A qualified female student from the University of Dallas was rejected for an internship program simply because she is white, the College Fix reported Monday.
“Unfortunately, you are not eligible for the program,” the the rejection letter stated. “SEO Career targets Black, Hispanic, and Native American undergraduates, who are underrepresented in the careers they seek.”
The internship was provided by Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a professional development organization tied to major financial corporations such as CitiBank, IBM, and Goldman Sachs, the College Fix noted. It was advertised as a financial position under the title of “SEO Career 2021 Paid Summer Internship.”
The internship application enumerated a list of qualifications, all of which the student met, including a minimum GPA of 3.0, a declared economics major, and class status of at least sophomore. The application failed to note that whites need not apply.
“It’s not like I was underqualified or anything, I met everything else,” the student told the College Fix, while asking to remain anonymous to protect her future career in the finance field.
“I had the right major, I had the right GPA, I was the right year in college,” she said, “but I was white so they wouldn’t help me.”
“It’s just frustrating that my skin color can stand in the way of my future career when I’ve worked so hard for my grades and do well in my classes,” the student told The College Fix.
“I do all of these things to try and help my resume look better to future employers and I end up being rejected for the color of my skin,” she added. It just feels like we’re going backwards.”
“Our mission is to create a more equitable society, where people from all racial backgrounds are represented at every level of American society,” SEO said in an explanation of its policies. “While we do not host internships or use race in our hiring decisions, we provide supplemental education and training to support the advancement of underserved and underrepresented individuals, with a special focus on those who will benefit most from SEO’s services and intervention.”
SEO did not explain how favoring “underserved and underrepresented individuals” does not constitute using race in its hiring decisions.
It would seem that SEO is well suited to partner with the incoming Biden administration, which has already stated that race will figure prominently in its decision-making.
In a recent post on Twitter, Mr. Biden said that he will be favoring ethnic minorities and women over whites and men.
“Our priority will be Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild,” Mr. Biden said.
More white candidates both in education and business should ready themselves to be rejected because they have the wrong skin color.
It seems that in 2021, the new remedy for racism is more racism.
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