MDAPPS Racist Post; So Where's the Accountability Like on SDN Forums?

[wutwinb]

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I never quite understood the point of mdapps...i never did that and thought it was nonsense. After all you're just opening yourself up to criticism from complete strangers who often (as you learned) are NOT willing to give constructive criticism. Aside from that why point out all your schools and stats on there...just ask for advice as needed on sdn and from people you know who have been through the process already. That's it.

I created an MdApps because I found the website very helpful to see where other people with similar stats had applied, interviewed and been accepted (I did take each profile with a grain of salt because I know some people create fakes). I thought that posting my stats and app decisions could help out others looking for the same info I was. As for the comments, I usually just post the occasional "congrats" or "good luck" on other people's sections. I wasn't really looking for adivce on MdApps like I did on sdn.

 

[taponthecloud]

OP could've handled this situation like Barack Obama but instead he decided to approach it like Al Sharpton.

 

[Drogba]

You know, at times like these, what always restores my faith in humanity is reading the comments on some youtube video where racial issues are apparent. There is some really intelligent discussion in those.

 

[Cegar]

You know, at times like these, what always restores my faith in humanity is reading the comments on some youtube video where racial issues are apparent. There is some really intelligent discussion in those.

It's April 2.

 

[pride4jc727]

OP could've handled this situation like Barack Obama but instead he decided to approach it like Al Sharpton.

I'm sorry. I don't see how my posting of this can be likened Obama or Sharpton. So honestly, I am not sure what you are talking and I am not sure that you even know what you are talking about.

 

[Cegar]

I'm sorry. I don't see how my posting of this can be likened Obama or Sharpton. So honestly, I am not sure what you are talking and I am not sure that you even know what you are talking about.

Seriously?

You know who Barack Obama and Al Sharpton are, don't you?

 

[45408]

I thought SDN DID control MDApps?

No, the person who runs MDapps has been posting on SDN for a long time (I forget who it is, but s/he doesn't post a whole lot), but they're not related.

 

[45408]

I'm sorry. I don't see how my posting of this can be likened Obama or Sharpton. So honestly, I am not sure what you are talking and I am not sure that you even know what you are talking about.

Actually, it's obvious that you don't know what he's talking about, but it seems fairly obvious that he does know what he's talking about, because his comparison seems apt.

 

[135892]

I'm sorry. I don't see how my posting of this can be likened Obama or Sharpton. So honestly, I am not sure what you are talking and I am not sure that you even know what you are talking about.

Honestly, the comment was freakin hilarious. Why would anyone take it seriously? Are you some sort of overly-sensitive hippie that cries about every little thing

 

[1956Goldtop]

Yesh

 

[taponthecloud]

I'm sorry. I don't see how my posting of this can be likened Obama or Sharpton. So honestly, I am not sure what you are talking and I am not sure that you even know what you are talking about.

^^ I'm sure a coherent thought is in here someplace...it's just difficult to sort out amongst the heinous grammatical mistakes.

 

[DwyaneWade]

You post your information on the Internet, well you better be ready for trolls, angry people, etc. Stop whining and worrying about what some person you do not know and likely will never meet thinks/writes about you.

 

[135892]

^^ I'm sure a coherent thought is in here someplace...it's just difficult to sort out amongst the heinous grammatical mistakes.

You sure about this?

 

[taponthecloud]

You sure about this?

okay probably not..

 

[nevercold]

Reading the message the OP posted reminded me of an idea I once had. We should be able to revoke high school diplomas. To make a racist comment telling someone to "go back to wherever their ethnic group came from" is essentially to demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of U.S. history. So much so, in fact, that I think we should get to take away their high school diploma (and that would also invalidate any subsequent educational achievement in a program requiring a high school diploma or equivalent). In my world, not many people would have high school diplomas...

 

[Drogba]

Reading the message the OP posted reminded me of an idea I once had. We should be able to revoke high school diplomas. To make a racist comment telling someone to "go back to wherever their ethnic group came from" is essentially to demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of U.S. history. So much so, in fact, that I think we should get to take away their high school diploma (and that would also invalidate any subsequent educational achievement in a program requiring a high school diploma or equivalent). In my world, not many people would have high school diplomas...

I don't have a highschool diploma.

 

[taponthecloud]

Reading the message the OP posted reminded me of an idea I once had. We should be able to revoke high school diplomas. To make a racist comment telling someone to "go back to wherever their ethnic group came from" is essentially to demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of U.S. history. So much so, in fact, that I think we should get to take away their high school diploma (and that would also invalidate any subsequent educational achievement in a program requiring a high school diploma or equivalent). In my world, not many people would have high school diplomas...

..or..or we can just simply exercise our right to kick them in the nuts.

 

[135892]

Reading the message the OP posted reminded me of an idea I once had. We should be able to revoke high school diplomas. To make a racist comment telling someone to "go back to wherever their ethnic group came from" is essentially to demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of U.S. history. So much so, in fact, that I think we should get to take away their high school diploma (and that would also invalidate any subsequent educational achievement in a program requiring a high school diploma or equivalent). In my world, not many people would have high school diplomas...

How does it demonstrate a lack of US history knowledge?

 

[167649]

Reading the message the OP posted reminded me of an idea I once had. We should be able to revoke high school diplomas. To make a racist comment telling someone to "go back to wherever their ethnic group came from" is essentially to demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of U.S. history. So much so, in fact, that I think we should get to take away their high school diploma (and that would also invalidate any subsequent educational achievement in a program requiring a high school diploma or equivalent). In my world, not many people would have high school diplomas...

That actually brings up a messy debade regarding free speech etc. Even the places that have symbolically banned the n word are surrounded with extreme controversy. So for one something like what you propose will never happen.

I don't think it demonstrates any lack of history knowledge at all anyways. There are probably racist historians. It just demonstrates low class.

 

[UVABranch]

for all of those who suggest that people "just ignore" the racisit, biased comments, may not know what it really feels like. We all should have responsibility in this, and it shouldn't soley be up to the appropriate members of MDapps to do the right thing.

 

[Picklesali]

Hey guys, so I was very annoyed and vehement after this post on my MDAPPS profile. I am beyond words what was said and I want to know what you think. As somebody who works with a Student Diversity Grant Program and the Multicultural Office at my undergrad, I am appalled at how blatant, racist, and xenophobic this post is. I am just going to stop talking. Here it is:

.“Look dummy, I know you wanted to impress your asian parents about getting into an ivy med school but your MCAT sucks, if you would have been realistic and applied to more tier two schools you would of got in by now. But man you asians all want to go IVY, Just..look, I know your like 4'10, still dont shave and never had a gf yet in your life, and have an inferiority complex about wanting to get in the best med school to compensate for your lack of being able to get any chicks or being able to shave or having a one inch w***r, But apply to more broad across the board and your asian a** will be able to join the 9000000 of the rest of the other asians. If everything fails, go back to china, korea, or where ever your from and get your degree there, actually stay there too.”

.I was wondering where is the accountability on MDAPPS like here on SDN. This is just unbelievable... I can take constructive criticism, but I believe this is way beyond that. And just a word of warning to whoever posted this, I hope we were still in the days I could challenge you to a duel.

I think the 'accountability' portion is that you have the choice whether or not to allow the comment or to post it to your profile. I don't really know what else could be done to prevent people from posting hateful messages, especially since those posts can be made anonymously. It is surprising, though, how many incredibly racist and demeaning comments I've seen on these profiles, considering that the website is pretty much only trafficked by pre-meds. For future patients: Be afraid, be very afraid.

 

[helpfuldoc2b]

I see people being racist against their own race on almost every episode of my favorite tv program, Jerry Springer 😀 They always have black people on there that have joined the KKK or something. This is the type of quality tv i have to give up when school starts...(I'm just joking btw, I know that people being racist against their own race is very serious in real life...)

Lol, i love your sources Jerry Springer, hahahah. I hope you dont quote his show for any medical research too

 

[helpfuldoc2b]

that was a low blow, pardon the pun. but c'mon, looking for some pity and reassurance? ok here:

that was a completely ignorant, cowardly, and ill-humored post. whoever wrote that is just lashing out owing to his own incompetence, insecurity, and inadequacy. you're better than him, you're a beautiful human being!

feel better now? grow up dude, youre about to go to med school and you havent yet learned to look past some anonymous ignorance on the internet? QUOTE]

 

[helpfuldoc2b]

I do see what you mean, and understand where you're coming from. But, I'm just trying to imagine if I overheard and attending calling me a "f***ing black b*tch, leeching off a URM status...," like my most recent MdApps post. I would definitely be angry and want to do something about it, not dismiss it from my memory.

DAMN but you did get in some good freakin schools with low stats with your URM status, lol, sorry just kidding...

 

[taponthecloud]

for all of those who suggest that people "just ignore" the racisit, biased comments, may not know what it really feels like. We all should have responsibility in this, and it shouldn't soley be up to the appropriate members of MDapps to do the right thing.

oh trust me, i know what it feels like... however, this is NOT a case of institutional racism or systematic discrimination...it's simply an isolated incident where some anonymous ***** was trying to bust this guy's balls by making inflammatory and racial comments.

 

[flaahless]

Damn yall, lay off of the OP. This thread is full of people haranguing the OP with stuff like, "just get over it." Sure people are ignorant, jealous, envious, stupid, but nonetheless, hate comments still sting.

I'm with the OP. I think that MDapps should follow the same profanity/insult/disrespect rules that SDN does. Make it so that you must be registered with an SDN name to leave a comment.

To the OP, keep doing what you do. There are going to be plenty of haters. Stay strong and keep on trucking. Stay up.

 

[Cegar]

Damn yall, lay off of the OP. This thread is full of people haranguing the OP with stuff like, "just get over it." Sure people are ignorant, jealous, envious, stupid, but nonetheless, hate comments still sting.

I'm with the OP. I think that MDapps should follow the same profanity/insult/disrespect rules that SDN does. Make it so that you must be registered with an SDN name to leave a comment.

To the OP, keep doing what you do. There are going to be plenty of haters. Stay strong and keep on trucking. Stay up.

I'm going to go ahead and say it's perfectly acceptable to harangue someone for getting bent out of shape about stupid crap.

 

[Handy388]

I wonder if OP would be bothered at all if there is absolutely nothing in that statement that remind him of himself, poor kid.

 

[nu2004]

Hey guys, so I was very annoyed and vehement after this post on my MDAPPS profile. I am beyond words what was said and I want to know what you think. As somebody who works with a Student Diversity Grant Program and the Multicultural Office at my undergrad, I am appalled at how blatant, racist, and xenophobic this post is. I am just going to stop talking. Here it is:

.“Look dummy, I know you wanted to impress your asian parents about getting into an ivy med school but your MCAT sucks, if you would have been realistic and applied to more tier two schools you would of got in by now. But man you asians all want to go IVY, Just..look, I know your like 4'10, still dont shave and never had a gf yet in your life, and have an inferiority complex about wanting to get in the best med school to compensate for your lack of being able to get any chicks or being able to shave or having a one inch w***r, But apply to more broad across the board and your asian a** will be able to join the 9000000 of the rest of the other asians. If everything fails, go back to china, korea, or where ever your from and get your degree there, actually stay there too.”

.I was wondering where is the accountability on MDAPPS like here on SDN. This is just unbelievable... I can take constructive criticism, but I believe this is way beyond that. And just a word of warning to whoever posted this, I hope we were still in the days I could challenge you to a duel.

that sucks, man. i would try to send an email to the MDApps people and maybe they can track down an IP address or something.

but yeah, as some others have said: welcome to the internet. it's the new Wild West.

 

[nevercold]

How does it demonstrate a lack of US history knowledge?

Short answer: We are all ethnic groups that came from somewhere else. We have all faced opposition to our presence in this land. We have all fought against it and eventually transitioned to a state of acceptance. The "go back where you came from" comment is one that has been cycled endlessly throughout our history. The economic success of our country and the development of industry in our country have been strongly (and positively) influenced by immigrant surges. As such, I think the "go back where you came from" comment is one that is ignorant of how our country has developed over the past 400 years.

 

[45408]

I'm with the OP. I think that MDapps should follow the same profanity/insult/disrespect rules that SDN does. Make it so that you must be registered with an SDN name to leave a comment.

There's very little chance that SDN would allow that to happen. As we've said before, SDN and MDapps are separate entities. Besides, requiring user names and registration is a great way to decrease traffic to your website, which I doubt the owner of MDapps really wants.

 

[mountainhare]

Damn yall, lay off of the OP. This thread is full of people haranguing the OP with stuff like, "just get over it." Sure people are ignorant, jealous, envious, stupid, but nonetheless, hate comments still sting.

I'm with the OP. I think that MDapps should follow the same profanity/insult/disrespect rules that SDN does. Make it so that you must be registered with an SDN name to leave a comment.

To the OP, keep doing what you do. There are going to be plenty of haters. Stay strong and keep on trucking. Stay up.

Amen. Honestly. Lame threads get posted on SDN all day, but for some reason nothing gets some people's hackles up more than when someone experiences prejudice and then has the nerve to speak up about it. The comment about Sharpton and Obama was what I think a lot of people would call "glib," and the OP was right not to take it seriously.

A couple of you were mocking the OP's grammar in post #55, claiming it was incoherent, etc. As far as I can see, there were no more than 2 true grammatical mistakes in that post, and they are both word omissions: the kind of mistakes that people make when they type fast, not the kind of mistakes that indicate lack of coherent thought or lack of English fluency. But of course, it's no surprise that someone would jump onto this thread and make a comment implying that the OP lacks English fluency and can't speak comprehensibly. 🙄

If you see somebody fall victim to racism, great or small, is it really necessary to walk up to him and mock his grammar or deride his coping mechanisms? If your answer is "yes," the person who lacks perspective is not the OP but you.

 

[riceman04]

And now you are spreading the hate with your post on SDN.

Brilliant.

Learn how to delete crap from your MDApps wall, dude.

I'm not so sure your sarcastic and quite annoying response was called for...but then again this is SDN

 

[CTT]

The OP has a right to be mad. Those comments went above and beyond the basal level of internet hate. While the internet is often a bitter place, where stupid little complexes get expressed because of the Anonymity, that doesn't make it right.

I think the OP should try to do something about it and approach MDapps, they might actually change something. If you propose possible solutions, you could get things changed so that other people don't have to hear the same racist bull.

 

[flip26]

The OP has a right to be mad. Those comments went above and beyond the basal level of internet hate. While the internet is often a bitter place, where stupid little complexes get expressed because of the Anonymity, that doesn't make it right.

I think the OP should try to do something about it and approach MDapps, they might actually change something. If you propose possible solutions, you could get things changed so that other people don't have to hear the same racist bull.

MDApps already has a solution: it is under the control of the user(s) to ignore or delete objectionable posts...problem solved!

 

[mountainhare]

problem solved!

That would depend on what your definition of the "problem" is. If you define the problem to be "having racist comments displayed on your public mdapps page for everyone to see," then yes, MDApps has solved the problem quite neatly.

There are deeper underlying problems here, though (e.g., the fact that one of the posters above replied to the OP by saying something equivalent to "You wouldn't be so upset about these racist stereotypes if there weren't some truth in them"). While the amount of control that MDApps and/or SDN has over these problems is debatable, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the OP's attempt to start a productive discussion about them here. And if you don't think there's anything to discuss, then maybe you should just have skipped over this thread.

 

[flip26]

That would depend on what your definition of the "problem" is. If you define the problem to be "having racist comments displayed on your public mdapps page for everyone to see," then yes, MDApps has solved the problem quite neatly.

There are deeper underlying problems here, though (e.g., the fact that one of the posters above replied to the OP by saying something equivalent to "You wouldn't be so upset about these racist stereotypes if there weren't some truth in them"). While the amount of control that MDApps and/or SDN has over these problems is debatable, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the OP's attempt to start a productive discussion about them here. And if you don't think there's anything to discuss, then maybe you should just have skipped over this thread.

Why are you reading so much negative in to what I said, implying that I am a racist bigot, too?

How the hell is fixing MDApps going to rid the world of racist idiots?

This is not the proper forum to discuss curing racism, and I suggest that the mods close this thread...not too sure why they have left it up this long.

 

[taponthecloud]

Amen. Honestly. Lame threads get posted on SDN all day, but for some reason nothing gets some people's hackles up more than when someone experiences prejudice and then has the nerve to speak up about it. The comment about Sharpton and Obama was what I think a lot of people would call "glib," and the OP was right not to take it seriously.

Uh.. actually, I don't think he truly understood the reference that was being made. And thanks for borrowing a word out of the Tom Cruise Dictionary to attack my post; it made me chuckle.

If you see somebody fall victim to racism, great or small, is it really necessary to walk up to him and mock his grammar or deride his coping mechanisms? If your answer is "yes," the person who lacks perspective is not the OP but you.

Hmm..so not only did you play the victim card for someone you don't even know, you also reasoned that all coping mechanisms are valid as long as a person employs one.

There are right and wrong ways to approach things. Many on this thread are arguing that the OP went about this whole thing the wrong way. By your reasoning, if someone, in response to negativity, resorts to say alcoholism, or cuts his/her own wrist, or goes on a senseless school shooting rampage, no one should step up to deride that action.

 

[aaj117]

Why are you reading so much negative in to what I said, implying that I am a racist bigot, too?

How the hell is fixing MDApps going to rid the world of racist idiots?

This is not the proper forum to discuss curing racism, and I suggest that the mods close this thread...not too sure why they have left it up this long.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that you are bigotted, just that the problem isn't entirely solved, and maybe you aren't seeing the full scope of the problem. I choose to have an mdapps to give hope to similar applicants and let them see where i've been successful to maybe give them an idea of where to apply. Especially as an LGBT student, i know that a lot of other lgbt applicants have concerns about which schools are receptive to having gay activism in your application and things like that. I allow comments for that reason-- people can ask questions that way. But reading these hateful comments day after day after day eventually wears anyone down, makes them either doubt themself a little bit or become hateful themselves... whether we leave the comments public or not. People write these things much less frequently when it isn't anonymous, so looking for a solution to make it less anonymous and therefore limit the amount of these comments that some of us have to see on an all-too-frequent basis is reasonable. That part of the problem is not solved yet, and some people are interested in finding a way to try and solve it.

 

[161468]

Although I would never write something like that, I couldn't help but laugh when I read that. Absolutely hilarious.

 

[mountainhare]

Uh.. actually, I don't think he truly understood the reference that was being made. And thanks for borrowing a word out of the Tom Cruise Dictionary to attack my post; it made me chuckle.



Hmm..so not only did you play the victim card for someone you don't even know, you also reasoned that all coping mechanisms are valid as long as a person employs one.

There are right and wrong ways to approach things. Many on this thread are arguing that the OP went about this whole thing the wrong way. By your reasoning, if someone, in response to negativity, resorts to say alcoholism, or cuts his/her own wrist, or goes on a senseless school shooting rampage, no one should step up to deride that action.

Glad I could give somebody a chuckle. If I followed celebrity tabloids as much as some people do, I would know which words have been tainted by Tom Cruise and which words haven't yet. Alas, I haven't been following up on my Tom Cruise news since he married that girl, so I wasn't aware that that was a word to be avoided. Thanks for clueing me in.

Nowhere did I state that I believe the OP's coping mechanisms are valid. I merely stated that it's irrational to behave as though the OP's grammar or his coping mechanisms (i.e., starting a conversation about racism with his friends on SDN) are somehow more worthy of attack than what the OP is up against. Your attempt to liken the OP's thread to someone cutting their wrists is, I think, a perfect example of what I mean by "distortion of perspective." I don't believe the OP is a perfect person or that his response was perfect, but I think people who deride the OP for that are causing the more important issue to get obscured. Like someone said earlier on this thread, being complacent is letting the racists win.

And I'm certainly not ashamed of "playing the victim card for someone I don't even know." The fact that I don't know the OP doesn't change the nature of what happened to him. You call it "playing the victim card"; I call it "knowing when racism has or has not occurred, and calling a spade a spade." It all comes down to semantics, I suppose. 🙂

 

[taponthecloud]

And I'm certainly not ashamed of "playing the victim card for someone I don't even know." The fact that I don't know the OP doesn't change the nature of what happened to him. You call it "playing the victim card"; I call it "knowing when racism has or has not occurred, and calling a spade a spade." It all comes down to semantics, I suppose. 🙂 My main point was: There are things in the world that deserve mockery, and the fact that some people think the OP is high-up on that list says more about those people's attitudes, perhaps, than it does about the OP. Now let's leave this thread to those few people who are using it productively, yes?

Well, you certainly undermined that objective when you yourself decided to come on here in the first place.

 

[armybound]

Make sure you're not attacking others. This is a sensitive topic but a good discussion; let's not get this thread closed.

 

[calgirl4]

No it wouldn't. It's a well known fact that one cannot be racist against one's own race.

I hope that was sarcasm, or else ignorance. I mean, I hope we've all heard of one Mr. Clatyon Bigsby. If not, check it out. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/291638/clayton_bigsby/


Or, if you'd like reality to speak:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd6QDAzYowQ

 

[Handy388]

I bet the poster's Asian. Some of the most racist (against Asian) people I've met, are unfortunately Asian American.

When I was a freshman in my current undergrad, there was this woman, who hated me because I am an Asian immigrant. According to her, people like me make them look bad because we can barely speak English. I stopped socializing much with Asian Americans after that. At least people from other race won't jump onto that when they hear you came from somewhere.

Oh yeah, the word FOB offend me just as much as the N word.

 

[45408]

MDApps already has a solution: it is under the control of the user(s) to ignore or delete objectionable posts...problem solved!

Or, God forbid, you could disable comments completely. But then you wouldn't get the opportunity to have proof that lots of people have looked at your profile and laid on the accolades.

 

[jult24er]

I created an MdApps because I found the website very helpful to see where other people with similar stats had applied, interviewed and been accepted (I did take each profile with a grain of salt because I know some people create fakes). I thought that posting my stats and app decisions could help out others looking for the same info I was. As for the comments, I usually just post the occasional "congrats" or "good luck" on other people's sections. I wasn't really looking for adivce on MdApps like I did on sdn.

I appreciate MdApps. Thanks.

 

[taponthecloud]

I bet the poster's Asian. Some of the most racist (against Asian) people I've met, are unfortunately Asian American.

When I was a freshman in my current undergrad, there was this woman, who hated me because I am an Asian immigrant. According to her, people like me make them look bad because we can barely speak English. I stopped socializing much with Asian Americans after that. At least people from other race won't jump onto that when they hear you came from somewhere.

Oh yeah, the word FOB offend me just as much as the N word.

On what basis are you making this claim??

 

[Handy388]

On what basis are you making this claim??

because I've never been treated that way by anyone beside an Asian American? Most caucasians assume I am native born.

 

[taponthecloud]

because I've never been treated that way by anyone beside an Asian American? Most caucasians assume I am native born.

you seem to have a very cockeyed view of society. stop making generalizations about different ethnic groups based on the bad situations that you alone have encountered.