Feds Require BU to Gather Race, Ethnicity Data

There are 12 comments on Feds Require BU to Gather Race, Ethnicity Data

1. What if the Latino is black but not from the US – say a black Dominican? Such a person is not African American. What category would that person be?

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2. I believe that affirmative action encourages racism for two reasons:
   First, because it makes many individuals from majority ethnic groups resent individuals from minority groups when they are offered money or positions simply because of their race. For example, although there are many African Americans who validly deserve to be accepted to Yale or Harvard, fiscal policies based on race certainly encourage the universities to accept some African American students that don’t deserve to be accepted.

   This is bad, because many white students who are rejected, point to African Americans as the reasons why; even if this resentment is usually invalid, it DOES happen frequently. And even though it is the policy and not African Americans that are at fault, people often don’t discern the two.
   The second reason Affirmative Action encourages racism involves the perception of minorities receiving prestigious degrees and positions: many people (especially white people) attribute their success to their color, and not their ability. The African American doctor from John Hopkins is not considered as good as the white doctor from John Hopkins because "he only got in because he’s black." I have heard this sentiment many times, and it is completely invalid and stereotyping! But in the end it doesn’t matter: the emotional response is there and is prominent and it is caused by affirmative action.
   On the other hand, affirmative action isn’t all bad. It has helped many minorities justly achieve their dreams and harness their strong abilities through hard work. I don’t deny this. I do think we as a country need to reassess the costs of the policy next to its benefits.

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3. Thank you for the lecture on affirmative action even though the phrase is never mentioned in the article. God forbid a minority become successful and do well for him/herself. No one questions the child gets into a prestigious school because they have rich parents, are a celebrity, or have a last name like Kennedy or Bush. In my experience the minority doctor from Johns Hopkins is usually better than a majority since they are more likely to have faced adversity to get where they are. As long as people still think our president is a foreign Muslim, race will continue to matter in this country.

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4. The form is simple–three questions. Less than one minute to complete.

   It’s not perfect. We all don’t fit into a category. (But it is an approximation that the feds are looking for.)

   This is not targeting you as an individual. Don’t take it personally. BU needs to supply this information to OMB to preserve government grants.

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5. White is a color, not a race. It’s Caucasian people.

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6. First off, no one get accepted into universities that they don’t deserve to be in. Whether a student is admitted to a school because he can compose music better than Mozart, is an amazing athlete or has amazing academic success does matter. All of those abilities contribute to a university hence why all are valued. Sure, most people associate college with higher education, BUT that does not mean universities aren’t also corporations. Every school has minimum standards. Some higher and others are lower. No athlete would be admitted without meeting those standards at the least. Additionally, athletes are often some of the best students. They get less time to do work and yet can produce some of the best work in a class.

   As far as african american and other minority students, the arguement is the same. If you dont meet the standards, you won’t be accepted. Minority students also enrich the education of others. Were this not the case, BU specifically would not have such a diverse mix. Sure, prestigeous schools could continue to admit the same middle to upper class caucasian students with great academic performance, with testscores that were bought, and opportunities that were handed to them. Or, the school could also admit hardworking students who have managed to succeed against so many harsh odds and obstacles, few opportunities, and repressive cultures.

   Hardwork, unique perspectives and experience, in addition to the will power to succeed will trump anything else. And anyone who has to nerve and ignorance to assume that another student is there because of race might not deserve his spot as much as he thinks.

   And finally, affirmative action applies to many different people. People with disabilities, women, ethnic minorities, and even small business. If merit is the priority, affirmative action is one of the best policies ever implemented.

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7. The category is actually “African American or Black”, so the respondent would check that race.

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8. You said “anyone who has to nerve and ignorance to assume that another student is there because of race might not deserve his spot as much as he thinks”… and yet apparently whites are only at BU because of “testscores that were bought, and opportunities that were handed to them”… Your whole view is contradictory and completely prejudiced against whites. Well, although I may be white I always worked hard to get to BU, and I somehow “managed to succeed against so many harsh odds and obstacles, few opportunities” even though according to you that’s something only minorities can do. You need to rethink your beliefs because you’re the most racist of anyone here.

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9. So you basically missed the entire point of my post and misconstrued what I stated to fit your rant. Perhaps you wanted to make this another Shirley Sherrod incident? I never once said that caucasian students weren’t hard working. I never said that caucasian students didn’t face obstacles or difficulties. The points of my post were as follows: any student who is admitted to a college deserves to be there, colleges are corporations so they pick what they need to benefit most, minority students often do not get the same opportunities that caucasian students have, that success is not delegated by race, and finally, that many people benefit from affirmative action, which is not just about race. Believe it or not, colleges were not initially designed to simply further ones education. Instead, they were supposed to eliminate competition by seperating the haves from the have nots. They were meant to give many in the upper class another edge. That is why initially, a college degree was so hard to attain for ‘every day’ people.

   Now if you reread my original post without intentionally looking to nit pick or find fault, you will see that absolutely nothing that I wrote is racist. No one can say that many middle- to upperclass caucasian students don’t get prep courses for standardized test. And it is also quite hard to deny that there exists a defnite culture that dictates that if you know the right people, skill or acheivement means less and less. Not once did I state that caucasian students don’t work hard. Not once did I say that caucasian students never have obstacles. In fact, i simply said hard working students, I never assigned a race. ” Or, the school could also admit hardworking students who have managed to succeed against so many harsh odds and obstacles, few opportunities, and repressive cultures. Hardwork, unique perspectives and experience, in addition to the will power to succeed will trump anything else. ” So again, don’t just take peices. Instead, see the whole picture

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10. What specifically are the grants for?

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11. I do not resent the fact that my race is taken in a survey does not bother me at all. However, the consideration that I may be taking someone else’s place at BU because I am black frustrates me the most. Because of affirmative action many students persuade themselves that otherwise minority students would not be able to go to college. I worked to be here just like any other student.

    “Fiscal policies based on race certainly encourage the universities to accept some African American students that don’t deserve to be accepted.” I did not know that I did not deserve to be accepted. Many students have this assertion that they are entitled to anything that they pursue. The only term that comes to mind is white privilege.

    As a first generation college student I do not take my education lightly. Most of my friends are in college because of those same fiscal policies. It’s insulting to see my peers opinions of minority students furthering their education as a part of fulfilling a quota. I cannot even explain how hurtful comments like that are. Furthermore, it also makes me uncomfortable to know that anyone I sit next to in a class may doubt my credibility. The biggest mistake is to underestimate my performance as a student solely because of my race.

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12. what % of my racial composition defines me? Three of my grandparents are from England. My forth is from Spain. So am I Hispanic according to this survey… or not???

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