![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hkellickLet me start by stating where I stand.
Yes, I am White, Male and Middle Class. This means, on average, I am more likely to find a job and more likely to get a raise and a promotion than a Woman or Colored Person. I acknowledge this as the fact that it is.
That said... I believe very strongly in fairness. Denying anyone a promotion simply because of their race or sex is wrong.
That's why I stand against Quotas.
Don't get me wrong. I DO believe that when deciding whether or not a person should be hired or promoted, your race, sex, age, sexuality or religion should simply not enter the picture. They are besides the point. What SHOULD be the point is whether or not you are the right person to get the job/move up in the company. Whether you have the qualifications, the experience, whether you would be the right cog to put into that particular place in the machine.
I also realize as I stated in the second paragraph above that that isn't necessarily true, that people do still account for race, sex, etc. when making these decisions. That's not right either.
But neither is Quotas. The predetermination that a certain percentage of the managers of a company or the employees of a company NEED to be a minority class, whether they're the best person for the job or no.
Looking at the argument the Supremes heard today, the issues as I understood it was that a group of firefighters were offered a chance for a promotion but because none of those who'd been noted as promotion-worthy were colored, the test was thrown out.
This is simply unfair. These were chosen as the best among their company, the people who deserved a promotion but because none of them was colored, they weren't even offered the CHANCE for a promotion? How is this fair? How is this right?
So, I agree with the Supreme Court. This was the right decision. It should not be legal to bar someone from a job or promotion simply because they're 'different', but it also shouldn't be legal to bar someone from a job or promotion simply because they're not. That's just plain nuts!
So.. yeah.
I'm done.
Yes, I am White, Male and Middle Class. This means, on average, I am more likely to find a job and more likely to get a raise and a promotion than a Woman or Colored Person. I acknowledge this as the fact that it is.
That said... I believe very strongly in fairness. Denying anyone a promotion simply because of their race or sex is wrong.
That's why I stand against Quotas.
Don't get me wrong. I DO believe that when deciding whether or not a person should be hired or promoted, your race, sex, age, sexuality or religion should simply not enter the picture. They are besides the point. What SHOULD be the point is whether or not you are the right person to get the job/move up in the company. Whether you have the qualifications, the experience, whether you would be the right cog to put into that particular place in the machine.
I also realize as I stated in the second paragraph above that that isn't necessarily true, that people do still account for race, sex, etc. when making these decisions. That's not right either.
But neither is Quotas. The predetermination that a certain percentage of the managers of a company or the employees of a company NEED to be a minority class, whether they're the best person for the job or no.
Looking at the argument the Supremes heard today, the issues as I understood it was that a group of firefighters were offered a chance for a promotion but because none of those who'd been noted as promotion-worthy were colored, the test was thrown out.
This is simply unfair. These were chosen as the best among their company, the people who deserved a promotion but because none of them was colored, they weren't even offered the CHANCE for a promotion? How is this fair? How is this right?
So, I agree with the Supreme Court. This was the right decision. It should not be legal to bar someone from a job or promotion simply because they're 'different', but it also shouldn't be legal to bar someone from a job or promotion simply because they're not. That's just plain nuts!
So.. yeah.
I'm done.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-30 12:18 am (UTC)I also have to question the fact that the 16 were predominantly white. If it's a matter of statistics or the fact that these firefighters were the "best", is it possible that there is something outside of the test (or written into the test itself, perhaps) that automatically puts people of color at a disadvantage? Could socioeconomic influences already affect their education and professional levels, which holds them back from the same opportunities that are afforded to caucasians? And if that's the case, if minorities are still held back by systems of integrated oppression and institutionalized racism, then aren't quotas a way of ensuring that *some* minorities get a chance to beat those hurdles?
And it's true that there are issues of class at work here, too. I grew up lower-middle class and have pushed my way up. I'm clearly able to see privileges I'm afforded now at my current salary that were not in reach to me when I was younger. That said, class issues also tend to fall harder against racial and female minorities.
The quota does not set every white male back. It does not throw every minority forward. It is a way to help *some* break past institutionalized discrimination, and honestly, as long as they've been around, they've not been enough to prevent social stigmas.
Take, for instance, Sonya Sotomayer, and all the critics who indicated that she was only up a pick for a justice because she was a female minority. Why was that brought up? Why were her merits and work history questioned? Her years of blood and sweat are excused away by people who assume Obama simply wanted to fill a "type".