Miss. school reverses race-based rules for student elections

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Wow, that was fast. Good for them! There is no place in today's society for racism, least of all in schools. This is really good news.

/Q

According to the district's statement, reported by WTVA, the practice had been in use for more than 30 years with whites and blacks rotating among offices annually.

"It is the belief of the current administration that these procedures were implemented to help ensure minority representation and involvement in the student body," the statement said.

So it sounds like it really was a terribly stupid attempt at 'equality.'

Too damn funny.

Affirmative action doesn't work in middle schools I guess.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


So was this never an issue all those years when white kids couldn't serve because the rule required they alternate. Now, this is a "white" year and there is a backlash and they reverse their rule?

Not that I agree with the rule, because if you keep that rule, then you might as well rotate boys and girls, throw in a Hispanic 1 out of 10 years, maybe a Muslim every 1 out of 3 years. The rule could become very restrictive when all the rotations add up and it becomes the year where only a Hispanic Female Muslim can serve!

reply to post by getreadyalready


That's the most obvious problem with using policy or legislation to artificially enforce some sort of 'fairness.' The disenfranchised will never stop coming. Sooner or later some board or legislature will have to draw a line and decide who really is and who isnt deserving of legislated 'equality' at which point they are effectively admitting the whole thing they created is a farce.

If it wasnt real with real consequences and real lives being altered it's be pretty funny.

Fairness can only come about when people stop seeing someone's color or race whether they are Black, White, Asian, Indian, Latino, Hispanic, etc.

There is no equality even with affirmative action, that just affirms that society is still racist.

Originally posted by snowspirit
Fairness can only come about when people stop seeing someone's color or race whether they are Black, White, Asian, Indian, Latino, Hispanic, etc.

There is no equality even with affirmative action, that just affirms that society is still racist.

You can't "stop seeing" their physical characteristics. That is as silly as this law, and it is a true sign of someone vastly naive or hiddenly racist when they say, "I don't see color." Of course you see color unless you have a physical impairment.

What we have to do is evaluate every individual as an......individual! Just because I have met some ghetto black people doesn't mean that the executive director at my job is one of them. Just because I have met some white trash (in my own family) does not mean that I am one of them.

We have to demand of ourselves that we see the color or race or nationality, and then that we evaluate that person as an individual anyway.

If we just choose to pretend we don't see it, then we are not being honest with ourselves, and we are already starting out behind the 8 ball. As a matter of fact, we should even admit that we have some preconceived notions about that person based solely on their appearance. Of course we do. It is natural, healthy, and somewhat accurate. Through experience we have developed those notions, but we have to demand that we look beyond those preconceptions and evaluate each person separately.

This isn't just about race or nationality. Unattractive people get the worst treatment of all! It is better to be an attractive minority than an ugly white person! Still, we have to admit that we have this shortcoming as humans, and we have to evaluate everyone on a case by case basis!

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
So it sounds like it really was a terribly stupid attempt at 'equality.'

Too damn funny.

Affirmative action doesn't work in middle schools I guess.

So let me get this straight. What you're saying is that by allowing any individual to run in the student elections or any election regardless of race, this is a stupid attempt at equality right? So if you are barred from running to represent your town become of the colour of your skin, its justifiable? What are you saying here? There is no evidence that points to anybody getting a hand out. The school now allows anybody to run in the elections. I fail to see where this is wrong. Can you explain?

Things like this continue to crop up from time to time.

They are holdovers from an era that is gone.

So, another one bites the dust.

Originally posted by Southern Guardian

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
So it sounds like it really was a terribly stupid attempt at 'equality.'

Too damn funny.

Affirmative action doesn't work in middle schools I guess.

So let me get this straight. What you're saying is that by allowing any individual to run in the student elections or any election regardless of race, this is a stupid attempt at equality right? So if you are barred from running to represent your town become of the colour of your skin, its justifiable? What are you saying here? There is no evidence that points to anybody getting a hand out. The school now allows anybody to run in the elections. I fail to see where this is wrong. Can you explain?

I think they were saying the previous rule was a stupid attempt at affirmative action....not the repealing of the rule.

reply to post by Southern Guardian


I think the other poster was referring to the original memo which stated that only people of specific race could run for specific offices.

That is what was reversed.

"Therefore, beginning immediately, student elections at Nettleton School District will no longer have a classification of ethnicity. It is our intent that each student has equal opportunity to seek election for any student office."

Theres your affirmative action folks! Allowing anybody to run or seek office regardless of skin colour. Yep, its some great liberal PC agenda ya know?

Originally posted by Wildbob77
Things like this continue to crop up from time to time.

They are holdovers from an era that is gone.

So, another one bites the dust.

About 20 years ago, when I was a teenager, we had one of those old rules crop up in Carterville, MO. There were no black people in that town, or the local surrounding towns, but someone brought a date to some little downtown festival. The date was black, and the locals didn't like it, and there was a law on the books that said blacks could not be out on the city streets or parks after dark. The craziest part was that they actually enforced the law!!

I don't know how the lawsuits all turned out, and I know the law was stricken, but it just goes to show that even stupid old irrelavent laws can be used and abused!

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

So was this never an issue all those years when white kids couldn't serve because the rule required they alternate. Now, this is a "white" year and there is a backlash and they reverse their rule?

Why should you have to offended? This ruling ends any race based restrictions on the elections. Anybody can now run for office regardless of their skin colour. Everybody has an opportunity now to represent so I fal to see why all of a sudden this is an issue? If you are so opposed to this, you would not need to make little 'exceptions' and take little 'offenses' to the fact whites are treated like this or blacks or treated like that. It should end period and we should be happy at the fact race is not involved in the matter any longer.

reply to post by Southern Guardian


I am not offended, and I think the rule did need to be lifted.

However the title "Can't serve as Class President if you are Black" that I saw on an earlier thread is offensive. Don't you think it is kind of suspicious that after being effective to ensure equality all these years, and probably being ahead of its time and actually very progressive at helping promote equality, now it is all of a sudden considered racist? Also, the idea that 50/50 sharing is not equal enough is kind of suspicious, don't you think?

I am all in favor of repealing that rule and every other equality measure.

While we are at it, we need to quit regulating our "free" market, and get rid of standardized testing! Why not let individuals make pertinent decisions based on the data at hand, and stop trying to classify and regulate everything? Let the chips fall where they will.

reply to post by getreadyalready


It's not as much about "seeing", the word that I used. It's about not automatically stereotyping them in a negative way. We should look at everyone first as a human, then the color of their skin should be no more than a descriptive, like big ears, or blond hair.

I admit I stereotype also, when I see an Italian guy, I think he is probably a great cook, when I see someone Asian, I tend to think they are likely very smart.

Unfortunately, these days people are so very mistrusting. So much negativity in the world today, too many people think the worst about groups of people that are not the same as themselves. Mostly about fear, I think.

reply to post by snowspirit


Good. In that case I agree with you, but I think we have to take it a step further. We have to see our differences, embrace them, evalute the person on their individual merits, and then see how we can learn or benefit from one another.

If you've ever noticed, close friends will point out, exploit, ridicule and have a good time with each other's differences, but they also tend to compliment one another so that as a pair or a group they are much more effective.

The world needs to behave like a close group of friends. Throw away political correctness, lets make fun of one another all that we want and lets also recognize the value in being different.

reply to post by getreadyalready


A good healthy curiousity about other cultures can enhance a person's life so much, bringing in new styles, cuisine, sometimes smarter ways of doing different things.

Maybe this current younger generation will be better in this way. I have seen it around many of them, being brought up in this melting pot of different cultures.

There is so much people can learn from one another.