Almost everything is tangible and can be measured. Even the meaning of life.
-Rudey
--I used to think the same way about Rudey Jr. You can't measure this bad boy, but one day they made a measuring tape capable of measuring it.
Quote:
Originally posted by sugar and spice
My opinion is that it's intangible. You can't measure it. If I took a survey that asked, "Are you a liberal because of your associations with black people and Hispanics?" I'd say no, obviously. But the fact of the matter is that my opinions on race and affirmative action would be way different if I'd gone to a high school that was 90% white, if I hadn't taken an ethnic studies class in high school where I discussed race and religion daily, if my classes weren't taught by white teachers, if I'd lived in a town that was primarily conservative, and if I hadn't gone to a university where race issues are so prevalent.
How many of us can say we'd be exactly the same people as we are if we'd only been exposed to people exactly like ourselves? (Or if you were primarily surrounded by people who were a lot like you, think of how different you'd be if you hadn't.) I don't think anybody can say that. And that's why diversity (not just race but diversity of EVERYTHING) is important.
I think that at some schools (and I'm basing this off of my experience at Wisconsin) people get so bent out of shape about the idea of affirmative action that they shut their minds off to any new ideas about race. There are plenty of people who think that the only reason people of color are at their school is because they're not white . . . and they determine that because of that, the minorities are not as smart as them and not worthy of listening to. That is one failing of affirmative action, IMO, but it's not in the process, it's in the people.
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