Diversity schemes for young people - mixed race child.

[Florencesndzebedee]

I have a dc who is currently an undergraduate. I am mixed race, my dh is white. Dc is fair skinned but, through my heritage, also has black heritage (my dad is from the Caribbean).

The landscape is tough at the moment getting work placements/internships but some of these schemes are open to dc of black heritage only. My dc is reluctant to apply as he said he’d feel like a fraud, purely on looks - he looks like he might be Spanish or Greek but has blue eyes. The criteria are quite vague other than under represented people )within the organisation) of black/african /Caribbean heritage. I feel like he is entitled to apply and these schemes would give him more options.

Does anyone have any experience of these particular schemes or how they select?

You white? (Bet you are)

Non white=not normal. Tell me your industry?

It’s more of a moral dilemma than a technical one. It would be a case of whether the OP/her son are comfortable knowing he has potentially accepted the place of a young person who may be disadvantaged due to the colour of their skin, when he has the privilege of being light skinned and not encountering racism bias. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Give me a solid example?

I think it's hard. My daughter is mixed British/Indian heritage but completely "white passing" (it's an ugly way to say this but I can't think of a better way to say it). She's never done telling me she's "half Indian" and her Indian identity is important to her.

When she eventually comes to apply for internships, jobs etc. she would qualify for similar schemes (if the exist by then).

I'm not sure what I'd tell her to do. On the one hand life is hard and if there is a way to get ahead then she should use all the opportunities available to her. On the other hand she is very far from being "under privileged" so it feels like we'd be taking a place from someone more deserving.

Tough one!

Also. Answer me this : are you white? (I'll bet you are )

Forget your work colleagues, think outside of your social circle.

Excuse me. Are you actually accusing me of being a closet racist? Go on. Let me hear you say it.

You really need to stop telling people what equality is and racism is as you do not seem to understand.

There are some very unintelligent and uneducated comments from some people on this thread. I shouldn’t be surprised really.

And there is a certain kind of person who says, ‘I don’t care if people are pink, purple, green etc’ (previous poster). They always show their true colours when they make those comments!

An example, health care, employment prospects, a black male teenager is much more likely to be followed by security in a store, in comparison to a white teenager,
a bunch of white teenagers are referred to as a group, black teenagers are referred to as a gang.
White professional footballers aren't subjected to disgusting chants.

1.) I never said that (or anything close)

2.) what I did say is In a nutshell: black people are bitches. Black people are also the most gorgeous loving person I've ever met

You know what they equates to: black people.... are.... People.

You want me to bend over to say the bitchy narcissist colleague had issues of her black past In some way to make you feel better ?

No. I won't

Because that right there is racism. You're holding someone to a different set of standards (be they beneficial or controversial) simply because they're black.

That's racism.

I think I’ll bow out as the thread has taken a different tack but I’m grateful for all of the helpful and thought provoking comments.

@SquishedMallow If the cap fits. 🧢

Me too, take care.

Can you explain? (Oh white person)

You're very naive. I'm guessing you see colour first and will bend all truth to fit your "anti-racism" stance.

Why don't you try treating black people as equals? That includes dislike you know? You don't have to instantly like someone because they're black. I think that's called being patronising

No your son should not apply for this scheme. Even if he’s technically eligible, he doesn’t feel the need of it.

That's bullshit. I'm calling you out.

Approximately 80% of the UK population is white, overall, with only 4% being black. Scotland is around 90% white, if I remember correctly.

Given the above, most institutions/workplaces should be overwhelmingly white.

There is an unquestioned assumption that diversity is good. That also raises the question 'what is diversity and how do we measure it?'

Is there a heirarchy of diversity? Is a white working class woman more or less diverse than a middle class black disabled man? If they are both employed in a factory, putting jam jars into boxes, how would diversity be of value? There's a strong argument that homogenity can be more useful - a team of similar people may be much more cohesive than a team of disparate members.

It's not acceptable. It's just certain white people like to virtue signal. (It's rarely black and brown people coming out with this divisive shit)

I'm sorry? What ?

Reported (of course)