<p>RR has commented on how his sexual orientation has made him an outsider in his culture. I wonder if this is a factor that has shaped his views on cultural identity. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.paulagordon.com/shows/rodriguez/[/url]”>http://www.paulagordon.com/shows/rodriguez/</a>
<a href=“http://www.commondreams.org/views/022800-108.htm[/url]”>http://www.commondreams.org/views/022800-108.htm</a></p>
<p>affirmative action is like stating “urms are generally dumber, so we give them a boost so they’re on the same level as other students”, which is absolutely ridiculous. if you found any correlation between how well students do in school and their background, it would be economically based. certainly according to current data urms on average have a lower income, but if you take time to compare urms and non urms within the same income brackets, I think you’d find they had similar test scores. I mean, if affirmative action was really because of the evilness of academia to minorities, then why don’t you see asians in the same situation as the others? how would you account for asian immigrants outperforming students who have lived in the US for their entire lives in english? it’s not usually because their parents are phenomenal english speakers and taught them everything they knew.</p>
<p>I think it is an interesting article about a talented writer, but if you are doing a poll on famous URMs that do not want any form of affirmative action, you are certain to find them. There are also a number of them who agree with affirmative action. I don’t think we are taking a vote on the issue by digging up anecdotal examples.</p>
<p>Affirmative action is not a simple moral issue and anyone who thinks it’s simply right or wrong must not be thinking too hard. One of the negative aspects is that successful URM college graduates will find themselves patronized a bit. RR gives a good example of this with his dealings with Yale. </p>
<p>I think it’s extremely understandable that successful URMs can be anti-affirmative action, because it downsizes their personal achievements a little (socially, not literally…). Especially those who would have gotten this far without any help. RR seems to take a stance like this.</p>
<p>I agree. That’s why I moved into a field that is measured strictly on numbers and you are paid accordingly. In corporations it is generally assumed you are an AA hire no matter what. That was far more annoying than any of the slights I had over the years.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think he really made any salient points. AA aside, that was a horrible article (IMHO).</p>
<p>" For me, diversity is not a value. Diversity is what you find in Northern Ireland. Diversity is Beirut. Diversity is brother killing brother. Where diversity is shared - where I share with you my difference - that can be valuable. But the simple fact that we are unlike each other is a terrifying notion. I have often found myself in foreign settings where I became suddenly aware that I was not like the people around me. That, to me, is not a pleasant discovery."</p>
<p>One afternoon, I drove my son to get oboe stuff in Berkeley. We were visiting. We drove by BHS and he being 13/14 was watching the kids on the street. I had told him for years how integrated Berkeley was. It was different than where we lived, as strangers. On the way home he said, "they aren’t mixed, the groups of kids."All the asians are together, all the blacks all the whites. None of the groups are mixed. So the next time I drove around the area, I looked. He was right.</p>
<p>His only experience was growing up in a tiny international community where diversity had to be shared or you didn’t have any friends, because everyone of your age was different than the next. So to speak, this is forced sharing. If children are “forced” to share, they eventually develop a tiny understanding and empathy for the next guy. But this only happens when there are not enough children, adults of the same makeup to make a group because it is far more comfortable to be around people you share common values, language and background with than not.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Rodriquez’s politics, or anything about him. But there is truth in what he wrote above.</p>