Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
"Too bad your children are not Hispanic," the Hispanic wife of a wealthy physician said to my wife last Easter. She might as well as thrust a dagger though my spouse's heart. Doesn't anyone think it's wrong to discriminate based on race anymore?
I thought we had come a long way from the days of discrimination based on race. Apparently not. It's just reversed, and now, according to those who cried the loudest about it years ago, it is a good thing.
Having raised five children as a minority in El Paso, Texas, I can attest to many incidents of discrimination made against my children as they grew up. The worst thing about all these incidents is that the discrimination was perpetrated and endorsed by people who used to rail against discrmination. However, since they are now the beneficiaries of it, they now not only accept it, but welcome it. This blog is just beginning, and will be an ongoing work.
A little about me. I'm not rich. However I have more money now than I did when my oldest was in high school. We lived in a 1000 square foot house and I worked three jobs to support my family.
My first son, Gerard, graduated from high school at the top of his class in 1998. His ambition was to go to MIT, to which he was admitted. However, he wasn't actively recruited the way that majority Hispanic students were. As a matter of fact, Gerard never got to even visit MIT. However, a student lower in the class was actively recruited and even flown to MIT at the university's expense. Why? Because MIT was recruiting based on race. Even though here in El Paso, Hispanics are the majority, MIT wanted to increase their "minority" pool. Now being an anglo in a community of 99 percent Hispanics should have given Gerard the minority status. But that was not the case. Did anyone raise their voices in protest for this favoritism based only on race? No all the good "equal right's folks" could just look the other way at this one. Lest you say I'm angry because my son got cheated and that is why I am writing this, let me be clear. My children are doing fine in spite of the blatant racism and discrimination. I just want to document what has happened over the years.
Gerard was son one. I have two others, and three daughters, all who have experienced some form of blatant racism and discrimination here in liberal El Paso. And what makes this all the more interesting is that these people all claim to be for equality and fairness. But even the best have shown me that they have no problem with the practice of racial discrimination.
Chris, now in his final year of medical school, missed National Merit Scholar status by one point. So he never got the attention from universities that minority students who scored 20 percent lower on the qualifying test for National Merit status. Seems that blacks and hispanics get recognized and recruited based on scores which are much lower than an anglo must earn to become recognized. In addition, Chris was denied the opportunity to apply for many scholarships that were designated "hispanic only".
I'll add to this blog as I have time, and I welcome your civil comments.
I thought we had come a long way from the days of discrimination based on race. Apparently not. It's just reversed, and now, according to those who cried the loudest about it years ago, it is a good thing.
Having raised five children as a minority in El Paso, Texas, I can attest to many incidents of discrimination made against my children as they grew up. The worst thing about all these incidents is that the discrimination was perpetrated and endorsed by people who used to rail against discrmination. However, since they are now the beneficiaries of it, they now not only accept it, but welcome it. This blog is just beginning, and will be an ongoing work.
A little about me. I'm not rich. However I have more money now than I did when my oldest was in high school. We lived in a 1000 square foot house and I worked three jobs to support my family.
My first son, Gerard, graduated from high school at the top of his class in 1998. His ambition was to go to MIT, to which he was admitted. However, he wasn't actively recruited the way that majority Hispanic students were. As a matter of fact, Gerard never got to even visit MIT. However, a student lower in the class was actively recruited and even flown to MIT at the university's expense. Why? Because MIT was recruiting based on race. Even though here in El Paso, Hispanics are the majority, MIT wanted to increase their "minority" pool. Now being an anglo in a community of 99 percent Hispanics should have given Gerard the minority status. But that was not the case. Did anyone raise their voices in protest for this favoritism based only on race? No all the good "equal right's folks" could just look the other way at this one. Lest you say I'm angry because my son got cheated and that is why I am writing this, let me be clear. My children are doing fine in spite of the blatant racism and discrimination. I just want to document what has happened over the years.
Gerard was son one. I have two others, and three daughters, all who have experienced some form of blatant racism and discrimination here in liberal El Paso. And what makes this all the more interesting is that these people all claim to be for equality and fairness. But even the best have shown me that they have no problem with the practice of racial discrimination.
Chris, now in his final year of medical school, missed National Merit Scholar status by one point. So he never got the attention from universities that minority students who scored 20 percent lower on the qualifying test for National Merit status. Seems that blacks and hispanics get recognized and recruited based on scores which are much lower than an anglo must earn to become recognized. In addition, Chris was denied the opportunity to apply for many scholarships that were designated "hispanic only".
I'll add to this blog as I have time, and I welcome your civil comments.
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