2 ms·

The claims of racism here are as always completely and predictably ignoring the context. As things stand, there are two major dimensions of misrepresentation

by danans 6y ago

The claims of racism here are as always completely and predictably ignoring the context. As things stand, there are two major dimensions of misrepresentation on the committee: it is completely over-represented by women, and it over-represented (33% of the board vs 15% of the student body, and would be 40% if the candidate was brought on) by white people, and significantly underrepresented by Asian Americans (1 board member vs 33% of the student body). Unless one makes the ridiculous argument that we "just shouldn't see race" despite it being a highly operative factor in our public lives, there is nothing wrong with the school board considering the problems of racial under-representation. They are seeking a qualified candidate who helps them address many dimensions of their demographic representation issues. There are likely many candidates who would be just as qualified but would better represent the community, like an Asian American man. In fact, they didn't summarily say no to the candidate, just that they want to see a more diverse slate of candidates, and encouraged the individual in question to reapply. Of course, that part isn't mentioned by people who want to cast this as anti-white discrimination.

nn3 6y ago
>the ridiculously argument that we "just shouldn't see race" I don't think it's ridiculous at all. Why can't we just be fair to everyone regardless of color?
- danans 6y ago
  > Why can't we just be fair to everyone regardless of color? Because our society is structurally and historically configured to not be fair to people based on color, such that even individuals acting in their own non-racist self-interest (i.e. choosing a home in a "good school district") end up amplifying the effects of the racist social and power structures [1]. The only way we can move toward a world in which we are "fair to everyone regardless of color" is to dismantle the endemic systemic racism that currently exists. Denying the existence of structural racism is what is ridiculous. 1. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/A_Shared_Future_Chapter_24_Interdependence_of_Housing_and_School_Segregation.pdf https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/A_Shared_Fu...
  - kortilla 6y ago
    > Because our society is structurally and historically configured to not be fair to people based on color Yet it is people like you perpetuating this. > is to dismantle the endemic systemic racism that currently exists. And how does codifying and encouraging racist behavior help with that?
undefined1 6y ago
focusing on race only makes it more relevant. it's an incredibly counterproductive approach, clearly. Mike Wallace: How are we going to get rid of racism until...? Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you a white man. And I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You’re not going to say, “I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.” Hear what I’m saying? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeixtYS-P3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeixtYS-P3s the failure to heed such wisdom is erasing all of the progress we made toward achieving MLK Jr's dream! "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
- danans 6y ago
  Morgan Freeman is wrong in that very old video. That he is black and famous doesn't make him any less wrong. If he holds that opinion today he'd still be wrong. Pretending that we don't see race and yet operating in a world deeply defined by it will do precisely nothing to address structural racism. Structural racism is both real and documented both in laws and policies [1], and its geographic and demographic impacts [2]. No amount of imagining race away is going to change that. Also, Morgan Freeman is not an authority on how to combat structural racism that is tied into our economic, healthcare, housing and educational systems. He's a damn great actor, though. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining https://www.investopedia.com/the-history-of-lending-discrimination-5076948 https://www.investopedia.com/the-history-of-lending-discrimi... 2. https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/135/2/711/5687353 https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/135/2/711/5687353
  - rpdillon 6y ago
    > Pretending that we don't see race and yet operating in a world deeply defined by it will do precisely nothing to address structural racism. What do you see as the steady state? Are the systems we're building now to be explicitly race-aware, like hiring quotas by race, the steady state we want to shoot for? Or do you see these practices as a stepping stone to some farther goal?

by danans 6y ago

nn3 6y ago

>the ridiculously argument that we "just shouldn't see race" I don't think it's ridiculous at all. Why can't we just be fair to everyone regardless of color?

danans 6y ago
> Why can't we just be fair to everyone regardless of color? Because our society is structurally and historically configured to not be fair to people based on color, such that even individuals acting in their own non-racist self-interest (i.e. choosing a home in a "good school district") end up amplifying the effects of the racist social and power structures [1]. The only way we can move toward a world in which we are "fair to everyone regardless of color" is to dismantle the endemic systemic racism that currently exists. Denying the existence of structural racism is what is ridiculous. 1. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/A_Shared_Future_Chapter_24_Interdependence_of_Housing_and_School_Segregation.pdf https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/A_Shared_Fu...
- kortilla 6y ago
  > Because our society is structurally and historically configured to not be fair to people based on color Yet it is people like you perpetuating this. > is to dismantle the endemic systemic racism that currently exists. And how does codifying and encouraging racist behavior help with that?

undefined1 6y ago

focusing on race only makes it more relevant. it's an incredibly counterproductive approach, clearly. Mike Wallace: How are we going to get rid of racism until...? Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you a white man. And I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You’re not going to say, “I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.” Hear what I’m saying? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeixtYS-P3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeixtYS-P3s the failure to heed such wisdom is erasing all of the progress we made toward achieving MLK Jr's dream! "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

danans 6y ago
Morgan Freeman is wrong in that very old video. That he is black and famous doesn't make him any less wrong. If he holds that opinion today he'd still be wrong. Pretending that we don't see race and yet operating in a world deeply defined by it will do precisely nothing to address structural racism. Structural racism is both real and documented both in laws and policies [1], and its geographic and demographic impacts [2]. No amount of imagining race away is going to change that. Also, Morgan Freeman is not an authority on how to combat structural racism that is tied into our economic, healthcare, housing and educational systems. He's a damn great actor, though. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining https://www.investopedia.com/the-history-of-lending-discrimination-5076948 https://www.investopedia.com/the-history-of-lending-discrimi... 2. https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/135/2/711/5687353 https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/135/2/711/5687353
- rpdillon 6y ago
  > Pretending that we don't see race and yet operating in a world deeply defined by it will do precisely nothing to address structural racism. What do you see as the steady state? Are the systems we're building now to be explicitly race-aware, like hiring quotas by race, the steady state we want to shoot for? Or do you see these practices as a stepping stone to some farther goal?