Comments by "Mat Broomfield" (@matbroomfield) on "Trump Admin's Roll-Back of Affirmative Action will Reduce Black Enrollment" video.

How do you prevent discrimination by discriminating? Affirmative action has always been a dreadful idea. It penalises the weakest non-diverse students in order to give opportunities to students who did merit them. Not only that but it undermines the achievements of blacks and women who achieved college entry without the hand ups. Do women REALLY need affirmative action given that they enter college and achieve higher results across the board? Giving people things they didn't earn is often a bad idea,. If you want to help minorities, ensure that all public high schools receive the same funding. Ensure that poor people are provided affordable access to education.
31
Marginal inconveniences? Comments like that will ensure that you never gain allies among the white majority. If you are, for example, one of the bottom 10% who loses a place in college in the name of affirmative action, your entire life can be ruined. I wouldn't call that a marginal inconvenience. As for the war on drugs or black incarceration rates in general, not that they are remotely relevant to the subject at hand, this is not affirmative action it's racial prejudice and I am 100% in favour of addressing it. I would decriminalise all drugs, hold judges accountable for sentencing disparities, and possibly even do double blind trials. Jurors are notoriously bad at ascertaining truth from expression and body language anyway, so it's really just theatre. But does it occur to you that in fact, affirmative action is giving a man a fish, whereas raising standards in all poor schools teaches the entire community HOW to fish?
2
Saying you cannot discriminate is not the same as saying that there was a quota by skin colour. I seriously doubt such a quota ever existed. I want a merit based system. If you are the best, whatever your skin colour, you get in.
1
Rose, I wouldn't describe giving all kids a level playing field (at least in terms of quality of education) as "affirmative action". Of course, single motherhood significantly decreases a child's chances, and the black community has a very poor record in that regard. I'm afraid I disagree with almost everything else you said. You seem to be implying that one cannot consider another person's needs unless you are from the same demographic. That is patently not true., although I concede that you cannot FULLY empathise. Your example of thalidomide has nothing to do with discrimination. One needs a representative sample of the target group to test a medication. That is screamingly obvious. How any pharmaceutical company could think that a drug targeted at pregnant women could be tested on men is beyond me. Your comments about being a female economist leave me somewhat bewildered. In what way was the merit-based college admission system disadvantaging women? It seems to me that we live in an age where the sexes are being pushed into careers that do not appeal simply to fill quotas. We were told that female college numbers were down - several decades of positive discrimination, and feminisation of the educational curriculum from kindergarten onwards has resulted in a significant reversal, so now males are under-represented. You suggest that women should be encouraged to pursue medicine. Why? Perhaps women consider that the 10 years of study does not provide an adequate return, or more likely, they realise that it will have an impact upon their plans for family. Similarly, you suggest that more men should be encouraged to move into teaching and nursing. Despite being temperamentally less suited to those fields than women.
1
Criminality most closely correlated to poverty not education. Single parenthood is a cultural phenomenon (toxic femininity if you like) exacerbated by disproportionate imprisonment. Disproportionate imprisonment is a result of a systemically racially prejudiced system that, ironically, starts with school teachers and includes police and judges. Not only does it over estimate the age of black males, but also the threat that they pose. The corruption of the industrial prison complex is a further factor. Your comments about it being a marginal inconvenience remind me of the recent feminist who said she thought all men should suffer for the history of patriarchy. When you start by vilifying all your potential allies, you don't have much chance. Black people are still a significant minority in America, and if Trump has revealed anything, it's that America is far more bigoted than anyone feared. I suggest you think about BUILDING bridges rather than burning them down. It hasn't been as acceptable to be openly prejudiced on either side since the 1960s. Incidents such as the ridiculous Evergreen State day of absence, numerous Black Lives Matter protests and the ridiculous decolonisation of science speech at Shackville TRC have brought black issues into massive disrepute. As for waiting for "my" kindness, my father was black. He was also absent all my life (surprise surprise).
1