← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · jay
Thread ID: 4676 | Posts: 12 | Started: 2003-01-29
2003-01-29 16:52 | User Profile
[url=http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Releases/2001/May01/r053101e.html]http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Releases/20...1/r053101e.html[/url]
The University of Michigan
News and Information Services News Release 412 Maynard Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1399
May 31, 2001 (55) Affirmative action cases get more support from businesses
ANN ARBOR---Thirty-three of the world's largest companies have thrown their support behind the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies in admissions, noting that "the future of American business, and, in some measure, the American economy, depends upon" the ability of universities to select student bodies that are racially and ethnically diverse.
General Motors headlines the group of multinational companies that will file two amicus or "friend of the court" briefs today (May 31) in the University's appeal of Grutter v. Bollinger, a case challenging the Law School admissions policy. They are among a group of more than 80 organizations representing business, labor, public officials, higher education and the legal profession filing amicus briefs in support of the University's position, U-M President Lee C. Bollinger said.
On March 27, federal district court Judge Bernard Friedman issued a ruling that the University's Law School admissions policy, which considers the applicant's race as one factor in admissions decisions, was unconstitutional. The case is on appeal in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
Many of the amicus supporters also will file briefs on behalf of the University in the undergraduate admissions lawsuit, Gratz v. Bollinger, around June 13. Judge Patrick Duggan upheld the University's policies in his Dec. 13 decision.
"I am deeply gratified at this stunning array of support for our position," Bollinger said. "It is a reaffirmation of the widespread public support that exists for our policies and the overwhelming belief that we must continue to educate a diverse group of students in our law schools and in our universities generally."
General Motors first supported the University in a brief filed in July 2000. Steelcase organized a second brief in October 2000 on behalf of 20 corporations, and 12 additional companies are joining the new brief filed today.
The companies on the briefs filed today include: 3M, Abbott Laboratories, American Airlines, Ashland, Bank One Corp., Boeing, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, Eli Lilly, Ernst & Young, Exelon, Fannie Mae, General Dynamics, General Mills, General Motors, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, KPMG International, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Nationwide Mutual Insurance, Pfizer, PPG Industries, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, Steelcase, Texaco, TRW, and United Airlines.
In its brief, General Motors says that it depends upon universities such as U-M to teach students the skills required to succeed and lead in the global marketplace, and the quality of education provided by these universities "therefore profoundly affects the ability of General Motors, and indeed all major American corporations, to compete." "Only a well-educated, diverse workforce, comprising people who have learned to work productively and creatively with individuals from a multitude of races and ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, can maintain America's competitiveness in the increasingly diverse and interconnected world economy," the GM brief says.
In both briefs, the corporations note that almost half of the U.S. population will be made up of minorities by the year 2050. "Today's global marketplace and the increasing diversity in the American population demand the cross-cultural experience and understanding" gained from an educational environment where they are exposed to diverse ideas, perspectives and interactions, the companies write.
Individuals who have been educated in a diverse setting are more likely to succeed, the companies say, for several reasons: They are better able to facilitate unique and creative approaches to problem-solving arising from the integration of different perspectives. They can better develop products and services that appeal to a wide variety of consumers and to market offerings in ways that appeal to those consumers. They are more likely to contribute to a positive work environment, decreasing incidents of discrimination and stereotyping. A racially diverse group of managers is better able to work with business partners, employees and clientele in the United States and around the world.
Maintaining a diverse work force and a climate that is welcoming of diversity also is essential to businesses's ability to recruit the most talented employees and to maximize the productivity of those employees, the companies write.
"Managers unskilled in considering diverse perspectives may fail to recognize excellent ideas when they come from unexpected sources," says the GM brief. "A lack of exposure to persons of different races and ethnicities may also result in economically inefficient, and improper, hiring and promotion decisions, influenced by false stereotypes rather than an objective assessment of true merit."
More information about the two lawsuits against the University can be found on the Web at [url=http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/]http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/[/url]
Contact: Julie Peterson Phone: (734) 936-5190 E-mail: juliep@umich.edu
2003-01-29 18:48 | User Profile
Here's the real deal, blacks are dumb. The average black high school senior has the same academic ability as a high school Freshman (this is a statistical fact). If race is not a factor in admissions then black high school graduates will not get into college thus their academic ability will remain the same as a white 14-year-old. Meanwhile, whites leave highschool four years ahead of blacks (in terms of ability) will get another four years of college.
Thank about that.
Businesses will always be forced to provide black preferences, even if colleges aren't allowed to racially discriminate (not that UM won't find other ways to get blacks in). Businesses will be forced to fill quotas (the essense of Affirmative Action is quotas, and AA is required to prove an absense of "discrimination") with 14-year-olds if they have to hire blacks that didn't go to college. Try to run a real business with a bunch of 14-year-olds.
That's the position businesses are in. Give the blacks four years of college so that maybe they'll be competent enough to not do more harm than good when you're forced to hire Jihad X.
2003-01-29 20:05 | User Profile
Businesses will always be forced to provide black preferences, even if colleges aren't allowed to racially discriminate (not that UM won't find other ways to get blacks in). Businesses will be forced to fill quotas (the essense of Affirmative Action is quotas, and AA is required to prove an absense of "discrimination") with 14-year-olds if they have to hire blacks that didn't go to college. Try to run a real business with a bunch of 14-year-olds.
Wouldn't it be logical, then, for businesses to fight to end affirmative action and immigration? If big business threw their muscle behind this, AA and the immivasion would cease to exist within a year.
3M, Abbott Laboratories, American Airlines, Ashland, Bank One Corp., Boeing, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, Eli Lilly, Ernst & Young, Exelon, Fannie Mae, General Dynamics, General Mills, General Motors, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, KPMG International, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Nationwide Mutual Insurance, Pfizer, PPG Industries, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, Steelcase, Texaco, TRW, and United Airlines.
Boycott these companies, huh? Aside from imports, I don't think there's anything in my house not made by these megacorps. :P
2003-01-29 21:42 | User Profile
Originally posted by Drakmal@Jan 29 2003, 14:05 ** Boycott these companies, huh? Aside from imports, I don't think there's anything in my house not made by these megacorps. :P **
I'm not drinking Coke anymore. I will not go to Texaco, buy Kodak film.....et al. If there was an "NAACP" for whites that was effective in lodging boycotts, these firms would not DARE be named.
They do so b/c there is no fear of retribution. That's plain and simple. And that's my point. I'm sure some firms or execs disagree with UM - but you won't hear them come out and say it. Why not?
-Jay
2003-01-31 00:09 | User Profile
I'm sure some firms or execs disagree with UM - but you won't hear them come out and say it. Why not?
They're cowardly filth. Simple as that.
Let's see now: no GM vehicles in my future - and no Fords either, since they discriminated against their White engineers in favor of brownies. I gave up drinking Coke years ago.....
2003-01-31 03:39 | User Profile
jay: They do so b/c there is no fear of retribution. That's plain and simple. And that's my point. I'm sure some firms or execs disagree with UM - but you won't hear them come out and say it. Why not? Whaddya bet there's gonna be some pain meted out to the companies that "neglected" to prove their "commitment to diversity" by filing their OWN a.c. briefs in this case they're not involved in? Home Depot will be marched in front of because they PROVE their racism by NOT getting involved in this case on the side of the blackmailers... er, diverse organizations...
NBF: They're cowardly filth. Simple as that. No, they're just businessfolks trying to make a profit and keep themselves and their employees working... Their jobs are to make money, not try to right wrongs... And getting involved in these lose-lose games won't help! No matter what they try to do in these instances, they only end up pissing off some of their customers...
2003-01-31 04:01 | User Profile
I think we need some white college funds--they could accept anonymous yet tax-free donations. The receipts could be forced to undergo DNA analysis. We need to give a boost to the white race somehow. I am sick of these evil twits--they need to be hurt, somehow.
I am going to go fume now.
2003-01-31 04:52 | User Profile
**"...the future of American business, and, in some measure, the American economy, depends upon" the ability of universities to select student bodies that are racially and ethnically diverse. **
Uh huh. How do you figure that, fellas?
"Only a well-educated, diverse workforce, comprising people who have learned to work productively and creatively with individuals from a multitude of races and ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, can maintain America's competitiveness in the increasingly diverse and interconnected world economy."
Ye Gods. Sorry I asked.
**"A lack of exposure to persons of different races and ethnicities may also result in economically inefficient, and improper, hiring and promotion decisions, influenced by false stereotypes rather than an objective assessment of true merit." **
Alright, shut up already......getting.....sleepy....yawwwwn....sleepy...
Ever notice the soporific qualities of diversityspeak? It's not simply Pollyanna-boring [though it is that, certainly].....it's a sort of utopianism so wholly removed from reality and history and everyday experience that there's not even a fragment of it moored to Life As It Is Actually Lived. Listen to enough of it and you're daydreaming before you're even aware you're wioolgathering. It's as if you fell asleep and somehow awoke in a public-service commercial. And enduring the corporate version is even worse: the tired-blood sentiments, vetted by a dozen cautious lawyers, sounds like they were yawning, too, even as they signed off on the thing.
2003-01-31 05:39 | User Profile
Of course all of these companies are rushing over to U of M for support. I find it quite funny when they actually mention "merit" in their defense but it's exactly "merit" that they do not want. Just as long as you have a representative from every shade of the rainbow then everything is peachy keen.
By the way, notice that Texaco was one of the companies on the list?? :P
2003-01-31 07:52 | User Profile
There was an article in the NY Times on Monday or Tuesday about the extensive affirmative action programs at the service academies -- West Point, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and Annapolis. If the most "conservative" institutions in America -- big business and the military -- are fully behind affirmative action (AA), I see little hope for its demise. I guess the military and corporate America are just being pragmatic, and pragmatism has a way of trumping principle, even, (or maybe especially) in law, e.g., Roe v. Wade, the Ali draft evasion case. Simply put, the powers that be have decided that multiculturalism is a fait accompli, that equality among the races is necessary for social order, and that whites will bitch the least over perceived slights, because they are the least racially conscious ethnic group in America.
Without AA, you have (natural) inequality, resulting in social unrest among the most racially conscious and violence-prone ethnic groups, whie AA provides (unnatural) equality (at least as much as can be achieved with groups of such disparate ability), which mollifies the the volatile, underperforming groups, and results in only quiet disgruntlement among the minority of whites who even perceive the discrimination against them, and who begrudgingly accept their lot, lest they be perceived as "losers" and "whiners", like a man accusing a woman of date rape. It's a no-brainer for the elites of a multicultural society to push AA.
2003-02-03 05:12 | User Profile
As for the capitalist pigs I know some of these people personally and they are evil. It is important to understand that social advancement in a complex society such as our own are very carefully managed by those in power to maintain their power. No one becomes a high level tool without making it clear that they will tow the line. White nationalists don't make excuses for our enemies.
2003-02-05 21:48 | User Profile
Walter Williams reports of a study showing:
"Black students in 12th grade dealt with scientific problems at the level of whites in the sixth grade; they wrote about as well as whites in the eighth grade. The average black high school senior had math skills on a par with a typical white student in the middle of ninth grade. The average 17-year-old black student could only read as well as the typical white child who had not yet reached age 13."
There is no dispute that these numbers are in the right ballpark. This is in spite of blacks getting twice as much government money spent on their education.
Walter Williams argues that blacks should be getting a better education, rather than getting racial preferences. That's true. Nearly every black teacher is dumb as rock but hired for skin color. The black teachers help keep black students dumb (white teachers are driven away from black schools). Blacks spend their time being taught stupid lies about black accomplishments. They spend their time reading inferior books just because the authors are black. They spend their school day learning that whites are evil. And, outside of school they spend their time smoking crack, watching TV, and shooting hoops. If they're not in a headstart program, they start public schools speaking nothing but slang and writing nothing but scribbles -- because their black parents don't can't teach them even so little as to write their own names.
Instead of fixing the problem, our society has chosen to bash whites and lower standards for blacks. The extreme intolerance of criticism of blacks shows that everyone in society knows blacks are just stupid and thus there's no point in criticism of blacks.
History's best example of an accomplished black is George Washington Carver. Carver, if white, would have been unknown to us. His accomplishments were not noteworthy on their own merit. Indeed, people who say Carver was the best black inventer of all time cannot name one significant invention. There is no signficant invention from Carver. But, his efforts -- although all essentually failures -- is something no other black has risen to. The book would be 101 Useless Uses for Peanuts. But, at least there is some novelty here.
How did Carver rise above black mediocrity into the level of white mediocrity? He was raised by whites, educated by whites, and worked with whites.
Until we're willing to teach blacks to be white and be satifisfied with blacks being limited to menial jobs, "Affirmative Action" is forever, so are skyhigh black crime rates.