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Do you agree with the author that this seems to be just a publicity stunt? Does giving advantages to minorities in employment and education just lead to this sort of silliness? Does reverse racism even exist? In other words, is it possible to be discriminated against as a member of the dominant group which has at least historically held power and wielded it over others? Or is this just a symptom of the common human weakness that everyone wants to be seen (and to see him/herself) as a victim and not as part of the problem?
There is a joke going around in Britain claiming that if you are a white male, you are least likely to get a job, because they employ women and members of minorities first, so that they do not feel discriminated. I do not know to what extent this joke is true, because as every joke, it might be over-exaggerating a little bit. However, I do not find the existence of antidiscrimination completely unlikely, even though it might not be encountered in everyday life very easily. In this case, members of a majority are being anti-discriminated against, and I do not really understand why.
ReplyDeleteSurely, it might not seem fair to have all kinds of scholarships aimed exclusively for minorities‘ members, but I find it quite right. However cruel it might be, the minorities still have lower chances of getting scholarships aimed for broad spectrum of people, when they, in fact, need them more than whites do. As mentioned in the comments below the article, they are generally poorer, since a lot of employers are still to some extent racists, consciously or not. And as the chances of minorities getting a better job are low, the chances of their kids getting to a good school cannot be higher than the chances of white people‘s kids. Moreover, when it comes to choosing who the scholarship will be awarded to, one might come across racism in the process. And that is why I think the scholarships for minorities seem perfectly alright to me, because they can somehow compensate for these problems.
Therefore, I have absolutely no idea, what Lake and Bohannan are trying to achieve here. I do not understand why this particular scholarship fund was established in the first place. I strongly believe that white people of USA are not discriminated against, thus this seems rather like a provocation to the black ones, the situation of which is much worse. But I hope this was not Lake‘s incentive, but his foolishness. Otherwise, it is only sad that he is expressing his racist opinion in this way. It creates more anger from the minorities side, than benefits to the majority.
@Peta
ReplyDeleteI assume I couldn't agree with you more, Peta.
Despite the fact that, at times, white males could feel that the minorities get more working and studying opportunities than them, I don't think it is a bad thing, just like you've said before. The horrendous amount of encounters with racism that minorities had to (and still have to) experience is shameful towards the Caucasian race. In my opinion, it is even a bit fair concerning the past, that finally the people from oppressed minorities get a better chance at something.
I even regard the act of scholarship for white males as a step backwards. It took the world too much time to at least slightly put the rights of all races on balance, and now the white men feel like the ones on the other side, the ones who we should feel sorry for. Well, not happening. I’m sorry.
Whether it was deliberate provocation or they really feel discriminated against, I don’t know. But if it was either of these, I don’t think they have a smallest right for doing so. So I agree with you once again, I hope it was just because of foolishness and nothing else.
I think I might be a little bit biased here, but nonetheless I think white people are far from being discriminated. For me, an Asian living in an EU country, it will be difficult to get into school in US and then to get a scholarship. My chances are a lot smaller than let’s say a Caucasian man living in US. So, I don’t see a point in creating this kind of a fund where people, who already have an advantage over the rest of the world get even more help.
ReplyDeleteFor me, this fund is a joke; however I can some reasons why Colby Bohannan and William Lake created this scholarship program. Firstly, all students regardless of race, religion, gender, geographic location and/or social status need some kind of help. I mean even if you can pay the tuition isn’t nice to have a couple of bucks for other things? So, even white male students need some kind of help. Secondly, Caucasian men as a dominant group in the US throughout the history might feel a bit threatened by women, African-Americans, Asian-Americans or Latinos. And I’m hundred percent sure that Bohannan and Lake feel a bit threatened by others and so they developed a program to help their “pals”.
I think creating a fund that is helping people that are already in better position than others is a bit silly. However, helping people is always nice and good regardless of their status. I just hope for more help for Asian people living in Europe with a thought of going to the US.