Special Privledges for African Americans
 

Why is it socially acceptable to have colleges, scholarships, and other things just for African Americans? Historically, aren't they the ones that wanted equality? I may be white, but that doesn't mean I'm not working just as hard for my successes! If there was a white history month or an all-white college, it would be deemed as racist. Why can't we all be equal? Why must people segregate by race? It's 2009. Not 1959.

Women get those things too.

I know. I'm not against having all male or all female schools, because some people learn better without that distraction, but I don't see why we can't all be EQUAL.

No, I mean like scholarships and honor societies and things. Colleges and whatnot too.

I don't think gender really plays a factor in college. I'm glad mine is co-ed, and that my dorm was co-ed, or I never would have met my fiance.

There's also scholarships and programs strictly for GBLTQ students as well. I was really upset that even though I was a huge activist in high school (heck, I was the gay-straight alliance president during its second year), I didn't qualify for any GBLTQ scholarships, because I'm straight.

Because we aren't all equal. Racism still exists. African Americans still have problems getting into "traditional" universities based solely on their race. African Americans are still regularly refused scholarships that they would most likely have been awarded, had they been white. The same is true for all minorities, and for women. Black-only colleges and scholarships exist because they are necessary, because without them, the higher education gap between the races would be even greater than it is now. There isn't a white history month, because every month is "white history month". It would be completely redundant. There aren't all-white colleges because a great many colleges and universities are predominantly white, and it wasn't too many decades ago that nearly every major college and university was all-white. That was considered the default, and often, it still is even today.

White privilege still exists in a very big way. So does male privilege. While less often examined, heterosexual privilege exists as well. Most of us are in a place of privilege in one way or another, and we should remember that before we are so quick to condemn the 'special treatment' we perceive others get.

I didn't qualify for any scholarships.

I've applied for the Alexander Graham Bell scholarship, but didn't get anything because I wasn't deaf, I just wore hearing aids.

I didn't apply for the Heritage for the Blind scholarship, because I wasn't blind I was just far-sighted.

I didn't get a scholarship for being 1st generation American, nor 1st generation college student, nor a female, not even scholarships from Romania helped me out.

I didn't get any scholarships for having family members that were survivors of the Holocaust and were in WWII and the Vietnam war...why? Because they weren't in the American army at that time nor were the survivors in America at that time!

Nor did I get anything for having family be a victim of 9/11...sure they didn't die or were hurt but some of their homes were unlivable because of the dust and family friends died that day.

Did I complain alot? Yes. In the end, I still had to pay 100% for my college.

Fact is, nothing in life is even fair or equal.

The first-generation scholarships make me really upset. I'm going to be the third person in my family to finish college at all--the other two being my mother (whom my father put through both of her associates degrees), and, of course, my dad (who has a bachelors, and did some masters work but decided not to finish). That leaves both sets of grandparents, seven sets of aunts and uncles and all of their children who haven't finished college (and only a few of them even tried to go).

Oh, yeah, and on both sides, I'm the second-youngest (the youngest being my brother). So it's not like any of my cousins will go to college later or anything.

Maybe there's scholarships for being a first-gen grad student that I could milk...

First generation scholarships doesn't exist. Atleast not for me. I'm not eligible for it even though my mom dropped out of college (never finished) and my dad and stepfather dropped out of high school.

Face it, alot of the scholarships they boast you can get -- you can't get them period. They just like to taunt people like us :(

Indeed! I actually did have a lot of scholarships, but my school is extremely competitive and I quickly lost all of them with a "less-than-perfect" GPA. Oh, and I didn't get the female scholarships either because my name is easily confused with a similar boy's name. :sarcasm:

I also didn't get any related "minority" scholarships because I look white, even though I have Native American heritage (though it's by blood only--from what I understand, my great-great-great grandmother was kidnapped from her tribe or something like that, so none of the cultural stuff was ever passed down).

My father has also been unemployed for nearly two years now, and this past spring I had to fight financial aid tooth-and-nail just to get loans. If my income is below the first tax bracket, I'm sorry, but I think I'm entitled to some need-based aid.

I whole heartedly agree. My mom is the only one working, my stepdad is a lazy bum. Mom works 70 hours a week in order to make about $67,000 to $70,000 a year. But that's all on overtime, and with the bills and such, we're always $30,000 short at the end of the year. We need atleast $100,000 to live comfortably.

Since mom is the one working and making about $70k a year, the other $30k we need comes from loans and credit cards. Recently, the credit card companies cut her off and the banks are just being brutal. Mom can't get a loan anymore for the next ten years. I look at my stepfather sitting on his lazy ass, eating icecream or playing Solitaire all day and I am furious.

He has the gall to yell at me about unemployment and yet he hasn't even bothered to go job-hunting at all for the past 3 years. Still, the FAFSA doesn't care....I still have to pay back my college $78,000 when March comes. Oi vey...

One who claims this gives an advantage to African Americans does not understand the implications of racism in modern culture.

Well, I think scholarships for JUST blacks is a fine idea. Sure, it would be an awesome thing if everyone had the same great opportunities, but you can't deny it- even though the law says we have equal rights, we don't all have equal opportunities. Prejudice and racism is still RAMPANT in America. Women, Asian, Hispanic, and disabled people run into similar problems and situations.

I'm not going to get all butthurt if I wanted to apply for an African-American scholarship but didn't qualify. Truth is, there are a lot of exclusive scholarships out there. But there are even more that aren't exclusive at all. There are lots of chances for lots of different people.

Black-only colleges aren't considered segregated. I think you misunderstand.

I live my life asking the same questions and knowing the answer, still. It's just not fair, I leave it at that. :/

I have, Shtona, so you must just live in a better area.

No one's claiming that the YAYSLAVERY form of racism is particularly prevalent nowadays. I mean, even Limbaugh has only gone so far as saying segregated buses are good. No, it's the subtle racism that's the problem nowadays. People still have preconceived notions about one another based on their race. In the case of many minorities, those notions are negative ones. When said people are in the majority, and in places of power, it becomes a serious problem, and can hold entire groups of people back based on the colour of their skin.

There are a lot of reasons why Obama getting elected is not indicative of the level of racism present in America today. First of all, you're aware black people vote, yes? A lot of them. Even if every race is racist against every other race AND would not vote for someone of a race that they're racist against, which is what you seem to be suggesting, he's at least got the votes of a fair number of black people. Doesn't make people less racist. There's also the minor detail that not everyone votes based entirely on race, not even racists. My father is an admitted racist, and who did he vote for? Obama. And he, like many Americans, voted for him not because he was black, but because he was relatively liberal and, in his opinion, better than McCain. That doesn't mean he's suddenly not racist; it means he valued his vote enough to vote for a candidate whose policies he liked and not write him off for being black.

You obviously don't know him very well.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/09/...regated-buses/

It was in response to an incident where a white student was assaulted by a group of black students while on a schoolbus. The police concluded that it wasn't a racial issue but a personal one, but rather than blame violent students for being violent, Limbaugh seemingly blamed it on inborn racial hatred and suggested that segregating whites and blacks would prevent violence from happening.

And I'm not devaluing your observations, simply attempting to explain why your conclusions based on those observations are not necessarily correct.

This is the debate forum. Expect to be debated with, whether you want to or not.

You thinking that a black president has cured racism shows us your ignorance.
Your post denotes a lack of understanding about racism. It is not "person A dislikes person B". It's much, much more serious than that.

We should not talk about things which we do not know or understand.

WTF? When did I say anything about Limbaugh?

It was not naive of you to make a comment, however, your comments are naive.