Since “White Fragility” was specifically mentioned a few days ago, here is a good left critique of this particular cottage industry.
Why Diversity Training Isn’t Enough
Published
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I’ll worry about diversity in boardrooms and tech industries when we impose diversity on the NBA.
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The straw-man-identifier has logged on.
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I fail to see the straw man here.
Do we look at the NBA and determine that white men are being discriminated against?
Then why must other fields be discriminatory when merit does not yield the result you wish?
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It would be helpful if you read the article.
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I read it.
The premise is that simply eliminating bias was insufficient to address the preponderance of white males in certain fields, so deliberate effort to introduce diversity artificially was required.
So, when we be applying the same reasoning to the NBA?
MLK wanted us to be judged by merit and not race, why is that not good enough?
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No, that is the premise of the books being reviewed. The author of the article takes issue with that flawed premise, as she sees it. She says imposing diversity as an end goal is counter-productive because it is upsetting to some, while to others it only looks like progress. Or, since we’re for some reason invoking MLK, “What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can’t afford a hamburger?”
To be accurate, your NBA analogy would need to look at ownership, rather than the workers.
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“Do we look at the NBA and determine that white men are being discriminated against”
Uh, no. It is based on talent. Quite a few Europeans have made it to the league. Your comment is the usual blindness that you have about many things.
And before you say things should be merit based, you are correct. The problem is many Black Americans are not given the chance to be graded on merit because so many in control look at skin color first.
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The source author writes, “Overturning our existing hierarchy—rather than just playing musical chairs with its demographics—depends on ending exploitation.”
Social hierarchies are, generally speaking, desirable. Also, exploitation is a vague and overly abstract notion. Seeking to end the latter to overturn the former therefore seems reckless to me, even vain.
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“Social hierarchies are, generally speaking, desirable.”
I understand that, but this is a left critique, thus the presentation of hierarchies as decidedly undesirable.
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If a social hierarchy is based on special skills, such as leadership or knowledge or even genius, it may be relatively benign. But we have a social hierarchy based on race and ethnicity.
Although not as obvious as a sign over the fountain saying “colored” or “white”, we still have huge neighborhoods that are Black. A holdover from earlier pre-Civil Rights era that still keeps us apart from other Americans. If financial status improves for some, Black people are able to move into middle, upper middle and wealthy communities. But this is a recent phenomenon of a few decades after legislation made it much more difficult to red line or discriminate except through subtleties like steering folks to or away from certain housing areas.
Also, the latest debacle with “voter fraud” was targeting Black voting blocs with “surgical precision” (to borrow a phrase from a very discriminatory effort by NC Republicans to disenfranchise Black voters just a few years back.).
True, most immigrants were relegated to the parts of town where others from their countries lived. Chinatowns, Little Italy’s, etc. are examples that still exist today, but more as tourist attractions than forced segregation. But German towns, Polish towns, etc. are relics of the past due to assimilation.
Still not happening in the Black neighborhoods to any degree matching the others.
Of course, the African-American are essentially one of the later “immigrants” since they were not real Americans until 1965 when the law said that they were full citizens after 4 centuries. But few view them as such since, perversely, they have been here longer than many Whites.
IMHO
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Len, I would just like to clarify that I meant I understood he thinks that. Defense and maintenance of established hierarchies is the essence of conservatism. I do not believe hierarchies are natural, good, or desirable.
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Hierarchies maybe unavoidable in many cases. Master v. apprentice comes to mind.
However, the apprentice can advance as his skills improve.
If the hierarchy is based on skin color or ethnicity, skill maybe immaterial.
So that creates the question: well, if minorities studied harder, worked harder, then a tacit acceptance may arise. That sounds logical until you realize that the extra hurdle of race is very high. And for centuries, achievement had a cost that might just be one’s life. Whole towns were destroyed because of “uppity”.
Takes time.
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Waiting for the “the Tulsa Pogrom was a legitimate use of police force” takes.
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RE: “I understand that, but this is a left critique, thus the presentation of hierarchies as decidedly undesirable..”
In that case the left is wrong.
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“In that case the left is wrong.”
You are entitled to your opinion. No matter how blindingly stupid it is.
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Shouldn’t be surprised considering he and others have been competing to see how far down their throats they can get a boot lately.
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RE: “You are entitled to your opinion. No matter how blindingly stupid it is.”
Yes, I am. The challenge for you is to show that my opinion is stupid. I doubt you can.
I said that social hierarchies are, generally speaking, desirable. That statement seems to be a bone of contention for you and others, but I am quite willing to defend it with science, if you are willing to have that discussion. We can start with this challenge: Name a society ancient or modern that had no social hierachy.
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Name a society that is as racist as the American one has been over the years.
You say the left is wrong. You would also say the left was wrong of they came out with a statement saying the sun rises in the East and sets in the west.
You say the left is wrong, but that is only your blindingly stupid opinion. And THAT is my opinion. That is the thing about opinions. You can say they are wrong all you want and when told your opinion is wrong, you say “Prove it”. You aren’t proving YOUR opinion to be wrong; you’re just saying that someone else’s is.
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