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This, right here, is an excellent example of why institutionalized racism is a terrible thing. In any other situation, universities would be clamoring to have a student of such calibre study at their institution. But because this man was, heaven forbid, a Jew, they simply couldn't take him in.

This comment is mostly pointed at my home country of Malaysia, where "special rights" of members of a certain racial group is enshrined in our freakin constitution![0]

[0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Malaysia#Articl...

1 comments

I think there's a good case to be made that the problem with institutionalized racism is terrible not just because society loses out on a great mathematician, but rather, because it hurts individuals by discriminating against them.

Just because he turned out to be a great mathematician doesn't make his story any more painful or wrong.

You are absolutely correct. People absolutely do get hurt when they are discriminated against. As a second-class citizen in my country, I truly understand this.

The point I was trying to make was that the people doing the discriminating also get hurt in the process, thanks to lost opportunities such as the loss of this mathematician. There's really no benefit whatsoever to promoting irrational discrimination such as racism.