View Topic

Then keep a close eye on the decision of Fisher v. University of Texas. It's been argued in front of the court, but a decision hasn't been voted upon. However, that's probably been overshadowed by Justice Scalia's death at the moment. The Court may be reluctant to vote on the matter until a new appointee has been named, but who knows.

Though I do feel that this topic, as well as the race relations topic, should be moved to a separate thread.

"Say what's on your mind," is sufficiently broad for it to be held here.

Right, but I feel it has evolved too much into a full-fledged discussion worthy of its own thread. Otherwise, this will continue for a while or be derailed by something else. So I'm trying to save it so this can be finished while this thread has a chance to move on.

I've split the topic, although I couldn't split out some posts due to other posts being made between them.

I was wondering where that chunk of the topic had gone to.  I probably should have did that earlier. 

We Asians have basically accepted that it's harder for us to get into the same college as a white person with similar capabilities and experience.

We Afrikaners too.

I think that pragmatism is what still allows Asians to perform well. Instead of complaining, you go out and do something real about it: study your ass off and work fucking hard.

Of course, the racism problem should still be overcome, but this petty complaining about some things that aren't even racist doesn't help matters at all.

EDIT: It should be noted that such pragmatism isn't exclusive to any race either. The aforementioned Cyril Ramaphosa (who I desperately want as our president) proved that point too. Nelson Mandela also became very pragmatic after he was jailed. He never pretended his actions were all good earlier in his life, and he averted civil war with his pragmatic approach to dealing with all challenges that arose after his release. It's a real shame Mbeki, the idealist that he is, had the ANC elders on his side. Mandela wanted to make Cyril Ramaphosa the president succeeding him.

We Afrikaners too.

I think that pragmatism is what still allows Asians to perform well. Instead of complaining, you go out and do something real about it: study your ass off and work fucking hard.

Of course, the racism problem should still be overcome, but this petty complaining about some things that aren't even racist doesn't help matters at all.

Really, I think both sides are getting out of hand, and it's getting ridiculous.

On the one extreme side, you have those that take offense to every little thing because they're so sensitive about their race that everything comes off as a racist joke to them, or as a jab at them because of their skin color.

On the other, you have those that pretty much lump every other race but their own as less than human.  Again, this isn't just white people...ALL races have stakes in this pot, it's just that white people are the most vocal and most known because of their historical clashes with other races.

These trickle down to other people to some are inherently racist, and  they don't even know why...that's just how they were brought up.  And likewise, some are brought up to be sensitive about their race because people will try to use that against them.

Really, can't we just teach that flaws and imperfections have absolutely nothing to do with race, and that we should stop using skin color to judge a person/get what we want?

The saying is "Love they neighbor."  Not "Love thy neighbor, unless they neighbor is of a different race, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, has a career different than thy own."

And if you want to get out of one religion's interpretation, then the golden rule itself is "Treat others the way you wish to be treated."  Not "Treat others the way you wish to be treated, unless they be black, Asian, Hispanic, French, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Justin Beiber, Christian, Jewish, Pagan, a Cashier, Reality TV stars, etc..."

I might make an exception for Justin Bieber.

I think that pragmatism is what still allows Asians to perform well. Instead of complaining, you go out and do something real about it: study your ass off and work fucking hard.

Don't forget that the average Asian Harvard student probably had parents who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on extracurriculars, tutoring, etc.

Ah. I didn't know that. My frame of reference was local Asians here. They do well despite being just as disadvantaged as us white folks in the current racial climate, and they don't typically come from money either.

But an interesting thing I will note of far-Eastern countries like China, Singapore, Japan etc. is that their education systems are radically different from ours. It's also incredibly competitive. Forgive me if this gives offence to anyone in anyway, but is such competitiveness and need for competence part of your ancient cultures? Because Sun Tzu certainly gives that impression.

Ah. I didn't know that. My frame of reference was local Asians here. They do well despite being just as disadvantaged as us white folks in the current racial climate, and they don't typically come from money either.

But an interesting thing I will note of far-Eastern countries like China, Singapore, Japan etc. is that their education systems are radically different from ours. It's also incredibly competitive. Forgive me if this gives offence to anyone in anyway, but is such competitiveness and need for competence part of your ancient cultures? Because Sun Tzu certainly gives that impression.

I'm not sure, but it's certainly part of modern culture.

Edit: But generally, in large parts of Chinese history, the government is described as a meritocracy, and usually the way to rise up in society was through civil service exams, which IIRC involved rote memorization of classic literature. That culture seems to have evolved into something similar today.

I like the sound of that.

Gosh The Art of War is an awesome book!!

Yes. Yes it is.