Nationwide Protest of Affirmative Action

NoRace.org ^

[JeremyYoder]

New Web Site Uses Civil Disobedience to Protest Affirmative Action

http://www.NoRace.org

On it, prospective college and grad school students can log on and sign an “action petition” stating that they will intentionally misreport their races on college admissions applications. The site will not reveal their names (we want them to get accepted), but will reveal how many applicants from each school have signed the petition. Signers are given an official letter of protest to present to any Dean of Admissions that gives them grief because of their skin color.

I thought you might be interested.

[pabianice]

There is nothing like someone's kid being rejected from college for Being White While Applying that turns a Liberal into a fire-breathing Conservative...

A good friend and former Liberal told me that she has told her four kids to leave blank the "race" catagory on their college admissions.

[big bad easter bunny]

Is it a crime to misrepresent your ancestory?

[geedee]

Is it a crime to misrepresent your ancestory?

Only if you're a liberal in charge of deciding such things. This is the only issue that warrants capital punishment to them.

[JeremyYoder]

Stupid, or just principled?

Once people sign the petition, they're given an official letter of protest to present to any Dean of Admission that gives them problems. The issue is not about trying to get into a college by claiming you're a minority when you aren't. It's about causing problems for them if they admit you thinking you're one race, then when you arrive, don't want to let you in.

The site gives tips on publicizing one's case to local media (both around the school and one's home town). The purpose is to PROTEST. Not just to disobey.

I address the issue in the FAQ's.
http://www.norace.org/sitefaq.cfm#kickout

[JeremyYoder]

I'm trying to mislead no one.

Certainly, they're marking false information. They're doing it, however, as an act of civil disobedience. They're formally protesting the school's policy and the letter says as much. They're not just trying to be dishonest.

Don't get me wrong. It is certainly a BIG risk for those who have elected to do it. I make it clear in the FAQ that they could very well get kicked out. It's their own decision.

[JeremyYoder]

I'm sure a lot of people will think I'm stupid too. :-D

I appreciate your comments on this. I think we both agree that diversity (of race and opinion) is certainly a good thing.

[Syncro]

Where were you born?

In the USA?

Well then, you are a native of this country.

So you are a Native American. Check tht box.

Actually, if you are white remember the oldest remains found in North America are Caucasian.

My nephew was born in Hawaii, his race is "Pacific Islander"

I am sure Asian could be checked if you were Caucasian. Just leave off the first part. Maybe only women could use tht tatic though.

[JeremyYoder]

For starters, I'm going to be posting a debate on the topic with a good friend of mine who is black and very liberal. He totally disagrees with me on the issue, and isn't bashfull about it. We're writing back and forth to each other on it now. Once we get the arguments hammered out, I'll post them on the site.

[JeremyYoder]

Yep. That's pretty much it.

I'm for better targeted preferences based upon factors that have a more direct impact on someone's potential for success, such as level of income and other disadvantages.

I have several minority friends who have attended the best public schools, lived in nice neighborhoods and had mediocre grades and test scores who were given favor over white kids from a bad part of town who got much better grades.

Yesterday, I spoke with a friend of mine who just attended an exclusive summer biology program at a university on the East coast. Though she's part Native American, she had just marked Caucasian on her application. When she attended, she noticed that 50% of the students there were African American, and very few were able to complete the program material. The university had given them all black mentors (I guess so as to be sensitive to their "cultural needs"), and they weren't held to the same standards as the rest of the students.

This is obviously purely anecdotal, but we all know this happens quite a bit.

I think by the time someone gets to college, they're often a lost cause. We need to find a better way to get these disadvantated kids into better schooling situations (I'm a voucher fan) before it's too late. Unfortunately, that's a whole new can of worms.

[JeremyYoder]

Hey, now. Calm down. :-D

The Supreme court decided that Michigan Law School could use race among other factors. I'm for the other factors, not for race.

Actually, there is zero chance you know that what I'm saying is unknown. I know the ACT and high-school GPA of both groups of students (two in each group). Regarding the fact that schools keep them private: I'm sure there's lots of other factors that they could use to dance around the issue of awarding student with inferiour academics a position over those with a better record.

I'll have to check with my friend regarding what school it was. She did tell me that those students were not required to perform the level of work required of everyone else. As I said, this is anecdotal. She could have descended from another planet and just masquerading as my friend, but that's what she said.

But I do stand corrected. I can now see that at least one person does not know of situations were things like this have happened.

I think that people should be helped in both secondary and higher ed. It's just that it's not happening. They're only trying to arbitrarily fix things by allowing people into higher ed. schools after they're already too far behind. As I said, I'm for vouchers and for holding public schools responsible for their failure (i.e. making them compete with other schools for students).

I'm not arguing this point for your benefit. You seem to be pretty set in your ways, or are just being argumentative for sport. Either way, I'm enjoying the discussion. My family's full of lawyers and lobbyists, so holidays gatherings are always pretty entertaining.

I'm hoping other folks are enjoying the subject as well.

[coloradan]

I believe in evolution ... and I sincerely believe my ancestors originated in Africa (with a few hundred thousand year stopover in Europe). That makes me African-American.

For a laugh, ask a liberal what is the race of Nelson Mandela. Usually, they answer "African American" - except that he isn't American.

[JeremyYoder]

Interesting: That's exactly what my dad said (he's a lawyer and for affirmative action). He joked that if we're all from Africa anyway, than we can mark whatever we want.