Actually, that sorta offends me. I don’t want to be called white, I prefer the term European-American.
Pigmentationally challenged, if you please.
So wait a minute, you claim not to be a racist, while claiming affermitive action is “terrible” and the very bullshit that AA was designed to remeby is just “business as usual, it’s no big deal.”
What kind of fucking idiot are you?
I don’t think anyone was contesting that the attitude isn’t common, and such practices don’t frequently occur in HR departments. The observation was just that tarpal is probably lying about having such a job himself. No one who actually had such a job would put it and his company in such jeopardy by admitting to such racism in hiring, even on a supposedly anonymous message board.
Depending on the job, writing poorly and leaving blanks on certain questions could be legitimate reasons to ding an application. The applicant’s name of course is not.
So if I come across your application and see “white person” under your name, you won’t be offended if I toss it in the trash. I can just do whatever the hell I want, right? Everyone has perfectly good reasons for discriminating, right?
I wasn’t offended by the thread, even though it’s ANNOYING AS HELL in some places. I was offended by one poster. And you’re starting to offend me too. As the author of that thread, it seems like you should care that your thread was hijacked by a loser like tarpal. Instead, you’re apologizing for him. So if tarpal is a loser, what does that make you?
I don’t think you’re regular. You may become less full of it by adding fiber to your diet.
But the difference is that black people aren’t posting threads about the weirdness of white culture on the SDMB. Maybe someone should, just to keep things symmetrical. Or maybe people need to find other questions to ask. Certainly “black” naming has run its course as a GQ topic.
I have large ears. I was teased when I was a kid for having them. I had no control over their irregularly large size. I lived with it, I knew it was unusual to some and I accepted it. I knew that the people who commented on my ears weren’t bad people, they were simply not used to them.
Yes, I am. In this great country, people can say whatever the hell they want. Being a mature person, if my name was being teased, I would shrug it off. I would tell myself to stay strong and not to let it get to me.
If being angry that people with less qualifications will get a job over me constitutes being racist, then yes I’m a racist. This discussion is for another time, though. I was simply trying to say that the government has policy which I think isn’t fair for people like me, and tarpal’s policy is unfair to people with unfamiliar names. I find both policies wrong, they are totally unfair to the negatively affected parties.
That was more directed to someone who earlier said it would’ve been appropriate to say “What are the origins of black names” and “What’s up with black names” was disgusting. Corrections like that really piss me off. Don’t tell me how to post, as if I mentioned blacks in some sort of informal way, therefore making me racist. I don’t appreciate tarpal’s comments at all, after all, it was a GQ thread, not an IMHO. I can’t justify his actions or comments.
Yes, maybe because there aren’t many blacks on this board. From personal experiences, I’ve noticed many blacks are very ignorant and intolerant to white culture. And much worse than people questioning and teasing the origins of African American names.
I kind of doubt it would be possible to find someone less qualified than you for any position, regardless of their race. That line is always spouted by ignorant fucking racists, but it has absolutely nothing to do with afermative action in the real world.
You didn’t let that brain fart ripe for too long, huh? :rolleyes:
So, if there aren’t that many rascit pigs (yes, they come in all hues of the Pantone Chart) preaching against the “evil white” it just means that there aren’t many blacks on this board. I don’t recall having had to answer any question on my skin colour when I registered. What makes you think there aren’t that many blacks? Why can’t we just be presumed civil enough not to do to others what sometimes black suffer themselves?
Come out dude, you can barely wait to show your true colours.
Cite please?
Actually, nevermind. Since we all know the vast majority of people on this board are intelligent and articulate, and we all know that black people aren’t usually either (I mean, just look at their names!), there can’t possibly be that many black Dopers, ipso facto. Or something.
Chump.
The fight against ignorance is starting to seem futile.
Thank you for that sweeping generalization. We’re all enlightened. You may go now.
As a black person living in a society where I’m the minority, I know much more about “white” culture than you do about “black” culture. So much so that I don’t need to post a thread about why white people do so-and-so. I’ve been taught that whatever white people do is normal and whatever people like me do is strange. Black people don’t have normal-sized lips. We have big lips. We don’t have normal names. We have bizarre, stupid, lazy names. We don’t talk standard English. We speak deviant English. We don’t have regular fads. No, our fads are deviant and are always based on “gangs”.
We aren’t people. We’re black people.
I don’t need to be lectured to about what black people know and don’t know by someone who thinks blacks fall nicely into two categories:
From http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2711321#post2711321 :
(And just so you know–just in case you find yourself in an AA rant thread–the"upscale" blacks are the ones who benefit more from AA than those “ghetto” blacks.)
You’re still in high school, right? The only qualification you probably have is whether or not you know the difference between the deep-fat fryer and the cash register. When you’ve been turned down for a job at McDonald’s because they have too many white guys, come find me and we’ll have a rally at the White House. Until then your rant against affirmative action is no different from the ranting of any other whiny brat with no independently-derived ideas or opinions. Neither is very impressive.
With respect to relative numbers you may well be correct, but so what? Many (certainly not all) black people are just in the initial process of becoming technology “haves” so this differential is not all that surprising and will likely become less in time. With respect to the issue of “white culture” what exactly is “white culture”?
I’m a white male professional educated in Bethesda, MD and the the child of professionals from way down south. Is “white culture” my culture or is it the “down home” countrified culture of NASCAR and CMT and Longaberger baskets, or the cut throat, gogo NY Wall street culture or the small town main street Mayberryesque culture of my father’s youth, or maybe it’s poor white trailer trash culture or Boston Southie culture or Texas culture or laid back L.A. culture … what is white culture?
And for that matter what is black culture? Is is the culture of Carl our smartass, ace data services guy who helps me with NT network questions and drives a Porsche, or is the culture of Rene the deeply religious man who cleans our offices and drives a Chevy van and helps me with industrial cleanouts and is sending his sons through college, or is the culture of Dr. Zant the neurological surgeon whose office staff keeps telling me he’s out when I’m trying to sell him some property for a new office site [sub](but I know he’s in)[/sub], which black culture are we talking about?
I read that article a few months ago in Sports Illustrated. I always enjoy reading Rick Reilly, and I thought he made some very good points about double standards regarding rascism.
Though I definitely do not agree with tarpal 's practice of throwing out job applications simply based on name, I do agree with TheRochester that America has some double standards. Of course it’s wrong for white people to be racist and make mean comments about other races, but when black people make mean comments about “white guys”, it’s acceptable? That’s bullshit.
Racism is wrong, period, no matter who is the one being racist.
Two things: One: So you are comfortable being made fun of, doesn’t mean anyone else **has ** to be. Two: Are you actually agreeing with them poking fun at you? I never said that making fun of someone is equal to being a bad person. I’m taking issue with the act, not the actor.
I totally agree with freedom of speech. Say whatever you want, I’m not going to stop you. I also have this freedom, and I will tell you when I think you are abusing yours. You say you would shrug it off, but this isn’t the argument. You being a “mature” person are doing a decidedly immature thing by insulting peoples names. Your approach to this whole thing is that everyone should develop thicker skin. How about you develop some basic understanding of what you are saying, and how it can effect people. You are judging people based on something they have absolutely no control over…How does that make you mature?
I agree, it’s a discussion for another time, but I did want to say if that’s all that you think affirmative action is, then you are mistaken. Also, you are trying to play the victim, when you are the attacker. You brought up names, and AA, you brought up the latter in order to have an arena you could defend.
Don’t tell you how to post? Go ahead stick your foot down your throat. You mentioned “blacks” in an offensive way, not informal. What were asking, you were asking what is up with black names, the implication is that there is something wrong with black names. Whether you ment it that way or not, that’s how you’ve come off.
- You don’t know how many “blacks” are on this board. Also, your “personal” experience doesn’t give you the right to be bias, IMHO.
He doesn’t know how many blacks are on this board because that crap is a thinly veiled attempt to get some kind of role call. Then he can say that the board is bias because it’s majority black or some shit, or either harass the posters who identify themselves as black.
Nevertheless, I won’t judge the entire white race for the crap that you do, Splanky. But again, I call on you and others of your idealogy to have some balls. Come on out and say what you really mean. Go ahead and spout your crap.
I dare you.
I made a thread in IMHO for all those who feel like coming out of the black closet.
LOL 
I meant the put down, btw
Some may feel your inviation is condescending re the notion that black dopers are tucked away behind Cecil’s golf umbrella in the SDMB “closet”. Based on 2-3 years of empirical observation of posting styles on the SDMB I don’t think any black dopers are shy about giving a “black perspective” on the issue under consideration if the question could benefit from it, but most of the time they are just offering advice and answering and asking questions from a curious humanoid perspective.
astro, my use of the word “closet” is not the same as the meaning used by gay folks. The internet is one funny thing in that it keeps people from actually seeing who they converse with. If you’re black and you frequent boards like these, people will often assume you are white unless you tell them otherwise. Similarily, if you’re white and you find yourself defending positions that other people perceive to be biased towards blacks, people will quickly assume you’re black. This doesn’t usually happen in the real world. And it is this “closet” that I’m refering to, not the “I’m ashamed of being black and therefore, I want to keep mum about it on this board” closet.
Sorry if you and others saw it that way, but any confusion could have been cleared up by simply clinking on the link.