Subj : Diversity
To   : Richard Falken
From : Lee Lofaso
Date : Sun Aug 18 2019 23:25:33

Hello Richard,

>I think that, in practice, the difference between selecting somebody because
> he is the right race and not selecting somebody because he belongs to the
> wrong race is semantics only. Let me explain:

There is only one race - the human race.  However, that is not how
the selection process works in the real world.  One only has to look
at the US Constitution, as the Framers of the Constitution clearly
left out large segments of the population from being covered, such as
blacks, women, Native Americans, poor folks, etc.

The Framers of the Constitution were rich white men who owned
property (including slaves), and they wanted to protect their own,
along with those who supported them.  They were not going to give
away the store, especially to those who opposed their views.

>Three candidates apply for a job position. Two are white and one is black.
> Hiring one of the whites because he is white is, in practice, the same as
> not hiring the black guy because he is black.

Of course.  That is the way it is, and always has been.

>I have been to human resources processes and seen this happen the other way
> around too.

In places (such as Harlem) that should be expected.

>Having 10 candidates, 3 belonging to minorities, and having 1 from the
> minorities selected specifically because he belonged to a minority.

Bill Clinton lives in Harlem.  Does he qualify?

>This mandate of enforcing a race based selection automatically discarded a
> lot of candidates because of no sensible reason other than PR.

That would be true of any quota-based system.  However, that is
not what we have today, anywhere in the USA.  In most places, the
selection process is as the days of old.  Employers hire whoever
they want, regardless of race, even though those employees are
more than likely the same race.  No quota-based system in place,
or forced upon the employers.  It is just the way they do business.

The business of business is business.

No government can change that, even if it wanted to.

How to make it fair for races of all colors to be considered as
equals for employment?  Should a quota-based system be imposed upon
employers in order to make that happen?  What would happen if such
draconian steps were put into place?

Let's take a town that is 80% black.  The police force is 90% white.
How to come up with a police force that is reflective of the population
at large might seem to be a noble idea.  But how to do that is not so
simple.

Three candidates apply for a job.  Two are white and one is black.
All are qualified for the job.  Should the town hire black after
black after black until the numbers are reflective of the population
at large?  Certainly that would be a discriminatory policy against
white folks.

But what if the police force population is reflective of the population
at large?  Would any policy at all be needed (quota-based or other)?
The town would be free to hire the candidate of its choice, regardless
of race.  See how that works?

What we need is not a quota-based system to make things right.
What we need is employers to hire those who are under-represented
on their workforce, while paying those who are to do nothing.

That way, black folks will have nothing to complain about.

--Lee

-- 
Stop Workin', Start Jerkin'

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