eldezod: For example, the SAT asked something about snow and skiing, and the report argued that skiing is something that is done mosty by upper-middle to upper class people, also mostly white.


That is just retarded. I have never gone skiing, but I would have no problem answering a question about it. On the SAT it would either mean something like:

You are skiing down a 30 degree slope a 32 mph, if you reach the bottom in 3 minutes, what color is your jumpsuit?

or it would mean simply knowing what type of word ski or skiing is.

I find it very hard to believe that a test question could be truly racially deterministic simply because of something like that.

The Icelander: I bet poor whites don't do as well on the test either

I wouldn't go so far as to absolve them of any responsibility whatsoever for their situation. That mindset is part of the reason they're there.

Who wants to join my class action law suit against the government? Their low-income eligibility for welfare benefits deliberately discriminates against white folk.

Actually, I don't believe that Asians are considered minorities by the ACLU or government. Can anyone verify?

It's interesting that a Canadian only has to say something good a-boot their own country and people jump up and accuse us of being pompous.

This is not the case at all. I was simply stating the law in Canada. This is neither better nor worse than the US. Just different!

And to be clear, I am not saying that social discrimination doesn't exist in Canada. I am saying that the law does not allow it in any form, unlike in the US. That's it, that's all.

There is no need to make more out of it.

Tallgordon

The key is, that's 400 years. Most of the black men today don't have the problem of being a slave, or not being able to read, or do simple math, or managing a cell phone plan, or car payments, or watching TV where you can learn about 'white' things like skiing. I understand that racism still exists, but it doesn't keep you from passing a damn test. Tell our black valedictorian that all us white people are holding him back. Nothing stopped him from listening in class and doing his homework.

White, black, latin, spanish, I don't give a crap. If you come near me wearing your hat sideways, pants below your ass, and don't speak with proper enunciation I will call you whatever stupid racist term I feel like silently as I smile. You've earned it.

Judge a man by the content of his character. If that character is stupid and doesn't understand what working hard and working smart get you, then let us all judge you accordingly.

You give liberals a bad name.

I haven't done CRAP to hold back any race of people, so don't hold me back when I go for a test because some latino scored just below me, but he's latin, so we'll give him a few more points for free to meet a quota. Blame Univision for enforcing redciulous stereotypes of spanish culture. Go argue with BET that their rap about rape, murder, drugs, etc. somehow HELPS people. Stop living in the past, the current problems are different.

Give minorities extra points like they do on civil service exams. Maybe throw in 40 acres and a mule too.

Tallgordon: Welcome to the world of standardized testing.

Yes, standardized tests discriminate against races that are generally considered impoverished.

Yes, these tests involve mostly material that is considered by most to indicate 'objective intelligence.'

So either blacks and hispanics are inherently stupid, so fark em.

Or else 400 years of indoctrinating people to believe that black people are violent, simple-minded, oversexed brutes in order to justify their systematic enslavement and oppression, in addition to raping their women, eliminating all family ties and selling their children, outlawing their literacy, lynching the ones who whistle or look at you funny, and then assassinating or arresting every last one of their effective political leaders, had something to do with it.

I choose to believe the latter. Because I'm a crazy liberal.

I remember a few years a go a Harvard student was murdered. Ten years earlier, she was fresh off the boat from Vietnam and couldn't speak a lick of English. Yet she'd worked hard enough to make it to Harvard w/out being a legacy or having a rich parent.

Why is it, pray tell, that this story has been repeated (w/some variation) so many times? Frequently, they go to the same inner city schools as other "minorities," yet academically thrive? Why is that?

man if you are using a 5 iron from 100 yards out, you are not playing golf very often or very well, or else you are a 9 year-old kid.
100 yards= wedge, (and I am a short knocker)
pro= 56 degree wedge

2005-09-29 01:14:23 PM HAMMERTOE

Can tests be racist? Can facts be racist? Doesn't racism require opinion? For example:


If I say that Industrial Revolution didn't happen in Africa; it happened in America, would that be racist? Or would I just be racist for pointing it out?

Actually, you would be wrong - Europe/UK were industrialized way before the US. The US just caught up faster.

The greatest program of systemic slaughter of a race in history: The Holocaust (European). Am I racist for pointing that out?

Depends on how you measure. Maybe not considering other genocides on earth that predates the 20th century.


the greatest Religious-based terrorization of innocents in history: Got to be either The crusades or The Inquisition.


Again, depends on how you measure. The first jihad was nasty at times (one could aruge the first crusade was a reaction to it).

If they gave a test with dumbed down questions, then they really can be sued for giving a different test to different nationalities. Actually, they would have to work on a quota system of hiring percentages, or even better (the idea I like) have classes so people could pass the test. Yes it costs more, but less than a class action lawsuit and does a lot of brand pride. I have gone through quite a few of the lawsuits so I have a little intelligence behind it. But you can not give a different test to different people, because you will be sued and rightly so.

"well that depends on if he has to pick up his ho."
"now that's what we call, a variable"

Bueller? Bueller?

ginko in coolaid - 'nuf said.

2005-09-29 12:47:40 PM Doktor Merkwrdiglieben

George Bush doesn't care about Fed Ex.
Wait...Fed Ex doesn't care about George Bush.
No, I know...Fed Bush doesn't care about Ex-Blacks.


Fed Bush hates Michael Jackson?

Soo...just stopping in...has anyone said anything offensive yet?

Our agency was having trouble getting "people" so they decided it best to change the passing mark from 80% to 60%. Wow! That really helped. Now we have to disqualify them later in the hiring process when they can't pass the reading proficiency test (or the criminal background checks).

I am glad that we do have some outstanding statistics for demographic representation though. Our city has a 3% African American populus, but 17% of our staff is African American. We have 10X the Asian demographic on our staff as the local population. We have about the same Hispanic demograhic as the documented population. Documented is a key word in that sentence. Our Caucasian staff is below the local demographic. I guess we are as diverse as we can be, given the tough hiring standards we set for ourselves.

plcow: Actually, I don't believe that Asians are considered minorities by the ACLU or government. Can anyone verify?

They're certainly minorities, but they aren't underrepresented minorities. Putting down that you're asian on a college app isnt going to get you in.

The Icelander Your argument leaves out PERSONAL RESPONSABILITY!!! I went to one of the poorest high schools in my state and I am sitting here doing research as a research chemist. My parents made no bones about the fact that I was going to college. I worked my butt off and learned above and beyoind what I was taught. And here I am.

uidzero
No the point is this is about a FedEx test so until you do get a copy of the test and give examples of how it is biased against certain groups then your whole commentary is worthless.

syberpud:
The first question was: "You're on the green on the 5th fairway. You're 100 yards from the hole, which club do you use?"

Second question: "Who won the Winston Cup in NASCAR last year?"

Holy crap, I couldn't answer either of these if I tried. Does that mean I'm a minority now? If so when do I get my new penis and/or dancing skills?

Maybe they are just too stupid to take a test, and it has nothing to do with who their mother farked.

trueaustinite

I think, for white football players, a first down should only have to be a net gain of 7 yards. Ten is just too hard for honkies.


Farking awesome.

The Icelander: I'll make this real BASIC:

10 Blacks and hispanics are poor
20 they go to poor schools
30 they don't get an equal education
40 they don't do as well on tests
50 they don't get promoted
60 GOTO 10



Could you make it Visual Basic? I'm more of an object oriented person....

This kind of stuff is a real shame. A large portion of racism in this country is reflexive. If we had true equality, it would admittedly piss off the worst kind of racists, but a lot of the casual, subliminal racism that pervades many people's thoughts (often to their own horror) would go away.

Example: the anti-black sentiment that is stirring up in many of the whites in this thread.

AxiomJackson: Holy crap, I couldn't answer either of these if I tried. Does that mean I'm a minority now?

It just means you're middle class. They need a good middle class white question to go along with those two rich/white trash ones.

Was it a drug test?

/ two tickets please
// going down

how exactly would thy change the test such that whites would not exceed over minorities. They are generally better educated so they are going to win every test no matter how you change it.

random256: Was it a drug test?


If they tested for crack but not meth, I'd consider that racist.

Sidi: Or it means the minorities went to worse schools, or they came from a culture that has systematically rejected intelligence in favor of glorifying violence, crime, and machismo.


with the same result that was mentioned before. That doesn't mean that they should be allowed to perform a job that they are not qualified for. I would feel sorry for anyone who actually didn't have the mental capacity to pass the test, but if you just never cared enough to learn anything, or thought that learning from "the man" was insulting, then I have no sympathy. Go to burger king, with the stupid white crackers who did the same.

cot
It's not inherent, but they just aren't as well educated and are therefore not suited for some jobs. ... Do you go ahead and give them jobs they aren't qualified for anyways?

There is logical fallacy in your answer, as well. This is, after all, FedEx. Not rocket science. My concern is that performance on the test will be weighed more heavily than other characteristics of a job applicant.

Unfortunately, I know very little about what FedEx's test actually tests and how important those skills are for the job. From what I know from my friend who works at UPS, doing the job is much more about dilligence and being able to work hard constantly and much less about booksmarts. A driver must be able to read, follow maps, scan packages, follow instructions. Whether a paper test can objectively measure those things is up for debate. I happen to think that a lot of those skills are better demonstrated through on-the-job performance than through a standardized test. If applicants demonstrate that they can scan and sort packages reliably, and work hard for 8 hours, and has a clean driving record, those factors are much more important to me than performance on a paper test

/now, if they're discriminated against because they have NO driving record, that's another matter altogether.

Personal responsibility is great when it's some poor guy who can't get a job because he can't read good. "He should have taught himself to read."

But if it's a Senate majority leader who is investigated for insider trading, or it's the CEO of a company who sold defective products that killed people, it's just business as usual or a Liberal plot.

Personal responsibility is what Republicans throw out so they don't have to feel guilt for cutting school budgets and social security. There's something called "social responsiblity" that they completely ignore, because it involves thinking about other people.

This is the kinda shiat that adds fuel to the fire of the people who are racist.

HockeyGod you're logic is flawed. The statements "hispanics fail twice as much as whites" and "twice as many hispanics fail than whites" are not the same. (Given equal abilitles) All 'races' should have the same failing percentage!

plcow: Actually, I don't believe that Asians are considered minorities by the ACLU or government. Can anyone verify?

Asians are certainly a minority as are mexicans. Don't believe me and you haven't seen the class action lawsuits (they are many)

Farkin A

No the point is this is about a FedEx test so until you do get a copy of the test and give examples of how it is biased against certain groups then your whole commentary is worthless.

OK, I'll grab you by your nose and lead you there. The example is from the ETS group, who make the SATs. IE: The masters of standardized FAIR testing. They encounter situations when one particular ethnic background is doing worse than another AND IT'S NOT RELATED TO INTELLIGENCE OR APTITUDE. The example I gave was a real SAT test question that had to be revised because people with a latin background we're doing poorly on it. It's an EXAMPLE so you can understand how it is possible that FedEx might need to revise their questions. It's an analogy.

Get it yet? If not, don't worry about it, you probably just can't understand.

Things like this bring out the closet idiots, I see. And the "I'm not racist" folk. FIne.


The purpose of civil rights legislation is to try to even the playing field systematically. (Those of y'all yapping about "I was poor/disadvantaged/stupid" - stop it.) From the hospitals you were born in to the neighborhoods you live, a system is in place that led you there.

I'm not saying this is right - on its face, it seems to have no merit. But this may be the only way to attack work conditions that keep minority folk from getting up the ladder.

"Not everything is about race. But everything is racial."
-someone I dont remember

I like fark.

That comment about coming from a society that glorifies anything other than education is what hits it on the head. I bet if I go adopt 2 niglets right now, they end up doing well on that test (if they choose to take it) 20 years from now.

Has nothing to do with race
catch 22

"FedEx knows that black and Hispanics fail at a much higher rate, but yet has not changed the test," Finberg said.

Just how race related can this friggin test be?

I'd be would be embarassed to take a handout.

I'm all for hiring by quota like at my old job. A great secretary goes and her replacement can't type, doesn't know how to use a computer and files a complaint for everything.

cot: What don't they get axed? To work harder?


I thought about including that joke, but decided not to. :)

Amy78: when I got home I looked at the address and sure enough it was correct, so I called back to complain.

I hope you are surrounded by people who go out of your way to make your life shiatty because of innocent mistakes.

Again, I don't have a very strong long game. I've only been playing a couple years and I gladly trade a strong swing for control. I use the larger club but swing gently to put the ball where I need it. If I used the 9 and swung my hardest I'd fade out of bounds.

Comicbookguy

I remember a few years a go a Harvard student was murdered. Ten years earlier, she was fresh off the boat from Vietnam and couldn't speak a lick of English. Yet she'd worked hard enough to make it to Harvard w/out being a legacy or having a rich parent.

Why is it, pray tell, that this story has been repeated (w/some variation) so many times? Frequently, they go to the same inner city schools as other "minorities," yet academically thrive? Why is that?

Because people think Asians are smart. God, give me a hard one.

Paddlenround- Racism exists everywhere and for the most part, we all have some bigotry. It is part of being human to group and pre-judge. It takes strength to look beyond personal bias.


Well put. I agree totally.

steve20832: One time they said they left a package at my back door.

Nevermind...too easy.

Well, if Fedex treats minorities like crap, what about UPS? They treat everyone like crap! DHL anyone?