Bricker
October 8, 2015, 4:30pm
412
wolfpup:
So, you advocate a kind of “affirmative action” policy for potential mods based on political leaning, in order to reverse alleged political inequity? How do you reconcile that with your position on affirmative action, which I believe you staunchly oppose? Does it have something to do with what side of the fence one is on, or what?
Your understanding of my position is flawed.
Back in 2009, I posted in a thread supporting a program that preferentially hired African American teachers to work in school systems in which the majority of students were African-American. Although the discussion called this “affirmative action,” I pointed out:
The intent of the program, though, in this case is not to give an advantage to the job applicant – it’s to get a job applicant with a particular set of characteristics.
In other words, if I were casting a movie about the life of Thurgood Marshall, I would audition black actors for the part – not to give some advantage to black actors to make up for all the discrimination in Hollywood, but because I needed a black actor to play the part of Thurgood Marshall.
Later in the thread, having been criticized for this view by some fellow conservatives, I said:
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.
This case is analogous. I certainly oppose affirmative action, defining it as the hiring of minorities to redress wrongs or counter infirmities suffered by those minorities. But I encourage the hiring of specific minorities when the job function is the intended beneficiary. If you want to call that affirmative action as well, that’s fine.
And to rebut any inference that this is a position crafted to support my current discussions here in this thread, please note that the linked thread dates from six years ago.