# I Pit LHOD and his thread re: AA in schools

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lhod-and-his-thread-re-aa-in-schools/498658>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [June 4, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lhod-and-his-thread-re-aa-in-schools/498658 "2009-06-04T02:59:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 261

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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lhod-and-his-thread-re-aa-in-schools/498658/261 "2009-06-09T19:10:25Z")

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> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> OK, I’ll do it. Mswas, Cisco and Bricker\* are positing that the black male teacher is playing the role of “role model for young black boys.” Therefore, hiring a black male teacher is not an example of affirmative action, it is an example of hiring the only person qualified for the job. It’s like trying to find an actor to play Michael Jordan–it only makes sense to hire a black male, and hiring a black male to play Michael Jordan is not an example of affirmative action.
> 
> I argued that the two situations are not analogous for the following two reasons:
> 
> (1) It is not necessarily the case that the only person that can be a role model for a black boy is a black male. Therefore, finding a teacher to be a role model for black boys has not been proven to be the same as finding an actor to play Michael Jordan. It could very well be the case that a white male or a black woman or a white woman could also serve as a role model for black boys.

Yes, I suppose it’s possible. And it’s not clear to me how one might go about showing, empirically, the efficacy of different role models, so this discussion may lack a laser-like precision. However, arguing merely from the “it makes sense to me” camp: one key purpose served by a role model is to show, by example, that certain achievements are possible. Now, if a young black student sees that the vast majority of successful, job-holding, accomplished people in his life are not black, he may well internalize a belief that there’s something about success and jobs and accomplishments that eludes people with his skin tone. It is for this reason that I postulate a successful, job-holding, accomplished black man as a role model – by his mere presence he communicates the message that success and jobs and accomplishments are within the reach of a black man.

> [@](#):
>
> (ii) A teacher isn’t just someone playing the role of a role model. Rather, a teacher also, well, teaches. Therefore, finding a teacher involves more than just finding a role model for the kids. So, to the extent that only a black male could be a role model for black boys, finding a teacher is not analogous to finding a black actor because the teacher must do more than just be black and male–they have to teach.

Agreed. No one is suggesting that the teaching requirements be vitiated. Indeed, we could return to our acting analogy and point out that the successful actor must not only be black to play MJ: he must be able to act, and he must be able to move on the basketball court well enough to portray MJ’s skill in that area. So, too, with teaching: the successful role model is chosen because he can teach _and_ be a living witness to African-American success. Those two requirements are not mutually exclusive.

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