[445] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: Affirmative Action
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sourav K. Mandal)
Tue May 1 23:17:26 2001
Message-Id: <200105020316.XAA03341@dichotomy.dyn.dhs.org>
From: "Sourav K. Mandal" <Sourav.Mandal@ikaran.com>
Reply-To: "Sourav K. Mandal" <Sourav.Mandal@ikaran.com>
To: mit-talk@mit.edu
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Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 23:16:58 -0400
""Prez H. Cannady" <revprez@MIT.EDU>" wrote:
> Allow me to lace your argumenst with history. Affirmative
> action was not conceived as a measure to network African
> American and white professionals. It grew out of a federal
> desire to do away with the cumbersome, wasteful reality
> of racism in federal contracting and military service. [...]
I know that, actually. However, that's not what affirmative action is
_any more_.
> I disagree. Affirmative action is the ultimate example of
> what happens when a few rational ideas collide head on with
> racial panic and a sudden, inexplicable burst of white guilt. [...]
Yes, this is the transmogrification of affirmative action from
practical business policy to annoying entitlement program.
> >I myself have encountered some racism, nothing to get worked up about.
>
> Sure. So why are you making such a big deal about it
> right now? Why are you worried about resentment fostered
> by affirmative action?
Actually, I'm worried about being _left out_ by affirmative action,
since I'm in an "over-represented" minority.
> >That said, I've always felt less comfortable among my own racial peer
> >group than among any other group, because there is a pressure to
> >conform above and beyond ethics and personal interests.
>
> Now there's something you might want to avoid admitting
> in public. Look what happened to Noam Chomsky.
Ha! ;-) I have little to lose by pissing off my ethnic group, because
they do not singularly control my professional future. Now, if I were
some pseudo-intellectual specializing in Indian-American politics ...
> I, for one, am very comfortable with my race, skin
> color, heritage and dietary habits. I don't expect
> to change them anytime soon.
Me too -- that doesn't mean there aren't prevalent behaviors which are
highly objectionable. Should a Muslim take pride in the misogynist
Koranic Law, or least unfair, literalist interpretations of it?
Sourav
------------------------------------------------------------
Sourav K. Mandal
Sourav.Mandal@ikaran.com
http://www.ikaran.com/Sourav.Mandal/
