Stirring The Pot Helps The Recipe...

This blog entry is going to be somewhat of a departure for me. I have yet to write about anything remotely political or controversial but as my thoughts has started to coagulate I have developed an opinion that I feel like posting. This is going to be new for me but exciting as well…hopefully my posterity will read this and see a glimpse of the culture that I was a part of (or my interpretation of it) in the year 2007.

I am a business man. I have always been somewhat of a salesman and have enjoyed the game that is associated with that career path. When I look at clients I do not see any racial labels other than ones that may be there because of a language barrier. I have many different clients of many different ethnicities; all with varying income levels, job titles and career paths. Being that my business is associated with long term lending of money I have been privy to see both the proposed future and detailed pasts of my clients as I help them become ready for the responsibility of the long term debt associated with their homes. Having said this I have often looked at the demographic of who falls into what categories of income and job types. I have clients that range in making tens of thousands of dollars every year to hundreds of thousands. Every ethic group is spread throughout that demographic and it has not been proven to me in my circle of business to find that one group needed advantage over another to be successful. I have found that the drive to succeed is one that is not associated with any ethnicity, it is an individual achievement. I feel that with the number of programs available in our country to give certain racial groups advantage over another we are creating a cultural paradigm that is opposite to what end those programs are trying to reach.

It is February; Black history month. We are able to celebrate the many achievements that historical people (who happen to be black) realized for the sake of equality and the betterment of humanity. This month we also were able to witness history in the making while watching the first black head coach to lead a team to the Super Bowl and the first black head coach to win a championship. In leading up to the Super Bowl the media was focused on how both coaches were African American and both were given their jobs as a byproduct of the Rooney Rule, which subsequently lead to the interviewing and hiring of both Lovie Smith and Tony Dunge. The Rooney Rule requires National Football League teams to interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching opportunities. The rule is named after Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and chairman of the NFL's Diversity Committee. It is no secret that a majority of the NFL players are minorities and the coaching has predominately been white. This rule was instituted to help to bridge that gap and give minority coaches an opportunity that hadn’t been made available before. I feel that Affirmative Action in whatever form it takes can serve a greater purpose and give a person an opportunity that the might not have had otherwise. Ultimately though it is simply not fair and in an evolving society it is not justified in the least.

Affirmative action itself began as a corrective measure for governmental and social injustices against certain racial/ethnic groups that have been said to be subjected to discrimination in areas such as employment and education. The stated goal of affirmative action was to “counteract past and present discrimination sufficiently that the power elite will reflect the demographics of society at large, at which point such a strategy will no longer be necessary.” The problem lies in that programs like the Rooney Rule and Affirmative Action are forced upon naturally competitive arenas where it is not needed and creates an unnecessary and unfair inequality. The business world is a “results oriented” marketplace and the most qualified for the job should be the one awarded the position regardless of the “demographics of society at large.”

I am a white guy. My parents and progenitors came from Jewish, Irish, German and English bloodlines. I do not in my heritage have any Hispanic, Indian or African blood; I am your typical Caucasian. My roots are tied to Europe until the early 1900’s when my ancestors made their lives here in the northern part of the United States. I do not have any sort of identity associated with what makes up my ethnicity, my identity has come from activities and groups that were choices I made and not a predetermined group that was made up of who my relatives were. I know that my demographic of ethnicity is one of a few that does not feel apart of something greater associated with their race; to me I am just white; my identity has become more associated with religion and individual choices I made throughout my life having nothing to do with color or race. Since the time I entered the world of higher education and the workplace it has always been what was on my transcript or resume that earned me my place at the institution or workplace, not that I was a white guy. I had a friend when I was young that was 1/8th Native American (with white parents) and he received a scholarship to college based on that alone, no merit involved. I remember at that young age thinking that was wrong since he and I were almost identical in our situations; middle class families, normal houses in the suburbs, normal grades, both given to that point the same opportunities to succeed…nothing fancy. Why was he singled out when the only difference between him and I was that one of his great grandparents was Native American? The answer is that it wasn’t fair, and isn’t fair today. How many other times does this happen where deference is given where merit has nothing to do with the choice? More often we can see the same thing happen as people throughout our country reap the benefits of unfair programs as society “charges forward to equality.”

I am aware that there still exist racial barriers that are ignorant and biased. Every white person that I know has a story about a grandfather that told racist jokes or talked about people that were different than their own in a negative light. Fortunately those opinions are not reflected in the current generation as a whole. There will come a point soon enough where there will be no living connection to the time of our history that was so ugly and the small, racist minority will not have a presence in the world today; it will only be referenced in our history books. The legislation that enforces programs like Affirmative Action is not written to accept that evolution and will not be as quick to readjust. It is evident that unless you have a connection to an ethnic group/race you could actually be disadvantaged in the marketplace of the education/business world. Does it really matter if my entire organization is white, black or yellow if all those who are a part of it earned their position through their merit and skill? The reality is that most likely it would be a mix if it naturally evolved to where merit and skill was the only dictation of how you received your employment.

Since I brought up the Rooney Rule let’s use the National Football League as an example. The NFL is in the entertainment business and its product is entertainment through watching football. The NFL is not unlike any other business in the free world in that it has a product to sell and success comes from how well they sell that product and for what profit margin. The NFL has people within its organization who are responsible for the many different facets of the product it provides; employees ranging from management to the players. I reiterate, if you look at all the many opportunities for employment within the NFL it is without question very similar in business model to any business out there. One of the positions that are available for employment is that of a running back. If you look at the racial demographic of who plays starting running back for the teams in the league you will see that it is a predominately African American position. Does that mean that we should give the starting role of running back to more white men so that the position reflects the demographics of society at large? Absolutely not, it should be given to who plays the position with the greater speed, skill and ability. If that is true, why do other organizations with business models similar to the NFL’s have to give a portion of its employment to people based on their race? It’s not fair and should be changed.

So, after all of this what do I feel would work? Tweak the programs so that if deference must be given to those considered less fortunate make it based on socio-economic factors instead of ethnicity or race. If someone from an inner-city has demonstrated significant aptitude but whose personal situation would not allow for an otherwise change in circumstance use the resources available for education regardless of race. Get rid of the Rooney Rule all together. Look at the future with enough foresight to know that we are a global community and that eventually the races that exist will be blended together through marriage and procreation so that we will all be a mix of each other. Change the legislation to reflect that future inevitability. Put the onus back on the individual for his success and achievement instead of providing excuses to people for why they fail.

There, I said it. My opinion is published. Since this is not a term paper and I am not a journalist I have not made known the sources to which I got the information that I used. If anyone reads this and would like to know where I got my information I would be glad to share that with them.

Prescott, OUT…