Poll: Are scholarships designated for African-Americans racist?

[emeraldrafael]

How many of you guys are actually a minority? Or female? Or gay? Or...you get the picture. Most of the time when I hear people talking about reverse-racism, they are white, middle-class, males. Not all the time, but most of time. And guys, you already control a bulk of the world. You have the easiest time getting a job. You have the easiest time getting into schools. You have the easiest time being accepted by the world at large.

Scholarships for minorities are intended to highlight the achievements of those who are otherwise lost in the crowd. This still happens. There is still a stigma attached to certain races, genders, orientations, etc. Go take a Psych course and study intelligence testing, or an anthropology class and study school subcultures. Expectation effects still exist, and plenty of people--teachers included--still feel certain groups of students won't do as well as others. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Scholarships that highlight the achievements of your group are designed to show struggling and borderline students that they are not doomed to a certain life. More is out there, if they work for it.

The bottom line is: there's plenty of scholarship money out there if you need it. There are scholarships for people of specific faiths, descendants of original colonists, horse show competitors, writers, singers, athletes of all stripes, etc. Chances are, you can find a scholarship that seems tailor-made for you.

Seconded.

 

[Sovvolf]

snip

I think I'm starting to like you a lot.

 

[TheTim]

if people can get a scholarship for nothing but being black,
then i want to get a scholarship for nothing but being white.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Racist? Not really. But they do violate the spirit of equal opportunity. As an example, one could not get away with designating a scholarship exclusively for a white student but designating them for "underprivileged minorities" is perfectly fine.

This is actually a hair irritating. Being male, third generation college student from a family of average means I actually don't qualify for the vast majority of scholarships out there as, presumably, my family should be helping me to attend. Apparently it never occurred to anyone that their means are not sufficient to actually provide significant financial aid. Luckily, I was in the US army and get significant assistance as a result (I don't actually pay tuition for example thanks to the Hazlewood act).

 

[selce]

No but throw one out there that is for whites only and of course that will be racist...

 

[Romblen]

I realize everything I'm about to say has probably already been said 100 times.

Yes, it's racist. If I made a scholarship exclusively for white people, I have no doubt that I would get at least a few groups(such as the NAACP) calling for my beheading. Sure one could say racism still exists today, or that they have been treated poorly in the past, but(and I already feel silly for saying this) a black person is president. If a black person can accomplish that, I think they can pay for college like those of other races.

As another Escapist already said:

if people can get a scholarship for nothing but being black,
then i want to get a scholarship for nothing but being white.

 

[likalaruku]

They're reverse racist, just like scholarships for wmen are reverse sexist. A tiny way of excluding white men from something as a form of ancient payback I guess.

"Reverse racist?" I want to know how other ethnic groups can't just be regular racist against white people. That isn't impossible.

It is really, reverse racism is just the term old while male concervative republicans coined.

 

[jigilojoe]

I think it should be more based on the students and their parents' wealth as to whether they get a scholarship, not their race. Although in America race and class seem to go hand in hand.

Still, thank your lucky stars for it; nothing's free for students here in England,though there are apparently grants and scholarships for English people wanting to study across the pond, which seems like a safe bet, though I'll still carry on protesting every week until there's a change.

 

[DIEDIEDIE765]

What video game is this thread about? It must have been something Capcom made.

 

[UberNoodle]

When African Americans as a whole enjoy the same quality of life and opportunities for success as White people as a whole, then such assisstance is needed.

RACISM is not defined as trying to equalise an unfair status quo. Racism IS however, ignorantly claiming that no equalisation is necessary when CLEARLY it is, and when such a claim is based soley on race destinctions and racial preference.

 

[Hawksword192]

It's not for the same reason that Affirmative Action isn't racist. Because for the last 300 years, African-Americans have been stripped of everything and the healing process can either be a slightly faster to disdain of people favored by society or an extremely long healing (no AA) which benefits favored races in America by the nature of their actually not being anything done to stop the injustice.

 

[Zayren]

I'm inclined to say yes, because if there were a scholarship for only Whites, that'd immediately get labeled as racists.

 

[Kagim]

Yes, because to discriminate people based on race, regardless of whether its a good or a bad thing, is racist. Kinda like how saying all Asians are good at math is racist. It's not an insult, but it's still racist.

What video game is this thread about? It must have been something Capcom made.

This is the off topic section of the forums. Troll a little harder kiddo.

 

[MikailCaboose]

It doesn't really matter, because if a specific organization wants to target only blacks, well that's well within their rights. There are plenty of other scholarship options out there.

 

[Sporky111]

Maybe it's because most of us don't give half a shit? The people who always put up the stink about "racism" are usually the ones who are also going out of their way to find stuff like that and make a fuss.

Seriously, it's just a demographic. An organization is free to choose who to give their money to. How would it benefit an African-American oriented organization to give scholarships to students who aren't African-American? Not everything is meant for everyone, and you aren't entitled to it all. It's not that big of a deal.

 

[UberNoodle]

I saw the other thread about racism and I just couldn't help myself. I specifically remember during the awards and scholarship assembly in High School there being at least 2 scholarships from African-American organizations, and their parameters for them were something along the lines of seeking an "African-American student who displayed x good qualities and x qualities of leadership."

My question to you is: Are scholarships like this scholarships fair, or are they racist?

My perspective is thus: I think we all know what happens when something that is marked as "designated for Caucasians"--it's hunted down and immediately protested and attacked until it's dismantled and its founders have apologized to at least 10 news organizations. No one would ever dare make a scholarship that favors white students, so how is it fair to have scholarships that favor black students?

And just as a disclaimer, I'm not saying we should go out and found a whole bunch of scholarships for white students in retaliation. I think any scholarship on either end is wrong. It just ticks me off that we condone it in this way just because we're afraid to open this Pandora's Box again.

Things are "marked for caucasians" EVERYWHERE. It is a popular past-time of conservative alarmists to point at attempts to equalise the unfair status quo, and say that they are "reverse racism", yet proper investigation of spending on the populace will always show that caucasians enjoy the most benefit from gov't spending and public works etc.

No overt lable is needed for caucasians but you can be assured that ifthose lables were visible, they would by far outweigh those labled for others. As I said, racism is NOT attempts to repair enequality. However, the attitude that such equalisations should be removed because "we are all human and should treated the same" could be construed as a manifestation of racism. If not, it is ignorant, when CLEARLY people are NOT all equal in society and its institutions.

When non-caucasians as a whole, enjoy the same level of contentment, success and opportunity caucasions as a whole, do, society DOES need initiatives to equalise things. And as other posters have said, singling out this one form of scholarship is cherry-picking, as there are many kinds of scholarships and assistance available for all kinds of people. AND to assert that the rule is somehow "If black, GET scholarship" is highly illogical. Obviously there is a process and high competition, even for these scholarships.