Diversity Thursday

Some of you didn't like me picking on a LCDR last week, but wanted me to hold senior people up to the same light ... so ...

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VADM McCoy ... do you still feel a little dirty from '09?

You can read the whole thing if you want, the "EDO Community Diversity Award" memo - but here are the fun parts.

First let's go to the dictionary.

Paternalism.

pa·ter·nal·ism   
[puh-tur-nl-iz-uhm]
–noun
the system, principle, or practice of managing or governing individuals, businesses, nations, etc., in the manner of a father dealing benevolently and often intrusively with his children: The employees objected to the paternalism of the old president.

Racism.

rac·ism   
[rey-siz-uhm]
–noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.

Hmmmm ... and easy thing for good people to unknowingly fall into.

Take all of paternalism and a nice bit of racism and you get .... with an opening;
... and then the folly.

I'm confused. Is it good leadership to reward people who actively discriminate on the basis of gender and ethnicity? Do we want our best officers to say to themselves, "I'm working 70 hr weeks but need to spend at least 5 hrs mentoring people. Hmmm - I will only invest my time, advice, and assistance to people who are of one type of ethnic group. Even better, I'll tell my boss how much I intentionally discriminate against people on the basis of race - maybe I will get an award.

For the most reward - I must avoid investing any time in a Sailor who is a male or defines himself - silly Sailor - as white. I get nothing out of that."

Really?

Nice work. Paternalistic racism with a little bit of racial self-hate.

Well - maybe not. We have Flag Officers who look like me with names like Patrick Brady and George Mayer who define themselves as Hispanic for award and recognition. I know there are gaggles of McCoys in Chile for generations - so maybe we can take away the racial self-hate. Name it and claim it VADM McCoy ... name it and claim it.

Or I could just be a jerk and am blaming the good VADM for just following the CNO's lead like a good follower. Who knows; I guess we have to do something to justify the millions of dollars we spend on TDY for those hundreds/thousands of active duty BA/NMP/BSC, GS, and CTR people whose billets are Diversity related. I submitted people for such awards when I was on active duty - so in a way I'm guilty too.

Sigh - such a cancerous, retrograde philosophy can pollute even the best among us. You don't make VADM for nut'n.

To finish this up, a regular reader sent this in last week. More and more people are doing things like this. Heck, in my family we are white, hispanic, American Indian, and even just American sometimes.

Caught this on the radio during the commute into work this morning. Pull quote:

"As soon as I get the census form, I go right to the race question and I check it for the whole family. I check other, other, other, other, and then if you check other you have to fill in the blank, so I just put human which is the only race that I acknowledge."

-- Ruben Rumbaut, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Irvine

This ~4 minute piece is an excellant deconstruction of the consequences of forcing race/ethnic self identification, and for a thinking man will show that the differences of how race/ethnicity are measured over time is actually driving the positive idea that "All men are created equal" backwards in terms of implementation of what should really be an American Core Value.

A little subversive - but that's OK - it's correct.