Originally posted by: gururu
you can't compare the histories of each group in America. there are different levels of being screwed. Those that have had their freedoms stripped away and oppressed have been and remain in far worse positions than those that came AS a labor class.
Jews
had no homeland until 1948. Currently, each day as an Israeli Jew is a hard-fought struggle to simply stay alive, much less practice Judaism. It doesn't matter who deserves the land in the Middle East - people are dying over it, and that's not right.
Jews fled to America in the 1930s and 1940s because their brothers and sisters were being suffocated in Nazi gas chambers. My grandmother lost several family members to the death camps. She made a life for herself, albeit humble, but as a group, Jews had absolutely NOTHING when they came here.
Sure, there are different levels of being screwed. But we all got fvcked by the 'man,' no matter if it was whites, Nazis, J.P. Morgan, John Ashcroft, etc. The difference between blacks and Jews is that blacks feel they're entitled to compensation for something that happened about 150 years ago, while Jews simply own up to the fact that they're at a disadvantage, and work to change the odds. I can think of several African-Americans who have made amazing progress and have overcome many of the odds that face them as blacks in America.
Condoleeza Rice is National Security Advisor. Colin Powell is Secretary of Defense. Some black-Americans have risen to the top, and others are stuck at the bottom. Sounds a lot like the situation with white-Americans. Face it: not all blacks can become great people. They have the same chances to do well in school and take the SATs as the rest of us. Apparently, that's not going so well for them, so they are demanding MORE consideration in the admissions process.
I really liked the comment earlier in this thread that equality is simply opportunity. Every blade of grass on the other side looks better when you're oppressed. However, once you realize that being equal means having a chance, like everyone else, it's time to get up and do your part to be successful.
I don't see many proponents of affirmative action doing their part to be successful. I see them as looking for a silver spoon to lead them into higher education. If you got better grades, did more community service, and got better test scores, AA wouldn't be necessary.