Martin Luther King saved America

[rightwinger]

Affirmative action bases opportunities on race primarily or in other words on the color of skin and not the content of one's character or one's abilities. I don't believe MLK ever envisioned reverse discrimination or an America where Americans of all colors felt entitlement based upon there backgrounds.

Affirmative action is not fair but was a necessary step towards equal opportunity. When I started working in the late 70s there were strict affirmative action thresholds for hiring and promotions. Those thresholds led to many underqualified people being hired and promoted.

But you have to consider the times. If a white employer is offered a choice between a white and a black he would tend to favor the white candidate due to cultural familiarity and preference. White employers could always justify why blacks were not being hired. The result was a glass wall preventing blacks from being hired. Afirmative action quotas forced those arbitrary walls to be removed

Now, affirmative action is more about equal opportunities and access rather than strict numerical quotas. Afirmative action was not fair, but it did result in the increased numbers of black executives, managers, professional sports managers, doctors and lawyers

Sure your right, when are whites going to recieve the weighted scores on their SAT scores? Since Asians score on average 50 something points higher. There is some socio-economical disadvantages that whites have to overcome, that their Asian counterparts don't have to overcome.

I agree

Everyone picks on whites, that is why they are so disadvantaged in our society

 

[shintao]

Ahhh.. the old " the end justifies the means argument".

You really make USMB look bad. Why don't you leave?

 

[Yurt]

I just hope people remember what his dream really was. That man will be judged according to his character and not by the color of his skin.

Skin is irrelevant. Character is everything.

sadly, few remember his actual dream

 

[Yurt]

Affirmative action is not fair but was a necessary step towards equal opportunity. When I started working in the late 70s there were strict affirmative action thresholds for hiring and promotions. Those thresholds led to many underqualified people being hired and promoted.

But you have to consider the times. If a white employer is offered a choice between a white and a black he would tend to favor the white candidate due to cultural familiarity and preference. White employers could always justify why blacks were not being hired. The result was a glass wall preventing blacks from being hired. Afirmative action quotas forced those arbitrary walls to be removed

Now, affirmative action is more about equal opportunities and access rather than strict numerical quotas. Afirmative action was not fair, but it did result in the increased numbers of black executives, managers, professional sports managers, doctors and lawyers

Sure your right, when are whites going to recieve the weighted scores on their SAT scores? Since Asians score on average 50 something points higher. There is some socio-economical disadvantages that whites have to overcome, that their Asian counterparts don't have to overcome.

I agree

Everyone picks on whites, that is why they are so disadvantaged in our society

so, you're ok with disparate treatment, so long as the discriminated class is not disadvantaged, in that, they have money....?

 

[jreeves]

Affirmative action is not fair but was a necessary step towards equal opportunity. When I started working in the late 70s there were strict affirmative action thresholds for hiring and promotions. Those thresholds led to many underqualified people being hired and promoted.

But you have to consider the times. If a white employer is offered a choice between a white and a black he would tend to favor the white candidate due to cultural familiarity and preference. White employers could always justify why blacks were not being hired. The result was a glass wall preventing blacks from being hired. Afirmative action quotas forced those arbitrary walls to be removed

Now, affirmative action is more about equal opportunities and access rather than strict numerical quotas. Afirmative action was not fair, but it did result in the increased numbers of black executives, managers, professional sports managers, doctors and lawyers

Sure your right, when are whites going to recieve the weighted scores on their SAT scores? Since Asians score on average 50 something points higher. There is some socio-economical disadvantages that whites have to overcome, that their Asian counterparts don't have to overcome.

I agree

Everyone picks on whites, that is why they are so disadvantaged in our society

Nice strawman, but let's debate reality. Whites have socio-economical deficiencies compared to Asians that hinder their ability to score higher on SAT's than Asians.

 

[Trajan]

Affirmative action was a hard, but necessary first step toward opportunities for blacks

uh huh and maybe we should think about how it has turned out?

O a scale of 1-10, 10 being totally, what part do you think AA really played in getting blacks, oh, jobs?

We have more blacks in management positions, more black doctors, more black lawyers, more blacks coaching professional sports

Afirmative action laid the groundwork

that wasn't my question......want to address that and keep the off the cuff for yourself? thx so much.

 

[Trajan]

Affirmative action was a hard, but necessary first step toward opportunities for blacks

Affirmative action bases opportunities on race primarily or in other words on the color of skin and not the content of one's character or one's abilities. I don't believe MLK ever envisioned reverse discrimination or an America where Americans of all colors felt entitlement based upon there backgrounds.

Affirmative action is not fair but was a necessary step towards equal opportunity. When I started working in the late 70s there were strict affirmative action thresholds for hiring and promotions. Those thresholds led to many underqualified people being hired and promoted.

But you have to consider the times. If a white employer is offered a choice between a white and a black he would tend to favor the white candidate due to cultural familiarity and preference.

link(s) please?

(your atypical deep left liberal. prog. collective white guilt bias is noted, not that I am surprised).........

White employers could always justify why blacks were not being hired. The result was a glass wall preventing blacks from being hired. Afirmative action quotas forced those arbitrary walls to be removed

Now, affirmative action is more about equal opportunities and access rather than strict numerical quotas. Afirmative action was not fair, but it did result in the increased numbers of black executives, managers, professional sports managers, doctors and lawyers

 

[rightwinger]

uh huh and maybe we should think about how it has turned out?

O a scale of 1-10, 10 being totally, what part do you think AA really played in getting blacks, oh, jobs?

We have more blacks in management positions, more black doctors, more black lawyers, more blacks coaching professional sports

Afirmative action laid the groundwork

that wasn't my question......want to address that and keep the off the cuff for yourself? thx so much.

Stand by my answer

 

[Intense]

 

[Intense]

 

[Intense]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVLOMAanlIU&feature=related[/ame]

 

[Rozman]

I grew up in the 60's and saw most of the Civil Rights movement. Like most Americans, I was outraged at the assasination of Dr King. When we talked about giving him a national holiday ten years later, I looked at it as a form of appeasement for outraged blacks.....a way of giving them their own holiday to quiet them down.

In reading about the Civil Rights movement in subsequent years, I realized what a great American Dr King was. Black Americans came back after WWII to find that despite fighting and dying in defense of their country, they were still treated like lesser Americans. They found they were not allowed to mingle with whites, were not welcome in much of the country they had fought for. Blacks were considered to be dirty, diseased and sub human. Some whites were outraged at the thought of eating with blacks, using the same restrooms, riding on public transportation with them.

As black Americans began to protest their treatment in their own country they were met with harsh resistance from both white militants and governments who swore to support inequal treatment. Blacks were denied the right to vote, to freely associate, rights to a fair trial. Those who resisted were met with terrorist attacks. Lynchings, bombings, arrest and assasination of their leaders.

Most of us faced with such horrific treatment in our own homeland would fight violence with violence. When the courts did not protect blacks, armed conflict would seem a reasonable response. Dr King knew violence would only result in more violence against you. He modeled the Civil Rights movement around Gandhis peaceful resistance theories. By using cameras to document the treatment of peaceful protestors he saved this country from an armed violent protest that would have destroyed this country.

America returned from WWII as an economic and military superpower. But a country that does not treat its citizens with respect is not a moral superpower. By changing the way we treat our citizens, Dr King, more importantly, saved our soul. By forcing us to look in a mirror and see who we really are, he enabled us to become a truly great country.

On this Martin Luther King day I hope everyone can reflect on what a great American he was

Would have been nice if you pulled down your little tribute to Sarah Palin at the end there.
But why waste the space you need to keep the fire burning against her....don't waste a tragedy to make a point, right.

You want to pay tribute to a man of Peace but you use that moment to keep the hate going.

Nice........

 

[B. Kidd]

MLK told us, influenced us, as a country that promotes freedoms and liberty, what we needed to hear, in order to elevate ourselves to do better than we had done before, in those regards.
As a result, we are all better off then we would have been, if he had never been.

 

[JamesInFlorida]

I remember watching Larry King a few months ago, and he spoke about how when he was a young journalist, and trying to make it he followed MLK to a motel and MLK was trying to get a room-where the person wouldn't allow him to get a room, because he was black. MLK then peacefully sat on the curb in protest. Finally the person behind the desk came out and asked MLK "what do you want from me?" and MLK responded with "my dignity".

What made MLK so great was his non-violent demonstrations, and which is why he became such a icon.

 

[Claudette]

I remember watching Larry King a few months ago, and he spoke about how when he was a young journalist, and trying to make it he followed MLK to a motel and MLK was trying to get a room-where the person wouldn't allow him to get a room, because he was black. MLK then peacefully sat on the curb in protest. Finally the person behind the desk came out and asked MLK "what do you want from me?" and MLK responded with "my dignity".

What made MLK so great was his non-violent demonstrations, and which is why he became such a icon.

I can remember watching the civil rights protests also. At the time I was young and really didn't understand what it was all about.

As I grew older I really began to understand what that movement was and what MLK represented to that movment.

He was a great man in my estimation also. Perhaps one of the greatest in our history.

The man had character and dignity. I think he knew in his heart of hearts that his goal would probably cost him his life.

Despite that he never waivered.

A truly great man.

 

[Trajan]

We have more blacks in management positions, more black doctors, more black lawyers, more blacks coaching professional sports

Afirmative action laid the groundwork

that wasn't my question......want to address that and keep the off the cuff for yourself? thx so much.

Stand by my answer

In other words; I cannot answer for my rhetoric...got it.