Reverse racism - America's curious use of language
Due to time constraints and a lot going on in my life, I haven't blogged here in a long time, but today there is a story that really bothers me and requires me to "pen" my thoughts.
I refer, of course, to the overruling of a judgement against white fire-fighters in New Haven, an event the media are reporting as "reverse racism"
Here are the facts of the story...
The New Haven fire department, noticing that their fire-fighters were predominantly white, took "affirmative action" to create a more racially mixed workforce. Thus they created written tests that firefighters needed to pass to gain promotion to more senior levels in the force. The idea being that the test would create a level playing field and be a fair way for people to demonstrate their skills/knowledge to gain promotion. Unfortunately those who scored highly on the test were white or hispanic and yet these firefighters were overlooked promotion because the New Haven district was afraid to promote them for fear of litigation from other minorities who would claim racial discrimination.
Quite rightly (I think), the white firefighters filed a lawsuit claiming discrimination which, initially, they lost. They have since appealed and today, the decision was, correctly in my opinion, overturned. Good for them I say.
What bothers me greatly is that the media is reporting this as a case of "reverse discrimination." Just the mere rhetoric of it suggests that racism is a white problem and thus, reverse racism, is just what white folk dish out being thrown back at them.
No.
Racism is racism, whichever way you look at it. Whether it's white on black, black on white, white on hispanic, hispanic on asian, asian on black, etc, etc, etc. It's ugly whichever direction it's going and I abhor it.
But back to this case in point...certainly in a position such as a senior firefighter, I sincerely hope they have the best men for the job. If a test discriminates between strong and weak candidates and allows the best candidates to be identified for positions, then I'm all for it. After all, tests ARE discriminatory - that's the whole point of them. It is unfortunate that in this instance the test discriminated along racial lines aswell, and I can't claim to understand why that would be, but the fact of the matter is, if you do poorly on a test, then you shouldn't get promoted. Similarly, if you score well on a test, you should not get overlooked for promotion because the color of your skin comes in to play.
The media is reporting that "affirmative action" took a knock today. I disagree. On the contrary, I think affirmative action was put under the spotlight and came through with flying colors. There should be more of it. Let's make it a level playing field, but then let's not complain when we fall short and point fingers at something else for being the cause.
The bottom line is, I want the best firefighters I can have. Those guys save lives. I don't care if you're black, yellow, white or green. I'll be just as happy for you to come and save me.
I refer, of course, to the overruling of a judgement against white fire-fighters in New Haven, an event the media are reporting as "reverse racism"
Here are the facts of the story...
The New Haven fire department, noticing that their fire-fighters were predominantly white, took "affirmative action" to create a more racially mixed workforce. Thus they created written tests that firefighters needed to pass to gain promotion to more senior levels in the force. The idea being that the test would create a level playing field and be a fair way for people to demonstrate their skills/knowledge to gain promotion. Unfortunately those who scored highly on the test were white or hispanic and yet these firefighters were overlooked promotion because the New Haven district was afraid to promote them for fear of litigation from other minorities who would claim racial discrimination.
Quite rightly (I think), the white firefighters filed a lawsuit claiming discrimination which, initially, they lost. They have since appealed and today, the decision was, correctly in my opinion, overturned. Good for them I say.
What bothers me greatly is that the media is reporting this as a case of "reverse discrimination." Just the mere rhetoric of it suggests that racism is a white problem and thus, reverse racism, is just what white folk dish out being thrown back at them.
No.
Racism is racism, whichever way you look at it. Whether it's white on black, black on white, white on hispanic, hispanic on asian, asian on black, etc, etc, etc. It's ugly whichever direction it's going and I abhor it.
But back to this case in point...certainly in a position such as a senior firefighter, I sincerely hope they have the best men for the job. If a test discriminates between strong and weak candidates and allows the best candidates to be identified for positions, then I'm all for it. After all, tests ARE discriminatory - that's the whole point of them. It is unfortunate that in this instance the test discriminated along racial lines aswell, and I can't claim to understand why that would be, but the fact of the matter is, if you do poorly on a test, then you shouldn't get promoted. Similarly, if you score well on a test, you should not get overlooked for promotion because the color of your skin comes in to play.
The media is reporting that "affirmative action" took a knock today. I disagree. On the contrary, I think affirmative action was put under the spotlight and came through with flying colors. There should be more of it. Let's make it a level playing field, but then let's not complain when we fall short and point fingers at something else for being the cause.
The bottom line is, I want the best firefighters I can have. Those guys save lives. I don't care if you're black, yellow, white or green. I'll be just as happy for you to come and save me.
posted by An Englishman in New York at 12:12 AM
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