Thursday, October 06, 2011

Diversity Thursday

What we cover here every DivThu is just part of a larger pushback. Though I like to focus on the DoN battle - it is helpful to look at the broader context all this is taking place in.

Ward Connerly over at the WSJ (read now, as it will soon fall behind the paid firewall) did a good job providing that the day before yesterday.
President Barack Obama, ... recently signed Executive Order 13583 "to promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce." The irony is that few institutions in America are more "diverse" and "inclusive" than the federal government, where the workforce is 17% black while blacks are roughly 13% of the U.S. population.

In addition to the president's executive order, the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law included Section 342, promoted by Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), (that) establishes in all federal financial regulatory agencies an "Office of Minority and Women Inclusion" with responsibility for "diversity in management, employment and business activities."

It is doubtful that anyone can name a government agency that does not include an affirmative-action office or "diversity" department in its structure. The infrastructure of the diversity network is vast.

More than anything else, the pursuit of diversity overshadows and subordinates excellence and competence and often makes us content with mediocrity. The late economist Milton Friedman once told me that "Freedom to compete fairly for university admissions, jobs and contracts is central to all that America professes to be."

In a recent column on these pages, Stanford's Shelby Steele observed that "the values that made us exceptional have been smeared with derision. . . . Talk of 'merit' or 'a competition of excellence' in the admissions office of any Ivy League university today and then stand by for the howls of academic laughter."
...
The longer we allow preferences to endure in the guise of diversity, the more damage will be done to the nation. If the president is serious about America rededicating itself to our ideals—which are liberty, economic opportunity for all, individual merit and the principle of equality—then he should begin with rescinding his executive order on affirmative action, calling on Congress to repeal Section 342 of Dodd-Frank, and paring back the burdensome and redundant diversity network that exists within the federal government.

Finally, he should urge Americans to embrace the color-blind vision of John F. Kennedy, who said that "race has no place in American life or law, and of Martin Luther King Jr., who dreamed of the day when the color of his children's skin would be subordinate to the content of their character.
Hat tip dt.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sigh....government expanding to fill all available space/resources.

How does this square with the 14th Amendment? Or our motto of E Pluribus Unum?

The Usual Suspect said...

<span>An outgoing tide lowers all boats.  Beyond the obvious flaws, diversity as practiced by the DI, is a corrosive and perverse force in second and third order effects.  It robs those minorities who have earned their position through hard work of their due repsect - they are constantly viewed as benefitting unfairly from preferences even when that is not the case.  It gives whites who have not even tried a platform to air their "grievances".  It fuels racism.  You know, I work with a diverse group of people in all senses of the word and none of them think that anybody owes them anything that they did not work for...and for most of them, this is not where they were born.  The problem with discrimination is that it is offesive no matter who is doing the discriminating and who is being discriminated against.  The policies of our government should not promote any one person over another based on something as superficial as skin color or self-proclaimed racial identification.  This lack of meritocracy is going to be the end of us.  I seem to recall Spiro Agnew endorsing one of Nixon's failed Supreme Court nominees with the comment that, and I paraphrase, 'even the stupid deserve representation on the Court.' We have started down that path a while back.</span>

Outlaw Mike said...

Slightly OT, so I'm gonna flatter this site's owner with 'Lehman goes Salamander': http://video.foxnews.com/v/1204375739001/steve-jobs-1955-2011/?playlist_id=86861#/v/1203298856001/navy-sinking-into-sea-of-political-correctness/?playlist_id=87485

Just wondering why it's always the Lehmans who are retired and the Gorelicks (what's in a name) who are on DoD boards.

Number Cruncher, you DO realize you could be tracked down and eliminated for that list of yours?

Kristen said...

Ward Connerly is a very brave man.  He launched his fight for colorblind policies right here in California years ago, and he's been thoroughly demonized and physically threatened for it.  He never, ever backs off.  I really admire that man.

Grumpy Old Ham said...

California (and the rest of us, for that matter) could use more Ward Connerlys and a lot fewer Maxine Waters (spit) in our legislative bodies.  I am neither shocked nor surprised that she was behind this piece of tripe.

e ringer said...

totally shocked that the federal govt (including dod) is one big, giant jobs program.   

DeltaBravo said...

AR, I guess the question would be, did you get disparate treatment from the women supervisors while they crawled all over themselves bootlicking their male workers?  For some reason women are nastier to other women.  I second your emotion there about many female supervisors...

pk said...

this bunch goes through this about every ten years. its usually a red herring to divert attention from some scandal that the current politicians are trying to hide. or the diversity industry types are smelling blood in the water and are trying to armor their backsides.

number crunchers figures are not much different than those of the past screaming and shouting sessions.

we saw a real big example of this when the peanut farmers friends saw the handwriting on the wall.

C

Old Salt said...

"Number Cruncher, you DO realize you could be tracked down and eliminated for that list of yours?"

Not funny. You are arguing from a position of inferiority. I say - bring it. Shine the light of truth on this cesspool and NEVER.BACK.DOWN. Keep the lights on!