Affirmative Action

[Tecumsehsbones]

Affirmative action is pretty much the classic case of an idea that's good in theory and sucks in practice. It generally leads to tokenism, does little or nothing to benefit the communities it is intended to benefit, and creates interest groups of lefty loonies shrieking about slavery and righty mouth-breathers convinced beyond all sanity that there's a Sooper Seekrit Quota Conspiracy that somehow the leakiest government in history has kept under wraps for 40 years, has resulted in unemployment rates for non-whites consistently twice as high as unemployment rates for whites, and yet somehow keeps white men down.

One of the glowing successes of affirmative action is the Rooney Rule. Art Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL, responded to the embarrassing dearth of black head coaches in the NFL by advocating for and convincing the owners to pass a simple rule: every team with a head-coaching vacancy had to interview at least one black candidate.

That's it. No quota, no mandate, just an exercise to increase awareness. And it has had a salutary effect on the NFL.

So, affirmative action has been a smashing success in one area of the economy employing tens of people. 32, to be exact.

Ain't that great?

 

[captain morgan]

No good deed goes unpunished.

I have often wondered if this policy has a net effect of stigmatizing the very people it intended to help

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

No good deed goes unpunished.

I have often wondered if this policy has a net effect of stigmatizing the very people it intended to help

Mostly. And, of course, the members of minority groups who benefited most from affirmative action were generally those who least needed it, while the ones most hurt by it were those whose forbears had benefited least from "white privilege."

As I said, noble concept, disaster in execution. And ironically based on the same stupid notion that made it necessary in the first place: that any categorical statement about people with a certain skin-color range or ancestry from a certain area are all alike, and all have the same problems.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Affirmative action is pretty much the classic case of an idea that's good in theory and sucks in practice. It generally leads to tokenism, does little or nothing to benefit the communities it is intended to benefit, and creates interest groups of lefty loonies shrieking about slavery and righty mouth-breathers convinced beyond all sanity that there's a Sooper Seekrit Quota Conspiracy that somehow the leakiest government in history has kept under wraps for 40 years, has resulted in unemployment rates for non-whites consistently twice as high as unemployment rates for whites, and yet somehow keeps white men down.

One of the glowing successes of affirmative action is the Rooney Rule. Art Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL, responded to the embarrassing dearth of black head coaches in the NFL by advocating for and convincing the owners to pass a simple rule: every team with a head-coaching vacancy had to interview at least one black candidate.

That's it. No quota, no mandate, just an exercise to increase awareness. And it has had a salutary effect on the NFL.

So, affirmative action has been a smashing success in one area of the economy employing tens of people. 32, to be exact.

Ain't that great?

Actually affirmative action has an excellent record. Just don't call it affirmative action. Instead call it public education, public health, and public infrastructure like roads, utilities, and hospitals.

As for football, Canada was giving Blacks coaching jobs decades ago. Oh, and Black quarterbacks too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_African_Americans_in_the_Canadian_Football_League