tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post7201480497786248769..comments2024-01-22T18:22:29.391-08:00Comments on hedera's corner: Good Looking Attorney Generalhederahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-9315762512447058882013-04-09T08:04:29.513-07:002013-04-09T08:04:29.513-07:00All things being equal, there's a certain just...All things being equal, there's a certain justice in promoting minorities. But too often in my experience, black or women managers consciously earmarked their ethnic or sexual comrades and ushered them through the channels towards advancement. It's reverse preference. What happened where I worked was that they'd pull these chosen individuals out of the front line work, assign them to "review" the performance of their peers, and then reward them for their "superior knowledge" and contribution to accuracy and work-flow. Since I never sought promotion, I had to endure this over and over and over again. They'd promote these people who never had learned how to do the job they'd originally gotten, and give them power over the rest of us. And then, of course, when things didn't go their way, they blamed us. You had black and hispanic and LGBT managers at the GS-14 level who'd never done a real day's work in their whole career. You had to be there to believe it. Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-19103985859906727202013-04-07T11:57:55.187-07:002013-04-07T11:57:55.187-07:00I certainly agree with you about color- and sex-bl...I certainly agree with you about color- and sex-blind policies. I just don't see it happening anytime soon. <br /><br />I also agree about the sins of affirmative action. I've been extremely interested in the Henry Alvarez case in San Francisco, since it's the first time I've seen a boss of color sued for what appear to be openly racist anti-white remarks. The politically correct attitude has been that people of color are not racist - which, since they're members of the human race, is balderdash. The interesting thing about the Alvarez case (apart from the fact that Ed Lee appears to have NO idea how to handle it) is that it made the news.hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-18858706704875636672013-04-07T11:02:22.453-07:002013-04-07T11:02:22.453-07:00Sexism is ineradicable. It will swing both ways. ...Sexism is ineradicable. It will swing both ways. <br /><br />In the 1970's and 1980's and 1990's, when I worked for the government bureaucracy, women and minorities were moving up the ranks, pushing other people aside. It was an accepted thing that "reparations" were in order, and if you weren't black or hispanic or a woman or gay or disabled (and also selfish and grindingly ambitious), you had better hunker down and expect the worst. It was open season on white men. <br /><br />The worst thing we can do now is to reward "difference" in the mistaken belief that we're "balancing" the account. Nominating and approving Supreme Court Judges, for instance, out of preference for color or sex is just as corrupting to minorities and women as the old prejudice was. Probably more so. The lesson is simple: It's our turn, now we get to screw you, whitey. <br /><br />Color- and sex-blind policies are the best policies. If a woman or black person are good at what they do, it doesn't matter who they are. I don't believe in affirmative action, and neither should you. It's just another version of the old prejudice. Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-18429003625807118562013-04-07T07:36:35.496-07:002013-04-07T07:36:35.496-07:00I agree in this context and also in race relations...I agree in this context and also in race relations. At first glance, attitudes seem much better, in reality they are somewhat better but still need our full attention to recover from the past and to be where we need to be. BTW, I don't watch TV either, except to spend a few quality moments with the wife, who seems glued to it. In fairness, I seem to be glued to facebook.<br />Steve Bumgarnernoreply@blogger.com