Originally Posted by pensacola_niceman

Fine, you go hire an unqualified black person to do a job for you so you don't appear to be a hypocrite to people from overseas.

Originally Posted by highway80west

As I have a hearing disability, I took advantage of Affirmative Action in Los Angeles in the late 1970's, when I went to work at L.A. International Airport. Then California's props. 8 and 13 were on the ballot in the Spring of 1978.

Prop. 8 lost, and prop. 13 passes, as expected. So my job was in limbo. A vocational rehab. counselor worked with me, called me down to San Diego, where I interviewed for a company that no longer exists now. But I put in nearly six years with them. Currently, I have put in nearly 23 years with the company I now work for.

Without the affirmative action in 1978, well, life could have been different for me now. It gave me the experience I currently use in my administrative position.

Originally Posted by Sally Numor

I tend to agree. These are unusual stories. We need to make sure there is a level playing field at all times. The days of the good ol'boys is not that far back...uh, yesterday, I believe.

Originally Posted by Mojo Potatoes

Originally Posted by tadpole256

Yours is the sort of story no one ever hears...

Originally Posted by Marilyn Monroe

I'm against affirmative action for other reasons, but I think companies should have to balance their employees out. You can find qualified blacks and whites in the same proportions.

Hiring someone can be done for a number of reasons. It's your brothers kid, friend, someone you owe a favor. Companies don't always hire the most qualified, you better believe that. They hire a lot on personality and looks, if you ask me.

They said having women in the workplace would bring down the standards, and most companies are full of women in every capacity. I don't think it did any real harm.

Originally Posted by gmeyers1944

"Balance employees out"? I don't think so! This convoluted reasoning is what led to the illadvised policy of school busing to achieve racial balance. The only way to be fair is to be totally blind to differences such as race or sex. Employers can only chose from among those who appy. It is in their best interest as well as the applicants to pick the best person for the job regardless of their race, ethnicity, etc. If a totally white company should somehow start to hire totally by merit, then it would take sometime to achieve racial balance. The only way to be fair is to treat each person individually fair. The same goes in the criminal justice system. Don't tell me about how many blacks are in prison. Justice can only be achieved ONE CASE AT A TIME.

Originally Posted by garysher

Originally Posted by highway80west
As I have a hearing disability, I took advantage of Affirmative Action in Los Angeles in the late 1970's, when I went to work at L.A. International Airport.



Was that joke on purpose?

Originally Posted by Tabris

so that means white people should be ellible for minority protection!

Affirmative action is bullshit now. Not as much as people think. We don't let our brothers suffer, they let themselves suffer. Not true, read on. If you're born into a crap-hole inner-city, work your way out of it. Work your way out of poverty, lack of education, horrific past, and criminal history? That is not easy as it sounds, even if some people have done so, most of those became celebrities. The rest of them were white. People do rise up from their poor up-bringings. But its not a fair competition. Me, somebody living in La Jolla going to UCSD is going to have an unfair advantage vs somebody trying to get into college from Compton. You're not at a terrible disadvantage being black, and the fact that you worked hard pays off for you much more when things start to pick up steam. Blacks can do it, your right about that. But its not nearly as easy for them as it is for you. In fact, blacks are descriminating against in both law enforcement, public transportation, gaining a job, and even renting apartments. I have seen a video about this, it recorded a black guy and a white guy dressed a like doing exactly the same things. Anybody who says that there is no descrimination against black people is ignorant, and simply makes a claim out of no knowledge. AA has outlived it's purpose. Come on, racial quotas? Gender quotas? It's BS. As tadpole stated, people need to be hired and selected based on their merits. It happens. I would assume that there is at least one black company executive in the US who was not handed the position to "diversify" the company. If you want to diversify, qualify. It's worse than those damn educational shows like Barney that make sure that every type of person imaginable is on the show (including a kid in a wheelchair, because somehow he is innately different from any other person with a disability). Where is the kid with ADHD? Or Tay Sach's Disease? Or Down's Syndrome? DIVERSIFY, PEOPLE

If you have a pool of applicants who are all very qualified, what do you do? You see what individual characteristics distinguish that person. Guess what? Chances are the black person who worked his ass off to get to into that pool is at an advantage. He can easily say that from his less-than-satisfactory upbringing, he worked his ass damn hard to get where he is. THAT shows work ethic, as opposed to the lofty white guy who's dad is a doctor and mum is a lawyer. Again, no need for AA if people are willing to work. Even Bill Cosby, of all people, thinks that the black community is getting lazier.

Too many people expect special treatment. You can't even fire someone that is retarded (literally, whether it be Down's or something else) without getting a lawsuit, regardless of whether or not the person is capable of doing the job. If they can't do the job, fire them. What is the point of having someone that can't do a job?People are fired for not being about to do a job. There aren't a bunch of laws restricting employers to fire people, and even if there were, nobody would know how to sue.

If I come off as "cold and heartless", especially because of the mental handicap tyrade two seconds ago, it's because there's no reason they should be given an advantage over anyone else. They are at a disadvantage, the point of AA is compensation. There are people complaining about not enough women being in the tech world anymore Here the problem is gender status quos, of course that makes this a cultural problem rather than a political one., like there were 10 years ago. Maybe it's because more women are choosing to opt out of those careers? Hm.

I don't see being of any particular colour or ability entitles you to special treatment. I'm a minority, should I be given preferential treatment? No. We are born with an equal oppurtunity to succeed TOTALLY NOT TRUE., Joe White shouldn't be screwed out of a job because I'm a minority and I want a post as CEO, when he's more capable. As far as mentally handicapped people go, I have nothing against them, but there's no reason in Hell why they should be catered to. This is actually a new level of a topic. Some 'mentally' handicapped people have made a mental sacrifice for other more superior traits (eg:more rational, can't socialize). If they're mentally handicapped, so what? Should someone with Asberger's be treated the same as someone with Down's? They're both handicapped, but Asberger's gives you an innate advantage in the mathetmatical fields. So should the Down's person be selected over the Asberger's because he has a "worse" handicap? The person isn't being selected because he has Asberger's, he's being selected because of an above-par capability to crunch numbers. I'm Asberger's too, I do need special help at first to succeed. Some of us have great potential, but need help in doing so.