Do we need Diversity?

[░▓░]

I usually don't place too much value upon the thoughts of washed up American Idol rejects, but a certain someone has criticized the GOP convention for being too racially inclusive.

Does racial integration matter? Should we be suspicious of groups who's memberships aren't diverse enough? And, if not diverse, should they be criticized or even coerced into integrating with minorities? Are Republicans subconsciously/consciously racist for not having enough of X people in their group? Or is it racist to imply that only blacks can appeal to blacks and etc.? What about affirmative action?

[Voyager Rigel]

I've always felt like this issue, along with many others, needs transcendence.

We're all part of one human race. We need to stop treating ethnicity and origin like a barrier and start paying more attention to our similarities than to our differences.
If you look hard enough, you'll always find a group - social or political - that has more of ethnicity A than ethnicity B. This doesn't necessarily indicate a problem, but in some cases it may.

However, bigotry and racism thrive on things like this. They thrive on ignorance and fear and resistance. If you force it, the natural reaction is opposition. Force begets force.

The solution in my opinion is to focus on treating everybody equally. Truly looking at all human beings as equals and not as group A and group B. Transcendence.

[Jade West]

I think it odd that you would label Republicans as racist for not having enough of X people in their group. The Republicans are not excluding anybody from their party. It would be completely illegal and unconstitutional for Republicans or any other political party to exclude minorities from joining them.

No, it is not racist to imply that only blacks can appeal to blacks--it may be racial but not racist.

Affirmative Action? In addition to being racial, it is also a racist policy since there is an injured party in this case. The injured party is the non-minority who is not hired or the student who is not admitted due to government-mandated racial discrimination.

[Danina]

Personally, I believe in racial diversity. I believe people from different cultures bring their own unique perspectives on things. Diversity is so important for me because it means that one person's weakness might be another person's strength. It's important to have that balance. I'd say I'm for racial integration but I don't know if you can really force a group to integrate minorities. Having a policy like affirmative action seems to help prevent a congregation of people from forming that is dominantly of one cultural group. But I do believe that the most qualified person should be hired for a job.

[Jade West]

So, it seems all agree that the most competent/qualified should be hired for the job or be admitted to the university,right? But, you must also realize that "Diversity/Affirative Action" as mandated by law
is inherently discriminatory on what you want. The law allows race to trump qualification in many cases.

[qwertygirl]

Firstly I don't think anyone has ever accused the GOP of being too racially inclusive.

Secondly, the concept of "transcendence" is delightful if you don't have centuries of racial division. You can't just start with a clean slate. Doesn't work that way, never has. Likely never will.

[qwertygirl]

Glenn Marshall said:

yeah, I think so, I may not agree with everything, but I'm a white guy and there are many things about whites I don't like, some are members of the KKK or something, Why not just hire the best person for the job, just someone who is intelligent. As an autograph collector, I have met and talked to public people from all over the world, some white guys were nice and some weren't, some black people were nice and some weren't and so on. It all has to do with communication and what you have in common that makes a person a friend or someone you hang out with. I have always been for diversity.

It's all fine and good, yes-- some people are nice, some people are assholes, race is irrelevant. But people of color are systematically disadvantaged in our society. You can't just say HEY WE DIDN'T MEAN IT and pretned like it's all even stevens.

Many people don't even realize they're biased against people of color until they start thinking about it critically, recognizing their priviledge.