So... Tuesday night I'm at Walmart in Torrington. I'm at the self-serve register and notice an elderly black man at one of the registers. The self-serve "overseer" was watching him like a hawk. I go do my thing. Elderly man walks out ahead of me, and overseer dude asks to see his receipt and when handed to him, he scrutinized it. Mind you, elderly man had nothing of consequence in his purchase. One of the things was a bag of plastic straws. Meantime, my white self with purple and pink hair, makes my purchase, and waltzes out with a bunch of stuff in my hands and am ignored by overseer dude. To say I was pissed is an understatement. That was a blatant racist micro-aggression. AND, don't even get me started on what looks to be substandard care that a co-worker's husband (black man) is receiving at St. Francis Hospital. I'm very, very, very pissed off right now.
Jun 30, 2023·edited Jun 30, 2023Liked by Susan Campbell
Theresa, an idea. figure out when the overseer is on duty, get some friends to go shopping with you. Each of you buy lots and go through self check. Everyone insist that every item in their bags be verified against their receipt. Tell them that you saw it happen the other day and for the common good, everyone should have to stand the same scrutiny. Get the store manager involved.
The carefully worded decision only impacts affirmative action by race. Colleges/universities are still free to use preferential admission decisions for "legacy" applicants. The reality is that most students of generations past were white, because the admission of non-white students is a comparatively recent thing. Maybe colleges and universities can start using an approach to have their student bodies mirror the demographic makeup of the wider society (the state where they are located or the US population as a whole, their choice)--and if the demographics can't be based on ethnicity, then how about financial? The one-percent get one percent of the spots in a matriculating class, and the other 99% of the spots go to the rest of us.
Elections have consequences! Our democracy is on life support and if the gQp regains full control of Congress and the White House the plug will be pulled! This is only the beginning of the end!!
It’s hard to “like” this. I will say that this means far more intentional work has to be done on the part of the rest of us. Our leaders cannot save us. This is on us.
The SCOTUS said that considering race as a factor in admissions is unconstitutional because it violates the guarantee of equal protection before the law. I've never known admission to a university to be any sort of equal protection process. e.g. Legacy admissions are a big violation, as are preferential treatment of families of big donors. A student who happens to hit it off on an unrelated topic in an interview has an edge, or someone who knows someone influential might help. The whole process of admission includes subjective (in addition to objective) elements, so why go after this one piece?
And then the SCOTUS did this later in the morning:
I think the other side of these decisions needs to get aggressive in bringing things to the SCOTUS for decisions.
Business owners whose religion is as you describe (open and accepting of women & LGBTQ. according to Jesus' example) should be able to refuse to do business with MAGA people, white nationals, people who use religion to discriminate against LGBTQ and women & other bigots, on the same grounds. Supporting such people who are in conflict with our relogious beliefs violates our ability to live according to our religious beliefs.
This may be neccessary to test the ruling on fairness. Ultimately, I would hope for a reversal of the ruling. Otherwise, we would be headed to an even more divided country.
Legacy college admissions and other considerations that advantage wealthy families should be challenged.
It seems that both of these rulings are part of a larger, right wing attack on vulnerable groups. It stinks something awful!
I look forward to the challenge to this. I reached out to my own university's interim president, and he said we would continue to be a diverse institution because you know what? Doing otherwise doesn't prepare the students for anything that looks like the future.
I was a geographic affirmative action admission to NYU, and nothing will convince me otherwise. But that was long ago. I managed to stay in and even graduate, and I like to think that I contributed something to society during my 45+ years as a software engineer and librarian.
The GOP Gospel is Maximize Human Suffering, and they sure have stayed true to it this year. Elections have consequences.
I don't know if I was a beneficiary of gender based affirmative action (possible as a female interested in engineering) or of being a legacy (possible). However, I like to think I earned my acceptance as one who was near the top of my HS graduating class and especially loved/talented in math & sciences. However, I am grateful my gender did NOT leave me out of pursuing my interests! A generation before, I most certainly would have been left out of an engineering program because of my gender. The same was true on an even broader scale for people of color. After all of the decades of leaving people out, they now say inviting more people in is too much? It's so wrong!
I most definitely benefited. It opened the door for me and I took it from there, from Title IX to college into my first job. I don't feel like I don't deserve what I have. I worked hard, but something had to kick the door in for me in what was, from the start, a male-dominated industry.
Some of those robes should come with hoods.
I kind of think they do...they just tuck 'em in.
So... Tuesday night I'm at Walmart in Torrington. I'm at the self-serve register and notice an elderly black man at one of the registers. The self-serve "overseer" was watching him like a hawk. I go do my thing. Elderly man walks out ahead of me, and overseer dude asks to see his receipt and when handed to him, he scrutinized it. Mind you, elderly man had nothing of consequence in his purchase. One of the things was a bag of plastic straws. Meantime, my white self with purple and pink hair, makes my purchase, and waltzes out with a bunch of stuff in my hands and am ignored by overseer dude. To say I was pissed is an understatement. That was a blatant racist micro-aggression. AND, don't even get me started on what looks to be substandard care that a co-worker's husband (black man) is receiving at St. Francis Hospital. I'm very, very, very pissed off right now.
Once you know, you can't NOT see this.
I find that I've become hyper-vigilant in this regard.
Theresa, an idea. figure out when the overseer is on duty, get some friends to go shopping with you. Each of you buy lots and go through self check. Everyone insist that every item in their bags be verified against their receipt. Tell them that you saw it happen the other day and for the common good, everyone should have to stand the same scrutiny. Get the store manager involved.
I love Paul and I don't care who knows it.
No words. I hope this decision galvanizes people (especially young people) to vote.
That would be a great outcome.
The carefully worded decision only impacts affirmative action by race. Colleges/universities are still free to use preferential admission decisions for "legacy" applicants. The reality is that most students of generations past were white, because the admission of non-white students is a comparatively recent thing. Maybe colleges and universities can start using an approach to have their student bodies mirror the demographic makeup of the wider society (the state where they are located or the US population as a whole, their choice)--and if the demographics can't be based on ethnicity, then how about financial? The one-percent get one percent of the spots in a matriculating class, and the other 99% of the spots go to the rest of us.
Kavanaugh is a "legacy" guy.....his grandfather was a Yalie
I love that idea.
Right. So the moat just got dug deeper.
Elections have consequences! Our democracy is on life support and if the gQp regains full control of Congress and the White House the plug will be pulled! This is only the beginning of the end!!
It’s hard to “like” this. I will say that this means far more intentional work has to be done on the part of the rest of us. Our leaders cannot save us. This is on us.
Exactly!
The SCOTUS said that considering race as a factor in admissions is unconstitutional because it violates the guarantee of equal protection before the law. I've never known admission to a university to be any sort of equal protection process. e.g. Legacy admissions are a big violation, as are preferential treatment of families of big donors. A student who happens to hit it off on an unrelated topic in an interview has an edge, or someone who knows someone influential might help. The whole process of admission includes subjective (in addition to objective) elements, so why go after this one piece?
And then the SCOTUS did this later in the morning:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/06/30/us/gay-rights-free-speech-supreme-court?smid=url-share
I think the other side of these decisions needs to get aggressive in bringing things to the SCOTUS for decisions.
Business owners whose religion is as you describe (open and accepting of women & LGBTQ. according to Jesus' example) should be able to refuse to do business with MAGA people, white nationals, people who use religion to discriminate against LGBTQ and women & other bigots, on the same grounds. Supporting such people who are in conflict with our relogious beliefs violates our ability to live according to our religious beliefs.
This may be neccessary to test the ruling on fairness. Ultimately, I would hope for a reversal of the ruling. Otherwise, we would be headed to an even more divided country.
Legacy college admissions and other considerations that advantage wealthy families should be challenged.
It seems that both of these rulings are part of a larger, right wing attack on vulnerable groups. It stinks something awful!
I look forward to the challenge to this. I reached out to my own university's interim president, and he said we would continue to be a diverse institution because you know what? Doing otherwise doesn't prepare the students for anything that looks like the future.
Your President said it well!
I was a geographic affirmative action admission to NYU, and nothing will convince me otherwise. But that was long ago. I managed to stay in and even graduate, and I like to think that I contributed something to society during my 45+ years as a software engineer and librarian.
The GOP Gospel is Maximize Human Suffering, and they sure have stayed true to it this year. Elections have consequences.
I just wrote about, as the beneficiary of affirmative action, to run tomorrow in Hearst.
I don't know if I was a beneficiary of gender based affirmative action (possible as a female interested in engineering) or of being a legacy (possible). However, I like to think I earned my acceptance as one who was near the top of my HS graduating class and especially loved/talented in math & sciences. However, I am grateful my gender did NOT leave me out of pursuing my interests! A generation before, I most certainly would have been left out of an engineering program because of my gender. The same was true on an even broader scale for people of color. After all of the decades of leaving people out, they now say inviting more people in is too much? It's so wrong!
I most definitely benefited. It opened the door for me and I took it from there, from Title IX to college into my first job. I don't feel like I don't deserve what I have. I worked hard, but something had to kick the door in for me in what was, from the start, a male-dominated industry.
I got a little more personal in a column for Hearst: https://www.ctpost.com/opinion/article/opinion-affirmative-action-helped-white-women-18178862.php