Kinja reply list

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Issa TrapMichael Harriot
3/14/19 9:53am
You want me to pull myself up by my bootstraps but take my boots away and then say it is my fault that I’m barefoot.
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Vanessa FutrellMichael Harriot
3/14/19 10:22am
I am a proud black mother of a black son who recently graduated from Harvard University School of Business. The “key” to his success is a brilliant mind and an extremely strong work ethic.
My son entered Harvard through the front door and on his own dime.
The news about this bribery scheme is further proof that white people and their children ain’t shit.
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  TheLostJediVanessa Futrell
  3/14/19 11:34am
  It shows just how the game is rigged, and always has been. It also illustrates just how all of the complaints about ‘affirmative action’ or anything resembling even a whiff of taking race into account in order to compensate for past injustices and thefts and so forth, is nothing more than an attempt to divide and distract. It is a distraction used to divert attention and anger away from the real theft of opportunity - that is, to tell the high achieving middle class white child that it was because of a high achieving black child that s/he was denied, rather than because some rich fuck bribed their undeserving child’s way in. It calls to mind the allegory of the rich man, a poor white man, and a poor black man all sitting at a table, upon which is a plate with a dozen doughnuts. The rich man takes 11 of the doughnuts, and then tells the poor white man, ‘that black guy is trying to take your doughnut!’ (Which is not to absolve them of blame, because you can be sure they’ve greedily taken that last doughnut in the past.)
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  MssaywhatitisVanessa Futrell
  3/14/19 1:16pm
  Sseconded!!
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HypestylesMichael Harriot
3/14/19 1:01pm
The exposed racism in college admissions is so glaring now (and of course it was glaring before, but this latest thing is yet another sunburst), I cannot tell a young person of color with a straight face that they have an “equal” chance of getting into the school of their preference even if they have straight A’s. I doubt that Mr. Singer was the “only” ringleader nationwide of these types of scam operations. And of course, the “open” practice of the wealthy donating major money for a building or whatever and then “quietly” their child/niece/nephew/grandchild gets into the school is an additional issue.
It’s all shameful, completely. There needs to be a mass purging of many of the boards of trustees at these colleges, especially public colleges where these people are elected to their positions. College trustees tend to be one of those down-ballot positions that a lot of people tend to ignore but they are very important in shaping policy at these institutions.
Ward Connerly and all of the various anti-affirmative action advocates have left a horrible legacy regarding education access nationwide. All the anti-affirmative action policies in place in different states and schools need to be reversed immediately.
Every single Presidential candidate needs to be challenged on what specifically they are going to propose to address the racial inequities in access to higher education and job training programs.
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  BrwnskngurlHypestyles
  3/14/19 2:00pm
  “Ward Connerly and all of the various anti-affirmative action advocates have left a horrible legacy regarding education access nationwide. All the anti-affirmative action policies in place in different states and schools need to be reversed immediately.”
  THIS. NOW.
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  Rooo sez BISH PLZHypestyles
  3/14/19 7:09pm
  Jeff Sessions and Abigail Fisher’s father have been trying to make it worse. This case at Harvard is in front of the judge right now in the same federal district court this investigation was in.
  I sure wish Michael would send this article in the form of an amicus brief.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZMichael Harriot
3/14/19 2:40pm
Staff or The Root has been shredding it in print and on the air on the Unearned Presumption of Merit that White People Get

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  FlamingFeministaRooo sez BISH PLZ
  3/14/19 8:00pm
  Good gracious, Jason MURDERED IT in 2 minutes, 16 seconds! He eloquently crammed so many meaty facts into their faces eviscerating any argument even attempting to doubt the intelligence of Black people, FOR ALL TIME! Father in heaven, bless that excellence personified!
  Whew, that left me weak!
  Michael, I almost never have words for how edifying and illuminating your stuff is. Strumming my pain with your fingers, singing my life with your words! [Just to borrow a few]
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  whatamithinkingRooo sez BISH PLZ
  3/14/19 8:37pm
  Yaay Jason.. no biting of tongue here.. big props!!
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disco_tango_whiskeyMichael Harriot
3/14/19 10:23am
I want to say that I am instantly upset over this article. Not for the content, the content I 100% agree with, these are all the points and history that I already know and I’m sure a good amount of Root readers already know.
The part that is upsetting is the way all of it can be ignored or even worse dismissed using several bad faith argument responses while completely dodging the question - and the bad part of it all is that the people who need to understand these points have a mental framework that will not allow them to acknowledge the truth in this article because it will undermine their sense of supremacy, rights or mental model of social hierarchy.
To acknowledge inequality or unfair advantage is to acknowledge the humanity and capabilities of black people while also admitting that the game has been optimized for certain players.
The bloody heirloom strikes again.
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SistayogaMichael Harriot
3/14/19 12:11pm
I have first-hand experience with going to a majority-white high school and attempts being made to keep me out of higher level classes. At the end of my freshman year I was registering for classes for the next year. The science class that fit into my schedule was an advanced chemistry class. When I tried to register for the class, the teacher who was handling registration said “There are certain people I have to give this class to.” Because no other class fit my schedule, she had to give it to me, but she wasn’t happy about it.
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  PsiPhiGrrrlSistayoga
  3/14/19 4:21pm
  I had to fight in my senior year of high school to take a class that was “no longer available.” After my parents got involved, they finally just gave me the materials, but I had to sit in the junior-level classroom doing self-study all year. I made sure to ace that shit, too, but it makes me mad to think back on how they finally managed to segregate me when I had one foot out the door.
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  SistayogaPsiPhiGrrrl
  3/14/19 4:28pm
  What a load of bullshit! I’m so glad you aced it. I aced my chemistry class, too, and got the Chemistry Award at the end of the year.
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BrwnskngurlMichael Harriot
3/14/19 1:59pm
First of all, thank you, again, Michael. You always bring it and you come hard w/ facts, stats and truth. But more importantly, this needs to be where the conversation goes post-scandal:
The real scam is the three decades-long bullshzt affirmative action legal challenges that have watered down to little or nothing, AA programs at competitive colleges and universities because poor and middle class whites complained that unqualified blacks took their spot. NOOOOOOO! That DID NOT HAPPEN! Wealthy white students legally (and we now know, illegally, as well) gamed the college admissions systems with legacy, elite athletic accommodations (for crew, equestrian, water polo and shzt like that), and large financial donations/building naming, and THEY kept average white kids from Iowa and West Virginia and places like that them from getting in!!
Someone, please, get on television and make this THE REAL STORY!!
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  Rooo sez BISH PLZBrwnskngurl
  3/14/19 9:35pm
  There are already lawsuits in CA - UCLA, USC, & Stanford.
  And a tennis coach at UT has been fired.
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  BrwnskngurlRooo sez BISH PLZ
  3/15/19 1:31pm
  I heard about those. But the coverage has really been focused on what/why/ these wealthy families did this. There has been little focus on the victims -- especially the blacks and browns who have been traumatized for 3 decades, had their opportunities at a level playing field watered down to nothing, when the real culprit all along was WHITE PRIVILEGE that kept other whites from those schools. I want reparations!!
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myopicprophetMichael Harriot
3/14/19 9:52am
I’m not here to comment. I’m just here for the grey section.
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  JonsLegionmyopicprophet
  3/14/19 11:35am
  It will, in fact, be fails of Epic Proportions, if the first wave is representative.
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nillalatteMichael Harriot
3/14/19 12:33pm
“In America, white people get a better education.”
I realize I’m an outlier in many ways, but isn’t your position a slap in the face to HBCUs?
I know at TSU (HBCU) their GPA to be accepted and remain a student was higher than MTSU (PWI). I attended both universities. The biggest difference I saw was registration. MTSU had a quicker, more efficient system than TSU.
As for the instructors, many at TSU also had teaching gigs at Vanderbilt, one of the more prestigious Southern universities.
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  PsiPhiGrrrlnillalatte
  3/14/19 4:56pm
  “In America, white people get a better education.”
  isn’t your position a slap in the face to HBCUs?
  After reading the funding examples, I figured that quote was about K-12. Given the differences in the value of a college degree, the race of the person tends to be given more weight than the school attended. Racists believe all black students who attend/graduate from more well-known schools got a break or got over. The greater slap in the face is when they double down on that belief and show it in how they treat HBCU alums.
  http://diverseeducation.com/article/9768/
  I hope things have improved since that study was done.
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HuskyBroMichael Harriot
3/14/19 1:36pm
All of this. Straight, no chaser.
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  Rooo sez BISH PLZHuskyBro
  3/14/19 7:12pm
  He needs to send it to the same federal district court that opened up this investigation in this case, which is in front of the judge right now
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