this entire crusade against diversity in hiring and admissions is based on the supposition that all white men are necessarily more qualified than any nonwhite person or woman who might be considered for the job. like, this lawsuit more or less states that outright.
for these people the mere presence of any nonwhite person, and especially any black person, in a desired and prestigious position is on its face evidence of anti-white discrimination and unfair preferences.
it’s why you have people still blaming affirmative action for why their kids couldn’t get into harvard et al. it’s not legacies or the fact that these places are hyper-selective. it’s that there is *a* black person who took *your* spot.
Moreover, if you’ve ever actually participated in hiring anybody, you know the idea that you can arrange the applicants in a line in order of how objectively qualified they are with one at the top is silly anyway. Most hiring processes involving choosing among multiple perfectly qualified people.
exactly. the idea that there is a single and reliable way to judge “merit,” that this can be purely quantitative and that job performance is a straightforward function of “merit” should be ridiculous to anyone who has held a job
but they know this too. their belief is that white men ought to be entitled to the most valuable and prestigious positions irrespective of whether they can actually perform in them.
Well, I also think people really like that idea of meritocracy when it means history suggests people like them have more merit than everybody else. Overrepresentation in elite spaces becomes evidence of superiority. It’s hard to convince them to give that up.
Weirdly, it reminds me of the resistance to evidence that weight is a complex thing and not a straightforward issue of self-discipline. There are people who have always assumed their bodies are evidence of their good character. “No, much of that is luck” doesn’t always go over well.
You should see the shrieking when you reduce the % of dead white guys on orchestra or chamber music programs. I mean, 10% of performances should not be by one guy, 30% should not be by the same ten guys
Same with chronic illnesses. As yes, I can overcome my lifelong health conditions if I have more self-discipline. Would love it if doctors can understand that a) being fat is just how it is for some people and b) that people often become chronically ill first and gain weight second
