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Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community

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Pages: 225 43
Words: 18741 13640
Characters: 117034 81678
Lines: 5367 623
     
     
Letters per word: 6.24 5.99
Words per line: 3.49 21.89
Words per page: 83.29 317.21

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78,082 Reads | 27 Likes | 97 Comments | 27 Favorites

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Michelle Obama's (Michelle LaVaughn Robinson's) undergraduate thesis OCR-ed Word doc. Formatting, particularly on some of the tables, isn't perfect, but this is the whole thing.

The original page numbers appear at the top-right and occur every couple of pages as the text formatting was spread out in processing the original.

Numbers on the bottom right of the page were added post processing.

Word_16x16 225 Pages

Date Added

03/18/2008
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Thcmas 8 months ago

Just a quick response to the post by 5L. To say that I have not spent much time in the company of other races because of the way that I think is off base. In fact, I grew up in sothern Mississippi in a military community. My best friends growing up were African Americans, Vietnamese and Phillipino. My best man at my wedding was Greek and one of the two groomsmen was an African American. Currently working in the foodservice industry I spend every day with Mexicans and summer interns from Bulgaria, Ukrane, Romania, Lithuania and Poland. I would not be ashamed to share my views with any of these other races because I view them as equals. Seek another theory as to why my opinions are they way they are... that is to say correct.

scholarmill 8 months ago

I will leave the sociological debate to others as they all seem to find this interesting for some odd reason. I was doing creative writing during my freshman year of high school that had more substance than this. I went to a community college for English 101 and 102 before later studies at JHU.
My community college professor would not have accepted this crap from a failing student. I aced his classes with much coaching and discussion over notes he left on submissions concerning my writing style. That professor made the rest of my academic life as well as my career a breeze.

She did adhere to the requisite manner of assembling her body of work into whatever her professor surely detailed. Wasn't that impressive?
I hated the wasted pages of paper in my own works. If the majority of papers were to appear in the school's journals it might make sense but we all know that doesn't happen because too many college educated students still write on this level, black or white.

My career led me to reading resumes at times and if I didn't like the opening I tossed it. I had a fellow worker who did the same. The writing exhibited in this paper would have gone in the round bin as I found it to be sub par of that which what I would expect from an Ivy League grad.

Why is this paper so highly touted? It is but racial drivel written in thesis form by a young black woman in an academic surrounding most blacks or whites are not accepted to. I've never set foot on an Ivy League campus as far as I know. If that paper is all it takes to get a BA there I wonder why my nephew is only in the 8th grade and engaged in deeper topics.

One thing I will throw out about the sociological aspect of it.
This goes further to demonstrate that the educated and wealthy who claim to be liberals will take up the torch for those that don't do so for themselves. This piece even questions how blacks who are better off than the rest of the "community" relate back to it. Does being black mean one can not be a part of the world, destined to living as if there are community imposed shackles holding one down? It is insisted by many that blacks "sell out" if they ever remove themselves from the shackles the community has put on them and better themselves.
Do white people from Appalachia successful in education and business think back on the "hillbillies" they left behind in like fashion?
I've never know any but it is worth asking because I think the shackles are a bit too tight.

5l 8 months ago

Obviously the bulk of you complaining about her formatting (i.e. large margins) did not have the brains to read the description where it states that the paper had been reformatted. Having worked in a library and scanned many older print documents into a working word format the mistakes are common. As for her supposed typos these can also be contributed to computer/scanner error.

I am not a sociologist but I have had to read several studies and they are all the same, dry and boring. For those of you who found fault in that I would have to say "Did you think you were reading a novel?"

While we have progressed greatly in the 20 years since Mrs. Obama wrote this and even more since her responders attended Princeton, America is not colorless. I would have to guess that THCMAS has not spent much time in the company of other races. I come from a small mid-west community and I also come from a mix of Europeans who were discriminated against, but I am not blind to the fact that "white" Europeans are accepted much faster than other ethnic groups. As a person with many friends from other ethnic groups and countries I have assimilated some of their clothing styles and mannerisms and I increasingly find my self discriminated against. I have an olive skin tone so I am commonly mistaken for a light skinned Mexican/Indian/and or Middle Easterner. Many people in the public sector have talked to me as if I do not speak English. I have had many women in retail talk to me in a loud exaggerated slow manner thinking that that would make me understand the English I was so lacking. Their faces turn bright red and they are obviously serious aware of their discriminating behavior when I start to speak in a perfect Kansas accent.

As far as becoming part of the society I would have to say that our societal norms are made and based on “White” standards. While I do not believe there is anything wrong in our morals as “whites” I do take offence when I am told that my job prospects will greatly decline in my community if I accept and observe my Hindu fiancé’s marriage customs (wearing vermillion on the forehead and piercing my nose). This proves that we are not as progressive as a society as we claim.

I have heard many people say this is a white country based on white ideals and others should act like us if they want to stay here. This country was based on freedom and I should have the freedom to cover my hair, wear a sari, enjoy blues and jazz, and still be an American.

Thcmas 9 months ago

I was under the impression that in this country there was no color. I fail to understand why persons of color can call caucasians "white" and avoid any suggestion of racism. I am as offended by the shaded term white as any other person of color being called yellow, red or black. As a side note, my ancestors were irish immigrants (Gaelic Americans or just "white people"?????) who also experienced overwhelming racism. By the way, if we spent the same money on sending criminals to college that we do on sending them to jail, we'd have wasted a bunch of money. Wake up people, in this country if you care about your own education you don't end up in jail.

Mindtorque 9 months ago

MIKEinNYC - a small observation. It is not the case that all other people ("ethnic group") came her voluntarily. Individual Africans came here involuntarily, and today many come voluntarily. 500 years ago, I suppose all Africans came here involuntarily, but some may well have come voluntarily. While many Europeans came voluntarily, many Europeans ("white") came here involuntarily, as either indentured servants or de facto slaves. We don't know enough about immigrations into America thousands of years ago, that produced the "Native Americans". However, it is unlikely given Indian culture over the past 500 to 1000 years, that all of those earliest immigrants came here voluntarily. It seems more likely that entire tribes were forced, involuntarily, either to flee or to fight their way here.

secret-coupon 9 months ago

if we spent the same money on sending blacks to college that we do on sending them to jail, we'd have a much better educated black community. wake up people

MIKEinNYC 9 months ago

Let's cut this lady a break. This paper was written 23 years ago before the advent of modern word processing programs that would have caught spelling and grammatical errors. It was probably hand-typed and tediously re-typed. On paper. On a typewriter. (Remember those?)

That having been said, the paper kind of stinks.

The large margins indicate that the author was trying to pad the paper for length.

As far as its substance goes, she approaches her hypothersis from an entirely incorrect perspective. There is no "White America" or "Black America". There is only "America".

Blacks did themselves a great disservice by separating themselves, at the urging of their half-witted, so-called leaders, from American society in general instead of "getting with the program".

Now,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I understand why. They bear an understandable resentment and grudge at the circumstances surrounding how their ancestors came to America. Every other ethnic group came here voluntarily. Blacks were brought here forcibly. I'd be mad too.

Clearly, the facts have shown, that having separated themselves from American society in general, hoping to create a parallel Black society, black people delayed their integration into American Society.

Should Mr. Obama get elected, we would hope that the Black community will fully integrate itself into American Society and abandon any ideas about creating a society of their own.

Considering that America is the immigrant-world's #1 destination, full integration into American society does not seem like a bad thing.

chbradshaw 9 months ago

What a piece of garbage. I would have received an "F" for turning in such a grammatically incorrect, non-sensical diatribe in high school - much less college and an ivy league school at that.

She clearly was allowed to graduate only because of her skin color. Her later failure as a private practice attorney was the natural result of skin-color-based promotion.

DaveTrautman 10 months ago

"I would give her an A- for sentence construction and an A for effort as well. It's overall good to me."

Did you read the same thesis I did? The writing is so bad, and the thesis so boring and narrow, that she shouldn't have gotten a degree from a community college, let alone Princeton.

What does it say about our educational system that one of the best universities in the country is willing to overlook terrible sentence structure, routine grammatical mistakes and a childish view of race relations so that it can count another minority among its graduates?

It doesn't look good for the university, it doesn't look good for Michelle Obama, and it's flat-out condescending to black people when Princeton's faculty feels it has to lower its standards to award degrees to black students.

VinceShamwow 10 months ago

Sheeeeeeeeeet Negro that's all you had to say.

craigp 11 months ago

The article you posted is on the lack of achievments in science majors which is down in ALL racial groups in America, including Whites.

Secondly, this article only focuses on low income Black students (whose white counterparts perform just as poorly in math and science), not all Black students. It isn't a race issue, it's a socioeconomic issue.

pearisburg 11 months ago

That black students are, on average, underprepared for college is not in dispute. See the following as but one source of data on this issue:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0502/p25s05-usgn....

craigp 11 months ago

Actually a white person CAN attend an all black college. Take Joshua Packwood for example. This summer he was the first white valedictorian at Morehouse (a historically all black college).

I really like what gtnaway said about other racial groups that he/she attended school with having had the same choices and opportunities - it's been well documented that blacks and whites of similar economic backgrounds perform equally.

gtnaway 11 months ago

Anyone want to re-read this and change the word "Black" to "White" ???

Picture a white person attending an all black college (or university). Oh, wait! We can't! Talk about discrimination! My first job was in a cotton mill, 2nd job was in a sewing mill, ....the blacks & whites that I attended school with (starting with Elementary) had the same chances, the same choices I did.

The only way this country can change is when blacks, whites, hispanics, etc. go to Church & worship the same God together.

The only reason that I want Obama to win the election is so no one can blame a white man. It's not about black & white! It's about power & money.
enough. ( & please don't grade my opinion...)

craigp 11 months ago

Actually most top 20 American universities' have a Black student enrollment of about 3%. Very few colleges even practive affirmative action (what you are describing), and the Black students that do gain admission into these schools are there because they have earned the right to be just as every other student has. I find your comment offensive to academia and to hard working Black students. I would argue that your comment applies more to student groups like athletes rather than an ethnic group.
In my experience I have found the complete OPPOSITE to be true. I have found that students of color major in more practical majors (Engineering, Math, Biology) because they tend to not come from privileged backgrounds and do not have the luxury of attending a high priced university only to end up with a meager salary. While this is certainly not the best thesis I've ever read, it was written by someone who then went on to Harvard Law School, and worked at some of the country's top firms.

pearisburg 12 months ago

The astonshingly mediocre quality of Michelle Obama's Princeton thesis is evidence of a larger problem in academia. Most American universities admit Black students whose SAT scores are, on average, significantly lower than the scores of other students. To survive, these Black students are more likely to major in easy subjects (e.g. Sociology) and are more likely to rely on the generosity of their professors for decent grades.

TomF about 1 year ago

I'm amazed at how someone can turn a 50 page thesis into 225 pages. Is it normal to have margins and line spacing as big as the grand canyon. I wonder what her views are on protecting our forest, because she needed an entire tree to produce the paper for this wonderful work.

narc1 about 1 year ago

Hey Whatthe,

I would give her an A- for sentence construction and an A for effort as well. It's overall good to me. Would I say it's award-worthy? No. Would I say it's worth it's distinction? Yes. Most people who write theses get *** laude, so I guess that explains her distinction, if nothing else. Places like Princeton (there right now, if it matters) and Harvard graduate a very large percentage of its seniors with honors. So, in the end, it's about getting in. Smooth sailing from there. :)

Have a nice day.

whatthe about 1 year ago

Narc:

I have proofread many theses at the Univ. of Washington. I would have given Michelle an A for effort and a C- or D for sentence construction.

narc1 about 1 year ago

You feel attacked, that's on you. It's very readable, as I said.

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