A Call for fairness

[Cerbernator]

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Now I have been adament in my disdain for race specific threads and would prefer to see them all gotten rid of(preferably I would like people to look beyond race when finding common bonds but we'll see if that ever happens...). However, if they are going to be around it is only fair to treat them uniformly. I have not seen such treatment here. I saw one stupid "white people" thread closed a few weeks back and teh today another "attractive white" people thread moved to Lounge. Not to say that it shouldnt have been moved to the lounge but when the "Any black female pre-meds out there?" thread is allowed to stay here, I see a bit of unfairness. Please, either move that thread to the lounge with the other stupid race threads or return the "attractive white people" thread to Preallo.

Thanks,
Purveyor of Justice
Cerbernator

 

[Samus Aran]

I agree, I just didn't want to be the one to post it. 👍

 

[!dr_nick!]

Cerb you are obviously racist for white people. 🙄

 

[IndyZX]

i dont remember the exact title, but isnt "attractive white people" different than "black female premeds"? one has to do with being pre-med, the other doesnt.

in any case, i think this is silly because plenty of stuff happens here that is unrelated to premed and no one raises a stink. for example: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=133437

 

[superdevil]

i think its a good point. its not like going to the lounge somehow degrades the usefulness of a thread, so i personally think it should be done for all of the racial threads. i mean, holy sh/t, the black chicks' thread has over 1000 posts in the pre-allo forum, but the attractive white chick thread is booted after 71 posts.

seriously, mods, MOVE THEM ALL OR MOVE NONE (preferably "all" 😉 )

 

[superdevil]

i dont remember the exact title, but isnt "attractive white people" different than "black female premeds"? one has to do with being pre-med, the other doesnt.

IndyZX, the white chick thread also had "pre-med" in the title....for whatever that's worth 😀

 

[Persistence101]

Cerb, you've always been fair in the past. Why has it changed now that you're applying? I don't mind the black female thread staying in pre-allo at all...I actually think it's been helpful to other black females applying. I'm asian, but you don't hear me complaining. If you guys don't like something, then don't read it. The other "white" threads were joke threads, had nothing to do with applying so don't belong in pre-allo.

 

[velo]

i dont remember the exact title, but isnt "attractive white people" different than "black female premeds"? one has to do with being pre-med, the other doesnt.

in any case, i think this is silly because plenty of stuff happens here that is unrelated to premed and no one raises a stink. for example: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=133437

I think the "attractive" part was tongue in cheek

 

[Cerbernator]

Cerb, you've always been fair in the past. Why has it changed now that you're applying? I don't mind the black female thread staying in pre-allo at all...I actually think it's been helpful to other black females applying. I'm asian, but you don't hear me complaining. If you guys don't like something, then don't read it. The other "white" threads were joke threads, had nothing to do with applying so don't belong in pre-allo.

I think I am being fair, thats why I am griping. If you read the black female thread most of it is just "i had a hamsandwich for lunch, what do you have" sort of stuff.

 

[Peterock]

One thread is a serious attempt to get a small underrepresented group to cooperate...

and the other thread is a joke

Don't any of you wonder why one thread has 1000+ posts and the other has <100?

Stop being difficult.

 

[Persistence101]

I think I am being fair, thats why I am griping. If you read the black female thread most of it is just "i had a hamsandwich for lunch, what do you have" sort of stuff.

Well there's always going to be some posts that will go off on tangents (but that happens with every thread, something that cannot be controlled). But we all agree that the black female thread has been helpful to black females to some extent.

It's not fair to ask for the other white threads to be put back in pre-allo, they had nothing to do with applying. If you guys miss reading those threads, then feel free to search for them in other forums. It's not like they've been deleted, only moved to the appropriate forum.

 

[N-toxicologist]

I would think, as a society, it would be advantageous to communicate in a forum such as this, where race and ethnicity are not the first things to be noticed about a person. But we gotta **** it up and try to segregate ourselves by posting our "race" threads. Wouldn't it be more fun to find our common bonds without resorting to relying on our ethnicity and race as the common ground? We scream about racial inequality, but we will naturally and unnecessarily separate ourselves by color? What the ****?

By the way, I find those threads exclusive and uninviting. Let's label the drinking fountains while we're at it...

 

[superdevil]

I would think, as a society, it would be advantageous to communicate in a forum such as this, where race and ethnicity are not the first things to be noticed about a person. But we gotta **** it up and try to segregate ourselves by posting our "race" threads. Wouldn't it be more fun to find our common bonds without resorting to relying on our ethnicity and race as the common ground?

UNTlabrat, you kick large amounts of ass. 👍 👍

 

[Ryo-Ohki]

Why shouldn't we have separate threads? After all, we have separate (but equal) admissions.

 

[NubianPrincess]

One thread is a serious attempt to get a small underrepresented group to cooperate...

and the other thread is a joke

I agree. I also think it's unfair to assume that one's participation in a race related thread indicates that the person fails to find common bonds with others here. If that were the case, I wouldn't correspond with most of the members that I do. Having encountered situations in which I was judged based on the color of my skin and my appearance, I find it to be of immense value that I can speak with others that have perhaps experienced similar occurrences. I am the only black female I KNOW that is applying to medical school right now, outside of this board. Excuse me for appreciating that there are other black female premeds I can talk to. 👎

 

[Persistence101]

I would think, as a society, it would be advantageous to communicate in a forum such as this, where race and ethnicity are not the first things to be noticed about a person. But we gotta **** it up and try to segregate ourselves by posting our "race" threads. Wouldn't it be more fun to find our common bonds without resorting to relying on our ethnicity and race as the common ground? We scream about racial inequality, but we will naturally and unnecessarily separate ourselves by color? What the ****?

By the way, I find those threads exclusive and uninviting. Let's label the drinking fountains while we're at it...

Yeah, but in real life we are STILL very separated by color. If you don't see this then you're blind.

This is a forum about applying, not "let's close our eyes and hide from the truth" forum.

 

[Cerbernator]

d'oh this wasnt meant to turn into a race thread!! I love everyone!! I just want fairness!🙁

 

[FutureERDoc]

In a society were less than 13% of those around you look like you, there tends to be some desire to group together with those who DO look like you, who DO share some of your life experiences because of that 'look'...that doesn't mean racism; it isn't intended to be exclusive to others or to connotate some power-- as some of you seem to be convinced of. It is just a simple matter of finding a forum of folks with similar backgrounds & experiences as you....ISN'T THAT WHY ALL OF YOU TAKE PART IN SDN??? TO FIND OTHERS JUST LIKE YOU? WHY DOES IT BECOME A CRIME WHEN BLACK PREMED FEMALES WANT TO DO THAT AS WELL??

 

[superdevil]

Yeah, but in real life we are STILL very separated by color. If you don't see this then you're blind.

i'm sorry, but i don't see your point. so just because the real world is f***ed-up and wrong, we should make sure that SDN is f***ed-up and wrong too? i know SDN won't change REALITY, but if we can keep an anonymous forum as our last bastion of come-as-you-are equality, i think that would be a positive thing.

i guess you'd disagree, though.

 

[NubianPrincess]

d'oh this wasnt meant to turn into a race thread!! I love everyone!! I just want fairness!🙁

You mentioned the R word. You know better than that 😉

 

[Cerbernator]

i'm sorry, but i don't see your point. so just because the real world is f***ed-up and wrong, we should make sure that SDN is f***ed-up and wrong too? i know SDN won't change REALITY, but if we can keep an anonymous forum as our last bastion of come-as-you-are equality, i think that would be a positive thing.

i guess you'd disagree, though.

exactly! The internet should be one of those places where we ignore race!

 

[Persistence101]

i'm sorry, but i don't see your point. so just because the real world is f***ed-up and wrong, we should make sure that SDN is f***ed-up and wrong too? i know SDN won't change REALITY, but if we can keep an anonymous forum as our last bastion of come-as-you-are equality, i think that would be a positive thing.

i guess you'd disagree, though.

Because they're applying in real life, which means real life issues affect their real life applications. I don't see anything wrong with their thread. I don't know why you have such an issue with it. Did you have to grow up looking different than the majority? Then you have no idea what life is like as a minority, let along applying to a white/asian dominated profession. Quit complaining.

 

[gujuDoc]

Cerb you are obviously racist for white people. 🙄

How is it racist for someone to say where are the white premeds, when african americans are posting things about where are the black premeds, and indians are posting where are the indian premed posts????????

It is no different.

 

[Premedtomed]

How is it racist for someone to say where are the white premeds, when african americans are posting things about where are the black premeds, and indians are posting where are the indian premed posts????????

It is no different.

Hey we have our own forum now !
freakin guju lol

 

[velo]

Ok....I've been thinking about this for a little while and here's where I've landed on the issue. At first I was all ready to back up the original poster...mainly because I thought the 'white chick' thread in question was pretty funny, and it bugs me a little bit that there are separate "race threads." In a perfect world we would all be a nice neutral shade of gray and there would be no need for race threads, but as it stands URMs face unique challenges when it comes to cracking into the medical field and they should be able to discuss those challenges with others who are in a position to empathize. That's what the internet's for...finding and communicating with people you don't get to meet on a day to day basis. Its wonderful, for example, that "nubianprincess" was able to find some other black female premeds, as she apparently doesn't know any at her school.

I still don't think its right that they took down the "attractive white girl" thread as I thought it was harmless satire and pretty amusing as well, but I don't think its right to say that race threads have no place on SDN, and I can at least understand why they moved "white girl" thread...the "black female premed" thread was a legitimate and useful resource and the "white girl" one was a joke...albeit a well executed one. So if you think about it, there's no double standard here.

 

[superdevil]

Because they're applying in real life, which means real life issues affect their real life applications. I don't see anything wrong with their thread. I don't know why you have such an issue with it. Did you have to grow up looking different than the majority? Then you have no idea what life is like as a minority, let along applying to a white/asian dominated profession. Quit complaining.

i was right!!! you disagreed with me! how unexpected!

go ahead and enjoy your black female pre-med thread. i'm sorry that i was "complaining." i forgot that, as a white guy, i'm not allowed to do that. when i grew up, i looked like the majority in my town. maybe that's why i didn't choose to make my skin color something that defines who i am--its merely incidental.

don't worry about getting into a "white/asian dominated profession." we're not as bad as we seem on the internet.

 

[divinemsm]

Despite the common belief held by certain members of this forum, African-American/Black/Whatever you want to call " us "/" them " do not comprise a significant percentage of the " MD " degree holder/medical student population. This is not speculative, look at the statistics on the AAMC website. Though I have never contributed to the " black female pre-med " thread myself, I must say I find it comforting to see its presence there on this message board. With the exception of the medical school that I attend, and two others in the United States, seeing other individuals with similar cultural / racial similarities ( Black/Latina/o/Native American) represented is a much rarer phenomenon. You are feigning naivete about " what's the big deal " with your thread, yet I somehow suspect you knew EXACTLY what you would accomplish: I, after all, am replying to to this thread. Peace.

m.

 

[NubianPrincess]

I want to clarify something. I should have said that I don't know any other black females applying for medical school, outside of this site. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

 

[!dr_nick!]

How is it racist for someone to say where are the white premeds, when african americans are posting things about where are the black premeds, and indians are posting where are the indian premed posts????????

It is no different.

Umm. I was kidding. Which is why i used the rolling eyes icon.

 

[gujuDoc]

To the posters who make a big deal about such threads, and I am Indian not white, but understand why people feel this way, I would like to say the following:

Yah so what if there are black female premeds, but they should just post their issues as a regular post, instead of singling out only other female black premeds as being able to answer their question, because you know what....

I may not be a minority but people like myself can probably answer quite a few of their questions just as easily, and they could get other input from other people as well.

And in the process we could all benefit from different people's questions.

So there is no reason to create any of these are they any premeds of this race or that race kind of threads.

 

[velo]

Umm. I was kidding. Which is why i used the rolling eyes icon.

so many misunderstandings when people ignore smilie faces

 

[gujuDoc]

Umm. I was kidding. Which is why i used the rolling eyes icon.

Sorry,

I apologize!!!!!!!! I didn't even notice the smilie face. But thanks for clarifying.

 

[Cerbernator]

There can be situations where race is not a factor. I've been living with my current roommate for about 8 months. He is a black guy from Milwaukee and I am a white guy from a small rural southern town. You know how many times race has come up? Not ONCE! I love the guy, he's fun to drink with, he's fun to hang out with, he's just an all around great guy and the fact that his skin color is darker than mine has nothing to do with this. I just wish we could carry on like this more often in society. Judging by merit and not social class, beauty, or race.

 

[velo]

There can be situations where race is not a factor. I've been living with my current roommate for about 8 months. He is a black guy from Milwaukee and I am a white guy from a small rural southern town. You know how many times race has come up? Not ONCE! I love the guy, he's fun to drink with, he's fun to hang out with, he's just an all around great guy and the fact that his skin color is darker than mine has nothing to do with this. I just wish we could carry on like this more often in society. Judging by merit and not social class, beauty, or race.

I agree and I understand where you're coming from with this, but its naive not to recognize that black female premeds might have unique issues/questions and would want a forum to discuss them. Computer Science Majors and non-trads are just a few other groups that spring to mind that feel they have enough unique issues to start their own threads

 

[Cerbernator]

I agree and I understand where you're coming from with this, but its naive not to recognize that black female premeds might have unique issues/questions and would want a forum to discuss them. Computer Science Majors and non-trads are just a few other groups that spring to mind that feel they have enough unique issues to start their own threads

Right but who decides which group has legitimate issues/questions and which doesnt? I guess I have become more understanding of threads like the "black female premed" thread than I initially was but I still see it as being divisive and I dont see where its evolved to as being any more serious than the attractive white female premeds thread. I dunno, race is a touchy subject because it is difficult to discuss it without either offending someone or giving someone the wrong idea. I personally think of myself as one of the least racist people i know (i simply try not to let race factor into my evaluation of an individual), yet if you were to ask many people here on SDN i'd probably get called all sorts of things. I am dumb for even bringing up topics like this, but I really refuse to back down simply because these things are taboo.

 

[velo]

Right but who decides which group has legitimate issues/questions and which doesnt? I guess I have become more understanding of threads like the "black female premed" thread than I initially was but I still see it as being divisive and I dont see where its evolved to as being any more serious than the attractive white female premeds thread. I dunno, race is a touchy subject because it is difficult to discuss it without either offending someone or giving someone the wrong idea. I personally think of myself as one of the least racist people i know (i simply try not to let race factor into my evaluation of an individual), yet if you were to ask many people here on SDN i'd probably get called all sorts of things. I am dumb for even bringing up topics like this, but I really refuse to back down simply because these things are taboo.

No i don't think you're being racist. If the thread was "any white female premeds out there" and it got pulled you'd have quite a case! If you look at my original post, what turned me around on the subject was the fact that the "attractive female premed" thread was an obvious satire of the other threads, so its not like they pulled a valuable forum. By the way, although I'm not that upset about it, i still don't think they should have pulled it b/c i found it to be quite amusing and suprisingly tasteful...the only reason "white" was even in the title was to satarize the previous race threads, and wasn't really discussed after that...Actually if it had stuck around i think attractive black/asian/hispanic/etc premeds might have started posting as well!

 

[LauraMac]

are you people serious? what the hell is wrong with having a race thread? people like to meet other people they have something in common with whether that means race, the state they're from, their favorite kind of food, similar interests in politics, or anything else. what if we weren't allowed to have an "are you from michigan?" thread or a "who else hates george bush?" thread? i can see how there might be certain questions you would only want to ask someone of the same race, maybe something about your status when applying as a URM or whatever else. let people have whatever f-ing threads they want. and let there be a female pre-med thread in pre-allo.

 

[EMDream]

Now I have been adament in my disdain for race specific threads and would prefer to see them all gotten rid of(preferably I would like people to look beyond race when finding common bonds but we'll see if that ever happens...). However, if they are going to be around it is only fair to treat them uniformly. I have not seen such treatment here. I saw one stupid "white people" thread closed a few weeks back and teh today another "attractive white" people thread moved to Lounge. Not to say that it shouldnt have been moved to the lounge but when the "Any black female pre-meds out there?" thread is allowed to stay here, I see a bit of unfairness. Please, either move that thread to the lounge with the other stupid race threads or return the "attractive white people" thread to Preallo.

Thanks,
Purveyor of Justice
Cerbernator

if it was looking for attractive white PREMEDS okay i see the point. otherwise its not really the same.

 

[LauraMac]

if it was looking for attractive white PREMEDS okay i see the point. otherwise its not really the same.

it did say premeds in it.

 

[ZOT! ZOT!]

Yah so what if there are black female premeds, but they should just post their issues as a regular post, instead of singling out only other female black premeds as being able to answer their question, because you know what....

I may not be a minority but people like myself can probably answer quite a few of their questions just as easily, and they could get other input from other people as well.

And in the process we could all benefit from different people's questions.

So there is no reason to create any of these are they any premeds of this race or that race kind of threads.

Can YOU answer the question of what it's like to be the only black female you know applying to medical school? What it feels like to know that when some people see you in medical school, they automatically assume you were some AA case?

There are just some things that someone of your own ethnicity/cultural background can relate to.

I was born in the US like most of you and you know what? I am willing to bet money that we have totally different cultural backgrounds. Heck, a black family and a white family on the same block will have significant differences. Deny it all you want...

 

[gujuDoc]

To the poster above me

You certainly are not the only black female, and as I think I may have mentioned, I actually am friends with quite a few other black female premeds.

One of whom is going to Morehouse in the fall.

So what's the difference between people asking about needing to only find people in their race if they are black, and people asking that if they are indian or white? none, cuz while there may be a lack of african american applicants, that still does not mean that there is only one in each school.

I don't know where you go to school, that you claim you are the only black premed in the area, but where I go to school there are whole MPSS minority society premed societies and quite a few blacks in all my premed classes who have that intent.
So stop acting like there are so few that you just need a thread that singles out only black females.

Its quite pathetic.

 

[kinetic]

One thread is a serious attempt to get a small underrepresented group to cooperate...

and the other thread is a joke

Don't any of you wonder why one thread has 1000+ posts and the other has <100?

Stop being difficult.

Nice "reasoning" skills. If you hadn't noticed, the antenna thread has like a bajillion posts on it and five kajillion-tillion views (none, I proudly say, mine). It's the ultimate joke thread and yet it is interesting. Don't even try to connect post count to "seriousness" or "this is proof that this thread has social conscience."

 

[blz]

another great thread by the HeRbeRnAt0r

 

[aingeal]

in any case, i think this is silly because plenty of stuff happens here that is unrelated to premed and no one raises a stink. for example: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=133437

i would argue that post does indeed have to do w being premed
its not nice when people go digging thru old threads to insult others, it comes down to if you're not interested in a thread dont read it

 

[ZOT! ZOT!]

To the poster above me

You certainly are not the only black female, and as I think I may have mentioned, I actually am friends with quite a few other black female premeds.

One of whom is going to Morehouse in the fall.

So what's the difference between people asking about needing to only find people in their race if they are black, and people asking that if they are indian or white? none, cuz while there may be a lack of african american applicants, that still does not mean that there is only one in each school.

I don't know where you go to school, that you claim you are the only black premed in the area, but where I go to school there are whole MPSS minority society premed societies and quite a few blacks in all my premed classes who have that intent.
So stop acting like there are so few that you just need a thread that singles out only black females.

Its quite pathetic.

I am not black, nor am I a female, you social ******. My point is that you would not be able to answer the questions posted, would you? You claimed that:

I may not be a minority but people like myself can probably answer quite a few of their questions just as easily, and they could get other input from other people as well.

There are just some things someone with your same life experiences can relate to. Try some racial sensitivity or African American studies courses and open your eyes. Your views are just another form of opression in disguise.

 

[Fermata]

You mentioned the R word. You know better than that 😉

You see. You all need to take a page from NP's and my book. We can all live together....play together....

...love together. 😀 😍