Taking Offense at everything...

[ValentineWiggin]

I've been avoiding this thread, mainly because my views on questions of race are...unique. I believe that race is a completely inadequate fabrication of the human imagination. Scientifically speaking, the genetic difference between races is no more significant than the genetic differences within them. Also, consider race. If I tell you a person is black or white or native American or asian, what does that tell you? Nothing. Not even what they look like. It doesn't tell you who they are, where they live, what they do, what they believe. It tells you nothing at all. Ethnicity (as opposed to race) is great, and it gives people a sense of connectedness to their families and their past, but it shouldn't play a role in how people are treated or perceived. I mean, someone may have say, a French ethnic background, but know nothing of France and care nothing for it. I understand that a person's ethnicity can help shape their identity, but it really has nothing to do with the color of their skin or the country their grandmother came from. Also, on the affirmative action thing, I think it has been a cop-out for our country. It's our way of saying, it's ok to let (for example) inner city schools to stay mediocre since colleges have to let them in. Fix the schools, don't let underqualified people go out into the world expecting to be helped. Some people might not agree with me, but I feel like there's no other way to think about racial issues, because race simply doesn't make sense.

[cebula_2005]

Yes, I have been in a situation when I was the obvious minority. It was Korean camp where my friends and I went to camp to learn about Korean culture. It was a camp for kids who have been adopted from South Korea and their friends. It was really fun! And we didn't notice our racial/ethnic differences at all. We were all just having fun.

I still think affirmative action is wrong. Everyone eshould be given equal opportunity to get a job. You shoulnd't be given a job because someone needs to meet a quota...that's wrong, and it can lead to someone who's not as qualified getting a job they don't deserve. Black or white. Male or female.