…who’s the blackest of them all?
You can dredge up the horrors of American slavery. You can keep stirring the Jim Crow pot, constantly reminding everyone how horrible it was that a country forcibly segregated its citizens by race and discriminated against blacks because they were black. You can wail and gnash teeth all day long, wallowing in abject bitterness because others have more than you do: looks, money, influence, opportunity, or whatever.
But you cannot, even if you lived 1,000 lifetimes, make a coherent and logically sound argument in favor of racial discrimination in the other direction. Nothing, not even the most heinous act committed against a black person by our government, justifies discriminating against other races in favor of blacks.
Let me put it this way: I have yet to read or hear a coherent and logically sound argument in favor of so-called reverse discrimination. Perhaps one exists. If you’ve read or heard such an argument, do let me know.
This post was inspired by a blogger I met last summer, John Rosenberg, who blogs about racial discrimination. John is just as anti-skin color preferences as I am. He picked apart a pro-skin color preferences editorial in the Muskogee Phoenix, a community newspaper in Oklahoma.
As you may recall, Ward Connerly, of the American Civil Rights Institute, is trying to get anti-preferences language on the November ballot in several more states, including Oklahoma. Connerly spearheaded successful campaigns in California (54 percent voted against government race preferences), Washington state (58.3 voted against), and Michigan (58 percent voted against).
The unnamed editorial writer in the Muskogee Phoenix begins with what I consider an incoherent and unsupportable faux righteous statement: Our public work force should mirror the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of our state.
Why? The writer offers no reasons. He/she adds that government contracts shouldn’t be “tied to affirmative action” but on “best services or products at the best price.” Then he/she inexplicably contends that employment within state agencies should be tied to skin color for “groups that, for one reason or another, are disadvantaged or in the minority.”
Why the distinction? What’s wrong with hiring people through contracts or for agency employment based on qualifications, regardless of skin color or perceived disadvantages? Again, the writer doesn’t tell us. But he/she does prop up a straw man:
“Public employment is not just for one race, cultural group or gender.”
As John asked in his post, who said public employment was just for one race, cultural group or gender? You see, when you try to defend something as obviously and offensively unfair as skin color preferences, you must suspend rational argument. Too childish for words, that editorial, though I managed to scrape up a few. 
What say you?
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I couldn’t agree more. When I see coverage about Barack Obama, as a black man, I want to shoot myself.
In a colorblind society where merit should hold ultimate sway, OBAMA isn’t even qualified to be assistant majority whip. He’s missed the most votes in the Senate even while he wasn’t running for president.
If he wasn’t black, we wouldn’t even have this conversation. But then again, liberal elitists will continue to defend affirmative action despite its widespread failure. Their support for Obama doesn’t surprise me.
OH, I AM SO WITH YOU ON THIS! I already alluded to this with my comment on your comments re the firefighter (12.03.07: Fake Hate: Black Firefighter Planted Noose) and commented further on my blog entry re Oprah and Obama. Too often I’ve heard appeal to Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to support arguments for preference to blacks, but in fact Dr. King’s actual words stated a dream “…that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. That doesn’t sound like “preference” to me.
Judgment on the content of character alone! That’s my dream too. I’m just tired of blacks who have no skills but plenty of attitude cry “discrimination” when they don’t get what they haven’t earned AND I’m just tired of whites who have no skills but plenty of attitude blame “affirmative action” for their ills. I dream of a day when MY children are judged solely on their character (and on their actual performance–which, btw, 3 of my 4 kids have an abundance of worthy performance to be judged on, and they are being judged on that basis–end of brag–).
For that matter, I dream of a day when performance once again counts, when a child who does no work in school can get a failing grade, when an employee who does nothing can be fired, when I can get service from a supposed “service provider”. How about we get upset about this stuff, instead of about color of skin!
Oh, and I’m tired of hearing people who worked to get where they are, people such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, tell “their people” that they’re “entitled”.
Rev. Jackson, et al, how about telling the truth, that “your people” and ALL people need to work for what they wish to get (just as you did)? How about YOU applying Dr. King’s criteria?
Praise where praise is due: Oprah said this: “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” You go, Girl!
I’ve worked in IT for 30 years. Lots of white people. Lots of Asians. Lots of people from the Indian subcontinent. VERY FEW black people. Is that because corporate America is racist? The editorial writer would certaninly suggest that’s the case.
But perhaps there aren’t lots of black applicants. How will affirmative action make more people of the underrepresented groups apply? Will they send us some straw men to do the job?
Racial distribution in the workplace sounds, on the surface, like a worthy goal. But I’m not about to go along with forcing the numbers until they start with major league sports. When Asians are fairly represented in the NFL, then we can talk about skin color preferences in other workplaces.
That’s the ticket Lady Barber (Morpheus) force-feed ‘em that little red pill! Sooner or later the indefensible illogic of most common liberal positions will become evident in continued discourses such as this blog. Those of us for less articulate than you cheer you on from ethereal sidelines!
It strikes me that one can not on one hand decry racial discrimination whilst on the other hand employing racial discrimination.
Your point might be valid if it were true. But sadly, you miss the point and buy into the propaganda. Affirmative Action has absolutely nothing to do with skin color…get that NOTHING! People from East India have darker skin than most native born African Americans, but they are classified as Caucasian, not Negroid. Moreover, they were never the enslaved by the government of the United States. Eskimos of Alaska are also counted as one of the protected class, yet an immigrant from Senegal is not. Why? Because, the indigenous people of Alaska, like the indigenous people of Guam, Hawaii, Philippines, Native American Indians, Puerto Rico, and Somalia are all subjects of the United States government. It has nothing to do with skin color, it has everything to do with subjugation of conquered populations by the United States Government.
White women count in Affirmative Action, because they taxed and counted for political representation without the right to vote until the 1920’s. Lilly white native born women are also a part of the protected class, so of course this has absolutely positively nothing to do with skin color. It’s all about the political status with the American Government.
Black bashing is America’s favorite pass time. It’s easy to throw up the red herring undeserving Negro argument against Affirmative Action, since even black folks don’t like black folks. We’re so gosh damn tribal it’s not even funny. Black conservatives don’t like black liberals, and vice versa. But we’re all in the same boat of blackness, we either sail together or we sink together. The discriminatory laws and public policy affect us all.
SkyePuppy stated: “Racial distribution in the workplace sounds, on the surface, like a worthy goal. But I’m not about to go along with forcing the numbers until they start with major league sports. When Asians are fairly represented in the NFL, then we can talk about skin color preferences in other workplaces.”
This argument is absolutely asinine. The NFL owners are a whites only club–no minority need apply. They do the hiring and firing, not the few Negroes on the field, they are just employees (albeit highly skilled and highly compensate), but there is a really rich white guy writing those million dollar checks.
Moreover, it’s not a skin color thing in the NFL. During last year’s Super Bowl, no one said is the dark chocolate Coach Lovey of the Chicago Bears going to beat light skinned Coach Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts—NO! Nobody mentioned the skin color of either coach, but the news was these were the first African American coaches in the Super Bowl that’s not skin color, that’s racial classification. If they were two Chinese coaches it would still be a big deal, because only white coaches have won the Super Bowl from day one.
I’ve always wondered why any business, group, or any workforce public or otherwise
or the racial, ethnic, and gender makeup of any geographic area. Interests, skills, and talents just don’t run in nice little racial, ethnic, and gender packages. If that were true, then professional basketball teams would be only 12-13% black and half female… Hire the best person for the position, male, female, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or other. Without dumbing down tests or job requirements. No “extra” points for anything.
kimsh:
No extra points…what about Michael Brown from FEMA? We the American taxpayers paid for his ineptness. We’re sinking nearly a trillion dollars into the sands of Iraq for a “cakewalk”. The basketball teams are owned an operated by white men, THEY hire the black players. Blacks do not own the teams they play for, they don’t own the music companies they sing and dance for, they are just employees. No more, no less.
Ron Edwards must be new…LOL!!!! Wonder how long it’ll take for his head to explode….
Hey LB…Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Tiffany.
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