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FirmhandKY -> RE: Jimmy Carter Calls Bullshit on the Drama... (9/19/2009 1:21:46 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales
quote:
Personally, I treat every person for themselves and let their positions define them, not their race, gender, age, or sexual preference. I only see an argued debate position, and the person providing it. I'll stipulated that Carter doesn't even realize he is personifying bigotry; that is the generation he represents, when racism WAS rampant and regulations such as AA/eeo were necessary to implement as the social barriers and eradication of ignorance progressed. Now those very well intended programs only serve to perpetuate what they were meant to make obsolete.
ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth
Merc, first let me say that I do not now nor have I ever considered you a racist. We have disagreed strongly on issues up and down the spectrum of debate, but I have never seen a word that would give me even a suspicion that you are motivated by racial concerns.
That said, I think you are very off base in your assertion that rampant racism is a think of the past. There have been gains made, slowly and usually after much struggle. But to say "mission accomplished" at this point is very premature. Take for example, the following experiment detailed in HR magazine (hardly a bastion of political agenda).
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_2_48/ai_97873146/
To summarize, the experiment involved sending out 5,000 resumes for jobs. To quote the article: "Most job openings for which the researchers sent resumes were administrative, sales, clerical and managerial positions. Bertrand and Mullainathan randomly assigned the applicants names common to either black men, black women, white men or white women and were careful not to send identical resumes to the same employer." The result? Again to quote the article, "The results are a bit disturbing, the researchers admit. Applicants with white-sounding names were 50 percent more likely to be contacted for job interviews than those with typical black names. There were no significant differences between the rates at which men and women were contacted."
This is just one example. Any examination of data on the subject will reveal many other disparities between the races in economic opportunity, educational opportunity, treatment by law enforcement (and no, I am not talking about nonsense like the famous Harvard professor matter) and general perception. To claim that these things don't exist just makes it harder to fix these matters. The first step in solving a problem is always accepting that a problem exists.
Racism is alive and well in this country. Is is as bad as it was half a century ago? No. Is it by any means a settled issue, again no. To suggest that it isn't a valid concern is as incorrect as asserting that "all whites practice racisimt". One error does not lessen the other.
I'm no longer sure that the issue is "racism" but instead "culture".
Firm
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