On Oct 23, 2008, at 10:06 PM, Doug Pensinger wrote: > Jon wrote: > >> it would be great if all inequites could be addressed without >> regard to race, sex, ethnicity, etc. however, cases where a >> minority is given preference over a white male, who may even be >> more qualified, to satisfy quotas are less of a concern to me than >> the reverse. when the advantage was reversed for white males, far >> more injustices existed against minorities. it thas taken >> generations to begin to address these inequities, and we are still >> a long way away from equal rights and equal justice for all. > > You have to change people's attitudes. Affirmative action not only > does nothing to help people see why racism is wrong, it reinforces the > idea that race should be an important factor. Its polarizing; it > alienates people and its counterproductive in the battle against > racism.
The problem of addressing racial or gender imbalance falls into a class of situations where doing the "obvious" thing may do more harm than good, so doing the counter-intuitive thing is called for. It's like learning to steer into a skid. Sometimes -- often, actually -- a direct "solution" is harmful. Tell someone who is very worked up and angry to calm down. See how well that works. Tell certain list members that their opinions about religion are an annoyance to the rest of their list-mates, and you'll see what I mean. Dave _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
