3 ms·
Refusal to consider someone's application on matters of race is prima facie discrimination. Calling discrimination what it is might be lazy, but it's also very
by bmelton 11y ago
Refusal to consider someone's application on matters of race is prima facie discrimination. Calling discrimination what it is might be lazy, but it's also very accurate.
Legally speaking, there are a variety of ways to promote diversity that are, for better or worse, legal. Internal memorandums insisting that diversity is a key company value, for example, is in fact anti-discriminatory, though it might sometimes end with a result that sacrifices the best potential candidate for someone who can add a unique perspective.
That said, suggesting that white people need not apply is not remotely the same thing as promoting diversity, and co-statements that highlight the ills of white people put too fine a point on it.
FWIW, I'm of the opinion that I think a given person should be able to hire whomever they want. If that means that BuzzFeed Canada hires zero white people, then so be it. But that doesn't change that the laws as they are do not generally allow for this (with certain exceptions -- like hiring Chinese people exclusively to staff an authentic Chinese restaurant).
- humanrebar 11y ago> Internal memorandums insisting that diversity is a key company value, for example, is in fact anti-discriminatory... I'll disagree here. What counts as diversity is fairly arbitrary. Choosing what counts as diverse is inherently discriminatory. Are veterans underrepresented? Are transpeople? Are people with irrelevant but chronic health issues? Do the age ranges of employees match the regional (neighborhood, city, province, national, international... yes it's impossible to do all at once) demographics? And because people are diverse and unique, shops can definitely find a diverse group of people that talk, act, and think the same way. Does that still count as diversity?
- bmelton 11y agoVery fair point. As a slight point of clarification, let me amend my statement to this: > Internal memorandums insisting that diversity is a key company value, for example, is *legally considered" anti-discriminatory
- humanrebar 11y agoFair enough. If Indiana can declare pi to be 3.14, I guess another legal body can declare explicit preferences to be anti-discriminatory. Laws require power, not logic, to be enacted.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]