"There are countless horrible things happening all over the world and horrible people prospering, but we must never allow them to disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to sabotage and annoy them whenever possible." -Auberon Waugh
Thursday, July 16, 2020
This guy makes so much sense...
...that's it's only a matter of time before he's canceled.
I've seen black nosing throughout education, in the military, and in the federal civil service. It is an insult to all concerned, but most certainly to indivudals who don't live up to their full potential.
A case in point (and a personal rant, this still enrages me, 40 years later):
I attended the Officer's Basic Course for my branch after graduation. One of my fellow lieutenants was a graduate of the New York University. And, yes, he was black. His reading and comprehension skills were pathetic. By "pathetic", I mean that he might have been at the 6th grade level. Maybe.
He was articulate, and could process audible and visual information. But reading a short paragraph would take him several minutes. The young man displayed the classic signs of a poor reader: He moved his finger along the words as he read them, and he subvocalized every word. And he was slow. He never finished a single test. Not one. Not even those which were primarily multiple choice.
The school cadre made every effort to help this young officer. He was coached by other students. He was allowed to retake tests (you got three tries at each test, passing required a 70% score), only with extra time. None of which worked. The young man was failing all courses. Not because he was stupid, but because he couldn't pass written tests. Hands on testing, physical fitness tests, no problem. Written tests -- failure across the board.
The school hooked him up with a reading coach, but he foundeasons to miss his appointments with the coach, and complained that he was required to see said coach. He did not graduate from OBC. He was likely discharged from the Army. Unless some politician stepped in. I hope not.
Now, in fairness, there were two other students in that course with issues.
(Continued from above -- there's a limit of 4096 characters!)
One of them was simply stupid -- and arrogant about it. Academically, as I recall, he was satisfactory. But he sucked at anything that was hands on. He failed one test because he didn't listen and argued with the instructor -- this involved explosives, which you handle with care. He actually failed the physical fitness test. Back then, that was a 5 task test, and you had to pass all 5 tasks with a 70% score; you got three tries at each test. This guy failed all three tests, each time a different task. He was fit, but didn't have the focus and discipline to complete each task to standard. The cadre and his fellow students did try to help him. The young officer simply would not listen. He did not graduate.
The other was mentally ill. How this poor creature was commissioned remains a mystery unto this day, but commissioned he was. This was obvious to all from Day One, and he was watched very carefully. Academically, he was satisfactory. Physically, eh, he could handle that, but barely. However, he never took the physical fitness test -- several weeks into the course, he had a very public meltdown, and was shipped off to a military hospital (a very good one, by the way, even then). He was diagnosed with a specific mental illness, and medically discharged. Quickly.
Now, I want to make it clear -this this was in the late 1970s, Vietnam was still a thing, and the Army was hurting in recruitment. I'm sure this is why all three were mustered into the Army -- their ROTC cadre had quotas to meet.
No one did any of these people a service. But each one was from a different ethnical background, and the way they were handled by the Army according to their issues.
But the failure of the New York education system to teach that young man how to read, and then set him up for a military career anyway, is a classic example of black nosing. The other two had issues that were, frankly, intensely personal, and little to do with their academic performance. The black officer -- he was set up for failure before he arrived at OBC. I still remember him standing in the residence hall, in uniform, on the last day of the course, after everyone had graduated, and had received their orders. He was watching us outprocess, and getting ready for our first assignments.
And waiting to attend the board which would review his performance at the school, and determine if he was to stay in the Army. God, that was humiliating for him -- you could see it in his eyes.
4 comments:
Alas, you are correct, Paco.
I've seen black nosing throughout education, in the military, and in the federal civil service. It is an insult to all concerned, but most certainly to indivudals who don't live up to their full potential.
A case in point (and a personal rant, this still enrages me, 40 years later):
I attended the Officer's Basic Course for my branch after graduation. One of my fellow lieutenants was a graduate of the New York University. And, yes, he was black. His reading and comprehension skills were pathetic. By "pathetic", I mean that he might have been at the 6th grade level. Maybe.
He was articulate, and could process audible and visual information. But reading a short paragraph would take him several minutes. The young man displayed the classic signs of a poor reader: He moved his finger along the words as he read them, and he subvocalized every word. And he was slow. He never finished a single test. Not one. Not even those which were primarily multiple choice.
The school cadre made every effort to help this young officer. He was coached by other students. He was allowed to retake tests (you got three tries at each test, passing required a 70% score), only with extra time. None of which worked. The young man was failing all courses. Not because he was stupid, but because he couldn't pass written tests. Hands on testing, physical fitness tests, no problem. Written tests -- failure across the board.
The school hooked him up with a reading coach, but he foundeasons to miss his appointments with the coach, and complained that he was required to see said coach. He did not graduate from OBC. He was likely discharged from the Army. Unless some politician stepped in. I hope not.
Now, in fairness, there were two other students in that course with issues.
(Continued in next comment)
(Continued from above -- there's a limit of 4096 characters!)
One of them was simply stupid -- and arrogant about it. Academically, as I recall, he was satisfactory. But he sucked at anything that was hands on. He failed one test because he didn't listen and argued with the instructor -- this involved explosives, which you handle with care. He actually failed the physical fitness test. Back then, that was a 5 task test, and you had to pass all 5 tasks with a 70% score; you got three tries at each test. This guy failed all three tests, each time a different task. He was fit, but didn't have the focus and discipline to complete each task to standard. The cadre and his fellow students did try to help him. The young officer simply would not listen. He did not graduate.
The other was mentally ill. How this poor creature was commissioned remains a mystery unto this day, but commissioned he was. This was obvious to all from Day One, and he was watched very carefully. Academically, he was satisfactory. Physically, eh, he could handle that, but barely. However, he never took the physical fitness test -- several weeks into the course, he had a very public meltdown, and was shipped off to a military hospital (a very good one, by the way, even then). He was diagnosed with a specific mental illness, and medically discharged. Quickly.
Now, I want to make it clear -this this was in the late 1970s, Vietnam was still a thing, and the Army was hurting in recruitment. I'm sure this is why all three were mustered into the Army -- their ROTC cadre had quotas to meet.
No one did any of these people a service. But each one was from a different ethnical background, and the way they were handled by the Army according to their issues.
But the failure of the New York education system to teach that young man how to read, and then set him up for a military career anyway, is a classic example of black nosing. The other two had issues that were, frankly, intensely personal, and little to do with their academic performance. The black officer -- he was set up for failure before he arrived at OBC. I still remember him standing in the residence hall, in uniform, on the last day of the course, after everyone had graduated, and had received their orders. He was watching us outprocess, and getting ready for our first assignments.
And waiting to attend the board which would review his performance at the school, and determine if he was to stay in the Army. God, that was humiliating for him -- you could see it in his eyes.
A pox on liberals and their white guilt.
Good example. Nobody is doing anybody a favor by shielding them from reality.
Thank you JeffS.
Well put point.
Appreciate the full recounting.
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