Harvard email on race goes viral

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Not really true. There are tests that have very little to do with memory.

But, why are you replying to that troll?

Should have clarified...thinking more on the lines of the SAT.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by s0ultrain

Why do successful educated blacks get accused of acting white?

Because ya mama needs a hobby.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by s0ultrain

Why are unsuccessful blacks keeping it real?

Unsuccessful people are keeping it unsuccessful. Successful people are keeping it movin' in this thread.

This girl was dumb. According to the article, she sent that e-mail to several people, not just one. Was the young lady who sent it to the BLSA also a member of that org? Was she Black and personally offended? Or was she just telling on the girl to an org that didn't really need to know, but was likely to be horribly offended and turn this into a melodrama if they did?

This happened a couple times at my graduate institution. If some injustice was happening on campus (student housing did something that violated the lease, etc) then someone, usually a law student, would get the other law students involved, knowing they'd cry foul and use their pre-professional legal muscle to threaten such-and-such unless things changed. Honestly, I don't think forwarding that e-mail all over the country was necessary but, given the "viral" nature of the internet, she should have known it was safer to keep her controversial thoughts off the web. I think it'd be more effective to let her skip along to her clerkship, then have her work under a Black judge.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Because ya mama needs a hobby.

Look what you did! You fed the troll...bad Dr. Phil! You know better

[pbear19]

Since this has been bumped, albeit by a troll, anyone interested in the original story should *really* read the follow-up.

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/05/the-h...-it-all-began/

Doesn't excuse the content of the email, but I do think it's important to see how this all might have started. And even more, it drives home the message that you should always be careful of what you put in an email, even if you are just sending it to a close friend. 5 months later said "close" friend could become your worst enemy.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Look what you did! You fed the troll...bad Dr. Phil! You know better

Occasional troll rules:

1. Know it's a troll.
2. Don't type anything serious.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by s0ultrain

Why do successful educated blacks get accused of acting white?

They don't. End of Story. Now move on.

[KSig RC]

Before we jump into a "HOW DID AN IDIOT GET INTO HARVARD?!"-a-thon here, I'd really like to see the rest of the email. What she said is fairly silly (if for no other reason than the constant blurring of races that marches forward without ceasing) but the statement is very awkwardly couched, and could be anywhere from MUCH worse to a poorly-phrased example that reveals basic racial bias instead of overt racism.

Like Little32 said, the same statements have been made about women in the near and distant past - and, by and large, we now know those statements are mostly absurd but also partially based in fact, in that women are often predisposed (both based on genetic differences and gender/social roles pushed by society) to excel in certain areas and men in others, in terms of learning, expression and communication. It's not Mars and Venus, but there are subtle yet important differences between men and women. Women are not implicitly stupider (indeed, there's a fairly strong argument that they are predisposed to achieve better in a 'traditional' educational setting than men), but there are genetic differences in learning styles and abilities.

Now, with that said, it's very telling that her Intro to Eugenics argument started with the premise "African Americans may indeed be genetically inferior," for all intents and purposes. It is likely she has some deep-seated racial prejudices, which makes her the norm rather than the exception, but still sucks. It's quite bizarre that this has turned into push to end her clerkship or out her publicly - which makes me think the young lady already had her share of enemies or antagonists (which might be the height of irony, depending on circumstances).