# Let's debate affirmative action **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 20, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818 "2014-02-20T20:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/401 "2014-04-22T22:06:02Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > What I would like to do, and I think many underestimate the importance of, is send a message to every young Black kid that you are not a slave, your parents were not slaves, your grandparents were not slaves. And while their is an ugly history in this country concerning slavery and the treatment of Blacks, that is behind us. More important, it is behind you—WAY behind you! YOU are just as good and just as smart as any kid of any race. Your future lies in what is ahead for you, not what for you is really ancient history. So, lift your chin up, pul your shoulders back and start working for what you want in life, by doing those things other kids your age are doing who aren’t distracted by an ugly history that has no bearing on you. Ignore that past, ugly as it was. Look ahead. Plan for what you want out of life and go after it. Yup. And when you fail to get a job for which you are qualified or secure a rental or a purchase of a house for which you have sufficient income, or, if you do commit a crime, when you are given a harsher sentence than your white neighbor for the same act, you will just have to go back the the ghetto and realize that you just did not try hard enough since that is just history that is behind you and has no bearing on your life. = = = This discussion is not helped by polemics that ignore reality. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/402 "2014-04-23T00:06:19Z")
Fun fact: Haitians are overrepresented the ranks of physicians. It seems that at least one black ethnic group is having no problem getting through medical school and getting into the profession. Black Africans are even more overrepresented. This is significant enough, IMO, that it kinda blows out the water the idea that you will be held back by how people perceive you by your skin color. > **[Ethnic Groups Overrepresented Among Physicians](https://slate.com/business/2014/02/physicians-ethnicities-which-groups-are-overrepresented.html)** > > From Gregory Clark's new book, The Son Also Rises, here's a chart showing which ethnic groups in the United States are overrepresented in the ranks of... ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/403 "2014-04-23T00:25:55Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Fun fact: Haitians are overrepresented the ranks of physicians. It seems that at least one black ethnic group is having no problem getting through medical school and getting into the profession. Black Africans are even more overrepresented. > > This is significant enough, IMO, that it kinda blows out the water the idea that you will be held back by how people perceive you by your skin color. > > [Physicians ethnicities: Which groups are overrepresented?](http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/02/28/physicians_ethnicities.html) The over-representation does not speak at all to the discrimination Blacks face based on skin color. Haitian-Americans are _voluntary_ immigrants who are often only allowed to come here _because_ they have already specialized skills, and/or are only allowed to stay only if they continue their education. Nobody would say Black people can never succeed because of discrimination, but rather that discrimination often greatly hinders success. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/404 "2014-04-23T00:45:06Z")
nm, thinking better of it now ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/405 "2014-04-23T12:38:55Z")
**magellan01** , there is now a thread open where your comment woud actually be appropriate. [SCOTUS rules States can ban race-based AA](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721617) (Wrong, of course, but appropriate. 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/406 "2014-04-23T13:51:29Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > And never mind that people will treat you differently because you are black. > > [neil tyson on genetic intelligence - Search Videos](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=neil+tyson+on+genetic+intelligence&qpvt=neil+tyson+on+genetic+intelligence&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=276F6643509972C42543276F6643509972C42543) > > Never mind that you grew up in a poor community that was impoverished by the policies of your government. The question is what will benefit you most? And I contend that my approach will allow an individual to do better in life than focusing on the injustices, real as they may be. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/407 "2014-04-23T13:56:17Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > **magellan01** , there is now a thread open where your comment woud actually be appropriate. > > [SCOTUS rules States can ban race-based AA](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721617) > > (Wrong, of course, but appropriate. 😃 ) 😉 But please do explain how in an OP entitled, “Let’s Debate Affirmative Action”, my post is off-point? More specifically, how is it less relevant here than in a thread entitled, “SCOTUS rules States can ban race-based AA”? Or are you just trying out those new-fangled rules of debate those cool Black kids are using? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/408 "2014-04-23T15:01:40Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > But please do explain how in an OP entitled, “Let’s Debate Affirmative Action”, my post is off-point? > > More specifically, how is it less relevant here than in a thread entitled, “SCOTUS rules States can ban race-based AA”? I am basing my view on the actual content of the OPs and the responses to them. If you read **Chieif Pedant** ’s actual OP in the thread he opened this morning, you will find that your post, here, comes much closer to discussing the topic he is discussing, regardless of the titles given to one thread or another. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818/409 "2014-04-23T20:33:08Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > The question is what will benefit you most? And I contend that my approach will allow an individual to do better in life than focusing on the injustices, real as they may be. On an individual basis, that is probably true. At a societal level, someone has to tackle this issue or we just live with ongoing injustice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-debate-affirmative-action/681818.md?page=20)