Are superior grades — or the notion of pursuing them — racist?
Lately, we’re finding out all kinds of things are the “R” word.
Nothing seems safe. CNN recently spelled out “anti-racism,” which — among lots of things — vilifies the following racist statements:
- “All lives matter.”
- “I’m colorblind; I don’t care if you’re white, black, yellow, green or purple.”
Have you ever uttered such Grand Dragon-ish things?
Or how about this — have you ever made future plans, ya neanderthal?
As reported by RedState legend streiff, the Smithsonian as of late’s added to our growing list of racist ideas, or, at least, exclusively white ones.
A few:
Scientific method=whiteness? Wife is homemaker and subordinate to the husband is Whiteness? Planning for the future is Whiteness? Bland food is Whiteness?
More, from the same chart to which streiff referred:
- Rugged individualism
- Holidays
- Competition
- Hard work ethic
Related to hard work and competing, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine is suspending nominations to its honor society.
And why? According to The Washington Free Beacon, the school fears its merit-based criteria is racist.
In fact, UConn may torpedo its chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha — the national honor society for medical schools — altogether.
The university just established the chapter last year, but debate over its requirement’s already brought things to a halt.
A quintet of faculty members announced the decision via an email, which also confirmed the dean’s support.
As per the missive, the five wanna be social justice warriors:
“If we are going to directly address issues of social injustice, we should not continue biased practices while we make the overall decision on the future of the AΩA chapter.”
So what kind of twisted criteria has the suspicious organization been using? And what’s let them know it’s a sinister set?
Let’s find out:
“Comparison of minority student representation in our overall class to those selected for AΩA show a marked disparity with far fewer diversity students selected in AΩA. These disparities are clear and they are troubling. During the review conducted by our AΩA Board, by [School of Medicine] leadership and by the Education Council, it is clear there is bias in the student AΩA selection.
“It has been a requirement for student candidates to be selected from the top quartile of students as designated by the SOM. This process has been a national/AΩA mandate and not a UConn SOM requirement. However, we recognize that this ditinction itself may be influenced by implicit bias in grading and assessment of students. As a result, election to AΩA from this subset of students may amplify potential underlying inequities in our education system and, in fact, honor those whom the current system may already privilege and benefit.”
Shuttling the honor society’s just as well — who’d want their doctor to’ve had a reason to try and make extra good grades in medical school?
Of course, UConn’s reasoning — inequitable outcome indicates biased methodology — could serve to invalidate, essentially, most every meritocracy on earth.
In fact, forget the honor society — what about school in general? What if the numbers reveal, broadly, that some groups trend toward better grades than others?
Apropos, from the Beacon:
Leaders of many elite institutions now say that a merit-based admissions policy may lead to unacceptable racially unequal outcomes. The New York Times, for example, recently published an op-ed arguing for ending blind auditions in America’s orchestras. Such moves indicate an overturning of decades of consensus that neutral meritocratic standards foster racial diversity and signal an institutional shift towards explicit racial quotas.
We’ve opened quite the can of worms.
Will all this be taken to its ultimate conclusion?
Or will the news cycle flip and everyone just follow the new fad, dropping our race revolution as fully as it fumbled the hot potato of #MeToo?
Stay tuned. I suspect we’ve got some very interesting days ahead.
-ALEX
See more pieces from me:
Miracle: Retired Marine Dives to Save a Terrified Toddler Tossed From a Third Story Inferno (VIDEO)
Hollywood Star Denzel Washington Recalls the Moment He Gave His Life to Christ
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