Who believes in racial bias?

[bafbrian]

I guess I will post the article now with where this comes from. I already know what Blender will say about it so he doesnt even need to bother responding to the thread.

That provision comes several cases filed against the FBI stemming from the 1980s till today about the lack of diversity in minorities in high ranking positions. In one instance, during an investigation into the prevalence of Hispanic-Americans (HA) in the FBI during the late 80s and early 90s, it found that for every 100 HA's employed by the FBI, about 1-3 had high ranking positions, even though many more were qualified for positions. They were passed over, in some cases, several times by individuals with less experience and seniority. This comes from a psychology video available at SPSU from the Psychology Department, if you would like to view the entire source.

[AirMax95]

That provision comes several cases filed against the FBI stemming from the 1980s till today about the lack of diversity in minorities in high ranking positions. In one instance, during an investigation into the prevalence of Hispanic-Americans (HA) in the FBI during the late 80s and early 90s, it found that for every 100 HA's employed by the FBI, about 1-3 had high ranking positions, even though many more were qualified for positions. They were passed over, in some cases, several times by individuals with less experience and seniority. This comes from a psychology video available at SPSU from the Psychology Department, if you would like to view the entire source.

That is good information!

The hard part is defending "qualifed" vs. a "good fit" for the position. Attributes such as lazy, hard to work with, tardiness, etc. come into play when filling a position. Some people may not be qualifed, but may have the better attitude and can be trained to learn the job duties.

[bafbrian]

That is good information!

The hard part is defending "qualifed" vs. a "good fit" for the position. Attributes such as lazy, hard to work with, tardiness, etc. come into play when filling a position. Some people may not be qualifed, but may have the better attitude and can be trained to learn the job duties.

With regards to the FBI, it isn't. Given the extensive records that the Office of Professional Conduct and Office of Personnel maintains on agents and employees, knowing who's qualified and not is merely a matter of accessing one's record and evaluating. As for other government agencies, I don't know. I for one don't like the idea of a quota system, however, BanginJimmy has a valid point in that a FEW jobs and organizations in which certain groups are better suited than others.

As for racial bias, I will agree on the point that it exists, but as far as its uses regarding preferential treatment towards certain groups, I think it is unfair. This is coming from someone who happens to be minority, multi-racial in fact. However, if racial bias is related to say, Affirmative Action, it been shown that that legislation can work for any group, reference the student who applied to Law School at UC Berkeley IIRC, was denied and sued the Board of Regents based on the premise of Affirmative Action, and succinctly won his case, justifying that Affirmative Action as it relates to quota systems in to benefit one group, but all groups.

In the case of this legislation, just because it is geared towards increasing diversity within the government, doesn't mean that certain groups will benefit while others don't, it can be by anyone.

[bu villain]

The fact is that racial bias was extreme in the not so distant past and still exists many places today. I think we are at the point today that a vast majority of us want to live in an equal society. The question is do we now implement reverse discrimination to try bring things to where they should be more quickly or wait for generations for things to become more equal on their own.

I think both arguments have valid points but I personally believe we should avoid the route of discrimination because I think it will induce resentment in many and marginalize the acheivements of minorities.

[bafbrian]

The fact is that racial bias was extreme in the not so distant past and still exists many places today. I think we are at the point today that a vast majority of us want to live in an equal society. The question is do we now implement reverse discrimination to try bring things to where they should be more quickly or wait for generations for things to become more equal on their own.

I think both arguments have valid points but I personally believe we should avoid the route of discrimination because I think it will induce resentment in many and marginalize the acheivements of minorities.

The real problem as why racial bias exist is that we as Americans feel the need to group and/or label everything. Studies done by the American Psychological Association (APA) have shown that as a young age, we are taught to label things and that by labeling things we need to association that with good or bad.

If you want to get rid of racial bias, I personally think it will never be ridden from society because it believe it is taught and you cannot "kill" an idea, stop labeling people based upon race. Instead of labeling people such as, there is a white male and a black male, how about there are two men.

Racial bias is an ugly aspect of our society, but it is a concept that is not foreign and/or new, this is a concept based upon the notion that one group is better than the other. The entire notion of equality in this country is flawed and if you foolish enough to believe equality exists, then to the old adage, "Ignorance is bliss".

A example of this is the protest by members of the Murfreesboro(sp?), TN community which is protesting the construction of a Mosque. If you listen to the reason why they are protesting, it proves the point that once we label something, in this case Islam is bad and then are all terrorists, it is seemingly en-grained in our thought process. I dare anyone to protest the construction of a Christian church on the basis that Christians have bombed abortion clinics, let's see the reaction to that; I can guarantee it won't be pretty.

[BanginJimmy]

I think both arguments have valid points but I personally believe we should avoid the route of discrimination because I think it will induce resentment in many and marginalize the acheivements of minorities.

I agree with this completely. There was just recently the case in Hartford CT where promotions were cancelled because there were not enough minorities that scored well enough on the testing they do.




A question for minorities.

Do you believe legislation that provides for quotas in hiring is in itself discriminatory? Is it a way that legislators are saying that just because you are a minority, you need extra help to get ahead?