Click below to access video.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/22/justice/scotus-michigan-affirmative-action/
DISCUSSION BETWEEN LAWDYMISSCLAWDY AND OUR NEW CONTRIBUTING POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, ALAN BECKETT
© PJ Hayward, New York 2014
© Alan Beckett, New York 2014
LawdyMissClawdy:
So all those people who lost their lives back in the day, all those young people and CHILDREN who suffered the terror and pain of vicious dogs tearing them apart, police cracking open their heads and bones, all in the struggle for the basic human rights we used to call Civil Rights….all that is just a forgotten relic from the past… meaningless and no longer relevant today..even though our young people of color still get passed over for jobs, scholarships, housing….. There is no justice in America
Alan:
I agree with you on this. It seems that we are starting to regress back into the times of darkness. We all need to come together in order to show just how important these issues are to all of us. In numbers come power and awareness that these issues must be dealt with.
Unfortunately our children do not know of the suffering and pain. They only see the materialism and current trends that are popular with the mainstream. They no longer strive to be better than they think they can be. No longer value education to a great degree. They just want to be accepted as being cool, part of the IN crowd.
I weep when I see kids with talent sit or squander their skills. I weep when I see girls having children just to say they can have someone to love them. I weep when I see young black men hanging out on the street not looking for work but for the next person they can get over on while still living with their mothers. I weep but I still have hope for I know of young men and ladies like the ones I have worked with in the boys and girls clubs who have overcome a lot of serious situations to better themselves, their families and made old guys like me proud to have been part of their upbringing.
There is still a lot of racial tension in America but it will fall. In the year 2050 their will be more people of color in America than white people. By that time though the people in Washington will probably have changed the rules again to keep themselves in power with the one percent of Americans still looking down on the rest of us.
LawdyMissClawdy:
Bro Al, not only are you tragically right on point (and so eloquently spoken), but it seems to get incrementally more and more apparent with every new crop of young people coming along. My belief is that this ruling goes hand in hand together with the concentrated effort of the Powers That Be to keep our children as UNeducated as possible, with the goal being eventual total control of us 99% by that same 1% you speak of. The only hope I can see is for us older folks to keep on preaching as loud and long as possible to those young people in our lives, in hopes that somewhere down the line they will have that moment of vision where our truths become real to them and they take their place in line to carry the torch of Speaking truth to Power. If that can’t happen, well…. what can be said then? Just pray.
Alan:
I pray everyday. I pray for what I have and for the people who have yet to realize what they have. You are a blessed person for you have always been a person that looked out for everyone you knew or were connected to.
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LawdyMissClawdy - Life Speaks 
Plse explain not sure I understand.
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Hi A,
I’m, not sure if you just were unable to view the CNN video and story or if you were not sure about what Affirmative Action is. So I will explain a bit about Affirmative Action and then about the Supreme Court decision.
The short answer is that Affirmative Action is a term meaning that employers when choosing employees, schools when choosing students etc., must take “Affirmative (or positive deliberate steps) Action” to ensure that choices are made without regard to a person’s ethnic origin, religion, color or race. This was later expanded to include a person’s sex or a person’s sexual orientation.
In the 1960’s the passing of Affirmative Action legislation opened up doors for millions of people of color to try for jobs, schools, careers etc. where heretofore rampant racial prejudice had stonewalled them and prevented them from achieving or even trying to achieve their potential.
This legislation led to an outcry by white people that Affirmative Action is nothing more than discrimination against white people. Some people claim that it has caused a system of quotas to be put into place in our country wherein employers and schools have denied qualified whites in order to fulfill a government mandated quota of x number of various ethnic groups in order for the employer or school to qualify for government subsidies.
What has happened in recent years is that whatever historical progress was made due to Affirmative Action and other anti-discrimination laws and policies, now is being turned backwards by some states and apparently even by our Federal Supreme Court, because some Civil Rights legislation now is being declared unconstitutional. That is what happened in Michigan. Briefly, here is a quote from CNN’s story:
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Michigan law banning the use of racial criteria in college admissions, a key decision in an unfolding legal and political battle nationally over affirmative action. The justices found 6-2 that a lower court did not have the authority to set aside the measure approved in a 2006 referendum supported by 58% of voters. It bars publicly funded colleges from granting “preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.”
This is a tragic, tragic turn of events, that our United States Supreme Court – the final hope for justice when all other efforts have failed – would uphold a ban on these policies that have made life changing opportunities possible for countless bright and capable young people in this country. We have gone back to the dark ages of Jim Crow and Carpet Bagging.
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This makes me angry. Why are we going backward and why do the 1% get away with forcing their will on the rest of us? When will be freed from prejudice and hate?
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Yes, when I read about this I couldn’t believe it. I think we will never be free from prejudice and hate. It seems to just be in the nature of mankind to want to dominate all around us, whether that entails just hate and anger or whether it gets carried to the extreme with violence and warfare, as has been proven since the dawn of Man. I can only repeat what I have said so many times before, the only thing I know to do is just for each individual to try and do the right thing and lead by example, where hopefully others will take notice and follow that lead…..
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