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.
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