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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsyou know what's racist af? People implying that Malia got into Harvard due to her last name.
You know why it's racist?
because it supports the existing stereotypes that blacks are less competent than whites, and because people are hold these biases strongly are MORE likely to reduce accomplishments of blacks.
So yeah, it's racist af.
Also, many hundreds of white kids got in due to their family (legacy), yet the conversation is as though Malia single handled prevented someone more qualified from getting in.
As i said, racist AF.
(I was going to post this in the AA group, but why preach to the choir. So I posted it her, a fact that I will come to regret very soon)
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redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)She has attended one of the most exclusive private schools in the country, known for it's challenging curriculum. Most of the kids of the people complaining would never have the grades or background to get into an ivy league. Give it a break people! I'm sure Fox is having a field day with this.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)like, wtf is with that assumption?
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)I hate to say it, but there are some people who have an issue with her color even here on DU. Somehow it is ok for them to come out and say things they would not normally say.
emulatorloo
(44,071 posts)Right-wing compulsion to say the Obama's aren't "qualified."
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)are, and the full, stimulating, healthy environment she's lived in her whole life, of course she's doing very well.
Human101948
(3,457 posts)I have no doubt she is a very intelligent young woman. I don't think it was a diversity admission.
But Harvard is a well known legacy school that courts powerful people. It enhances their brand. It increases their endowment.
As people have noted, that dumbkopf Bush got into Harvard with a pathetic academic record.
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)as much of he equation as they are now.
The whole Ivy league is much more competitive than it used to be.
Human101948
(3,457 posts)Keep kidding yourself. The Obamas are now part of the one percent and those are the people that Harvard serves.
Kahlenberg, who edited a book entitled “Affirmative Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions,” has worked to draw attention to the issue of legacy admissions at highly selective colleges.
“There’s been so much focus on affirmative action in college admissions ... Here there is a very large affirmative action program for wealthy students that gets very little attention,” Kahlenberg said. “It’s really a relic of European-style aristocracy that has no place in American higher education.”
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/11/admissions-fitzsimmons-legacy-legacies/
In the 1985-92 period, for instance, Harvard admitted children of alumni at a rate more than twice that of non-athlete, non-legacy applicants, despite the fact that, on virtually every one of the school’s magical ratings scales, legacies significantly lagged behind their peers. Karabel calls the practice “unmeritocratic at best and profoundly corrupt at worst,” but rewarding customer loyalty is what luxury brands do. Harvard wants good graduates, and part of their definition of a good graduate is someone who is a generous and loyal alumnus. And if you want generous and loyal alumni you have to reward them.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/10/10/getting-in
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)CompanyFirstSergeant
(1,558 posts)Not all Bernie supporters resent him because he is successful.
Obama's biggest problem is the do-nothing congress.
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)
RandySF
(58,511 posts)The Obamas are amazing people but Sasha and Malia's adult lives will be very different from their parents'.
Gene Debs
(582 posts)pnwmom
(108,959 posts)a student with an extremely high potential.
And there's no reason to think that Malia was the exception.
Gene Debs
(582 posts)pnwmom
(108,959 posts)that Malia was other than a serious student -- and we saw plenty of that with the Bush girls.
scscholar
(2,902 posts)Come-on, think critically. Don't just make an assumption and then defend an assumption because you don't want to think. Don't want to think.
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)attending excellent schools her entire life.
Why wouldn't she do well?
Ex Lurker
(3,811 posts)and most of are rejected. I am sure some of the suspicion is racially motivated, but one doesn't have to be a racist to wonder if being the President's daughter was the deciding factor in singling her out among many other eminently qualified candidates.
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)to have Malia Obama in their classes?
Ex Lurker
(3,811 posts)might not be so psyched. Amy Carter dropped out of Brown. Should that bid have gone to a more deserving applicant not named Carter who would have stayed the course? I'm just talking hypotheticals here. Harvard's free to use whatever criteria they wish. I'm just saying I reject the OP's assertion that anyone questioning whether the decision was strictly merit-based is "racist AF." The question would be raised about any president's child, regardless of race. If it were a Republican president, the questions would be flying hot and heavy on DU.
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)These girls have grown up in an incredible environment, and they appear to have had no health issues to hold them back.
There is every reason to think they are top students now with great potential.
Ex Lurker
(3,811 posts)So is everyone else who applies, and most aren't accepted. Nobody is saying (at least I am not saying) she didn't deserve to get into Harvard. Howerver, I think it's reasonable to think that being the President's daughter was one factor that helped put her over the top, and that one doesn't necessarily have to be racist to think that. Anyway, I've made my point, and if you disagree, that's fine. I'm not going to make a big deal of arguing over it.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)Gene Debs
(582 posts)floriduck
(2,262 posts)No one should have any criticism about this. There are serious issues to address. This should in no way be an issue. I'm with you, LLP. I just don't know who af is.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)floriduck
(2,262 posts)monmouth4
(9,686 posts)wouldn't have gotten into Sidwell if they were not, President's daughters or not..
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)i just don't know where people get off thinking that they are not qualified enough for Harvard
harvard is lucky to have her
villager
(26,001 posts)...to most American students.
If only more had access to that type of learning.
RandySF
(58,511 posts)Easier for the Secret Service to secure.
TM99
(8,352 posts)to point that out.
Having your father president has never heard any child's chances of getting into the Ivy League of their choice especially if they are an alumni. GW Bush immediately comes to mind as does his daughter Barbara who got into Yale.
To try to paint this as racist is spurious. Name recognition among the elites in business and government is a part of Ivy League networking reality.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)TM99
(8,352 posts)Please continue.
emulatorloo
(44,071 posts)This is just an extension of that. And yes, there is some underlying racism in those claims about Obama and Harvard Law.
TM99
(8,352 posts)and there are those who do recognize that the 1% and those with power & privilege do get things in life from their names as well as their accomplishments.
Frankly, I would have been surprised had she not gotten into an Ivy League given her studies and her parents.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)"The first daughter’s standardized test scores and grade-point average have not been released."
Well, why not? If she is above 29 and 3.8 then what is there to be secretive about?
She went to a private school, so a super high GPA might be tougher, but she ought to have a very good test score.
TNNurse
(6,926 posts)She is a private citizen. People who think that she is not smart enough do not acknowledge the intelligence of both of her parents. I am pretty sure they are not as well educated either.
And you bet your ass the criticism is racist.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)If one's parents have high IQ (or height or any other human feature) then their children usually regress to the mean IQ. Not always, tho.
A friend of mine missed a question on the SAT. His wife is also brilliant. Four kids, only one got a perfect score (on the ACT).
yardwork
(61,539 posts)Is she supposed to release her grades, test scores, and job evaluations for the resi of her life just to prove she deserves her honors?
She's a private citizen. This speculation is at best unseemly.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)thanks for asking.
It was public knowledge that I graduated with highest honors. It was published in the local paper. Recently here there was a junior who scored a 36!! I think she was pictured in the local paper.It goes in the paper when a kid makes the honor society.
I don't care one way or the other. In fact I was surprised that she was old enough to graduate. If I had to guess I would have thought she was still in the 10th grade or something.
Scores and a GPA would shut down speculation.
The internet tells me that Al Gore scored 1355 on the SAT and George W. Bush scored 1206.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)
TexasBushwhacker
(20,148 posts)Actually higher than I expected. Of course he was a party animal and didn't get stellar grades.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Racism/racist assumptions are not silenced by facts.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Cool allegation... yet lacking a copy of the transcript, that's all it really is.
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)
gwheezie
(3,580 posts)You can volunteer to expose the reverse racism.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)Cal33
(7,018 posts)School with an average of "C."
emulatorloo
(44,071 posts)So consider the source! He wasn't the only one though. They claimed he only got in because of affirmative action. Racist as hell IMHO.
lancer78
(1,495 posts)Remember this
JI7
(89,241 posts)lancer78
(1,495 posts)his intelligence after he went on national TV to whine how A&E was violating poor Phil Robertson's free speech rights. I would have assumed someone who graduated from Harvard Law School would know that free speech only applies to state actors. I only finished 1 year of college and I knew that.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)I have a law degree from a non Ivy League school. Cruz says lots of things that anyone with a law degree should know are non Constitutional. But he says them anyway.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)
I would ask if you are kidding ... but, sadly, I know you are not.
mike_c
(36,269 posts)...are not necessarily exclusive of one another. I know absolutely nothing about Malia Obama's abilities as a student so I cannot comment about that, but with a 20+ year career in higher education I think it's highly unlikely that any school in the nation would turn her down if she applied because she is the daughter of a sitting president. That's just a fact of life in college admissions. It doesn't mean that she's not academically qualified, not at all. It just means that other criteria are also applied in cases like hers. As someone else noted, dubya benefited similarly and he's white (and in his case it's well understood that he was not academically qualified-- it's not racist to point that out).
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)of not believing that a black girl can get in on her own merit
a LOT of those kids got in partly because of legacy admissions, people who find the need to shit on Malia for that, are singling her out because of her race
JI7
(89,241 posts)You don't hear it with Kennedy's and many others.
And how name was the first thing that came to mind in Malia's case.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)I'm being snide about the type of people who make these assumptions about malia.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)which is that i like the kennedy kids, and in no way am i trying to denigrate them or be snide about them
TipTok
(2,474 posts)Certainly not the only things that helped but its unrealistic to think that they didn't play a role at all.
If she was Malia from Queens from a family earning 36K a year, things might have been different.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)TipTok
(2,474 posts)... and not the sole one.
If you think that the Obama name and a few million bucks in the bank didn't play a role then I've got a bridge to sell you.
Part of the same calculation that they make about every student.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)All she had to do was to send in the application.
This is nothing to do with race.
Kang Colby
(1,941 posts)
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)of not believing that a black girl can get in on her own merit
a LOT of those kids got in partly because of legacy admissions, people who find the need to shit on Malia for that, are singling her out because of her race
JI7
(89,241 posts)Due to "special quotas" for less qualified blacks. And now they see it as continuation of them taking away from others.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)this is just part of that bigger picture.
Kang Colby
(1,941 posts)If she did very well, then I think it's case closed for racism. 
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)how about every other white harvard kid who has legacy advantages?
Kang Colby
(1,941 posts)What was her GPA and SAT? Did her accomplishments merit the decision or not? If not, then it still doesn't matter...her dad is POTUS.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)where do you think this assumption comes from
Kang Colby
(1,941 posts)If we had her GPA and SAT score there would be no need for assumptions. That's my point. I think we are saying the samething just differently.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)that a child of brilliant parents who got a great education, got in by her own merit
we need to see the proof?
that is what you are saying, right?
Kang Colby
(1,941 posts)The GPA and SAT scores would just shut up the haters. That's all I'm saying.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)like when Obama handed over the long form birth cert and they wanted his colllege transcripts, if he handed them, they'd want his essays in college etc.
AgadorSparticus
(7,963 posts)Kang Colby
(1,941 posts)
Warpy
(111,167 posts)and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. That stuff still matters at an Ivy League school. It's not everything the way it once was, so she had to jump quite a few hurdles to be considered even with her pedigree. Recognizing that this is still part of the admissions process at Ivy League schools is not racist in any way. This is about class, not race.
Did she take the place of a more qualified student? Depends on what you mean by "more qualified" and chances are very good considering her background that such a creature does not exist.
Yes, there is going to be some white whine about this, there always is, and they will stay conveniently blind to all the upper class white kids who also got in as legacies as much as being qualified students.
However, denying the class aspect of this is also wrong. Yes, it mattered. It's just not the whole story.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)that's short for Africa right? As If.
irisblue
(32,932 posts)
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)All the Ivies have quotas for Hawaiian students. 
Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)Those who want to prevent us from noticing that the rich get everything and the poor get nothing try to deflect the anger that should be directed at the greedy and encourage us to direct it at each other. As long as poor whites, poor blacks, and poor Latinos are all blaming each other for their problems they won't notice that it's not their fellow sufferers that are the enemy, but the rich oligarchs who are pulling the strings. The "race issue" is all of us being played for suckers so the 1% can make off with everybody's lunch money, especially those bamboozled into using the word "racist" in connection with privilege, when it's really class that determines privilege.
The oligarchs want racism. It's keeps us peons all riled up and not paying attention to "the man behind the curtain". They don't mind if we hate each other. They don't mind if we discriminate against each other. As long as we don't catch on to who's really to blame.
Today’s leading Democrats actually don’t want to reduce inequality because they believe that inequality is the normal and righteous order of things. As proof, he points to the famously impolitic Larry Summers, whose background as a former president of Harvard, former Treasury secretary and former chief economist of the World Bank embodies all that Frank abhors about modern Democrats. “One of the reasons that inequality has probably gone up in our society is that people are being treated closer to the way that they’re supposed to be treated,” Summers commented early in the Obama administration.
Quoted from a NY Times book review
Hekate
(90,562 posts)The Obama daughters are blessed with brilliant high-achieving parents, and I have no doubt they have done well at Sidwell's, which by all accounts is a tough school. In addition to that, they are not just "legacy" students, but "double legacy" because both parents went to Harvard.
Dubya was a mediocre student at his elite prep school, and went on to be a mediocre student at Yale and Harvard. He was a legacy student at Yale. His entire life he was propped up by his inherited connections. His daughters didn't exactly reflect well on the White House when they were young.
It boggles the mind to have to point out, as you did, the racism inherent in this batch of complaints about Malia.
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)I'm sure there are racists out there who think she received the invite because of her color, but only a fool thinks, given her father's influence and her mother being an alum, that Harvard accepting her is remarkable.
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)
Turin_C3PO
(13,911 posts)She seems quite intelligent and has brilliant parents and a great environment. There's no reason for anyone to be claiming she doesn't deserve to get in. People need to check their biases.
raging moderate
(4,292 posts)A stellar record at Sidwell Friends, ALWAYS discreet and gracious well beyond her years! What is wrong with some people?
Gene Debs
(582 posts)she's the daughter of a President of the United States, and that if she'd been the daughter of a mailman or the daughter of a small business owner or a veterinarian. I don't know if the assertion is correct or not, and unless you have access to her grades and her academic history, neither do you.
The implication as I see it is that she's in a position where her grades could fall well short of what Harvard requires, but because her father is the President, Harvard's admissions office would most likely gladly look the other way. Obama's predecessor Dubya got into Yale with a famously unimpressive transcript, and when you make not of what HIS father did for a living, the implication is definitely plausible.
I do know, however, that while it may be right and it may be wrong, it's not racist. The first mention of race came from you.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)where the mention of race is racist.
it's an interesting tactic to see here.
rock
(13,218 posts)At least I think I do. What's with the spare letters "AF"? --- OK, found it rummaging around on google. Now I'm an old guy so give me some slack. 
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)that's what that means 
rock
(13,218 posts)Makes it funnier. Thanks 
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)I really don't care. So how exactly, or more precisely why? is this a news story? Outside the social pages it should not.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)thanks for letting me skate on this one. But exactly is this really a news story? We have so many issues that are way more important than what the kid of any sitting president does, or where they go to college. Though I am sure that will be a story (and it should) at the school paper.
I am just thinking as an editor. Never mind, the clickbait and kitties up a tree strike me as a way not to actually discuss policy. And yes, that includes racism. And for the record, I am glad she is NOT attending any of my local schools. The Secret Service detail can be fun.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Using a black man's church - a black church - as a campaign weapon against him, using it to accuse him of being racist and unamerican, forcing him to divorce from said church.
Know what's antisemitic af?
Singling out a Jewish candidate for blame when white christian kids are murdered in school, saying he has hteir blood on his hands. Holding him to an intensely different standard than a non-Jewish candidate, and changing hte goalposts when he still beats them. Insisting that he must hate black people - no reason, just that "he must!"
Know what's islamophobic af?
Promoting a policy that treats Muslim communities in America as enemy encampments, requiring its members ot work as informance and "first-liners" for law enforcement.
All sorts of nasty af stuff going on, all over the place!
But I'm glad you noticed this, and came here to get it off your chest. I'm sure it'll clear the problem right up. Good for you, you're a hero.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)he would not be her pastor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/us/politics/26wright.html?_r=0
I didn't particularly approve of those comments either.
Also it is definitely not anti Semitic to attack Bernie on guns. that's a policy issue.
and i dont really give a shit about being a hero on the internet.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)And when you say a Jewish candidate has the blood of children on his hands, when you hold a Jew directly responsible for the murder of children, then unless he actually did kill them himself, that is absolutely blood libel, which is undeniable antisemitism. There's also the overwhelming double standards against him vs. non-Jewish candidates, and the unbased assumption of anti-black racism. Antisemitism is as much a feature of 2016's primary campaign as negrophobia was in 2008.
Now as to your "point," I don't disagree with you, in principle. if someone is saying that Malia Obama has no qualifications for Harvard, then yes, that definitely would carry racist implications.
But I think you're missing something. That being that qualification and legacy are not mutually exclusive. Harvard and other Ivy League schools get TONS of qualified applicants. They then pick and choose from those applications. And Harvard is not going to send a response headed with "We regret to inform you..." to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, District of Colombia, 20500. Simply pointing out that legacy and prestige are very much a factor of Ivy League school admittance isn't a slight against Malia Obama.
Now the issue with your post is that you are basically reducing Malia Obama to a two-dimensional racial cypher, a tool for your own use - and that use is making yourself look good on the internet. it seems kind of like a thing you do. Look, if you really want to address the problem, yelling about it to a bunch of other people, in the most generalized, vague, indirect manner possible isn't going to help. If someone is saying Ms. obama "isn't qualified," by all means, take their asses to task, they earned it. it'll be more effective than your soap-boxing in GD.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)There's no such thing as legacy admissions.
{bobbeaudelang} Harvard isn't a place for the privileged, so stop saying that! {/bobbeaudelang}
retrowire
(10,345 posts)I'm certain the next Zuckerburg will get into a fine school based on their last name. Elitism doesn't know race. It knows money and reputation though.
Like the first poster said, W got through life with the Bush name just fine.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Do you not think so?
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)and people need to stop shitting on that.
Denying black achievements is very much a modern form of racism
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Being the daughter of the President of the United States provides some benefit to one's admissions chances, I would think.
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)into Harvard. The smartest girl I know didn't get into Harvard undergrad even with her father's legacy. She got into a few other top schools, chose William and Mary, and was later accepted into Harvard Law School. (This girl was valedictorian of her elite prep school, one of the top high school debaters in the country, and a competitive swimmer on the state level.)
The absolutely brightest students in the country should all get into all the Ivies, but they don't. One student might get into Harvard, while receiving rejection letters from the others. One might get into Yale and Princeton, while not getting into Harvard. Many top notch students with extremely impressive applications won't get into even one Ivy League school because there's only so many slots.
Obviously, Malia met the minimum standards to get into Harvard, and when I type "minimum" I mean no such ordinary "minimum!" Most of us will never meet those requirements. She's a smart, very accomplished young woman girl who has had the advantage of an excellent education. So have many other students. There's no way we could ever know if having a president for a father closed the deal for her, but I don't think Harvard would have considered Malia if they didn't think she would be successful student and an asset to the school.
mikehiggins
(5,614 posts)I long for those days before Limbaugh when kids living in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were off the radar.
Attacking Malia is, IMHO, obvious racism and deserves a quick kick in the ass.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)But, honestly, who gives a fig.
These people will complain if anyone named Obama does anything at all.
msongs
(67,361 posts)the situation of the other people getting admitted.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)
BumRushDaShow
(128,515 posts)we are culturally conditioned to believe that white is superior, black is inferior, and the manifestation of that cultural conditioning is that black people are undervalued, underestimated, and marginalized."
-Joe Madison
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)
kacekwl
(7,014 posts)she certainly wouldn't be the first one.
GOPblows431
(51 posts)Some people are just really bitter.
abakan
(1,815 posts)Both of her parents went there and the school considers her to be a legacy.
Legacy admissions are the practice of giving preferential treatment to a college applicant because someone in his or her family attended the college. If you're wondering why the Common Application asks where your mom and dad went to college, it's because legacy status matters in the college admissions process.
NNadir
(33,475 posts)...Firestone library, I try to imagine Michelle Obama as a young student in that room.
(I am not associated with Princeton University in any way by the way; except that I pay to use the library, one of the best libraries in the world.)
The President has done quite well; I'm very proud of having voted for him. Everyone falls short of his or her goals, but where Obama has done so, it has often been involved with the racists who have dominated Congress, and let's be clear, they are racists, as is befitting a party about to nominate the first avowedly open racist since Woodrow Wilson.
My youngest son has "Ivy League" type grades, but he surely wouldn't be admitted since he cannot show much in the way of breadth of experience. Malia, by contrast, certainly has had an experience that pretty much no one at Harvard can match. I'm sure her grades are excellent as well.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)Mail Message
On Mon May 2, 2016, 04:02 PM an alert was sent on the following post:
you know what's racist af? People implying that Malia got into Harvard due to her last name.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027797712
REASON FOR ALERT
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.
ALERTER'S COMMENTS
All throughout this thread, La Lioness Priyanka, over and over, either insinuates or outright calls other DU members racists because they don't agree with her post. Personally I think this is way, way out of line. I don't take kindly to being called a racist, and I don't think others do either.
You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Mon May 2, 2016, 04:09 PM, and the Jury voted 1-6 to LEAVE IT.
Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: If there are posts where a DUer is inappropriately called a racist, then alert on those.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: It's an opinion and no TOS violation
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Why was this alerted on? Nobody called anyone a racist in this post.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Nothing wrong with this post. The alerter should be sent to MIRT for alerting on this post. Racist trolls should be banned.
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: I have to agree.
Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts) NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)I hope you are happy with the outcome versus predictions.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)other experiences only someone in her situation would have.
Of course, I know nothing of her h.s. academics, or activities, or sports, or part-time jobs, or essay-writing, or the myriad of other factors that go into a college's Admissions Process.
ericson00
(2,707 posts)whatever color they are. It's not racism to say she got into Harvard bc of her name, one shared with the world's most powerful human being.
If they said it was affirmative action, that would be another thing.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)the fact that people compulsively need to say that, just proves my point.
basselope
(2,565 posts)It's not about race.
It's about a corrupt system.
The same system that got George W Bush into Yale.
RandySF
(58,511 posts)But, at the sane time, George W Bush didn't get into Harvard and Yale on his intellectual merit. It's a fact of life that no school will likely pass on a oresidentual child, qualified or not. Let's also not forget that her father studied there.
basselope
(2,565 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)basselope
(2,565 posts)It kinda reminds me of when Clinton claimed she couldn't be part of the establishment b/c she was a woman.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)I've published about it and presented in academic conference. So no you are wrong.
basselope
(2,565 posts)To quote Charles Lummis: "“Any fool can write a book and most of them are doing it; but it takes brains to build a house.”
If you think questioning Malia getting into Harvard can ONLY be based in racism, you have a lot to learn on the subject, so I strongly suggest you take a break from teaching the subject until you learn more about it.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)basselope
(2,565 posts)Just because you wrote on a subject doesn't make you an expert.
And judging by the completely lack of awareness from your OP, it is absolutely clear to me you have 0 clue on this subject.
You don't cite examples.
You make a very broad/blanket statement. "you know what's racist af? People implying that Malia got into Harvard due to her last name."
That statement is untrue.
Someone could be commenting on the LEGACY system and not making ANY reference to the color of her skin.
Someone could be making reference to the fact that schools like Harvard and Yale are WELL KNOWN for giving spots to people based on their STATUS over their achievements.
Malia fits into 2 categories, she is BOTH a legacy and someone with a status, so it is an interesting point to raise and the fact that she is so high profile, makes her stand out.
But, besides your post.. I haven't seen any outcry.. anyone complaining. Maybe someone is. IDK.. if so, link to it and show an EXAMPLE of racism instead of making some blanket statement.
Same shit went down with Chelsea Clinton in Stanford, with some accusing her of getting in only b/c of status.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I'd keep minimizing and trivializing academic publishing as well if it countered my own biases.
basselope
(2,565 posts)
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)basselope
(2,565 posts)This post is a perfect example of it.
The OP has no clue what the term racist means in this context.
While there are SOME whose questions are based in racism, it does not apply to all.
I frankly don't care, but I don't doubt that the fact she is a legacy and the daughter of a sitting president had some impact on their decision.
George W Bush got into Yale, as did his daughter, Barbara Pierce Bush... I seriously questions the qualifications of BOTH those applicants far more than Malia, who from all outside appearances appeared to have her head on straight.
However, I have little doubt her status as a legacy AND the daughter of a sitting president certainly helped in the admission process.
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)The ones who do are usually the people who get deemed the abusers no?
basselope
(2,565 posts)I think you need to back and read the OP again.
The fact is that people can question the legacy system and favoritism system of ivy league admission procedures WITHOUT race being part of the conversation.
The OP doesn't seem to understand that distinction and believes this particular person should be completely IMMUNE to those question simply because of her race... which, seems to be the most racist thing about this post.
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)... but in the context of how the Obama's have been treated throughout their terms in office hell yes there is some there there...
This is were people who usually don't understand the the micro aggression of racism say there's some kind of card being played cause they'll narrow the context to just the question and leave out everything else.
For the people who live through the micro aggression it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to forget the whole context.
Kinda like RayGun opening his campaign near the same town some black kid got hung on a tree...
Totally non racist if one just looks at the context of opening a campaign in a small town...
PoC achievements have been oft dismissed or minimized because of racist
I don't think the view is totally out of order given recent past of attitudes in America
I do hear your point, not everything is about race...
Just these things, like minimizing her achievements down to her father (or not), are hot button race issues... they always have been
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)not everything of course, but a lot are.
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)... up in a place where there is a lot of PoC.
I never knew until I moved to the south how f... up the attitudes of police where in Missouri for instance.
Ferguson was an eye opener
basselope
(2,565 posts)There has been TONS of racism aimed at this presidency.
My issue is that the OP, in this case, made a blanket statement that ANY questioning of Malia getting into Harvard was racist by definition.
Now, I personally never even thought to question it b/c I have been completely impressed with the president's kids and how incredibly they appear to be raised. They act with a dignity and grace not often seen and so I have no doubt that are incredibly bright and done incredibly well in school. I felt no desire to look up their SAT scores or GPAs.. never even occurred to me.
However, I have also been a HUGE critic of the Legacy system in Ivy league schools and not just the legacy system, but preferential treatment in admissions shown to people of influence.
What brought me into this post was the broad brush. Now, i haven't even seen ANYONE question this (granted I don't listen to talk radio, so maybe a Limbaugh or some other idiot said something).. but this post said any questioning of her admittance MUST be born of racism.
Now, if they want to point to examples of things people said or questions raise, I would be happy to analyze it and make my own judgment. But... the blanket statement is simply not true.
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)... edge and the double edged goes to the marginalized... of course the marginalized would agree.
People who are just questioing legacy admission, which I don't like them either, have a legit gripe...
hmmmm, I can see someone being pieved at being rolled up with all the other people who would question her admission due to the micro aggression of minimizing marginalized groups achievments
basselope
(2,565 posts)Thus, is going to draw more attention, not because of her race, but because of her STATUS. President's daughter gets into Harvard and is a legacy. I don't care what color the president is.. it's going to start that discussion.
We did this dance in 2000 with Chelsea in Stanford and the accusations that she didn't "earn" her spot, but was let in due to status, but there were no cries of racism.
I was part of the band wagon questioning how Bush's daughter got into Yale.. no racism there.
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)... if white peoples accomplishments were always ... always.... always minimized by racist then of course cries of racism would be part of the equation no matter how isolated or benign the question.
Again, I kinda understand my benign question shouldn't be swept up with societies ills... but that's the America we live in
basselope
(2,565 posts)Now, OF COURSE, the usual idiotic twitter/social people and others immediately "went there" and it was blatantly racist. But, I haven't seen anyone on DU or otherwise actually question whether she earned her trip to Harvard or question her grades, etc.. everyone knows she is bright, so this wasn't some shock. The bush daughter was more shocking b/c she was known to be a mess.
However, if we are ever going to make any progress... anywhere... we have to stop looking for it around every corner and under every mat.
I have a good friend from high school who gets pulled over AT LEAST twice per year for driving while black.
However, one time he got pulled over when he was actually speeding and he posted about it and kidna lol'd saying something along the line of first time in my life I got pulled over for something other than my skin color or something like that.
That doesn't excuse the 50 other times in his adult life he has been pulled over for no reason, but he realized this time, it was because he went flying past a state trooper speed trap at 95.
Again, my issue with this OP is that it left no room for anything other than racial motivation. If the OP had just said "some" or even "most", I wouldn't be there, but the question was forbidden to be asked because it HAD TO BE racially motivated, by definition and not just racist, but "racist af"
I am not a huge fan of the concept of reverse racism, BUT, when you declare that asking a legitimate question is off limits because of someone's race, sex, etc.. THAT is a form of reverse racism. It still reminds of when Clinton in one of the early debates declared that she could not be establishment because she is a woman. As if being a woman somehow exempted her from criticism.
Malia is a very high profile individual who got accepted to Harvard. People questioning whether her stature (both as a legacy and the daughter of the POTUS) played a role in her admission isn't racist on its own, no more than when bush got into Yale or Clinton got into Stanford and people on both sides of the aisle complained.
Until we accept that while there are a lot of things that ARE about race, there are some things that aren't.. we aren't going to make any progress.
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)... in some people.
I think maybe that's syntax, I don't read that as everyone when I see the word "people"... I don't even read it as people on DU.
Until we accept that while there are a lot of things that ARE about race, there are some things that aren't.. we aren't going to make any progress
That would be easy if people would accept the issues that HAVE been about race is going to be looked at in that light.
I don't think we can extrapolate history, recent history, and say that context should not matter... it SHOULD be part of the conversation.
Donald Trumps statements in a vacuum are just crappy, in the light of how he treats women overall they're disgusting... for example.
Depaysement
(1,835 posts)Are supposed to show an aptitude to do the work. I'm sure she is more than qualified on that front. She did pretty well at SF, pretty damn competitive, not exactly a public school in the South Bronx.
Harvard is a diverse place. That's the point. Her class will have a white working class lid from Idaho or West Virginia, a Spanish kid from Texas, some Saudi prince and a rich white Google exec's kid. The idea is that they all learn from each other's differences.
Texasgal
(17,040 posts)+1000
CentralCoaster
(1,163 posts)I'll admit that I don't watch cable, but I've only seen mention of Malia and Harvard on DU.
Maybe you should reconsider which sites are taking up your time, or what channels you have playing on cable or radio?
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)This is not about the primary.
CentralCoaster
(1,163 posts)And, besides, it's not like Harvard is hard to get into.
Malia is bright, I'm sure her grades are great, admission wouldn't surprise me at all.
So, who is whining about her? Trump? Cruz?
I'm guessing Cruz, he's the bigger nutcase, IMO. Trump is acting.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)i was talking about this conversation about normal people such as those on DU
pnwmom
(108,959 posts)
LibDemAlways
(15,139 posts)choice of college because it's prestigious for the daughter of a President to be on campus. No college wants to be known as the one who turned down a President's offspring.
I am assuming her grades and test scores are outstanding as well. But even if they aren't, her background as a legacy candidate and her life experience would undoubtedly have tipped the scales in her favor.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)I would think she'd have a pretty good shot at it if we'd never heard of the Obamas. Obviously we'll never know for sure, but I have a hard time believing she isn't deserving. The vast majority of Ivy League kids probably have some kind of advantage related to their upbringing.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)is having this conversation and so many nasty comments.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)Democratic than ever.
JustAnotherGen
(31,781 posts)
malaise
(268,715 posts)Rec
betsuni
(25,380 posts)Albertoo
(2,016 posts)If Malia, the daughter of the President of the United States of America, was ever to be accused of getting in Harvard due to favoritism (a claim that would have to be proven anyway), the first reason for favoritism people would suspect is obviously power, i.e. being the daughter of the President of the United States of America, who, whether Black, Asian or Caucasian, still is for some years to come the most powerful and well connected individual on earth.
notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)I have not seen it here and to claim that it is so- should require some proof.
virgogal
(10,178 posts)
One_Life_To_Give
(6,036 posts)We might call that Misogyny to say her name had something to do with her acceptance as well. But for us mere mortals it's more likely we will only be able to attend a relatively unknown State or Community College. Then again not all of us get offered $600k/yr to be a reporter with little to no experience either.
craigmatic
(4,510 posts)
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)Democat
(11,617 posts)If you disagree, you're a racist.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I don't remember anyone minimizing Chelsea Clinton's earning her admissions at Stanford, Oxford and Columbia. I don't remember anyone implying she didn't earn her degrees on her own. Nor do I remember anyone implying she graduated with honors due to her name.
However, someone will of course rationalize a distinction lacking any real difference to better hide (and justify) their own implicit biases. It's becoming a little bit too easy these days to see DU's moles for what they are.
Democat
(11,617 posts)Perhaps you were born in the last couple of years, because Chelsea Clinton has been under constant attack since the day Bill Clinton began running for president.
http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/376162/enough-puff-pieces-about-chelsea-clinton-already-jim-geraghty
The2ndWheel
(7,947 posts)They got into this school, or got that job, in part because of their name. It goes with the territory. She won't care what other people say, just like every other kid of powerful parents doesn't care, as she's there, she'll do her thing, go on to do whatever she'll do after school, and the world will keep spinning. I doubt she would even care that you're standing up for her. She's fine.
Captain Stern
(2,199 posts)It would be racist if someone implied that because Malia was black, she wouldn't be able to get into Harvard unless her last name was Obama. That would essentially be implying that black people aren't smart enough to get into Harvard without help.
However, if someone were to imply that Malia couldn't get into Harvard on her own because she was female, that would be sexist...not racist. That person would be implying that women weren't smart enough to get into Harvard without help.
Autumn
(44,984 posts)A life of privilege and wealth give a confidence that most children raised on food stamps will never know.
questionseverything
(9,645 posts)n/t
sofa king
(10,857 posts)... I suddenly realized that all those racist haters were doing was making a fine argument against themselves for entry into Harvard.
