Was Einstein racist against Chinese people?

[Jolly_Penguin]

A comment about a culture is not the same as a comment about race. All teh negative comments about the Chinese Einstein made were about their cultural norms, and at no point has he, as far as I know, suggested that they had to do with their racial heritage. That would be racist. I think criticizing culture is and should be ok, even necessary.

Interesting point. But then, not everyone who comes from a particular country and culture is the same. This is prejudice no matter how you cut it. It's more like Trump's attempted ban on "Muslim nations" than a ban on or hostility towards a race.

 

[dismal]

First Einstein, now Harvard:

Harvard consistently rated Asian-American applicants lower than others on traits like “positive personality,” likability, courage, kindness and being “widely respected,” according to an analysis of more than 160,000 student records filed Friday by a group representing Asian-American students in a lawsuit against the university.

Asian-Americans scored higher than applicants of any other racial or ethnic group on admissions measures like test scores, grades and extracurricular activities, according to the analysis commissioned by a group that opposes all race-based admissions criteria. But the students’ personal ratings significantly dragged down their chances of being admitted, the analysis found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/us/harvard-asian-enrollment-applicants.html

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Some of these ways of measuring people are a bad idea: (likability, widely respected), because if a group is the target of racism, then they could easily be valued less in those categories. Categories like kindness and courage seem to make some sense, if you are measuring non-academic qualities in the first place.

 

[dismal]

Some of these ways of measuring people are a bad idea: (likability, widely respected), because if a group is the target of racism, then they could easily be valued less in those categories. Categories like kindness and courage seem to make some sense, if you are measuring non-academic qualities in the first place.

So it's not racist to say "Asians have less kindness or courage than other races".

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Some of these ways of measuring people are a bad idea: (likability, widely respected), because if a group is the target of racism, then they could easily be valued less in those categories. Categories like kindness and courage seem to make some sense, if you are measuring non-academic qualities in the first place.

So it's not racist to say "Asians have less kindness or courage than other races".

That seems to be rewording a statistic in a way that makes it sound like a hasty generalization.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Some of these ways of measuring people are a bad idea: (likability, widely respected), because if a group is the target of racism, then they could easily be valued less in those categories. Categories like kindness and courage seem to make some sense, if you are measuring non-academic qualities in the first place.

So it's not racist to say "Asians have less kindness or courage than other races".

Group predjudice thinking is so complicated.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Suppose judge A is NOT a racist. Suppose the society is 10% extreme racists and 30% a little bit racist and 60% non-racist. Judge A is going to judge minorities on how widely respected they are in that racist society, not on how much judge A respects them themselves. Therefore, the metric of "widely respected" is an extremely bad idea because it magnifies racism even when the judge is not racist.

 

[repoman]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/24/chinas-bystander-problem-another-death-after-crowd-ignores-woman-in-peril/?utm_term=.b031df6b893a

China’s bystander problem: Another death after crowd ignores woman in peril.

I work with a lot of mainland Chinese, and this seems to wear off very quickly when in the USA (which has its own cultural sicknesses). So not seeing a large genetic component.

 

[bilby]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/24/chinas-bystander-problem-another-death-after-crowd-ignores-woman-in-peril/?utm_term=.b031df6b893a

China’s bystander problem: Another death after crowd ignores woman in peril.

I work with a lot of mainland Chinese, and this seems to wear off very quickly when in the USA (which has its own cultural sicknesses). So not seeing a large genetic component.

The bystander effect is well understood, and is in no way specific to Chinese people.

It's a common and well known issue in any situation where large numbers of people could intervene to save a life - everyone assumes somebody else will do it.

It was a murder in New York that inspired the first research into the effect; America is the archetype of the problem, and implying that it is specifically Chinese is either deeply ignorant or deeply racist. In either case, you should have refrained from posting, and the WaPo should have refrained from publishing.

 

[Trausti]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/24/chinas-bystander-problem-another-death-after-crowd-ignores-woman-in-peril/?utm_term=.b031df6b893a

China’s bystander problem: Another death after crowd ignores woman in peril.

I work with a lot of mainland Chinese, and this seems to wear off very quickly when in the USA (which has its own cultural sicknesses). So not seeing a large genetic component.

Don't forget the Asian driver stereotype.

 

[Trausti]

First Einstein, now Harvard:

Harvard consistently rated Asian-American applicants lower than others on traits like “positive personality,” likability, courage, kindness and being “widely respected,” according to an analysis of more than 160,000 student records filed Friday by a group representing Asian-American students in a lawsuit against the university.

Asian-Americans scored higher than applicants of any other racial or ethnic group on admissions measures like test scores, grades and extracurricular activities, according to the analysis commissioned by a group that opposes all race-based admissions criteria. But the students’ personal ratings significantly dragged down their chances of being admitted, the analysis found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/us/harvard-asian-enrollment-applicants.html

 

[Trausti]

First Einstein, now Harvard:

Harvard consistently rated Asian-American applicants lower than others on traits like “positive personality,” likability, courage, kindness and being “widely respected,” according to an analysis of more than 160,000 student records filed Friday by a group representing Asian-American students in a lawsuit against the university.

Asian-Americans scored higher than applicants of any other racial or ethnic group on admissions measures like test scores, grades and extracurricular activities, according to the analysis commissioned by a group that opposes all race-based admissions criteria. But the students’ personal ratings significantly dragged down their chances of being admitted, the analysis found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/us/harvard-asian-enrollment-applicants.html

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