It's all about the "O".
Posted on 10/27/2007 6:44:54 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
Overstock.com Founder Refuses to Apologize for Comments About Minority Dropouts
Saturday, October 27, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY — The founder of Overstock.com rejected the NAACP's demand for an apology Friday after an Internet video surfaced of him saying that Utah minorities who don't graduate from high school might as well be burned or thrown away.
Patrick Byrne's comments were posted on YouTube. The video clip was from a debate two weeks ago in Provo, where he was speaking in favor of vouchers, public aid for families sending kids to private schools.
A statewide voucher program that would grant $500 to $3,000 per child based on family income is on the Utah ballot Nov. 6.
On the YouTube video clip, Byrne says: "Right now, 40 percent of Utah minorities are not graduating from high school. You may as well burn those kids. That's the end of their life. That's the end of their ability to achieve in this society if they do not get a high school education. You might as, just throw the kids away."
Byrne has made similar remarks in other debates. He said Friday he had no intention of apologizing and claimed his comments were taken out of context.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
NAACP should be applauding any effort that will keep blacks in school. But then, they’re not about successful blacks. They’re about stopping any criticism whatsoever about blacks, no matter how badly they screw up.
true but too many successful blacks sure feel the heat to keep a seat on the victimhood train
wish the NAACP was as concerned about black crime and illegitimacy as they are phantom white racism
OMG-the msm taking someone’s statement(s)out of context??And a CEO who actually has the b@lls to stand up to the msm?That guy deserves a pat on the back.
Dropouts! - huh- yeah-
What are they good for?
Absolutely nothing Uh-huh
Dropouts! – huh – yeah-
What are they good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y’all
Dropouts! – huh – good God
What are they good for?
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me…
Ohhh… Dropouts! I despise
Because it means destruction’
Of all their lives
Dropouts mean tears
to thousands of mothers eyes
When their kids quit school
and screw up their lives
I said - Dropouts! Huh – Good God y’all
What are they good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
How do those opposed to vouchers think they won’t benefit from this? The public school system is running scared because they are being brought into the light, and how they are becoming a complete failure. This guy should be praised for standing firm in his stance. Kudos to him.
The NAACP should give this guy a medal.
IIRC, Overstock.com gives generously to the libs. That being said, I’m surprised the NAACP would go after him.
“Kudos to him.” I agree 100%. I guess the truth in America is no longer relevant, it’s the color of your skin that counts. Every day I remember back to high school and two books I had to read, George Orwell’s “1984” and “The Animal Farm”. My God are those books right on today.
The NAACLP is philosophically aligned with the Left, Dems, and most importantly with the NEA. The NEA is fighting this voucher vote tooth and nail and are doing everything possible to defeat this proposition. The attack on Mr. Byrne is merely another example of “If you can’t attack the issue, smear the messenger”.
They know that if this program succeeds, the whole lie of government indoctrination centers (otherwise called public schools), will be exposed. They cannot face any scrutiny caused by widespread, fair competition in education.
The vote on the voucher proposition is Nov. 6 and I am urging all Utahns to vote for it. In full disclosure, I must say I have no kids of school age. Of course, if I did, they would be home schooled anyway. I’m just tired of any of my tax dollars finding their way into democrat political contributions!
A little sensative? Too many HS dropouts at the NAACP, I suspect.
Obviously, he has never heard of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ
He’s right.
Inner city blacks are practicing something called tribalism. It is common amongst very poor and ignorant groups in the US. Historically, the Irish immigrants practiced the samething. Like blacks they think everyone in the country is out to get them (because they are Catholic) and the only way to survive is to practice absolute solidarity with your own kind. Thus you support your Irish candidate in an election against a non Irish even if the person you support is known for corruption. This mentality eventually broke down as Irish left their neighborhoods in the east coast cities and migrated west to see German Catholics were doing well, thus debunking the myth that the American Protestants were hell bent on keeping Catholics down. The key to breaking black tribalism is educated blacks go back and try to mentor (constructively criticize) their inner city blacks out of this mentality. A conservative black man told me that he has a better chance of talking and correcting black youths than a white person, because any comment that seems legitimate and reasonable to normal person will cause the black youth to bristle because the messenger is not from his own race. Looking back historically, we should not have brought them over as slaves, then free them and not socially accept them, give them welfare and pampered them over our guilt and today we have this burden on our society in the 21st Century.
The NAACP and the teachers lobby have the same interests at heart—highly paid sinecure jobs with minimal accountability and maximum political pull. You don’t see children or education in the list because they don’t matter to these groups.
Obviously, he was talking about the potential of these people to be decent citizens rather than drug dealers, prostitutes, single mothers, and other thugs. Or sweep floors.
“Obviously, he has never heard of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ”
Does the NAACP support that?
The truths within statements like this mean absolutely nothing.
What matters MORE is WHO spoke them.
If it had been Bill Cosby or Thomas Sowell making these remarks, there might be harrumphing amongst the poverty-pimping community, but nothing more, and even applause in some circles.
But because the comments came from a WHITE person, they are "racist".
Again, what was said matters not - who did the speaking, matters more.
For this reason, constructive dialog on such subjects is all-but impossible, and as such, there really isn't much of a solution as minority communties continue to decline, and the underclass sinks lower.
The only glimmer of hope is that Mr. Byrne steadfastly refuses to apologize - well, at least FOR NOW....
It is only when Euro-Americans shake off their "white guilt", and refuse to apologize en masse, that any constructive progress will be made.
- John
The statement is factually untrue. There are numerous fields in which one can earn a decent living and even become wealthy as a high school dropout.
My brother-in-law, for instance, is a highly successful general contractor, with several hundred people working for him.
He dropped out of high school 20 years ago at the age of 16. Went through some tough times, then pulled his act together, went to work for an construction company, learned the business from the ground up and eventually went out on his own.
Never let schooling interfere with your education.
“Never let schooling interfere with your education.”
I have to unteach my son a lot of the garbage the school tries to pass off as education.
Can you think of anything in modern society which has made black people look so BAD?
Unemployable, wildly promiscuous, illiterate, trashy, ignorant as hell.
When people of principle come along to point this out, black "leaders" attack them. Moynihan, of course, springs to mind. Now this guy. What is wrong with these people?
Perhaps this guy should do a movie called an “Inconvenient Truth,” which would certainly be worthy of an Oscar.
“IIRC, Overstock.com gives generously to the libs. “
Well, he has given to Rudy Giuliani. Though many people here don’t like him, I think he is OK...
It's all about the "O".
This is part of the problem in our society. This mind set of valuing “life” based on what you have or temporal accomplishments. I’m sure there is no one who has ever lived a happy, fulfilling life without a high school education /sarcasm.
Jesus was hanging out with all of the high school graduates, wasn’t he?
"... where he was speaking in favor of vouchers, public aid for families sending kids to private schools."
Public aid?
How about, "School choice for those who pay for it"? How about, "Not having to pay twice to send your children to private school to avoid them having to read Heather Has Two Mommies"?
I think we are talking about a symptom. Forty percent dropout rate is a symptom that things are not as they should be. If these forty percent were the movers and shakers and driven people who would soon be successful in honest endeavors, no one would be saying much. Sadly this is not the case and something needs to be said and done besides in front of a judge and jury.
“The NAACP should give this guy a medal.”
He is articulating the exact same position that they supposedly espouse - educate and make minority kids productive.
I don’t know, but I suspect the guy from overstock.com is white, and that is really the crux of the matter.....
Whitey can’t even agree with the NAACP without having to apologize.
First of all, the white dropout rate isn't 40%. If it was, I'm sure he would have mentioned it. And, given that whites comprise almost 85% of Utah's schools, a 40% white dropout rate would result in vouchers so fast your nappy head would spin.
Second, if Mr. Byrne DID focus on the small percentage of whites who dropped out, you'd be crying, "You racist! What about the 40% of black children who drop out?"
Jeanetta Williams, a voucher opponent. Cares more about the teachers union than black children. What a disgrace.
That was the very first thing that jumped out at me as well. That is the very best example of just how the MSM leans left while trying to trick people into believing they are just reporting the facts. School vouchers are NOT public aid.
I'm shocked that you are the only person to have commented on that.
What happened to that actress? She’s not on the commercials anymore.
Don’t know. Matter of fact, I don’t see any Overstock.com commercials anymore.
Obviously he said nothing bad. However, he is also obviously a White male, and there is where his trouble begins. There are thousands of race baiters who have nothing better to do than roam around looking for White males to attack. The White male does not have to do or say anything wrong. He just has to say something vaguely approaching the subject of race, and he is viciously attacked.
While his wording was not perfect, what he said was correct. It is almost impossible for people to excel without at least a high school diploma. If one is a minority, the outlook is even worse.
But, even if Jesus saves your soul, you have to have a good career in order to put food on the table. How can you serve the poor if you are poor yourself. How can you be a blessing to the Church if you are always receiving but never giving. It is important to graduate.
Please note that not all black Americans think the same way. When we used to live in the projects in Brooklyn, my parents pushed my brother and I to succeed. We would take the bus to the library, enrolled in head start, they bought us books and were very envolved in our schools. By the Grace of God (and my father’s hard work) we got out of the ghetto and never looked back.
btt
so let’s just sweep their shortcomings under the rug?
Follow the money.
Actually educating young blacks and equipping them to move up the economic and social ladder is precisely what the NAACP and other race pimps do not want.
They want to appear helpful if they can without actually accomplishing anything.
Ignorance is their friend, it keeps them in power and keeps the money flowing into their pockets.
Resentful and uneducated blacks stay on the plantation and can be relied on to whine about racism on cue.
They comprise a powerful and easily orchestrated power base.
Public aid?
Yes, unless you know of a voucher plan that limits payouts from the Government to each family to the money paid in for school taxes. Otherwise its just another Government public aid program.
BTW, people without children in school pay school taxes. Should they get a refund too?
It's a refund of money paid in. If it's not exact, that doesn't make it public aid.
"BTW, people without children in school pay school taxes. Should they get a refund too?"
I've never used the sevices of police and fire. Do I get a refund?
It is the so-called black "leaders" who are so infuriating.
By the Grace of God (and my father’s hard work) we got out of the ghetto and never looked back.
A wonderful story. God bless you.
Unfortunately the US was still buying slaves from Africa after 1776. When I say “we” I meant our country in the past, it is not to assign blame to you personally. It is no different then I saying we won World War II, but I personally was born after World War II and did not fight in the war (per your sensitive logic, I cannot say that). INMHO if blacks were not imported into the US, the issue of race, social problems and etc that we are experiencing in our inner cities would not exist. Think of the trillions we would have available (free from all the social programs)to invest and make our economy even more efficient and competitive.
360,000 primarily white Americans were killed and 112 of every 1,000 who served were wounded during the Civil War that ended slavery in America. That certainly constitutes “partial payment” in absolving American guilt that truly should be placed on the brows of the Europeans, who instituted the vile practice in the new world in the first place.
As far as the statement, “we won WW II,” there is no breast-beating guilt associated with the victory over the Axis, which is the discussion on this thread.
I am in complete agreement with your statement, “if blacks were not imported into the US, the issue of race, social problems and etc that we are experiencing in our inner cities would not exist,” primarily because there would be far fewer African-Americans and they would have immigrated through more normal means.
However, the problems of the inner cities also wouldn’t exist or would mitigate if the inhabitants learned the meaning of responsibility for one’s self and respect for the lives and property of others.
The current problems of the inner cities fall on the shoulders of their inhabitants - - if you disagree, I pose this question to you - - How many decades or centuries must elapse and how many trillions must be spent before the problems you describe end and who will end them?
As far as the thread itself, the Overstock.com guy’s only real sin is saying, “the emperor has no clothes.”
I am in complete agreement with your statement, “if blacks were not imported into the US, the issue of race, social problems and etc that we are experiencing in our inner cities would not exist,” primarily because there would be far fewer African-Americans and they would have immigrated through more normal means.
Yeah, but we’d still have the Irish.
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