What happened at the racist bake sale?

Are you saying that the blacks are not pleased to be able to get that cupcake for 50 cents, when others will pay 2 or 3 times as much?

Are you saying that they should be pleased by the notion that they cannot afford to pay the same as everyone else? This was an example of bigotry.

I'm saying that they should be treated as equals. People can choose what they buy. If a person doesn't feel like buying a cupcake because it's a useless investment, then that person can just walk away from the stand. But to charge people different prices based on income is just classless and baseless. If I were the one being charged less, I would be very unhappy with that. People, as much as they whine about money, have a lot of pride. To interfere with that pride is one thing, but to interfere with that pride based on race? That is a whole other field that does not even deserve to exist. So yes, they should be unhappy with this and I am glad they are. I'm unhappy with it too. It's racist and prejudice. Thank you, spalladino. Well put!

Actually, it was only an assumption by one of the people commenting that it is based on income. Truth is, the price was totally based on race. The black people that were upset by it may very well have more money than you and I.

I will concede that is probably too simplistic to think of it as race only, and not involving cost. Certainly the varying costs do indicate that income will be part of the discussion. I was recently reading about Martin Luther King Jr. and he openly advocated that affirmative action was necessary to right the wrongs of the past. He said that making blacks equal to whites was not enough. The black people should be given more. That surprised me, because I had more often heard of is 'character not skin color' comments.

LOL correction! I was saying that statistically blacks are placed in the poverty category and I emphasized the point that this is untrue. I know a lot of black who are WAAAAY more rich than I am! I was saying that he was using the race system as a way of basing income, which is what pretty much everyone does. (Not everyone as in individuals, of course). To me, the bake sale was also emphasizing that race has to do with cheaper priced DUE TO income... and, well, race. You can put other factors into as well, like I think there are scholarships for some blacks that whites don't get because it's a way of making up for slavery. (I HEARD this... so I don't know any validity of it). Also, there's scholarships for Native Americans simply because they're Native Americans. You can say something is strictly based on race, but that's oversimplifying something. Once race is involved, everything else is pulled into it. Just like some things cannot be strictly because of religion. SOME kind of politics has to get involved... because that's just how politics is lol.

It is interesting to note that when people consider the different cupcake prices, they focus on different aspects. Some, as you did, think of intelligence, others think of wealth, and othes think of race. Our stereotypes have had time to grow and get involved.

That is true, but she seemed to get offended. I mean she got the cupcake at a cheaper price then everyone else, I think the white people and the Asian people should have been angry - not her.

Sounds so harsh, but I am afraid it is true. It is hypocritical to be bothered by the reduced price of the cupcake, and never make a peep about the great college financial aid programs based on race.

I can tell that you read the article. Yes, the little bake sale is nothing more than a picture of affirmative action. Some would have us believe that it is a terrible thing to say that people of a certain race can buy a cupcake for a much lower price. People are quick to respond in anger, and scream discrimination. Certainly these people will not buy a cupcake, no matter how good a deal it is. But now let's talk about college tuition. Think of it as a giant cupcake. Affirmative action laws in our country require that there be different levels of cost (different price tags) for students, based on race. So, I can assume that these same people will walk away from this insultingly low price as well? If they do not walk away, then the little display at the bake sale was a bunch of nonsense. John Stossel certainly came up with a good idea here. What do you think?

But it seems a double standard is ever present. The victim hood assigned based on skin color is or should be insulting. Yet, there are so many instances where the victim hood continues to be propagated and encouraged. That is the heart and soul of affirmative action. Listen to Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson for 5 minutes and you will hear about the victims who should not even have to pay 50 cents for the cup cake. It could be that when we look at the cupcake prices, most of us inherently see it as unfair and not a kind thing to do.

It's a great idea for Stossel's show. The tamping down and outright dismissal of free speech is something right up a libertarian's alley. Students trying to do this and being shut down, Stossel trying to do this and being railed against, people only seeing the "cupcake" example and claiming it's bigotry, shows one thing - the person who may have his or her feelings hurt is always considered more important in society than anyone else. And Stossel also does well--as do many people on his side of the argument, including me, I think, at the risk of sounded conceded--to show that "race" is singled out still as something to act affirmatively for, in the context of black, white, Asian, Latino, etc, when it's in fact extremely damaging to American culture to classify one entire stripe of the rainbow as needing an advantage. I've long said, and haven't been alone, that catering more to black, Muslim (a "race" in PC context), Latino and other non-white sensibilities, making a victim out of people preemptively based on skin tone and ignoring character, is one of the most outright insulting things I've ever witnessed. The look of disgust on people's faces as they approached Stossel's mock bake sale said that they do see eye-to-eye with the folks like me shouting that this crap should stop. They just don't understand how simple it all is until they see it in front of their faces: black/Latino = victim = discount, person aside, skin color first.

Thanks for your comments. I was truly impressed with John Stossel doing this and lots more people need the courage to do so. I have also found the comments quite interesting.

When affirmative action is worked into the laws and culture, then it can really latch on and cause problems. Changing from one flavor of racism to another does not end racism. Thanks for your reply.

Excellent summary. It is interesting that such a small scale example sheds a lot of light on the full size issue of affirmative action. His sign could have said 50 cents for members, and $1.00 for non-members. In that case the members deserve the lower price, because they have done whatever is required to be a member. When you are talking about race, which is just a function of who are parents are (and which we have no say in), then all American citizens should be treated equal.

In much of John Stossel's reporting he comes off as an 'in your face' kind of guy. He is actually very good at asking the challenging questions and digging into things that others might accept. Thanks for your reply and feel free to tell us what you think his point was.

I agree that Stossel is not a racist and did not mean to imply that. He was clearly trying to make a point. It was actually a brilliant way to provoke discussion.

So, would you say that if a person is not racist, they would be pleased to get the lower price, and not try to give it any other meaning?