Where/what is the race button? I'm not sure. All I know is that when I went for a job in 1980 right after high school, I was the wrong sex and wrong colour to even be considered. It didn't matter what classes or tests I had taken. I know I experienced reverse discrimination. All thanks to affirmative action. I was not allowed to compete fairly. Dave KC7WGB
So 22 years later all the executive offices must now be filled with blacks and women. I don't think so. Having appropriate colour and genitalia still goes a long way in business. The price of reverse discrimination is paid by a small segment of the dominant culture - those who lack the best education and connections and probably require assistance themselves. Has a Harvard grad ever lost a job to reverse discrimination? Probably not often. Unfortunately to achieve the egalitarian society that we all seek, something must be done to ensure that minorities have a chance to join the mainstream. I am not sure that reverse discrimination is the answer.
Reverse discrimination? Reverse? That would imply that whites have "cornered the market" on racism. Why say "reverse?" Racist people and governments have existed in all races and cultures from the beginning of time not just mine.
Dave you sound angry Is there a race/gender card in hiring? My experience is that the more often people with hiring authority hire people like themselves. When a less qualified candidate is hired it is because the will "fit into" the office better. I have seen more "white" guys get the job with fewer qualificatios than either women or people who might be part of a minority. Let me give you an example. The only white guy in an office of social workers gets promoted to "acting" supervisor. He had too little experience to qualify as a supervisor. The job of manager is held vacant for a year so he can get enough experience as an "acting" supervisor so he can qualify to be an "acting" manager. If most elementary and middle school teachers are women, why are most elementary and middle school principals men? The number of corporate executives who are men is much higher than the 49% male population. The number of male corporate excecutives is higher than the prevelance of men in the workforce. In my experience most women who are hired exceed the qualifcations for a job. I estimate that only about 1/2 the men I know of being hired exceed the qualifications for the job when hired. I'm sorry you feel in your specific situation you feel someone less qualified was hired. All the best!
Affirmative action Dave lets be consistent, We should let minorities have access according to percentages in jobs and academia, Lets start with making the NBA 50% white and we should also let asians at Universities compete on varsity teams in proportion to the percentage of asian students on campus , since blacks and hispanics didnt have to compete academicly to get into top universities lets even things out by saying asians and jews only have to carry the ball 3 yrds for a first down in football
Whoa boys, This knife cuts both ways. There is no easy answer, obviously. If there was we would know it. Tony
Anti-White discrimination is quite acceptable to the world Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is a foul anti-white bigot and I do not see the international community saying one word about it. In fact the only time Britain condemned him was when he persecuted the "Black" opposition voters. Before that, nothing. Below is a link that shows how prejudice Mugabe truly is. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_570000.html Yet when "Apartheid" took place in RSA, the world jeered with anger at the National Party and excluded SA from the worlds platforms. This is a sad double standard.
More discrimination What about the men who apllied for jobs as waitresses at Hooters and sued for sex discrimination
yet more... Then there was the case of the Fat lady who applied to be a fitness instructor in San Francisco which has a law agianst employers discriminating on the basis of weight. (BTW) I am over 300lbs myself and I think that law is silly
when is hiring based on competency? The race/sex/skill thing can be a tough nut to crack. When I look at the corporate world there seem to be an endless row of white men in suits, who have companies facing bankrupcy, getting huge golden parachutes. Can you imagine what they would have been worth if they had been doing a good job??? Clearly having the "right connections" plays a big role in hiring. It gets people into high level positions, when they weren't ready for the job. I seem to recall that you are most likely to hire someone like yourself, regardless of qualifications (and perhaps inspite of qualifications). While that is true, when you can break a job down to real skills. I have no problem hiring on that basis. But that is a focus on real skills, not who has the best personality for the job. Many fire departments have strength requirements. Given the skills needed to be a successful firefightet, I think that makes sense. To have the same strength test for a computer entry person, doesn't make sense. The ADA looked refers to the core components of the job. The essential features that make the job. All the best!
