Thread: Anti-Prejudice Prejudice?

I have had this thought brewing in my mind for awhile now, something I am still not entirely sure where I stand on, and one I would value others' intake on. It's something that many people get upset about, the mere suggestion of it, if it's even brought up. Namely, a prejudice against white males. A small group is trying to start a scholarship in Texas for applicants who fall into that race and gender. Is this prejudice? There's tons of scholarships out there that concentrate on people of a specific racial background as well as plenty for females. I don't know how I feel about that. I think that's prejudice too, right? I can understand scholarships aimed at, say, people that live in a low class environment, people who would not have that sort of opportunity otherwise. But there's a lot of guilt associated in America with being white, and just as much with being a male. Is something like this actually prejudice? Or can one group be selected out and boosted up without others being held down in the process? I've never been in a situation before where I was applying for scholarships, but it's impossible to not notice all of the ones out there that I'm not eligible for due to my gender and skin color. Is that not racism? Sexism? Affirmative Action was a great idea in theory, but just as many opportunities as it may or may not create, it can equally put the wrong people in the wrong positions. I myself was a victim of that a few years back I had worked my ass off for a specific promotion for a long time, even filled in as a temp for the spot for a lengthy period to prove I could do it despite my age, and showed the best results out of anyone prior to me in the position for the fifteen or sixteen years the place had been open. I lost the spot, however, to a 1 female, who 2 happened to be black and 3 six months pregnant at the time. Without digressing from my main point too much to really elaborate on why she was thoroughly unfit for the position, let me sum it up with this it was a job that dealt half with customer service and half with being professional in a management environment, yet here was someone who spoke in ebonics. After the decision was made, I had several people present during that roundtable meeting come to me as an aside and tell me the only reason she was chosen was because management didn't want to risk being sued ala Affirmative Action she being a pregnant black woman and me a young, white male. I refuse to feel guilty because of my gender and skin color. I understand this is an awkward topic for a lot of people. My specific experience I just explained, I feel, is neither the exception nor the rule -- I feel it's something that happens probably about as often as it doesn't. On that note, I think I support these guys for trying to shine a light on the fact that it's prejudice to exclude one group from having an 'us only' kinda thing going on too. I would much, much rather any exclusion of the sort be dropped from all scholarships, or anything for that matter, and have it based solely on...I don't know, whoever earns it? But how do we get there? This is a step in a direction. Is that direction right or wrong, though?