Opposing Affirmative Action is a 'sin'; Opponents must redeem selves

The Specturm [University at Buffalo newspaper] ^ | FEBRUARY 24th, 2003 | ADAM LANIYAN

[twas]

Here is the original thread:

College Student Opposes Affirmative Action

Mail responses to: spectrum-me@buffalo.edu

Please make your opinion known. Please write a letter today.

Thank-you.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

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[yankeedame]

I have to admit it: If you hadn't include the link to the original article I would have swore the whole thing was a put-on.

[Poohbah]

This screed was so dumb that I think I lost a few brain cells reading it.

Of course, I wonder how someone as illiterate as the author of this tripe got admitted to the University at Buffalo.

[Jim Noble]

Let's talk about not having a job for 11 months after graduating from college

Sounds like my son.

He always told me he was white...

[FreeTally]

Let me see if I can summarize this:

Blah, blah, blah... Im black, you're not..... blah, blah.... blacks are oppressed, you're not.... blah, blah..."dumb analogies"....typical victimhood....blah, blah......

[FreeTally]

Now to redeem yourself from all these gross sins,...

I was expecting the author to suggest donating money to some wackjob organization..

[dfwgator]

"It's a black thing, you wouldn't understand."

[CatoRenasci]

While one is tempted to feel a certain sympathy for the cri de coeur of the writer, who displays a deep belief in the affirmative action programs of which she is apparently a beneficiary, such sympathy would be misplaced.

Her entire response to the original writer's letter consists of ad hominem attacks on the character of the writer and all whites, and an appeal to unverifiable authority (characterizing her views as "sin" without any scriptural or other religious evidence). Responses of this nature in my classroom (or anywhere else in the University of California), when I was a graduate teaching assistant over 30 years ago, would have not been considered legitimate arguments. Learning not to argue fallaciously, and to speak directly to the arguments one wishes to refute, are skills which were once learned in the better high schools, or in any event, in required freshman courses in English composition or philosophy.

At the risk of falling into ad hominem argument, I would suggest the writer demonstrates the lack of adequate preparation for university work that opponents of affirmative action cite as unfair to the unprepared students admitted themseleves, to the better-prepared students who are not admitted, and to the university community as a whole to the extent standards for all are eroded. I would suggest for the sake of her education, the writer take a basic course in English composition (what used to be called 'bonehead' English, or 'Subject A' at the University of California), and an introductory course in philosophy or logic. Perhaps then she will be in a position to argue her case more effectively.

[fourdeuce82d]

Does UB have an affirmative action plan for idiots, or those who have suffered severe head trauma?

Repeat after me, Mr. Laniyan- "Would you like fries with that? Would you like fries with that?"

[BufordP]

I knows why Adam Laniyan ain't be gotten a job in over 11 monfs.

[johnny7]

From the way you have put your (column) together, is it obvious that you are (an) average white girl and you are definitely special. Let me let you know that you have just committed a gross sin, for you know nothing about what you speak.

A product of a public schools. Piss poor.

[Still Thinking]

Let's talk about not having a job for 11 months after graduating from college. What is the reason for not hiring a black woman who just graduated out of Baruch College (one of the most prestigious city colleges) with a bachelor's in business management? The answer is that the economy is doing bad and we are not hiring. Is the economy doing that bad that after countless interviews she is just getting a job? While her less intellectual colleagues got jobs in less than two months after graduating.

If the application process required any writing, I can guarantee I know why she didn't get the job. Maybe she could have spent some of those 11 months on a remedial English class. Maybe some of her "less intellectual" colleagues can actually write a coherent sentence.

[Bob J]

Wow. Take a look at the intellectual, non racist, non inflammatory, non judgmental and non elitist prose this University educated person employs.

"you are (an) average white girl"
"you have just committed a gross sin"
"you know nothing about what you speak"
"those minuscule eyes of yours"
"as long as every white man"
"not a single form of intelligence"
" "in better words dumb"
"use that brain of yours"
"you should have stayed home"
"You then commit another gross sin, babbling..."
"there you go again and make another dumb or the most un-intellectual"
"less intellectual colleagues"
"a white man in the United States"
"How could you have possibly come to the conclusion"
"are white women"
"White Women Right(s) Movement"
"Now to redeem yourself"

They then go on to propose this whooper.

"I want us to have a real conversation, human being to human being."

Right. I wonder if the respondent is the woman who had a tough time finding a job? After this screed, I can't possibly understand why. Who wouldn't want to hire an angry racist with poor communication and people skills?

[Centurion2000]

Let's talk about not having a job for 11 months after graduating from college. What is the reason for not hiring a black woman who just graduated out of Baruch College (one of the most prestigious city colleges) with a bachelor's in business management?

Because maybe bosses see that entitlement mentality that this author wears on her sleeve and say NOPE.

Nobody owes you a job whether you're white, black, purple, green or blue.

Black people with this attitude REALLY piss me off. If you're willing to work hard, then you're ok in my book.

[Centurion2000]

Black people with this attitude REALLY piss me off

Correction: ANYONE with this attitude would piss me off.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Through those minuscule eyes of yours,

What a judgmental person!

I lost my job many years ago becasue I'm a white male. The govt. forces govt. contractors to give tally sheets for race, etc. and slams them if their assigned quota hasn't been met. So don't go telling me about not knowing what it's like to be discriminated against.

[general_re]

...I wonder how someone as illiterate as the author of this tripe got admitted to the University at Buffalo.

Does UB have an affirmative action plan for idiots...

Why, yes - yes, they do. Poohbah, fourdeuce - fourdeuce, Poohbah ;)

[demosthenes the elder]

IT'S A BLACK THING THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS!