Condi and affirmative action bashing ...

[HamdenRice]

is in full force at DU. I agree that Condi is a repulsive murderous toady, but this thread is about why she became a prominent Stanford professor.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2966130

Condi was as I understand it a very productive, accomplished Soviet scholar with White House experience and her promotion at Stanford was not AA gone wild.

I'm too tired to deal with our misguided and unconsciously racists brotherettes and sisterettes here at DU. Can someone here reply to this thread?

[msgadget]

1. There are so many ugly threads

for the right to highlight and shake their heads over.

Condi got a college degree at 19 so she didn't need Affirmative Action to accomplish anything. Otoh, she's a political figure in a hated administration and will catch hell like the rest of them.

It'd be hypocritical of me to defend only her against misstatements. THIS is the discomfort the right wants us to feel (witness all their references to Dr. King, Birmingham and equal oportunities) and I'm tamping mine down. She's a big girl who says she chose the Republican party to be accepted as an individual so I don't think she expects or would appreciate a group defending her. Her party, however, would be DElighted to receive our help in their cause.

(Hamden, how are ya!! Missed having your brilliance shining on us here! :hi:)

[fortyfeetunder]

2. Intelligent but misguided

I will not dispute Condi's intelligence. But I think she got seriously misguided by brownnosing in the Bush administration. This is one scar she will never be able to clear away easily.

How is she going to live with her decisions when the shit finally hits the fan? There won't be enough space between the blades to slip through!

[SemperEadem]

3. Haters, plain and simple

If they could lynch her for being uppity--their interpretation of her accomplishments in academia--something they'll never do--they'd have the guns, rope, gasoline and tree available tonight.

While Rice's academic career is quite remarkable and she has accomplished a lot before 2000, what she has done since 2000 has been abysmal. She has dropped too many balls, acted as if the truth was an irrelevant irritant and has outright lied about her actions while on the job. In other words--she's a team player on the * team.

The person I have more compassion for is Gen Colin Powell. At the end of the day, he is a soldier following orders.. and I could tell from the few instances where he broke rank from the * posse that he had misgivings--the fact that he'd rather resign than continue on with * says a whole lot to me about his integrity. Many whites here at DU would disagree with my assessment, but I dont' give a f*&^ about what they think. I think that he's got a conscience and he could empathize with the soldier on the ground with out body armour, without proper armour for his vehicles, without enough troops on the ground to do the job they were sent there to do, since they had to be sent in the first place.

Rice's ambition blinded her to common sense and common decency--she got to play with 'the white kids' and that's all that mattered to her. Now, in a university teaching Russian History to graduate students, she is probably stellar and unmatchable. As NSA, her integrity and vigilence is suspect at best--as Sec. of State, I'm afraid of what she doesn't know and what she ignores until after the fact when she's doing damage control. Perhaps that's the type of person * needs on his team and she's happy to play that role for whatever compensation she gets at the end of her tour of duty.

[SemperEadem]

4. And thank you for writing what you did

shut their pie holes for them. Thanks.

[Brewman_Jax]

5. I know the feeling

in the "Will White Supremacy ever end?" (sic) thread, I see the same closet racists making the same lame and intellectually dishonest arguments. Either "look at all the great scientific advances" or "all these other people are just as bad, if not worse" to name a few. The latter one is the "Stevie did it, too!" defense. :eyes:

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? We aren't talking about how bad some corrupt leader in Africa or the actions of some ancient culture, but the present day present country. The willful ignorance makes you want to puke. :puke:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. That thread (White Supremacy) was horrible, wasn't it?

As you can see, I had more than a few words in it. But there is no reasoning with some people.

[Brewman_Jax]

7. Fighting a losing battle

Notice you see the same names show up time after time in threads of the same subject. Too bad repeat offenses for intellectual dishonestly won't get the liars a tombstone.

Sometimes, I wonder if they have their klan robes hanging in view, or are they wearing them? :silly:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. lol

This thread was worse than the others though. Usually it is kept to "states rights blah blah blah". This one was straight up "you should get down on your knees and thank gawd that the white man came and saved you savages!"

I also liked the "Mexicans can be good at assimilating". You know, cause that is what our country is all about...being all the same. People don't assimilate because they want to. Every hispanic family I know who has (I'm not talking about learning the language-that's important. I mean people who dress, talk, act, dye their hair, etc. etc.) do it so that they will not be discriminated against.

[msgadget]

10. And, the other side gets to play the 'inclusive' party now.

It's sickening and plays right into their hands. What would a new, not particularly partisan AA member think upon reading that thread?

Assimilation is a myth. Every minority who lives, dresses, talks and acts like the majority receives the, "you're so well-spoken...you're so bright..." remarks, each of which confirms their uncertain status.

I've rarely, if ever, read of Dr. Rice's achievements without also being reminded of her blackness.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

11. Yep, it's incredibly demeaning.

It reminds me of a person praising a well trained dog.

[Brewman_Jax]

17. I'm suprised that they didn't say...

that the slaves who were captured and brought to the New World were the lucky ones. :eyes:

They did get one fact correct: the majority of the slaves were shipped to the Caribbean Islands and Brazil. One source is http://saxakali.com/caribbean/shamil.htm

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. You think some people just wait around to start these threads?

I guess it is impossible for some to believe that a black woman could actually be incredibly intelligent and capable academically. It always saddens me how many people will jump on the "Affirmative Action is the cause!" bandwagon though.

[msgadget]

12. Or, look at it another way,

"Condoleeza Rice didn't need it, why would anyone else?"

[kwassa]

13. well, I responded to the thread and essentially killed it, though it

wasn't my intention. I do note that no one responded again, and the person I confronted deleted their note.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2966130&mesg_id=2978980

my title:
The racism is in the assumption that her success is due to AA

[msgadget]

14. Good post, Kwassa, and certainly worth answering

by anyone who wasn't foaming at the mouth at her audacity.

For all I despise her actions (I have family in Iraq because of the aid she gave this president) here's a BLACK WOMAN chosen to TUTOR the president of this nation. That's quite an accomplishment. I would throw water on her if she was on fire but I absolutely refuse to defend her.

I'm stunned by how little authority she demands. She's WAY too happy just being there at the pleasure of the president and doesn't mind that it appears she has no independent thought.

[HamdenRice]

15. Wow, that thread in GD is really degenerating ...

isn't it? It amazes me just how clueless and racists many typical white progressives can be!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

16. It really makes me choke on my own rage.

Like vultures...any chance they can use against Affirmative Action, they take. I'm surprised someone hasn't brought up "welfare queens".

[SemperEadem]

18. give them a chance and they will

I doubt, really, that the majority of them posting are really progressive and liberal--to me, Affirmative Action is the one issue that forces their true colors out of them--they can't help but spew their hatred and intolerance. Seems that after the election, and certainly after DU made it to NYTimes and faux headlines, a whole bunch of folks appeared and started posting intolerance, claiming that they are progressive liberals.

[msgadget]

19. Dr. Rice said she benefited from Affirmative Action

"It is important to take race into consideration if you must, if race-neutral means do not work," she said.

Rice said she had benefited from affirmative action during her career at Stanford University.

"I think they saw a person that they thought had potential, and yes, I think they were looking to diversify the faculty," she said.

"I think there's nothing wrong with that in the United States," Rice said. "It does not mean that one has to go to people of lower quality. Race is a factor in our society."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/21/politics/main537363.shtml|Powell Defends Affirmative Action>

[SemiCharmedQuark]

20. Yeah, but what defines "lower quality"

Better grades? Better test scores? Because that is what some people are going to take that as. And it's not. Being a minority in America is like running the game of life with a ball and chain on your foot.

[msgadget]

21. True dat,

Many whites will always see Affirmative Action as a gift to undeserving minority people. But Dr. Rice straddles the line on the issue, which doesn't help one little bit. Out of one side of her mouth she says Affirmative Action is a good thing and sites herself as an example. Out of the other side she supports the president's actions.

[bobbieinok]

22. during the early days of Clinton administration, some appointee (black,

Hispanic, woman ????) was asked 'Doesn't it bother you that you got this job/position because of your race/gender?'

After a few seconds, the answer came....'Not nearly as much as ALL the jobs/positions I DIDN'T get because of my race/gender!!'

[msgadget]

23. That's priceless!