If there is only one human race, why does my college discriminate based on race?

Question

In my evolution class I learned that there is only one human race. We all started out as Africans then those people that traveled to Europe got lighter skin because they needed more Vitamin D from the sun etc. So why does my college use a racial preference policy that gives relaxed standards to blacks and Hispanics? Why is there a "diversity" police at my school? It seems so superficial! Just because someone is a different skin color that automatically means they are vastly different than me? I can't have anything in common with a person of a different skin color? Wouldn't the fact that we are only one human race end a lot of discrimination? Once people all realize they ALL evolved from Africans and we are ALL African then maybe they wouldn't be racist? Why can't we just realize how irrelevant race is and stop using it as a preferential system for getting minorities into schools? Why not instead use a system based on SES? It insults me that I get relaxed standards because I am black.

Answer 1

You're more than right, I would be upset too. i agree with you, there is only one race and to be honest with you, I love to know that you're black and you're dissatisfied with this situation!!

In Brazil for you to get into any university you have to take a very very hard exam, with all subjects, and you have to pass them all.  And people get in according to their grades, only the highest grades will be accepted. But they have something calles the  "quota" system, which means that 20% of the student to be accepted, must me black or part black, regardless of their grade. So for example someone that score a 7 on a 1 to 10 scale, might not get in, while a black person that registered through the quotas system and score a 5, will be accepted.

But here in america I think this type of attitude comes from a long conflict between blacks and white about racism. Part of the black community feels that since they where slaved by the white men, that they deserve to have better chances now. I disagreed with this type of attitude here in the USA because there are chances available to any race, equally. No one should have the need to use this type of priviledge to accomplish anything. I think it kind of diminishes your accomplishements. Apparently we agree on that one.

Try to bring this up in school, talk to other students, talk to counselors, bring action!!!

Good luck to you!

PS: I'm adding you as your fan! :)

Answer 2

Believe it or not, what appears to be evident, is in fact a new concept. Racial discrimination has, for the MOST part, become a thing of the past. But this has happened within my lifetime. I remember vividly, the 1960's riots and marches, to achieve what we now think of a fact. We are, in fact, all one big family. But trying to convince someone of that, without DNA proof, in Alabama would have been suicidal.

Now there has been a debate over the attempts to ease the conscience of some liberal moralists by giving those,historically effected negatively, a boost up the social ladder. It has only been a single generation since equality, such as it is, has been government policy. It's my opinion that a single generation is not enough to make up for centuries of wrongdoing. I would like to see these programs extended for at least another. I understand that some who receive this aid feel as if it is undeserved. But I felt that I was reverse discriminated against in the 1970's. I didn't get the extra points that black and hispanic students got. Looking back, I see the wisdom of it.

Answer 3

it is reverse discrimination. since many other than white had inferior schooling in the past they make allowances. many white students these days also come from poor schooling but do not get the same break.

Answer 4

It is superficial, and is based on cultural ideas, not scientific.

Answer 5

Behind all the fine talk there's an insulting message. Somehow, just because of skin color, a person is less capable and needs extra help.

Recall reading of an person that applied to a prestigious college  and was first rejected. Then, when he was found to be a minority, accepted. It was explained that they had him on the wrong race list.

Personally, I like the military system. The promotion selection boards are told not to select based on race, but to have the makeup of those promoted reflect that of the military.

Regrettably, if the racial selection wasn't done then the number of minorities in college would be lower. Racism is still active

Answer 6

Listen my friend. I hate to say this, but I must. 'They' cannot perpetuate prejudice anymore by using the race concept. Race is a competition which needs opposition. We are this unique specie being controlled by those who have their own motives. White people are being incited against black people because 'someone' (they) is deliberately causing the majority (whites) to feel prejudiced. They are swinging the focus from the minority who cried for prejudice for years and bringing it toward the majority in order to maintain a separation between people. What the blacks could do is rise up unanimously and demonstrate against affirmative action. It is subtle prejudice against blacks. It is hoping to prove an inferiority and incite whites to hatred. Who came up with these ideas I do not know, but I am the doctor of perpetual motion. I can read SPELLS. Evil act of SORCERY! Peace.

Answer 7

I agree totally with you on this one, unfortunately I think this is society's problem and not just your school's. I also don't think it's going to get better quickly, I think it will be a couple hundred years before we see a vast difference in the social system. I feel Britain is a bit better on this score thought, although I guess it depends on your perspective.

Try not to get insulted, its not personal. If it really bothers you, do something about it. Set up a pressure group, get others on board. Good luck!

Answer 8

My friend, I am a christian I believe in god I am not going to base my answer upon Christianity, from what I believe is true We all came From Adam and eve, the bible doesn't specify the color so it may of very well been black as well as white I don't know, there were other people on earth at the same time as Adam and Eve if your a christian and say that's blasphemy read Genesis you'll find that the bible never specifies where Cain's(or was it Able's) wife came from other then earlier in genesis before Adam and Eve god created other men and told them to be fruitful and multiply...

Now to get to the point and answer to your question, Because like you said People later moved to Europe and became light, which would mean other races sprang up which would in theory to me mean that they changed from black or African to white or other type of European which would change the race completely to another type of race, wouldn't you agree? After all if it means that the lighter skinned European(or African as you would say)was once African wouldn't that make the original African white?

That's the point and here's the answer, as things evolve from the original state that doesn't change them completely however it does change them enough to make them different does it not and when the African was changed after going to Europe do you believe that after hundreds of years to change when it came back a completely different color and virtually different from the African could you still call it an African?

now don't think this is ignorant just think on it for a moment or two and you'll relies what I mean I know its a bit confusing but just read it and think about it for a minute.

And if that didn't help think of it like this.

Africans go to Europe it would take at least a few hundred years for them to change or evolve as you would say.

think of it as this as well.

Saber Tooth Tiger(in example being the African) to Kitty Cat(In example being the European) you keep as a pet, would you call the kitty cat a Saber Tooth Tiger?No you wouldn't.

And thus fourth the reason that your college discriminates (like so well I don't know if you could call it discrimination because they aren't stopping you from coming to the school are they?) is because if you were to look back in time back to the slave decade, because unless your ancestors came from Africa after slavery had ended, they would kill all the smart slaves and gather all the slower stronger slaves together and try to breed them into super slaves to do more work faster,(much like how the smart farmer tries to do with animals because do remember slaves were no More then animals to the white men from the decade) My point is that's why they are biased against Black people in the way you claim in a lower standard way, because the black man had less time to begin educating themselves or becoming smarter

then the white man  does that make white people smarter no not at all it doesn't, does it make black people smarter no not at all, but it does show that in a twisted way that may hurt peoples feelings they are trying their best to help the black man who had roughly ,after slavery and civil rights came in order to make everything equal for black and white, 40-50 years.

thanks for your time, and hope this made things more clear for you if it didnt so what dont care.

Answer 9

Even if ALL your points are right, you should be asking your college that question.  

By the way, "Hispanics" is not a race or a nationality;  it is an ethnic group.

Answer 10

Those who believe in affirmative action see this as a way to make up for past discrimination. I don't believe in this kind of quota system for the exact same reasons you don't. I think it distracts people from trying to solve the real problems minorities and working class students in general have getting quality education. Affirmative action is a quick fix, and like most quick fixes, it isn't effective.

Answer 11

that's really admirable. i agree with you on that. i think that while laws that are used to force employers to hire from the races equally had good intentions i think they do about the same amount of harm as good.

instead of telling minorities to reach for the highest they can achieve, these laws say, "well reach, but you're in b/c your skin/gender/etc is scarce here".

i get REALLY angry when i hear about stories where someone was chosen for a police or fireman's job b/c they were black or female, when there were more qualified people who just happened to be white or male. this lessens the quality of law enforcement or firesafety we have in our communities.

i think it should all be based on the numbers.

blacks and other minorities are perfectly capable of obtaining the same scores as whites/males. telling them they dont HAVE to try keeps them down just as badly as the old discrimination laws.

Answer 12

Juxtaposition of words creates discrimination. It's Humanity.

"In my evolution class I learned that there is only one 'Humanity."

End to the discussional perpetuation of "race" word-use discrimination.

Accept the fact that Nature strives for equilibrium ~ darker skin, lighter skin, etc. And, that humanity in imitation attempts the same kind of balance, however, sometimes with success, sometimes with failure, and always with intent for ill or benefit.  There will always be discrimination either through good will or ill will: it is humanity.

"Discrimination , noun. [Latin expression discriminatio the contrasting of opposite thoughts.].  Humanity or Human Race?

Discriminate in your juxtaposed selection of  words; be inventive for direction and clarity.

By doing the right thing, reciprocity, and without recognition ~ discrimination dies. By perpetuating the endless discussion, discrimination lives. I could care less whether you are black, blue, yellow, white, janitor or cosmonaut. We are ~ absence of race ~ humanity.

Answer 13

Actually, there is only one human...SPECIE!!! The concept of the human "race" is an absolute fallacy. The races are sub-categorized under the human SPECIE.

I'll say it again...the human RACE does not exist...it's the human SPECIE!!!!

Answer 14

We are all born equal. Some of us are more equal than others

Answer 15

Because I have adopted children that are Latino & I am an Anglo, they are not elgible for special consideration in any program, education or otherwise.  My daughter, obviously Latina, wasn't allowed to enter a beauty contest for Latinas.  This causes me a lot of head scratching... if my last name was Gonzales, then they could get special treatment, but simply because I have an Anglo surname they have to fight upstream with the masses. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. Wonder if Vicente Fox had this problem when he was president of Mexico?

Answer 16

It's totaly not fair at all.. and in fact it is just down right wrong.  But this is what happens when a country and an education system bowes to the PC movement.  You can thank the leaders of the minorities that pressure colleges into admitting students that are not qualified just because of their skin color.  I do not think that there is such a thing as a racist test but you have people like Jessie Jackson, and AL Sharpton who would lead you to believe that there is.  In the past organizations like the NAACP have sued Universities based upon the fact that they felt that the entrance exams were too hard.  It happened at the university of Michigan. If I were black I would be insulted as well but there are too many people looking for a handout to care.  So in a way what you get is a reverse racism and as a white man if I say anything against it I am labeled a bigot and a racists.  It doesn't stop at education it continues into the work place and financial institutions as well.   Affirmative action has never been right and never will.

Answer 17

You know I completely agree with you! I'm white, and I hate the idea of affirmative action. People should simply be treated as people. Affirmative action is in itself racist. The government and the media keep telling us how bad racism is, and yet they all agree that affirmative action is the "right" thing to do. It's rediculous!

Answer 18

That's not what I learned in Anthropology. There are 3 races; Caucasoid, Neg roid and Mongoloid, but they basically exist on a gradient where they merge into one another and there are fewer differences among races than there are within them.

Anyways, what you describe is affirmative action. Some people think that racism is institutionalized and it is impossible for underprivileged minorities to receive an education that is even comparable to that of a middle or upper class white person in public schools. They try to level tthe playing field by giving minorities a little boost allowing them to get into colleges and get good jobs. They also bus inner city kids to various schools that would otherwise be mostly white.

Most people think these are all bad ideas. I personally think they would be better off improving inner city schools and creating vocational and work programs.

Answer 19

I understand where you're coming from and you're right.  It seems offensive on both sides of the fence when you say it that way.  A white person who gets rejected to let a less qualified person in would be equally as offended as the person of color who gets in, not for being a good student, but rather for their color.  A person should just be a person.

That said however, the reasoning behind it is that the majority of students who get less opportunities in their earlier education are of color - this has a lot to do with socio-economic factors - and as such are not given the opportunity to produce the excellent gpas of other students.  It's not true in all cases, but the theory is to give everyone the opportunity to be their best and get a higher education regardless of the situation they came from.

Answer 20

You should be happy that you are in, other people couldn't make it. Now, what you have to do, is to honor yourself and SHOW  them that YOU are good because YOU  are YOU. Make the best of it and have fun!

Answer 21

I understand you completely,  these rules are completely unfair and underestimate the potential and intelligence of a branch of humanity.  My only guess is that some people can't agree with the fact that blacks are just as good as them in every way.

Answer 22

Touch Subject.... tell it to Obama

Answer 23

This is known as "social engineering", and it can have very negative consequences sometimes. Of course, depending on who you talk to, it's a great idea or a terrible one.

Answer 24

Hi Ginger,

I agree with you. I think that they are trying to "equalize" past discrimination that was originally in favor of Caucasians, by leveling the playing field now, with this policy.  I guess if enough people pressure your college, the more they will be inclined to reversing this rule in favor of "minorities".

Answer 25

Hmmmm.  This bugs me as well.  It is maddening!!!  It's like when employers advertise for jobs round here (in the UK), they put sh*t like 'people from ethnic minorities are particularly encouraged to apply.'  WHY?  If they put WHITE people are particularly encouraged to apply, blacks would be very offended.  Then again, saying that 'people from ethnic minorities are encouraged to apply' is offensive to blacks, because it's telling them that they are only being interviewed coz they're black and not coz they think they think they might be good!

There is even a law here in the UK that says we must have 1 black person for every 10 white peope in every workplace...  why?  And has that 'black person' just been employed to make up the numbers?!

Answer 26

Well Ginger, I think we should all be treated equally and judged for things like college entry based upon our character and grades.

Answer 27

"I take it as an insult that they would let me in with a 3.5 (I'm black) but a white person would need a 3.7."

Your right, it's insulting, and bloody patronising. It suggests you can't manage it without assistance.

Breaks for kids from bad neighborhoods and bad schools are fine, but not on the basis of race.

BTW, we are all human, not African, I wasn't born in Africa.