On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 03:27:04 -0800, Frank Gilliland
wrote:

We live in a society. This has obvious benefits, but it also demands
some responsibilities. One of those responsibilites is to make sure
everyone has a reasonable opportunity to succeed and not become a
burden on our society.

No, that is not necessarily true. We have the responsibility as a
society to provide opportunities. But we bare no responsibility to
guarantee success.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.


But because there are racist attitudes among
many employers, there are fewer opportunities for people of other
races. It then becomes the responsibility of everyone else to pick up
the slack left by the racists. That's why we have affirmative action.

I think we all understand why AA came to be. The problem is that what
AA does in essence, is to fight discrimination with reverse
discrimination.

Is it fair, that someone who is not a part of the recognized minority
(And this is not just blacks. It could be women, latinos, gays, or
anyone who isn't a WASP male), who goes through the right hoops,
studies hard, and works to make his place in society, only to have his
"place" taken from him and given to an arbitrary person of recognized
minority status, who did not work nearly as hard?


So don't blame the government and don't blame people "of color". Blame
Canada..... (hehe, just kidding). The problem originates with racist
attitudes which have been around for quite a while and aren't going
away anytime soon.

Minority people share much of the responsibility for their own
situation. Many throw up their hands when things get tough and simply
blame it on the "white folks". While racism is still alive and well in
many places, it's a shadow of what it was 50 years ago.

By cooperating with Affirmative Action you are
shouldering the responsibilities that are shirked by racist employers,
and for that you should be commended -- after all, nobody is forcing
you to do business with Issaquah, are they?

I'd be curious as to some of the claims of racism. How many people of
recognized minority status who claim "racism" or discrimination, are
simply playing that card as a cover for simply being inferior to
another potential job candidate?

Then you have to consider that the more we make laws and policies that
highlight and call attention to our differences, the more they will
remain? The answer to true equality in not to emphasize our
differences, but to eliminate them.

Dave
"Sandbagger"