My TL is full of conservatives who don't understand how Affirmative Action worked.
Three points
1. The demographic that benefitted MOST from AA—more than Black, Latino, & Asians COMBINED—are white women.
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2. AA was NEVER about accepting unqualified people, it was always about ensuring underrepresented qualified people ALSO had a fair shot at acceptance. Universities systemically discriminated against non-white applicants. AA required them to also consider non-white applicants.
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3. While conservatives protested the 8% Black students at Harvard, Legacy Admissions accounted for 43% of white students to Harvard, & 75% of those students Would Not Have Qualified On Merit.
But no protest there? I wonder why?🤔
In short...
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The facts don't lie. The movement to repeal Affirmative Action, or ban DEI (as dozens of states have), or demonize CRT—was never about merit & was never about qualifications. It was always about reviving Jim Crow white supremacy.
And the scary part is—so far—it's working.
4/4
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Disability rights & healthcare are human rights. Let me share a story about Santos López (L) & @HFUSA
Santos's story began when he was 3 & fell into a cooking pit. He suffered severe burns & lost 90% of his vision. Drs informed him he needed a cornea transplant to see again.
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Santos suffered from osteoarthritis. In July 2019 matters got worse when he suffered a painful bone fracture. Santos needed treatment, but the medical costs were too high.
Santos had no financial means, no guaranteed healthcare, & no access to accommodate his disabilities.😳
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As his family's provider, Santos could not be sidelined much longer. In Oct 2019 Santos learned about @HFUSA's Nasir Hospital & sought help at the hospital's Social Work office.
That’s when his life changed, and how we’re trying to change thousands of lives annually. ❤️
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A broken system is when 4 Justices nominated by POTUSs who lost the popular vote, confirmed by a Senate who represent 40M fewer Americans, strip rights the vast majority of Americans support, while taking bribes from billionaires b/c they know they face 0 accountability.
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Under this SCOTUS Americans have so far LOST protections to:
•clean water
•voting rights
•reproductive health
•wrongful incarceration
•religion/state separation
•safety from gun violence
•4th amendment protections
•5th amendment protections
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•anti-discrimination for being Queer
•racial justice in education and the work place
•economic justice for students suffering under predatory loans
Elected Dems who don't have the courage to demand we expand the court severely underestimate the extremism of MAGA GOP.
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On #TrumpArraignment Day, here’s your handy thread to debunk the 7 most common MAGA and Fox News defenses of Trump’s indictments:
[Spoiler: None of their defenses are based in facts]
Let's dive in...
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CLAIM: Dems are targeting Trump because he's running for President.
FACT: The investigation has nothing to do with his candidacy. The investigations into Trump stealing classified docs began BEFORE he declared his candidacy. And running for office does not shield criminality
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CLAIM: Dems are weaponizing the FBI to target Trump
FACT: This is a meritless opinion w/o evidence. Also, the “Democrat” allegedly weaponizing this investigation is FBI Director Christopher Wray—who was appointed as head of the FBI by one Donald Trump. Womp womp.
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MAGA wants SCOTUS to block $10K student loan forgiveness for low income people b/c its "unfair."
Okay, let's play that game and see where it takes us.
Black people paid taxes for pools schools & libraries they couldn’t use during Jim Crow (1865-1965)—$0 reparations
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Native people had 270M acres of their land stolen via Homestead Act (1862-1987)—$0 reparations
"But that's ancient history!"—MAGA
So? In 2023—Undoc immigrants pay taxes for welfare benefits they can’t use
Documented immigrants pay taxes for welfare benefits they can’t use
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"But they're not citizens."—MAGA
So? In 2023, returning citizens pay taxes for welfare benefits, federal education grants, section 8 housing, and federal and state job benefits they can’t use.
ZERO MAGA outrage at any of the above. But it gets even worse. For example.
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Keenan Anderson—a 31-year-old high school teacher & father—stopped LA police for help after an accident. They instead cuffed him, pinned him, & tased him repeatedly as he begged them to stop.
Keenan died of cardiac arrest from excessive tasing.
His crime—asking police for help.
Here's the media story.
LAPD is already blaming Anderson for his own death, claiming he was erratic and on drugs. The video footage doesn't lie. He asked for help, and they instead pinned him, cuffed him, tased him, & killed him.
Keenan screamed out, "They're trying to George Floyd me."
He knew what was happening and he was powerless to prevent it. Instead, the LAPD he stopped to help him—as the law requires civilians to do after an accident—pinned him down and tased him 7 times. SEVEN. Cruel & inhumane.
Thread on a wild yet not uncommon exchange while getting my oil changed. I share as an anecdote of how embedded racism is in our society & how intrinsically it's tied to economics.
A white guy named "Bill" age ~60 looks at me & says, "Where are you *from* from?"
Me: [sigh]
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Me: I'm from Pakistan. [I go back to my phone]
Bill: Pakistan? What do you do for a living?
Me: Civil rights lawyer
Bill: I'm a lawyer too! But I stay away from race and women stuff. Last thing I need is to be called racist or accused of sexual harassment
Me: Huh?🤔
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Bill: So Pakistani huh? I'm a landlord too. Can I tell you a story about my Indian tenant? Do you know what she did to me?
Me: I honestly don't need to kno—
Bill: So I raise her rent & she doesn't want to renew. So I tell her I have to bring in people to see the apt. And
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