Ok, so I was just channel surfing or whatever while workin on my paper and saw "RACIAL DISCRIMINATION" on lou dobbs tonight... never watched him before really, but thus far, its raising some important questions. the firefighters' lawyer claims that the large numbers of people in almost all government institutions, firefighters, police men, teachers, etc. across the nation in large cities are being discriminated upon because of their race- because they are white. 20 white men are involved in the lawsuit, and Title IV is being used by both sides, different interpretations. heres some interesting quotes i found from an article online:
http://www.firerescue1.com/labor-issues/articles/482889-Supreme-Court-prepares-for-firefighter-racial-case/
"Besides affecting how race can be considered in filling government and perhaps even private jobs, the dispute also addresses broader questions about racial progress: Do minorities and women still need legal protection from discrimination, or do the monumental civil rights laws that created a more equal nation now cause more harm than good?"
"But after the results came back, the city says it found evidence that the tests were potentially flawed. Sources of bias included that the written section measured memorization rather than actual skills needed for the jobs; giving too much weight to the written section; and lack of testing for leadership in emergency conditions, according to a brief filed by officers of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology."
"It is not white racism that plays the deciding role in the success of minorities any more," says Edward Blum, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who believes that race should not be considered in employment decisions. That was the case in the '60s and '70s and maybe even part of the '80s," he says. "But it is no longer the case in the 21st century that because you are black you are being held back from achieving what your parents and your ambitions will allow you to achieve. I think that has been crystallized with the election of President Obama."
(ohhhh.... i get it! we have a black president now, racism hasnt existed since the 80's, what the hell are we all talkin about??)
I must have missed when this originally hit the media, because the lawsuit has been going on for a while now, but I think that last quote and some of the stuff that I just heard out of the mouth of the lawyer of the defendents that were racially discriminated because of affirmative action-like ideals, is just frustrating. the website breaks down some of the percentages of the people that qualify for promotion
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Oh man, that comment the lawyer, Edward Blum, made makes me shake my head.
ReplyDeleteHe says we live in a post-racial society and uses Obama's election as proof that we have unequivocally moved past racism.
Naive? Unaware? Yes and yes.
How do we respond to this? How do we reveal the realities of racism -- the often invisible framework-- so that we might be able to systematically dismantle it?
I am still struggling to figure out a good answer.