Adding Fuel To The Fire Of Racism

blog Last week, there was a ton of talk about racism due to various incidents that occurred. One of them dealt with Loren Feldman and a controversial video that was supposed to be one of his many flailing attempts at satire. Let me state that I do not know Loren Feldman. I only know of this boy. However, the aforementioned video was a disgrace on many levels and one could even label him a racist after watching it. However, I didn’t. I thought to give him the benefit of the doubt because “racist” is a very strong label. Yet, Feldman has a new video up about “Affirmative Action”.
    

Affirmative Action Is A Crutch

Wikipedia defines affirmative action as,

The term affirmative action describes policies aimed at a historically socio-politically non-dominant group (typically, minority men or women of all racial groups) intended to promote access to education or employment. Motivation for affirmative action is a desire to redress the effects of past and current discrimination that is regarded as unfair.[who?] It also serves to encourage public institutions such as universities, hospitals and police forces to be more representative of the population[1].

I’m not a fan of affirmative action and I don’t support it. I feel that it’s a crutch in many ways and is the least helpful tool for people that are economically disadvantaged. I’m economically disadvantaged, yet I’m at a point in my life that many of my peers are struggling to get to. I have two great jobs and I have a host of supporters around the US and internationally. Affirmative action had nothing to do with that. Instead, hard work and decent writing skills brought me to this point.

If you have to use affirmative action to get ahead, I feel that you’re not doing your best. You’re not living up to your potential. There’s nothing wrong with receiving help, however not at the expense of others who are working twice as hard as you to get to the same place. Affirmative action is a crutch and a stereotype that is insultingly attached to the African-American community.

In Larry Elder’s book “10 Things You Can’t Say In America”, he quoted a statement by a previous Mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell:

"Everybody who is a person of color in this country has benefited from affirmative action. There has not been anybody who has gotten into college on their own, nobody who has gotten a job on their own, no one who has prospered as a businessman or businesswoman on their own without affirmative action." – Bill Campbell

You have got to be kidding me?!
    

The Video

gasoline “I’m down with black people.” What kind of statement is that? The Al Sharpton joke is played out. Your affirmative action “joke” is a disgrace. Your newest employee sounds like you with a horrible accent. Honestly, your affirmative action program isn’t beneficial to anyone including you. While I was hesitant to label you a racist before, there’s no denying that you are definitely a racist with horrible video jokes. Affirmative action is a joke in and of itself and not one that intelligent people, regardless of race, should pay attention to. Once again, you’re perpetuating stereotypes on an entire community. You’re crossing many lines and you will get what you deserve, though one could argue that you’ve already received what you deserve. I just hope there’s more to come.
     

Disappointments

To the people who agree with this bulls*** that he’s doing, I feel sorry for you. However, I feel even worse for those that won’t take a stand against him. I’m disappointed with some parts of the tech community that have let him get this far let alone this popular without saying something intelligent to this moron to stop his progress thus far. It’s making me feel some sort of way about the tech community that sits in silence rather than speaking out because of fear. It’s saddening and disappointing on so many levels.

Corvida Raven

A natural pioneer at grasping the rapidly changing landscape of technology, Corvida Raven talks tech in plain English on SheGeeks.net.