Read This First
From dictionary.com:
rac·ism ( P ) (rszm) n.
1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
Universities are being forced to eliminate their racist scholarships. The difference is, this time the racism was against whites.
There is no denying that these scholarship and fellowships were racist. The second definition from dictionary.com clears that up rather nicely. These awards clearly discriminated on the basis of race.
Now don't get me wrong here - an individual private scholarship should be open to whoever the donor wishes it to be open to. If I get enough money together and form a scholarship for 90 year old female Polish accordian players, that's my business and I no one should be able to stop me from doing that. Sure that scholarship would be racist (as well as sexist, age-ist, and nationalist), but that's my right to decide that. However, it sounds like these scholarships were more public, school-sponsored ones that donors simply gave to a pool of money and the school awarded it.
I also find this quote from the article entertaining:
Advocates of focused scholarships programs such as Theodore Shaw, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., challenge the notion that programs for minority students hurt whites.
``How is it that they conclude that the great evil in this country is discrimination against white people?'' Shaw asked. ``Can I put that question any more pointedly? I struggle to find the words to do it because it's so stunning.''
Who said anything about a great evil? Why is discrimination against white people any different from discrimination against any other group of people? Why is anti-discrimination news stunning? Hasn't the NAACP been working for that for decades now? But I digress.
Public scholarships should be based on two qualifications: need and merit. Some public scholarships focus on one, and some focus on both, but those two characteristics should encompass it all. What does it matter to a college or university that the applicant is a minority student or not? Does this somehow change the need of the student, or their academic accomplishments? I think not.
Colleges and universities need to turn a blind eye to race in their decisions, both for admissions and scholarship awards.
2 comments:
Amen, brother!
My freshman year a student started a $50 scholarship for white people only to make a point. The school was pressured by scholarship groups like MLKSA and EOP and the Black Student Union to not recognize the scholarship and advertise it. Interestingly, they referred to it as racist and encouraging white-supremacy. I guess they didn't see it as blatantly hypocritical that they were going to college on scholarships (inspite of the fact that many of them have failing grades and rich parents) based on race. All I can say is who has the sweet deal here: The Black-latino drug-abusing, flunk-out who had her hair done every week and bought designer clothes with her daddy's money while getting a free ride (my freshman roommate)? Or the white girl who inspite of merit scholarships would end up working her way through school, working two jobs every summer and some semesters, and going $50,000 into debt (me)? White supremacy my ass.
I would hesitate to refer to caucasians as the majority, since that is no longer true. We are the largest "ethnic/race" group but we are no longer the majority as that would mean that our total population out-numbers the combined population of all other minority groups, which it no longer does. However, I do agree that throughout our history, various minority groups aside from caucasions, have dealt with tremendous obstacles. I feel however, that the problem will not be solved by distributing money along race lines. That does not address the issue. If the issue is that these groups are disadvantaged, then give the disadvantaged (ie. the poor)the money. Don't give middle-class black/Hispanic/Asian families more money than middle-class caucasian families because of correlations between poverty/lack of opportunity and these races. Of course because of these correlation, it would largely be "minority" students who would benefit from these funds, but at least they would be receiving it on need and not on race, and it would prevent the further alienation of minority groups and work toward a more cooperative environment.
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