[KSig RC]

Originally posted by librasoul22
Again, I am glad that you can name ONE instance and, you know, I am almost positive someone on here can name at least ONE instance similar to your own. I can. But if you look at the BIG PICTURE...can you tell me the demographic of scholarship recipients? I can tell you RIGHT NOW that your instance along with the singular instances of everyone on this board combined is not enough to dent the stats.

I completely agree with this point - it's fallacious logic to think that one item determines a trend, or that a handful comprise a majority . . . and you can provide the statistics, but causation here is difficult to prove. Do you honestly think that it's the 'little box' culture that causes scholarship amounts to be lower, or is it more likely the long-term effects of repression of access to education for minorities. coupled with current attitudes against them? I'm just trying to think more of the root cause rather than the current symptom.

I don't like the 'little boxes' or what they represent, but there are many underlying causes here, not just the one.

Originally posted by librasoul22
This is what many of you fail to realize. THINK GLOBALLY, NOT LOCALLY. How many Blacks are heads of corporations? How many Blacks do you know that OWN universities? And what do you think the ratio of attendance to college is, black to white, scholarship or not?

Good point, but should we discern between "black" and other minority status? The reason I ask is that I attend a school where some minorities are over-represented - Asian/Pacific Islander and Indian/Middle Eastern are all represented higher than the national rate of population.

However, "black", or African-American, comprises less than 5% of enrollment, compared to 11% (if I recall correctly, probably a little higher at current census) nationwide. I certainly don't know what to attribute this to, that's really not my area of expertise - any thoughts? It seems to me that institutional racism seems 'different' depending on the particular 'race' (or background) being discriminated against . . .

Originally posted by librasoul22
The boxes that we check are not to HELP us, they are to CLASSIFY us, and that is, indeed, dangerous. Sorry, but that one Hispanic boy who got the one scholarship is still going to face discrimination and oppression as he moves up the ladder. Just like YOU are as a woman.

This is a rational conclusion, and an important one for PM_Mama to understand (in my opinion) - this may make it easier for her to understand your points. Now, what do you think would limit this type of oppression? Would it be enough for 11% of all CEOs to consider themselves black, and for 11% of the TV personalities to be black?

Unfortunately, I don't think that just this would eliminate the problem - actually, I'd imagine this was (one of) the original (ideal) intents of the 'little boxes' . . . I think this thread has shown just how deep-rooted and difficult this sort of problem is, even when discussed by the (relative) intelligencia of our society (by which I merely mean 'college-educated').