# Trump's argument about Affirmative Action **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 28, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972 "2011-04-28T00:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/61 "2011-04-29T06:56:40Z")
Trump went to a school that’s all about Edith Wharton? That is so gay. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/62 "2011-04-29T07:07:39Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I was trying to point out how the phrase “you people” (EXACTLY like the phrase “the blacks”) is used by slightly thuggish, sometimes clueless, always insensitive, often racist white folks, unwittingly revealing their insularity. Keep using it, **SA** , and keep defending its use–it tells us who you are, even if you continue to think of it as an innocent, racially neutral descriptor. No, “you people” in a general context has nothing to do with race, thuggishness or any of the other characteristics you’d like to hang on it. It’s more or less the equivalent of saying “people of your ilk”. You can substitute that phrase and apply it to yourself if you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![medicated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@medicated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medicated)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/63 "2011-04-29T09:46:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Are you aware that the Wharton School is the business school at the University of Pennsylvania? In other words, it _is_ the Ivy League. Ah, I wasn’t aware of that at all. At least that particular point of ignorance is cured. Still, he’s a git 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/64 "2011-04-29T10:13:23Z")
Getting back for a moment to Trump’s “the blacks” comment, it looks like this terminology may be a quirk of his accent or way of speaking in general. Wiki says the following with regard to Trump’s allegedly not wanting to shake hands due to concern over germs: > [@](#): > > While it has been reported that Trump does not shake hands because of fear of germs,[16] he claims this phobia is “ **a rumor that the enemies say** ”, and shook hands repeatedly in public during a visit to New Hampshire in April 2011. > > [bolding mine] Still, this terminology isn’t much different from someone saying “the Democrats” or “the reporters” or “the voters”. He just extends that way of speaking to black people as a group as well, probably because he isn’t attuned to political correctness and doesn’t allow other people to dictate how he phrases things. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/65 "2011-04-29T13:04:13Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Why? It’s been said he is popular with ‘the’ birthers; with ‘the’ Republicans; with ‘the’ Tea Partiers; etc. What is it about the word ‘black’ that prohibits the use of the word “the” in conjunction with it? Saying that no more makes him a racist than questioning Obama’s grades. He clearly meant the black community and you and I and everyone else knows it. If you people had to sit on the word ‘racist’ you couldn’t formulate an argument. Because every other group you’ve mentioned is a group with voluntary membership, making it more appropriate to refer to them as a monolithic group. “blacks” is not a group with voluntary membership, meaning it’s somewhere between stunningly impolite and outright racist to assume they share tendencies beyond superficial skin color. The same would apply to “the old” (which would be somewhere between impolite and outright ageist) or “the whites”, but not to Trump’s use of “the enemies”. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > He just extends that way of speaking to black people as a group as well, probably because he isn’t attuned to political correctness and doesn’t allow other people to dictate how he phrases things. In this particular context, it’s not even necessarily a political correctness issue, unless we’re using that to mean “politeness” now. If it’s a verbal tic, it’s an unfortunate one. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/66 "2011-04-29T13:19:48Z")
I do know that The Donald’s use of “the Blacks” is definitely perceived as a slight amongst the AA women I work with and did not pass by unnoticed by them. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/67 "2011-04-29T13:28:59Z")
I’m not offended by “the blacks”. I’m just amused that he would say something so tone deaf and bone-headed. You can practically hear the laugh track playing in the background when you imagine him saying it, a la a Norman Lear sitcom. If you’re going to claim to have good relationships with a group of people, it would probably be smart to refer to them in a way that doesn’t mark you as a total outsider. Seems like a people-savvy executive would know this. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/68 "2011-04-29T14:14:13Z")
Trump is incredibly tone deaf in general. When Hawaii finally released Obama’s original birth certificate, he said he felt honored by himself and is proud of himself, and said it like he was receiving an award. The guy doesn’t get that that level of self-masturbation is actually comical. I don’t for a moment think he actually thinks he accomplished anything, BTW, and more than I believe he’s actually a birther, or that his people found anything. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/69 "2011-04-29T14:20:05Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Grant so, but depending on the Senator/Congressman in your district, getting that appointment (which, having done the process, is far harder than the admissions process and entrance exams) can be effectively a matter of legacy, or not. (I ultimately decided to refuse my appointment due to the limited range of jobs available for the corrected-but-legally-blind, but I got it in the first place by major sucking up to the local Rep when he was handing me some kinda one-off academic award the school district had talked him into presenting). My Grandfather in Law was a Brigadier General. My uncle in law graduated from the Air Force Academy (IIRC). My father in law went to West Point (which he didn’t want to do), nearly flunked out, went to the Coast Guard Academy, did flunk out. While there may not be an official legacy system in the military academy, apparently if you are the son of a Brigadier General, its pretty much an auto-in - even if you fight it tooth and nail - as long as Dad wants you in. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/70 "2011-04-29T14:31:24Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > If you’re going to claim to have good relationships with a group of people, it would probably be smart to refer to them in a way that doesn’t mark you as a total outsider. Seems like a people-savvy executive would know this. Hey, some of my best friends are blacks. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/71 "2011-04-29T15:11:08Z")
The Donald is a rich guy. He doesn’t have those issues, because everyone around him is, to one extent or another, dependent upon him. Sycophancy breeds a wildly inaccurate estimation of self-worth and regard. He doesn’t know what the people around him think, he doesn’t know if he’s offended anyone. He _might_ care, maybe, but these circumstances develop assholitude like bonsai gardening develops smallness. Some men start out assholes and achieve wealth, through the virtues of rapacity, cunning, and greed. In that instance, wealth merely accentuates the natural tendencies already extant. Others might start out more or less normal, but the effects noted above gradually, over time, produce an asshole. These people might, in a generous and forgiving light, be thought of as victims. Fuck 'em anyway, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/72 "2011-04-29T15:17:20Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Hey, some of my best friends are blacks. You got that wrong. It’s “some of my best friends are **the** blacks.” ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/73 "2011-04-29T15:23:46Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Trump is incredibly tone deaf in general. When Hawaii finally released Obama’s original birth certificate, he said he felt honored by himself and is proud of himself, and said it like he was receiving an award. The guy doesn’t get that that level of self-masturbation is actually comical. And is it just me but whenever he goes on like this, he sound remarkably like a toddler who is proud of the poopy he put in the potty? I don’t know what it is, but his speech patterns don’t even sound dumb as much as they sound preschoolish. If you saw him in person, you’d probably want to laugh at him or pet him on the head. Except then you’d have to touch that growth. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/74 "2011-04-29T15:35:27Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > If you saw him in person, you’d probably want to laugh at him or pet him on the head. Except then you’d have to touch that growth. The citizenship of which he has failed to establish. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/75 "2011-04-29T15:38:28Z")
Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/76 "2011-04-29T15:41:52Z")
> [@medicated](#): > > > [@Dewey Finn](#): > > > > Well, he did get a undergraduate degree from Wharton. > > True, but it doesn’t have quite the prestige of the Ivy League. I’m not saying that this is justified, but merely that it’s so perceived. Subtle UPennState trolling detected. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/77 "2011-04-29T15:51:48Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > …If you saw him in person, you’d probably want to laugh at him or pet him on the head. Except then you’d have to touch that growth. There is nothing _growing_ on that head, or in it. But I could be wrong. Maybe that thing is some kind of fungus. Or possibly like _Alien_, except it ate its way out of his head instead of his chest. Now it keeps him going as an animated meat puppet as part of a scheme to eventually take over the world! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/78 "2011-04-29T16:24:25Z")
“… and black people get into college like _this._” ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/79 "2011-04-29T16:26:37Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Trump is incredibly tone deaf in general. When Hawaii finally released Obama’s original birth certificate, he said he felt honored by himself and is proud of himself, and said it like he was receiving an award. The guy doesn’t get that that level of self-masturbation is actually comical. An editorial in the NYT points out that his pride over the birth certificate issues is “in contrast to normal days, when Trump is continually walking around in an existential funk, asking himself why he was ever born.” ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972/80 "2011-04-29T16:33:29Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You got that wrong. It’s “some of my best friends are **the** blacks.” Oh no. That’s not correct at all. I only like a couple of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-argument-about-affirmative-action/579972.md?page=5)