Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs

[Yurt]

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Sen. Jim Webb called for ending government-run diversity programs in a newspaper column Friday, saying they have disadvantaged struggling whites and hurt the cause of racial harmony.

Webb wrote an op-ed column in Friday's Wall Street Journal that said a "plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future."

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs - Yahoo! News

 

[EriktheRed]

From a WV Liberal:

I think a lot of people are missing where Jim Webb is coming from in his op-ed. I’m not going to defend the entire thing, but I think you need to understand that Webb comes from a portion of Appalachia where poverty is so deep, so ingrained, that the idea in those regions that there is some sort of “white privilege” is in fact laughable. To them, the privilege of chronic unemployment, life in a tarpaper shack with no medical care, food stamps but no grocery store, and not much of a future doesn’t look like that great of a deal. And you need to understand, there are a LOT of people in this situation. I regret the way the piece read, and I hate the title, but Webb is talking about addressing the deep-rooted poverty he’s seen his entire life in the back hills of VA, WVA, Kentucky, and elsewhere. I don’t find that message to be much different from the lesson Shirley Sherrod was trying to pass on regarding class v. race. In many regards, I bet Sherrod and Webb would agree.

When a lot of people said the Democratic party “left them” in this region, we’re talking about dirt poor folks who have basically given up on the government. These were the folks that embraced the Democratic party of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt (Eleanor is particularly beloved to this day in rural WV), to them, the Democrats of today really are no different than Republicans in their indifference toward the poor and working poor, and they end up voting on social issues. Tom Franks said a thing or two about this. There really is no one fighting for unions any more. Show me a Democrat that is different from a Republican on coal in WV and I’ll show you an unelected Democrat.

Again, I think the way the piece read will rub a lot of people the wrong way, and that is was in the WSJ makes it a hard pill to swallow for a lot of us, but I don’t think for a minute Webb meant to claim that minorities have not suffered.

Balloon Juice Blog Archive Webb’s Op-Ed

 

[Yurt]

webb is talking about the whole country

nice try

 

[Vel]

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Sen. Jim Webb called for ending government-run diversity programs in a newspaper column Friday, saying they have disadvantaged struggling whites and hurt the cause of racial harmony.

Webb wrote an op-ed column in Friday's Wall Street Journal that said a "plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future."

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs - Yahoo! News

Were these beliefs enough to make him not vote for the financial reform bill loaded with racial quota legislation?

 

[gautama]

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Sen. Jim Webb called for ending government-run diversity programs in a newspaper column Friday, saying they have disadvantaged struggling whites and hurt the cause of racial harmony.

Webb wrote an op-ed column in Friday's Wall Street Journal that said a "plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future."

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs - Yahoo! News

ABOUT FUCKING TIME !!!!!!

Go to any Governmental Building and the Caucasians are a rare species......even though the general stats on educational and IQ test success have the Caucasians way the fuck above those of the Blacks and Latrinos.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

From a WV Liberal:

I think a lot of people are missing where Jim Webb is coming from in his op-ed. I’m not going to defend the entire thing, but I think you need to understand that Webb comes from a portion of Appalachia where poverty is so deep, so ingrained, that the idea in those regions that there is some sort of “white privilege” is in fact laughable. To them, the privilege of chronic unemployment, life in a tarpaper shack with no medical care, food stamps but no grocery store, and not much of a future doesn’t look like that great of a deal. And you need to understand, there are a LOT of people in this situation. I regret the way the piece read, and I hate the title, but Webb is talking about addressing the deep-rooted poverty he’s seen his entire life in the back hills of VA, WVA, Kentucky, and elsewhere. I don’t find that message to be much different from the lesson Shirley Sherrod was trying to pass on regarding class v. race. In many regards, I bet Sherrod and Webb would agree.

When a lot of people said the Democratic party “left them” in this region, we’re talking about dirt poor folks who have basically given up on the government. These were the folks that embraced the Democratic party of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt (Eleanor is particularly beloved to this day in rural WV), to them, the Democrats of today really are no different than Republicans in their indifference toward the poor and working poor, and they end up voting on social issues. Tom Franks said a thing or two about this. There really is no one fighting for unions any more. Show me a Democrat that is different from a Republican on coal in WV and I’ll show you an unelected Democrat.

Again, I think the way the piece read will rub a lot of people the wrong way, and that is was in the WSJ makes it a hard pill to swallow for a lot of us, but I don’t think for a minute Webb meant to claim that minorities have not suffered.

Balloon Juice Blog Archive Webb’s Op-Ed

Did John Cole call up Jim Webb and ask him what he meant?

 

[topspin]

We can't keep making progress if it harms uneducated whitey.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

We can't keep making progress if it harms uneducated whitey.

Actually, I think a lot of progress has been made, but we can't make further progress if we continue to engage in racial politics.

 

[topspin]

We have lightyears to go. Just the racist hate on this board is proof enough.

 

[topspin]

Guatama is such a smart racist. He can tell someones iq by the color of thier skin. He must be a grand wizard.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

We have lightyears to go. Just the racist hate on this board is proof enough.

We will never reach a point in any society were bigotry is eradicated. It's an ugly part of human nature and all of us hold some degree of prejudice whether or not we want to admit it.

 

[topspin]

True but we have made tons of progress in the last few decades and could make tons more.

 

[goldcatt]

webb is talking about the whole country

nice try

He is, but the observation from Erik's op-ed of what he sees in his own backyard is apt. Come on out to rural Appalachian PA sometime, particularly in the old coal and iron mining areas. Take a good look around and and tell me there isn't a point to be made here. I'll personally take you on the tour.

Here and in other areas of the country, of course. The ghost towns of the Midwest and Plains come to mind, as family farmers have been forced out in favor of agribusiness for decades.

I do think there is a point in the whole racism vs. classism debate. Not that racism doesn't still exist - look at our board's own little Stormfront queens for proof of that. But there are a lot of people for whom class and economic status is a barrier just as much as race is for other people if not more so. Acknowledging one problem doesn't negate the other - it just means we have two problems, and limited resources which are being used to address only one of them.

Do we change or get rid of the programs, address both issues, address neither issue, address the larger issue of income disparity, take active steps in other ways to address the economic wasteland left behind in depressed areas, how do we make it as equitable as possible? Or should we even try? These are all fair questions.

 

[Yurt]

webb is talking about the whole country

nice try

He is, but the observation from Erik's op-ed of what he sees in his own backyard is apt. Come on out to rural Appalachian PA sometime, particularly in the old coal and iron mining areas. Take a good look around and and tell me there isn't a point to be made here. I'll personally take you on the tour.

Here and in other areas of the country, of course. The ghost towns of the Midwest and Plains come to mind, as family farmers have been forced out in favor of agribusiness for decades.

I do think there is a point in the whole racism vs. classism debate. Not that racism doesn't still exist - look at our board's own little Stormfront queens for proof of that. But there are a lot of people for whom class and economic status is a barrier just as much as race is for other people if not more so. Acknowledging one problem doesn't negate the other - it just means we have two problems, and limited resources which are being used to address only one of them.

Do we change or get rid of the programs, address both issues, address neither issue, address the larger issue of income disparity, take active steps in other ways to address the economic wasteland left behind in depressed areas, how do we make it as equitable as possible? Or should we even try? These are all fair questions.

i didn't mean to imply he wasn't talking about his own backyard, i only meant that his statements were not solely limited to his backyard as erik's link suggests.

there will always be class differences on this planet. no utopia of total equality exists. it has been tried and has always failed. i don't believe in the idea that we are all exactly equal in all aspects. i believe in equality under the law and in treatment from our government, but i do not believe we all should have the same toys in life.

so called diversity programs did have a place at one point, because at that point minorities (mostly black people) were disadvantaged by the government and society at large so the programs sought to make things equal under the law and how we are treated under the law. today, however, such programs do not make us all equal, it makes it unequal. imo, it makes minorities second class citizens, because we are essentially saying that they cannot have our toys unless we give them preferential treatment.

 

[Flopper]

What's wrong with diversity programs? They seem to be more about changing the culture of organizations through training rather than forcing a change in the representation of the work force. I think they are a more gentle way of accomplishing diversity than affirmative action programs, but then maybe I don't fully understand them.

 

[WillowTree]

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Sen. Jim Webb called for ending government-run diversity programs in a newspaper column Friday, saying they have disadvantaged struggling whites and hurt the cause of racial harmony.

Webb wrote an op-ed column in Friday's Wall Street Journal that said a "plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future."

Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs - Yahoo! News

Now you know they are gonna throw out the entire deck of racist cards donchya? ain't JIm webb a demonRat, the one who refused to shake President Bush's hand? wtf happened to his heaaaad?

 

[WillowTree]

We have lightyears to go. Just the racist hate on this board is proof enough.

and you make such great contributions towards peace cry us a fucking river whydonchya?

 

[goldcatt]

webb is talking about the whole country

nice try

He is, but the observation from Erik's op-ed of what he sees in his own backyard is apt. Come on out to rural Appalachian PA sometime, particularly in the old coal and iron mining areas. Take a good look around and and tell me there isn't a point to be made here. I'll personally take you on the tour.

Here and in other areas of the country, of course. The ghost towns of the Midwest and Plains come to mind, as family farmers have been forced out in favor of agribusiness for decades.

I do think there is a point in the whole racism vs. classism debate. Not that racism doesn't still exist - look at our board's own little Stormfront queens for proof of that. But there are a lot of people for whom class and economic status is a barrier just as much as race is for other people if not more so. Acknowledging one problem doesn't negate the other - it just means we have two problems, and limited resources which are being used to address only one of them.

Do we change or get rid of the programs, address both issues, address neither issue, address the larger issue of income disparity, take active steps in other ways to address the economic wasteland left behind in depressed areas, how do we make it as equitable as possible? Or should we even try? These are all fair questions.

i didn't mean to imply he wasn't talking about his own backyard, i only meant that his statements were not solely limited to his backyard as erik's link suggests.

there will always be class differences on this planet. no utopia of total equality exists. it has been tried and has always failed. i don't believe in the idea that we are all exactly equal in all aspects. i believe in equality under the law and in treatment from our government, but i do not believe we all should have the same toys in life.

so called diversity programs did have a place at one point, because at that point minorities (mostly black people) were disadvantaged by the government and society at large so the programs sought to make things equal under the law and how we are treated under the law. today, however, such programs do not make us all equal, it makes it unequal. imo, it makes minorities second class citizens, because we are essentially saying that they cannot have our toys unless we give them preferential treatment.

That's one way of looking at it. Which is why I posed a number of questions, I think there's a fair debate to have here over whether diversity programs are necessary or unduly preferential, whether they're helpful or harmful, and even if helpful whether the resources are being used to address the most important problem.

Me? I have all kinds of mixed feelings about these programs. I can see both sides on a lot of these questions, so I sort of waver back and forth. No, there will never be true equality. But should we be making an effort to address equal opportunity and address past mistakes and wrongs whether based on race or bad economic policy? That's a good question. I go back and forth on the answer.

 

[gautama]

Guatama is such a smart racist. He can tell someones iq by the color of thier skin. He must be a grand wizard.

Tailspin,

There are dozens of studies of IQs by race and ethnicity.

If you don't know that then you are even more ignorant (and STOOOOOOPID) than you have already established yourself to be.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

From a WV Liberal:

I think a lot of people are missing where Jim Webb is coming from in his op-ed. I’m not going to defend the entire thing, but I think you need to understand that Webb comes from a portion of Appalachia where poverty is so deep, so ingrained, that the idea in those regions that there is some sort of “white privilege” is in fact laughable. To them, the privilege of chronic unemployment, life in a tarpaper shack with no medical care, food stamps but no grocery store, and not much of a future doesn’t look like that great of a deal. And you need to understand, there are a LOT of people in this situation. I regret the way the piece read, and I hate the title, but Webb is talking about addressing the deep-rooted poverty he’s seen his entire life in the back hills of VA, WVA, Kentucky, and elsewhere. I don’t find that message to be much different from the lesson Shirley Sherrod was trying to pass on regarding class v. race. In many regards, I bet Sherrod and Webb would agree.

When a lot of people said the Democratic party “left them” in this region, we’re talking about dirt poor folks who have basically given up on the government. These were the folks that embraced the Democratic party of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt (Eleanor is particularly beloved to this day in rural WV), to them, the Democrats of today really are no different than Republicans in their indifference toward the poor and working poor, and they end up voting on social issues. Tom Franks said a thing or two about this. There really is no one fighting for unions any more. Show me a Democrat that is different from a Republican on coal in WV and I’ll show you an unelected Democrat.

Again, I think the way the piece read will rub a lot of people the wrong way, and that is was in the WSJ makes it a hard pill to swallow for a lot of us, but I don’t think for a minute Webb meant to claim that minorities have not suffered.

Balloon Juice Blog Archive Webb’s Op-Ed