DGS49
Diamond Member
When I was growing up in the 50's and early 60's my "Negro" friends - all males - were told by their families that they could succeed in America, but that they would have to be better than their white competitors in order to achieve success (whatever that means). And this was manifestly true. A Black person had to be better in order to get the same consideration as a white applicant.
And as with slavery, "white" people over time recognized that this situation was unfair and untenable. To the extent that the Federal Government could manage it, they tried to eradicate racial discrimination by, in order, government agencies, government contractors, and to a small extent, private companies. (This was at a time when the Courts took the Tenth Amendment seriously). Over time, this non-discrimination attitude filtered into the private sector, first will large, international companies and gradually working it way into medium-sized companies, but seriously, that's all government can do.
But the Supreme Court was impatient with this gradual progress, and began to demand (with no Constitutional basis whatsoever) a practice they referred to as "Affirmative Action." That is, non-discrimination was not sufficient, and the entities within the Supreme Court's ambit (government agencies, state schools, etc) were forced not just to stop discriminating AGAINST Black people, but to actually start discriminating IN FAVOR of Black people. Accept unqualified Blacks in order to fill arbitrary quotas, while at the same time denying vociferously that those quotas even existed.
And so it goes.
But let's take a look at something that is significant, but ignored. The name of the Federal Government agency that is in charge of seeking out and eliminating harmful discrimination is the Equal Employment OPPORTUNITY Commission. It is NOT the "Equal Employment Commission" or the "Racial Equity Commission," or the "Affirmative Action Agency."
Its fundamental ROLE is to equalize OPPORTUNITIES, and to ensure that those OPPORTUNITIES are doled out on the basis of MERIT, and not RACE, ETHNICITY, GENDER, or anything else. Merit.
I wonder if today's Leftists are aware of this basic point.
And as with slavery, "white" people over time recognized that this situation was unfair and untenable. To the extent that the Federal Government could manage it, they tried to eradicate racial discrimination by, in order, government agencies, government contractors, and to a small extent, private companies. (This was at a time when the Courts took the Tenth Amendment seriously). Over time, this non-discrimination attitude filtered into the private sector, first will large, international companies and gradually working it way into medium-sized companies, but seriously, that's all government can do.
But the Supreme Court was impatient with this gradual progress, and began to demand (with no Constitutional basis whatsoever) a practice they referred to as "Affirmative Action." That is, non-discrimination was not sufficient, and the entities within the Supreme Court's ambit (government agencies, state schools, etc) were forced not just to stop discriminating AGAINST Black people, but to actually start discriminating IN FAVOR of Black people. Accept unqualified Blacks in order to fill arbitrary quotas, while at the same time denying vociferously that those quotas even existed.
And so it goes.
But let's take a look at something that is significant, but ignored. The name of the Federal Government agency that is in charge of seeking out and eliminating harmful discrimination is the Equal Employment OPPORTUNITY Commission. It is NOT the "Equal Employment Commission" or the "Racial Equity Commission," or the "Affirmative Action Agency."
Its fundamental ROLE is to equalize OPPORTUNITIES, and to ensure that those OPPORTUNITIES are doled out on the basis of MERIT, and not RACE, ETHNICITY, GENDER, or anything else. Merit.
I wonder if today's Leftists are aware of this basic point.