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'Diversity' Subverts Merit (11/01/99) "Unless significantly amended, Gates' "minority" scholarships will further inflame racial tensions, delay the achievement of a colorblind society and subvert the cherished virtue of reward by merit. .... Gates' vague concept of "diversity" confuses the laudable diversity of cultural talents that strengthens the nation with the self-conscious racial diversity that divides it by breeding arrogance and envy. "In 1915, another time when the United States was pondering problems of the melting pot, Roosevelt said: "There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. . . . The only absolute way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities." "What would Roosevelt say today about African Americans, Latino Americans and other hyphenated Americans? By restricting his grants to specified minorities, principally blacks, Latinos and American Indians, Gates seems oblivious to the social consequences of his program. Racial preferences, by whatever name, tend to corrupt the putative beneficiaries and antagonize those who are discriminated against. "Gates' scholarships also violate Martin Luther King Jr.'s admonition to judge persons only on merit, not by the color of their skin. Both Roosevelt and King believed in a colorblind America--a genuine melting pot. By allowing "diversity" to trump merit, the Gates plan is beset by serious academic flaws. A Gates student must have a 3.3 grade-point average--good in theory, but hardly a reliable guide. Our public high schools vary widely in academic quality, and many of them inflate grades to foster self-esteem. "The Gates applicant also must submit an essay on his aspirations and commitment to service and be nominated by a teacher or community leader. Such essays often reflect the talents of friends or teachers, and letters of reference can be unreliable. To make matters worse, Gates explicitly excludes the best single measure for predicting success in college--SAT and similar college entrance scores. Ruling out standardized tests, admittedly less than perfect, and relying on soft criteria like dubious essays and nomination letters is bound to yield many mediocre students whose performance will contribute to the further dumbing down in American higher education. "Shelby Steele of the Hoover Institution put it well: "All these ingenious assaults on merit in the name of diversity suggest a loss of faith in a racial equality grounded in merit. . . . The 'inclusion' we most need now is . . . intellectual respect, which can be gained through merit alone."
".... Happily, the serious flaws in the Gates program can be corrected by two simple
measures: Award scholarships on academic merit and financial need alone, and rely
more fully on standardized tests. So amended, Gates' generosity would strengthen
higher education and, equally important, help mitigate the growing perils of a hyphenated
America." (Los Angeles Times Opinion 11/01/99 by Ernest W. Levever) Taking aim at Bill Gates'
billion-dollar bow to political correctness (10/20/99 - pay site) "The program, which begins in the fall of 2000, will provide 1,000 new students each year with scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study. "So far, so good, but here's the problem: White students need not apply. Asians are eligible but are apparently less welcome than other minorities, since the program is aimed at increasing the number of math and science students in "underrepresented" groups -- blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans. "The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) will administer the program, in collaboration with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the American Indian College Fund. "It makes no sense for Gates to limit the scholarships to particular races and ethnicities. In announcing the program, he attempted to justify the discrimination by saying that the computer industry is "not fully representative." But there is no reason to insist that every ethnic group have the same percentage of butchers, bakers, tailors, mathematicians and scientists. "The legality of Gates' scholarship program will hinge on how cleverly and carefully his lawyers structure the flow of foundation money to the UNCF [United Negro College Fund], the students and the colleges. Each entity that handles the money will face some legal risk. "Colleges and universities may not discriminate on the basis of race or national origin if they are state schools because of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In addition, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars schools from discriminating if they get federal money. The Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI are coextensive in the racial discrimination they ban, and together they cover the vast majority of higher education. "The key decisions in this area were handed down by the Warren court. In Pennsylvania v. Board of Directors of City Trusts (1957), the justices held that a state agency violated the Fourteenth Amendment when it enforced the racially discriminatory terms of a private will. In Evans v. Newton (1966), the court prohibited a city in Georgia from honoring a will by establishing a "whites only" public park. Stressing the public nature of a park, the court declared that the Fourteenth Amendment "bars a city from acting as a trustee under a private will that serves the racial segregation cause." "Gates' foundation and the UNCF could lose their tax-exempt status if they discriminate. Remember the court's 1983 decision in Bob Jones University v. United States? The justices upheld the Internal Revenue Service's revocation of two schools' tax-exempt status because each engaged in racial discrimination. Bob Jones University refused to admit students in interracial marriages or who advocated interracial marriage or dating. Goldsboro Christian Schools, citing doctrinal reasons, "for the most part accepted only Caucasians." The IRS was correct to revoke the schools' exempt status, reasoned the court, because "racial discrimination in education violates a fundamental public policy.! . . . It would be wholly incompatible with the concepts underlying tax exemption to grant the benefit of tax-exempt status to racially discriminatory educational entities." "In addition, 42 U.S.C. §1981 prohibits racial discrimination in private contracting. If there are enough strings attached to the Gates scholarship money as it goes from one hand to another, it may amount to a legal contract. "... But if one accepts that it is all right for Gates to discriminate against whites, then one shouldn't object if a rich David Duke wants to discriminate against blacks. That's something that those defending the Gates scholarships should keep in mind. "Perhaps Gates' lawyers have figured out a way through the various U.S. laws that prohibit racial discrimination. But these legal issues are only secondary. Lawful or not, it is unfortunate that Gates has put political correctness above human fairness.
"Many white people do not happen to be billionaires and are as deserving of financial
aid as anyone else. Diamonds in the rough come in every color. (By Roger Clegg, VP
and General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity, as reported by Cal Law 10/20/99) Microsoft Hablara Espanol Deal with Telmex to offer Internet portal in Spanish (10/19/99) [Editor's Note: It is no surprise that Bill Gates is seeking to capitalize on Latino and Hispanic purchasers of his monopoly products and services, even as Gates attempts to expand those monopolistic services. Keep in mind that Gates is nothing if not a profit-monger, and he cares nothing for American citizens' jobs or economic well-being. Gates is only interested in making huge piles of money. Money which he has repeatedly and obviously used to attempt to influence our political process to the disadvantage of American citizens.] "Microsoft Corp. is trying to cash in on the latest Latin craze. No, not salsa dancing: Spanish-language Internet portal sites. "The software giant yesterday said it would join with Mexico's largest phone company, Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex), to create a new Web company that will deliver content and e-commerce services to Spanish speakers across the Americas. "The joint venture -- which will have offices in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Central America, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States -- combines Microsoft's Internet software and services, notably its Microsoft Network online service, with Telmex's telecommunications infrastructure. "Mauricio Santillan, vice president of Microsoft's Mexican operations, said the portal will provide Spanish-speaking consumers with Microsoft's Internet e-mail and instant messaging services [in Spanish], as well as news and entertainment content and online search and shopping capabilities [also in Spanish].
"Darlene Rios Drapkin, a business assistance manager at the Spanish Speaking Unity
Council in Oakland, said she is pleased to see the rise of Spanish-language portals.
``These sites are useful to the [Spanish-speaking] community because they help bridge the
[alleged] technological divide and let Latinos enter the information age,'' she
said. (San Francisco Chronicle 10/19/99 page C1 by Tom Stein) Microsoft Targets Funding for Antitrust Office (10/15/99) [Editor's Note: In spite of Bill Gate's heavy-handed attempt to us his wealth to weaken the Anti-Trust Division, as of the week of 10/18/99 Congress approved an increase in Anti-Trust funding.] "Microsoft Corp. lobbyists and allies are aggressively pressing Congress to reduce next year's proposed funding for the Justice Department's antitrust division, the giant software company's accuser in a storied court battle. "Microsoft representatives have urged House and Senate members to cut President Clinton's proposed funding for the division by about $9 million this year. And nonprofit organizations that receive financial support from the company have also urged key congressional appropriators to limit spending for the division when they begin their final negotiations on the Justice Department budget, possibly as early as Monday. "The nonprofit groups made their request in a letter last month after an all-expenses-paid trip to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., where they were entertained and briefed on an array of issues facing the company. "Groups represented included Citizens for a Sound Economy, the National Taxpayers Union and Americans for Tax Reform, whose president, Grover G. Norquist, received $40,000 in lobbying payments from Microsoft in the last six months of 1998.
"Microsoft, a latecomer to the Washington scene, has been sharply increasing its
lobbying, political donations and support of a network of "think tanks" to
counter the political and lobbying activities of its adversaries." (Washington
Post 10/15/99 page A1 by Dan Morgan and Juliet Eilperin) Microsoft
Trial: Closing Arguments Begin (09/21/99) "In a two-hour presentation, the government's two lead attorneys told U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft has injured consumers by illegally using its market clout to squelch competition in the computer industry. Microsoft's attorneys, who concede the company has behaved aggressively but maintain that it has broken no laws, were scheduled to begin their arguments in the afternoon. "Stephen Houck of the New York attorney general's office argued that Microsoft's actions have "cost consumers untold millions, probably hundreds of millions, of dollars." The evidence, he said, "leaves no doubt that Microsoft's illegal behavior has been bad –very bad – for consumers." "The Justice Department and 19 states allege that Microsoft has bullied and threatened competitors in an effort to maintain a monopoly with its Windows operating system software for personal computers. The government also contends that Microsoft has tried to monopolize the market for Internet browsing software and has engaged in business deals that illegally restrain trade.
"The closing arguments are scheduled to wrap up this afternoon. Jackson is expected
to issue a ruling in the next several weeks that will outline the facts he believes both
sides have proven during the trial. Then, after receiving additional legal briefs from
both sides, Jackson will issue a final ruling that will detail whether anti-trust laws
were violated. That ruling could be issued later this year or early next year."
(Washington Post 09/21/99 by Rajiv Chandrasekaran) Gates, `Spreading the Wealth,'
Makes Scholarship Gift Official (09/17/99 - dead link) End Bill Gates Racial Scholarships Newslinks |
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