify male/female). And they are giving larger scholarships as well (which again, would make more sense to base this on class. Give poor students more of a financial benefit). At the internal list I saw, a good friend, who happens to be black got in with under 150 at a school with similar LSAT scores as Baylor.




You did. You stated affirmative action helped Justice Thomas. You just assumed and stereotyped, then tried to defend it when you have no idea what his LSAT score was.



This country has a history of oppression. The difference is is "OK" to oppress the poor under the constitution. It is easy to say blacks are oppressed based on our country's history, but reparations, which have been both good and bad have been attempted. For those in poverty, it is the status quo.



Yes, I have copies of internal copies of school documents. The Baylor document gives a reasonable view. And it was post-Gratz.



Racism already exists. When you put a program in place that lets in lesser qualified individuals, it can create a stigma against that person or persons. It is a targeted stigma based on clear data. I understand the reasons for AA, and I'm not saying get rid of it, just tweak it so it actually represents all the less fortunate. Tweaking AA won't get rid of racism, that is a different issue. It will get rid of a created bias as argued by Justice Thomas. That is why he is against it. So don't take it from me, take it from a genius black jurist who has felt the bias AA creates:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/clarence-thomas-affirmative-action_n_3491433.html

The funny thing is, you pointed out how he stated his diploma was worth $0.15, but he believes AA caused it. You should read the full opinion: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-345_l5gm.pdf



All you are doing is justifying your bias caused by AA. First, you have no idea what Thomas' LSAT score was, which for Yale, is the biggest factor (Median score of 173). You are just making a biased assumption. Your comments are a clear example of the type of racism that is created by AA.



Ever taken a sociology course? Of course we differentiate. We even mate with people similar to us (not just race). And it is also human nature to have an ego and make you think you are better than you probably are. A survival characteristic. And when you have a mechanism that does differentiate, how can it not cause bias?



That is a ridiculous statement. The reason I use the red head example, is to show that the program creates a bias that was not there before, that can be identified by a trait. Racism will exist no matter what. But AA is a mechanism that creates a bias, even for those who are not racist.



Social inequalities are harmful to everyone, it is important to to question the status quo and to determine whether our kind has the behavioral plasticity to learn how to reduce inequality. If you look at human nature historically, discrimination in some form has always been part of the status quo. Differentiating is part of the human condition, but I believe we can be better. Continue to believe your fantasies.

I don't have the time or inclination to go through this post point by point. I'll just make some general comments. These are my observations and, no, I don't care to spend precious chunks of my working day to research citations. If this upsets some of you, tough poo poo.

1. The implication that AA creates a persistent and pernicious bias strikes me as grossly overstated. For centuries, selection for school admissions, jobs, political office, etc. (you name it) had an implicit race and gender qualification that created widespread and pernicious bias against blacks and women. The bias, to the extent it is created, created by AA falls far, far short of the bias that would continue to persist without any remedy. Claims that racism, or that the structural economic and social biases against minorities (particularly blacks) have ceased to function, is pure fantasy. In my mind, I'm willing to trade off a whole heaping amount of bias on the one hand even if it creates a relatively small amount of bias in the other direction.

2. The status quo simply is not acceptable where it comes to addressing issues of systematic and structural racial inequity. This is because causes of racial inequity are precisely systematic and structural. Creating a system that encourages consideration of race as a criterion in selection for jobs, education, etc. strikes me as one of the more innocuous ways to address this problem (but it must be part of other efforts). The relatively few, relatively privileged whites who might be inconvenienced (and who frequently have a plethora of other options) as a result strikes me as a reasonable price to pay to address these systematic and structural inequities.

3. There exists no remedy for racial discrimination that is free from creating some unwanted side effects. This is true of ALL public policies. Again, the question to me is are these unwanted side effects worse or close to as bad as the unwanted social/economic imbalances the policy seeks to address? In my mind, the answer to this question as related to AA is not even remotely close to yes.

4. The 'stigma' of benefitting from AA strikes me as grossly overstated. I think it's telling that this objection to AA is cited more often by white opponents of AA than by black beneficiaries of AA.

5. I think that explicit or implicit argument by opponents of AA that the world is, or ought to be, based on a meritocracy is quaintly naive. Yes, merit matter, but so do other criteria, including connections, legacy, personal attractiveness, what school one attended, petty biases of decision makers, etc. etc. Why is the objective of racial inclusion inherently so much worse than any of these other criteria? I'm guessing the world is full of white folks who rail against the special privilege of AA but never stop to reflect that they got to where they are less by merit than because of daddy's connections, or some other consideration other than pure merit.
 
I don't have the time or inclination to go through this post point by point. I'll just make some general comments. These are my observations and, no, I don't care to spend precious chunks of my working day to research citations. If this upsets some of you, tough poo poo.

1. The implication that AA creates a persistent and pernicious bias strikes me as grossly overstated. For centuries, selection for school admissions, jobs, political office, etc. (you name it) had an implicit race and gender qualification that created widespread and pernicious bias against blacks and women. The bias, to the extent it is created, created by AA falls far, far short of the bias that would continue to persist without any remedy. Claims that racism, or that the structural economic and social biases against minorities (particularly blacks) have ceased to function, is pure fantasy. In my mind, I'm willing to trade off a whole heaping amount of bias on the one hand even if it creates a relatively small amount of bias in the other direction.

2. The status quo simply is not acceptable where it comes to addressing issues of systematic and structural racial inequity. This is because causes of racial inequity are precisely systematic and structural. Creating a system that encourages consideration of race as a criterion in selection for jobs, education, etc. strikes me as one of the more innocuous ways to address this problem (but it must be part of other efforts). The relatively few, relatively privileged whites who might be inconvenienced (and who frequently have a plethora of other options) as a result strikes me as a reasonable price to pay to address these systematic and structural inequities.

3. There exists no remedy for racial discrimination that is free from creating some unwanted side effects. This is true of ALL public policies. Again, the question to me is are these unwanted side effects worse or close to as bad as the unwanted social/economic imbalances the policy seeks to address? In my mind, the answer to this question as related to AA is not even remotely close to yes.

4. The 'stigma' of benefitting from AA strikes me as grossly overstated. I think it's telling that this objection to AA is cited more often by white opponents of AA than by black beneficiaries of AA.

5. I think that explicit or implicit argument by opponents of AA that the world is, or ought to be, based on a meritocracy is quaintly naive. Yes, merit matter, but so do other criteria, including connections, legacy, personal attractiveness, what school one attended, petty biases of decision makers, etc. etc. Why is the objective of racial inclusion inherently so much worse than any of these other criteria? I'm guessing the world is full of white folks who rail against the special privilege of AA but never stop to reflect that they got to where they are less by merit than because of daddy's connections, or some other consideration other than pure merit.

I'd encourage you to read Justice Thomas' opinion in the link above and see how it has impacted his life for your own edification. Yes, AA originally did a lot of good, but it doesn't mean it can't be tweaked. Tweaking it to favor all disadvantaged people will focus on those that need a true leg up. And this will include many blacks. I'm not saying AA should not have existed. I am saying it has done some good but should now be changed. If you keep in at is forever, it will always cause bias.

Just like Unions had amazing purposes and changed the safety and sanity of the workplace. But now we have so many protective laws, that many things Unions used to do are no longer necessary.
 
Don't ask me.

You asked me. Are you not willing to answer the same question you asked me? If not, rather than talk about Justice Thomas, ask yourself why you find that question difficult to answer.

It is highly offensive to make the assumption he only is where he is due to AA.

Actually, what I said was that AA allowed him to get into Yale, where he demonstrated that he was the equal of everyone around him. In other words, AA gave him the chance to show he belonged. It was you who turned that into "he only is where he is due to AA", not I. Why do you think you mad that inference?

You have no idea what his LSAT score is, and it is the biggest factor at every IVY league school. A high LSAT can overcome less than stellar grades, but the inverse is not true. Your comments are the living definition of bias, and you don't even see it.

The living definition of bias is focusing on the LSAT score of a man who took the hardest possible curriculum at Yale and performed admirably, because somehow how he got into Yale is more important than what he did there. That's the position every racist takes, it's their primary argument against AA. Why are you adopting the irrelevant arguments of racists?

AA is a program that creates a bias as currently implemented. The difference between the average admission scores at Baylor vs the average for blacks is a lot more than four points. And four points on the LSAT is huge. That could be the difference of Yale instead of University of Utah. Huge. U of Texas allowed a student in with a LSAT of 128. You get 120 just for writing your name.

I just looked at the scores, remember? 4 points is not even half a standard deviation.

The real question is, once these students get it, are they under-performing? Dropping out? If not, why do you define their entire careers by how they get their foot in the door?

Racism will always exist, it doesn't mean it is OK to have programs that exacerbate it. Additionally, most law students are upper middle class regardless of race. The fix is not at the admissions level, it should be before, and it all goes to the disadvantaged poor, again, regardless of race.

I don't see why we can't have a fix at both levels.

And in regards to what is allowed under the constitution, there is no protection against class. Race, gender, and now sexual orientation are all protected, and to be defeated a program must pass strict or intermediate scrutiny, which are nearly impossible to overcome. For discrimination against class (or anything else that is not a protected class), you simply have to pass a rational basis review, which is easy to do.

You are using legal terminology that applies to laws, as I understand things (hopefully an actual lawyer will correct me on this if I am wrong, or just generally set us both straight). So. which law do you feel discriminates against class, which survives a rational basis review but would not pass strict scrutiny?
 
Just like Unions had amazing purposes and changed the safety and sanity of the workplace. But now we have so many protective laws, that many things Unions used to do are no longer necessary.

Until the business powers start rolling back the laws, once the unions are gone or dis-empowered.
 
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