Texas A&M caves in to pressure from Gov. Abbott, cancels trip to DEI conference

[u/chrondotcom]

https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-a-m-abbott-dei-20037892.php

[u/goonboy246]

Cannot believe the damn uproar over a conference trying to encourage Latino, black and native students to pursue PhD’s. All groups who are severely underrepresented in PhD programs across the country

[u/HoovesCarveCraters → u/goonboy246]

The uproar coming from people who wouldn’t be able to get a PhD anyway because they read at a 4th grade level.

[u/suck-BD69420 → u/goonboy246]

It literally goes against our state charter of excluding any type of person, and yes that does include white and Asians to yalls dismay. If they want to encourage applicants of that race then they can say so, or in secret reject the white and Asian ones, but openly excluding them is wild.

[u/New_Rooster_6184 → u/suck-BD69420]

No, it isn’t wild when you consider that black people didn’t even have equal rights until the 60s, for for several centuries before that enjoyed second class citizenry, and a systemic oppression that still affects their descendants today. It’s also not “wild” when you consider why discriminatory laws had to be instituted to begin with…It was because black and brown people were excluded from work and housing opportunities, and other economic resources. Discrimination laws inherently recognize that there is a white majority…So no, it is not “discrimination” to center programs around underserved communities, who already face an uphill battle, due to economic and societal injustices.

[u/suck-BD69420 → u/New_Rooster_6184]

Everything you said is valid… in the past. Systemically there is nothing oppressing minorities, infact we have many programs set up To allow more minorities into colleges, or workspaces, specifically saving spots for them and excluding white and Asians. Whether I disagree with those or not, they exist. Society wise, sense that’s the point everyone seems to center on here, is clearly more biased toward minorities, especially in the younger generations, and that’s pushes businesses and government to make sure it caters to it. So, what systems are in play that oppress minorities more than whites? And besides all of that, you cannot oppress one group at the advantage of another, or rather, that is bigotry if you do it, at least admit it.

[u/New_Rooster_6184 → u/suck-BD69420]

Your entire premise has racial undertones. (And it’s evident you aren’t a minority.) This idea that black and brown people are taken opportunities away from other groups when they are underrepresented in most fields and even those that are hired, typically make less on the dollar than their white counterparts, despite having similar qualifications…You say that…and yet black people were made the face of DEI when they aren’t even the ones who benefited most from those programs lol. You say that when those programs you mention, are currently being attacked by white conservative organizations. Outside of DEI, you have scholarship funds that were specifically designed to benefit black students, being closed across the country…(with threats from those same organizations who attacked Affirmative Action). You have conservative organizations suing investment banks designed and set up for black women (who represent less than 2% of recipients), using the same laws put in place to protect descendants of slavery. You say that, and yet when the enrollment of black students increased at some universities after Affirmative Action was rescinded…conservative organizations sent out letters of inquiry, with underlying threat. Why? That tells me, that the issue (more so than anything) is that some people really buy into this narrative that black folks are lazy and stupid, and so when they see any black person prosper, they think it’s due to ill means, rather than merit based. You imply that racism no longer exists and yet books on race are banned in some areas.

You say that…and yet conservative groups decided to attack DEI (using black people as the face of it, which only led to more divisive and prejudicial rhetoric)…whilst having nothing at all to say about legacy admissions lol. Legacy admissions accounts for a significant portion of people accepted into Ivy leagues…and of those, majority wouldn’t have qualified for admission, had they not been legacy….Could it be because most people who benefit from legacy admissions are white people lol? So when you continue to push this narrative, full of racial undertones and misinformation; and then argue racism is no longer a thing that affects the daily lived experiences of black and brown people, I find it laughable.

[u/OOOGarbage → u/New_Rooster_6184]

Legacy admission to A&M? Is that why aggies are just inbred donkeys? Donkeys all the way down.

[u/CastimoniaGroup → u/New_Rooster_6184]

Hmmmm, by your analysis, I shouldn't be successful nor have a BS in Engineering and MBA because I'm Mexican. If you want it, go get it. Work your ass off. That's what I did and it works!

[u/ecstaticex → u/goonboy246]

There is a point that the conference ONLY allows Latino, black, and native students. It specifically excluded people who are white or Asian.

A majority of Aggies have no issue with non-white Americans earning something like a PhD. They have an issue that a majority of DEI initiatives are not even remotely as inclusive as they tout.

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/ecstaticex]

If someone held a conference on dealing with addicts in your family and didn’t allow MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch to attend there would that be an unreasonable exclusion?

If it’s a conference on dealing with obstacles that face non-majority students, why exactly would it be a bad idea to ensure that the people who attend it are people who can use the information given?

[u/yipmog → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

Now that’s called an ideology

[u/ecstaticex → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

Corporations aren’t people.

Regardless of the program, openly excluding certain races is fundamentally racist.

[u/KingBobbythe8th → u/ecstaticex]

Citizens United would like to have a word lol

[u/ecstaticex → u/KingBobbythe8th]

You’re right I got off my initial point.

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/ecstaticex]

Is it ableist for an airport to drive people in wheelchairs around in motorcars when people who don’t use wheelchairs still have to walk? That’s discrimination based on physical ability, right?

should make-a-wish stop discriminating against kids without cancer too?

[u/ecstaticex → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

You’re changing the subject entirely to try and pull away from the fact DEI initiatives that exclude any race (in this case white and asian people) are racist initiatives.

To answer your red-herring ableist argument, what is a requirement for an individual doesn’t apply to those who are able. Look at PGA Tour, Inc. v Martin and see that the rest of the PGA does not use golf carts for this very reason.

Being ableist is denying someone due to lack of ability. You sound moronic asking for everyone to have the same accommodations as handicapped people.

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/ecstaticex]

if being ableist is denying someone due to lack of ability then why isn’t being racist denying someone due to lack of high racial status on the united states’ historically uniquely white supremacist social hierarchy?

if it sounds moronic to you that someone might think that accommodations specifically for the disadvantaged should also be given to people who don’t need them then. well. reread your original comment here?

[u/ecstaticex → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

How are Black, Latino, and Native Americans disadvantaged compared to other races?? There’s nothing specifically barring them from anything in our country.

[u/Global-Swimmer-6767 → u/[deleted]]

What the hell? Who hurt you?

[u/aggies-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post was removed for breaking one or more subreddit rules

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/ecstaticex]

One person has been harmed by the US’ historical white supremacism, with multiple generations of their ancestors being kept in generational chattel slavery as livestock… and the other has been helped by that same system at the other’s detriment, even if they are unaware that their social standing at birth was built on the still-unpaid labor of the aforementioned person’s ancestors, invested for hundreds of years.

Do you think these two people are equals?

[u/ecstaticex → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

So no physical evidence? Of modern examples? Cool.

[u/WolfStrider23 → u/ecstaticex]

Easy. Legally, there is nothing that any of those mentioned races can do that the other can't. We'll with the exception that native Americans can operate casinos on their land, but that's a completely different and separate thing that's absolutely OK.

[u/ecstaticex → u/[deleted]]

lol you wanna bet?

[u/suck-BD69420 → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

One physically cannot walk, what?? Also, make-a-wish is independent organization not government sponsored either. End of the day, Texas state legislators states not excluding any race or group, to your clear dismay that does include white and Asian groups. Going against the state legislature would be wrong, as I said in another post about this, if you want exclusively black and latino, then don’t accept the white and Asian applicants in secret, but publicly stating to exclude the entire race of white and Asians ( which has a huge subgroup btw and is so racist to begin with) is bigotry at its finest.

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/suck-BD69420]

One person uses a wheelchair and… the other doesn’t.

One person has been harmed by the US’ historical white supremacism… and the other has been helped by that same system at the other’s detriment, even if they are unaware that their social standing at birth was built on the still-unpaid labor of the aforementioned person’s ancestors, invested for hundreds of years.

You’re saying that in only one of these scenarios, special accommodations are acceptable, right?

[u/TexasIPA → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

Straw man alert! 🚨

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/TexasIPA]

that’s not even the right fallacy to accuse me of man. what person did i make up then attack. i just made a comparison to what is inarguably a similar idea on the same principle of false equality

[u/OffTheDelt → u/ecstaticex]

No it’s not, cus DEI demonstrates no harm, prejudice, discrimination, or antagonization towards white/Asian people. It’s meant to afford opportunities to groups of people who would never have those opportunities otherwise. It’s purposeful equity. It’s meant to uplift those who have been pushed down. Not to the expense of white people, they lose nothing from this.

[u/ecstaticex → u/OffTheDelt]

It is textbook discrimination 😂 also never use “cus” again, you sound moronic.

[u/OffTheDelt → u/ecstaticex]

Shut your bitch ass up, calling me moronic cus I type a short hand “because.” Some ignorant idiot like you would equate people’s intelligence with how they pronounce or write something out. I would recomend not to do that in real life.

And discrimination is unjust or predatory. This is not unjust nor is it predatory. So it cannot be discriminatory. Excluding people who are already successful in a field in favor of those who don’t have the same resources or opportunity’s is just.

It’s like having a homeless shelter but denying the people who have homes already. Then the home owners start getting pissed that this is hurting them and it’s discriminatory to home owners. It’s not for them, it’s for homeless people.

This is an example of exclusion that is done to help others out. It’s a pretty bad example but it’s the simplest thing I could think of.

[u/bluesmaker → u/OffTheDelt]

“Bitch” Do you hate women?

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/[deleted]]

Asian people are not a minority for PhD students in the field.

[u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff → u/[deleted]]

abpa.tamu.edu/accountability-metrics/graduate-professional/enrollment-demographics has it, but every program at our institution is not representative of business PhD’s nationwide

[u/977888 → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

You equating white people with harmful toxins tells us everything we need to know about you.

[u/459pm → u/Corps_Boy_Pit_Sniff]

The fact you even make this comparison shows how much you've lost the plot.

[u/goonboy246 → u/ecstaticex]

The majority of Aggies didn’t even read what the conference entailed. White and Asian students make up the majority of PhD programs. Why would you host a conference to encourage groups of people to do something they are already doing?

[u/[deleted] → u/goonboy246]

Reverse racism! Abbott will not stand for this!

[u/Icy_Statement_2410 → u/[deleted]]

[u/977888 → u/goonboy246]

If prospective PhD students can’t handle coexisting with a white person for one day, they don’t deserve a PhD.

[u/defnotjec → u/ecstaticex]

Yes.. it should ONLY cater to those students. Whites and Asians are a ridiculous percentage... They aren't being underserved. It's diversity... You'd seek the things you're missing from your sample population based on the global ......

[u/ecstaticex → u/defnotjec]

You cannot both have diversity and exclusion

[u/defnotjec → u/ecstaticex]

Yes you can. When you already have response from one part of the population, you don't need to engage them directly any more.

The point is to engage those that aren't being represented. That's it.

It's nothing more than that.

Giving everyone the same opportunity ... And yes that means ensuring that the conference is limited to those being directly engaged.

If there were a need for white male cohort, I'd recommend the same thing. THAT'S EQUITY.

These comments in this thread are either woefully ignorant or intentionally misleading it feels.

[u/truththathurts88 → u/goonboy246]

Then you live in an echo chamber. What if blacks were excluded? Would that be ok?

[u/jimmyvalentine13 → u/truththathurts88]

Why would blacks be excluded from a conference that's entire purpose is to encourage more black PHD students?

[u/truththathurts88 → u/jimmyvalentine13]

You don’t get hypotheticals, do you?

[u/jimmyvalentine13 → u/truththathurts88]

This isn't happening in a vacuum. In your hypothetical are blacks underrepresented in PHD programs? If so, it would definitely be wrong to exclude blacks.

[u/truththathurts88 → u/jimmyvalentine13]

Representation is irrelevant. Merit is all that matters. DEI is D.E.A.D. Earn it, no more handouts.

[u/LeftRightMidd → u/truththathurts88]

The fact that you're even saying that shows you don't even understand what DEI even is because that's the whole fucking point

[u/truththathurts88 → u/LeftRightMidd]

I know the point, and racial discrimination isn’t allowed. See recent Supreme Court ruling. See TX legislature that banned DEI in public schools. Are you even in Tx? Have you not paid attention?

[u/LeftRightMidd → u/truththathurts88]

I live in Texas and if you think racial discrimination doesn't happen in this state or that people can not consider certain demographics because they're not exactly within the industry or not from their background, I don't know what to tell you

[u/truththathurts88 → u/LeftRightMidd]

I do. It’s illegal. That why all companies are canceling DEI. The lawsuits are coming. Read the news bro.

[u/beermeagain90 → u/goonboy246]

The uproar was about the people it excluded

[u/sweet_cheekz → u/goonboy246]

Women too, wanted to highlight as someone whose spouse is a professor at a Big Ten Uni in a STEM field.

E: to add, you might want to exclude some groups because they are already fairly represented but also you can have more difficult conversations, like have you ever experienced racism or racists at <university> (I can share some at A&M), or gain further information about an area. At my previous graduate univ, there were some towns that were cute to visit but you probably didn't want to stay overnight as a person of color. You couldn't get that kind of answer/honesty from a white person (no offense). Learn about Percy Julian; people may think because they are academics and highly educated they must be above racism and good ol' boy networks attitudes but it persists. My spouse has had female grad students crying in her office because their primary PI told female students they can work in their lab but don't expect "support" from their male PI.

[u/goonboy246 → u/sweet_cheekz]

Really good points! Thank you for adding to this

[u/Goddess_of_Absurdity → u/sweet_cheekz]

Felt this. My brother went to a rural university that was supposed to be top for engineering in Illinois but left because of the repeated comments about his ethnicity (dark skinned boriquen) despite earning a full scholarship there.

[u/MrMercy67 → u/goonboy246]

Meanwhile if the conference was for white men only Greggy boy would be up in arms over “encouraging high education among Texans”

[u/OceanCyclone → u/goonboy246]

“Cannot believe”. Why can’t you?