Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday it was "unacceptable" that there were so few black people like herself in the US diplomatic corps.
It always frosts me when I read about some over-educated out-o-touch complaining about the need for more racial diversity in whatever field they think isn't diverse enough for their preference.
Such thinking assumes that we are all created the same, with the same talents, the same values, the same desires, and the same goals. And if America was only fairer (by their definition) every economic and social field would have equal representation of every perceived, or self-perceived, ethnic group.
Life just doesn't work that way.
We are not all the same, with the same value systems, or the same interests, backgrounds,social pressures or upbringing.
What does matter, is if every door is open to whomever has the talents and the desires and the discipline to compete for what awaits on the other side.
Why is there no hand wringing over the over-representation of Blacks in the NBA, or Jews in the legal professions,Gays in performing arts, Germans in the brewing industry, Lebanese in textiles, or Southerners in country music (personally, they can have it)?
Does it really matter if not enough people 'look like me' (to use Condi's words) in the diplomatic corps, as long we got the better talent where better talent belongs?
Just maybe, not that many Blacks are interested in 'step and fetchit' government positions. Considering the flack Condi's gotten, from Black commentators no less, for being a high ranking black woman in Whitey's administration, how many others would want to go down that road and opt for something else instead?
Ultimately, American children, regardless of ethnicity, will enter the fields that they are taught to value according to the people who surround them while growing up.
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7 comments:
In fairness to Ms. Rice, it looks to me like she's lamenting the situation from a point of view not unlike your own. She seems to be commenting on the fact that so few black people appear to be interested in that field in the first place.
she said it was 'unacceptable'. for me, its perfectly acceptable.
I too would want more black people in diplomacy. That is, if I hated black people...
Equality for equality's sake. Civil rights have taken on a life and value of their own, which I don't think their HUMAN originators even intended. These rights are written by writers so readers won't forget them, but where did we enlightened humans get the idea that the sum of our desires can be contained in a list consisting of three or four words. IT'S SHORTHAND PEOPLE!
Hmm...
A more cryptic and incoherent rant than usual today by tully.
I had to clean off my screen after reading that one, Tully.
I can say it's unacceptable to me that I don't have a stress free job working for the county that I'll not have to worry about getting laid off or fired.....but saying it aint gonna make it happen. When people of color decide to pursue this kind of work, I'm sure they'll excel at it. Example...we have 2 black golfers in profressional golf. And they've won golfer of the year the past ten years running!
If minorities don't like that minorities aren't aptly represented in a field, they should try... I dunno... preparing themselves for participating in the field of choice.
Seems the logical way to do it to me. Then again, race is nothing more than variations in melanin and no reason for me to whine.
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