Caucuses, affirmative action, and similar equality questions.

[michaelskis]

We have a Black Caucus, a Latino Caucus, but there is no way that we would ever have a White Caucus. We have Black Colleges, Latino Colleges, yet there is no way that a college could prevent someone from going there because they are anything other than White.

Why can

[monsoon]

It starts at the top. When you have a president who made it a point of calling for an amendment to deny rights to Gay people, then he sets a "fine" example for the rest of the country to follow. Minorities have to band together to protect themselves. That is it plain and simple.

[Charlotteman]

I've always agreed with Dr. Martin Luther King's philosophy that people should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I wonder if affirmative action is necessary anymore. I can't imagine anyone in this day and age not hiring someone because they are black, or Hispanic.....

Of course gays are still discriminated against with immunity in most parts of the country. There are gay caucuses working on ending this deplorable blight on our country's civil rights legacy.

I hope to live to see the day when discrimination is a thing of the past.

[Snowguy716]

There is racism all over in our society.. it's just not blatant like it used to be.

My friend just told me how his boss doesn't like Somalians so when one applied for a job at the company, he pulled out all the stops to disqualify him for the position.

There is no white caucus because white people don't have anything in common with each other, other than being white. African-Americans have a common history of slavery... Latinos often have a common experience of being immigrants or struggles in Latin America, or what have you.

It would just be silly to have a white caucus. The only people that would ever propose forming a white caucus are people who just don't think it's fair that other groups have them.

If you want to have a conservative caucus or a Norwegian caucus or a German caucus.. go right ahead.. because you are group sharing a common bond grouping together to carry forward the interests of that group of people.

[DwntwnGeo]

There is no white caucus because white people don't have anything in common with each other, other than being white. African-Americans have a common history of slavery... Latinos often have a common experience of being immigrants or struggles in Latin America, or what have you.

[Snowguy716]

Did someone say they couldn't form their own groups? I'm sure there are plenty of Jewish or Polish groups out there. Here in Minnesota we have Sons of Norway and the Santa Lucita festival for people with Swedish backgrounds.. nobody gets their knickers in a twist over it.

A melting pot doesn't mean you come here and give up your culture and become the "normal American".. it means you come and share your culture with others while sharing parts of theirs.

I have no problem with groups of people that share a common bond forming a group to represent their interests as long as it's not inherently racist or out to infringe upon the rights of others.

There just probably aren't enough strongly Italian members of congress to form a caucus.

[DwntwnGeo]

Did someone say they couldn't form their own groups? I'm sure there are plenty of Jewish or Polish groups out there. Here in Minnesota we have Sons of Norway and the Santa Lucita festival for people with Swedish backgrounds.. nobody gets their knickers in a twist over it.

A melting pot doesn't mean you come here and give up your culture and become the "normal American".. it means you come and share your culture with others while sharing parts of theirs.

I have no problem with groups of people that share a common bond forming a group to represent their interests as long as it's not inherently racist or out to infringe upon the rights of others.

There just probably aren't enough strongly Italian members of congress to form a caucus.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

The problem arises when they want special privileges like reparations, affirmative action, casinos, etc.

[dpbaker]

A melting pot doesn't mean you come here and give up your culture and become the "normal American".. it means you come and share your culture with others while sharing parts of theirs.

[Gusterfell]

And there is part of the problem; a lot of people and groups simply refuse to assimilate into American society, and instead seek to push their own culture, remain part of a distinct group, and shove it in your face. They do not wish to share, rather impose upon the host and seek special entitlement under the guise of "minority". I think a lot of this only exacerbates the "race" issue, and only fuels the fires of inequality.

[dtown]

Umm, im white and i dont share the same interests as the republican party. I have a felling that this topic is going to turn into a stupid argument with no real point to it, a pissing match if you will.

[Gusterfell]

Umm, im white and i dont share the same interests as the republican party.

[Snowguy716]

dpbaker,

Europeans say the same thing. EUropeans say that in order for you to be, say, German, you have to have German blood. You can't move to Germany and learn the language and eat the food and go to the churches and go to the schools and assimilate yourself completely and be a German. You're still from a different country, and so are your children and their children as long as they don't inter-marry with Germans.

Someone who comes to America and goes to our schools and eats our food and lives here, learns a bit of history and civics, and takes a test, can be an American citizen. That is what, in my opinion, makes the U.S the best country in the world.. our openness to other people to come here and live and not to whine and moan because their mother tongue is Spanish and they want to speak it with family and friends.

When you start putting immigration into economic or cultural terms, that's when you get the xenophobes and the reactionaries that want to put up fences and guard the border and restrict legal immigration even further.. because they're afraid. They fear change.

There have been these people since day 1, and there will be these people until the end, and I'll be damned if I stand by now, 232 years later and watch while these fraidy-cats try to fence up our borders because they think every American should watch Nascar and drink Bud Light and drive pickup trucks and eat at Applebees.