Search Results: ethnicity

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-states-targeting-diversity-equity-130418508.html
GOP states targeting diversity, equity efforts in higher ed

Frustrated by college diversity initiatives he says are “fomenting radical and toxic divisions,” Texas state Rep. Carl Tepper set out to put an end to diversity, equity and inclusion offices in higher education.

The freshman Republican lawmaker filed a bill to ban such offices. Three months later, he filed a new version of the legislation doing the same thing. The difference? Tepper switched the wording to align with a new model bill developed by the Manhattan Institute and Goldwater Institute, a pair of conservative think tanks based in New York and Arizona, respectively.

Republican lawmakers in at least a dozen states have proposed more than 30 bills this year targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education, an Associated Press analysis found using the bill-tracking software Plural. The measures have become the latest flashpoint in a cultural battle involving race, ethnicity and gender that has been amplified by prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, potential rivals for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

Many of the proposals root in one of a half-dozen conservative or libertarian organizations offering recommendations for limiting consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in employment decisions, training and student admissions. Some measures mirror the model bills nearly exactly. Others copy key definitions or phrases while adapting the concepts to their particular states.

I am a white guy but I have made a lot of minority friends and acquaintances over the years. Particularly Latino friends and few black friends. Nothing I sought out to do just to be “progressive” or something. I judge people on how they treat me, the values they hold and simply if we can just get along. Coincidentally some of those people are minorities. All good.

However will admit it really does take more initial effort to really get to know someone from a different race. That in itself is not a “racist” characteristic. But people do have different life experiences and their ethnicity/race will influence that for better or worse. It takes effort and time to understand that.

However sometimes I see my minority friends making bad decisions and/or having the wrong belief systems that I know from an outside perspective isn’t good for them. However I find myself usually erring on the side of caution when it comes to giving them “tough love” advice. I get the impression that harsh but necessary criticism can be mistaken for ignorance or even prejudice.

Also the whole BLM movement only made this astronomically worse in my opinion. Sometimes white people give harsh criticism to minorities because they ultimately want to see them do better not because we enjoy being condescending.

Anyway the trick with “tough love” is it needs to be timed right. You have to trust and know the person cares for you. The have to trust the other person understands you and your situation. They have to know the right moment to deliver it. You also have to know they take no enjoyment criticizing you.

I’ve gotten tough love in the past both from white friends and even some of my minority friends. I know the didn’t enjoy criticizing me too. They were trying to slap some sense into me when I needed it.

But why is vice versa so much tougher with my minority friends?

Say I'm a member of some national association or large group of activists. I'm also in a religion. I also have an ethnicity, nationality, and gender.

Can you see me as an individual when i act in my own purposes and desires, and as a member of a group when I act according to the group's larger purpose or specific rules?

Say if I'm a Christian and was baptized, would you understand I did that as a Christian and wouldn't have done it if I wasn't one?

And if I was a man bought a dog, would you understand I did that as an individual and would have done that regardless of whether I was a man or not?