1.03.2006
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"It all comes down to preference"
In federal hiring, that is. The latest complaint from the racialist lobby is that Hispanics are, in the words of the WaPo story headline, "Underrepresented In the Federal Workforce." The Cliffs Notes version? Hispanics comprise 13 percent of the private sector (and, of the general population), but only seven percent of the federal "work" force.
Sorry, didn't mean to give away any hint that I think that most federal workers do anything useful. Having been one, myself, in a manner of speaking... Regardless, it is a very good thing to serve one's country, and I personally encourage more of the best and brightest to go for it. Especially in the national security realm. But I digress.
If a man, or woman, is qualified, and motivated by duty to serve, then who gives a fuzzy white rat's behind what their ethnicity, skin color, etc. may be? It is wrong to insist that every group be represented in (at least) their numbers in the general population in every endeavor.
The feds, to be certain, have a greater perceived need to, in the well-intentioned but disastrous-for-competent-governance phrase of Bill Clinton, "look like America." Perceived need. A greater need is to hire the very best that they can, every single time. If that means a workforce that is 99 percent Anglo and white, so be it. In reality, and in my experience, I had to fix the mistakes of a lot of dumb white guys who were hired because of who they knew. So if the feds only hired the best, I suspect the result would not at all be all Anglo and white.
In the real world, the feds get a skewed workforce, with, it is alleged, too few Hispanics, and too many blacks -- blacks in the federal worksforce being several percentage points above their presence in the general population. Of course, it would take a very brave manager to publicly state such a truth. If exact proportionality were the goal, then the feds should be firing blacks and hiring Hispanics until the "right" numbers are achieved.
This will not, and of course, should not happen. As for the need to have the same proportion of each race or ethnicity in the any national-in-scope workforce, why are blacks so over-represented in the National Basketball Association? Why, in fact, are they so over-represented in what has become our national pastime, the National Football League? And talk about a scarcity of Hispanics, in both leagues. It's positively racist, I tells ya. But, of course, it isn't. The NBA and the NFL are what all employment should be: based on merit.
In reality, the only racism is that which considers a man as part of some group as his first identity. And then, maybe, treats him as an individual. Should the federal government make efforts to increase the proportion of Hispanics? Yes, but not to reach some mindless numerical goal.
Rather, hiring should be on merit. Merit in terms of ability to do well at the job for which he's being considered, and merit in terms of potential for doing other, related jobs -- both up the promotion ladder, and in related fields.
The simple fact is that Hispanics represent a relatively untapped pool of talent and industry. It is in the best interests of the federal government to reach into that pool and grab the best. Along the way, perhaps get rid of some slackers who've been on the dole, er, federal payroll, for far too long.
Both things would be in the interests of us long-suffering taxpayers.
Sorry, didn't mean to give away any hint that I think that most federal workers do anything useful. Having been one, myself, in a manner of speaking... Regardless, it is a very good thing to serve one's country, and I personally encourage more of the best and brightest to go for it. Especially in the national security realm. But I digress.
If a man, or woman, is qualified, and motivated by duty to serve, then who gives a fuzzy white rat's behind what their ethnicity, skin color, etc. may be? It is wrong to insist that every group be represented in (at least) their numbers in the general population in every endeavor.
The feds, to be certain, have a greater perceived need to, in the well-intentioned but disastrous-for-competent-governance phrase of Bill Clinton, "look like America." Perceived need. A greater need is to hire the very best that they can, every single time. If that means a workforce that is 99 percent Anglo and white, so be it. In reality, and in my experience, I had to fix the mistakes of a lot of dumb white guys who were hired because of who they knew. So if the feds only hired the best, I suspect the result would not at all be all Anglo and white.
In the real world, the feds get a skewed workforce, with, it is alleged, too few Hispanics, and too many blacks -- blacks in the federal worksforce being several percentage points above their presence in the general population. Of course, it would take a very brave manager to publicly state such a truth. If exact proportionality were the goal, then the feds should be firing blacks and hiring Hispanics until the "right" numbers are achieved.
This will not, and of course, should not happen. As for the need to have the same proportion of each race or ethnicity in the any national-in-scope workforce, why are blacks so over-represented in the National Basketball Association? Why, in fact, are they so over-represented in what has become our national pastime, the National Football League? And talk about a scarcity of Hispanics, in both leagues. It's positively racist, I tells ya. But, of course, it isn't. The NBA and the NFL are what all employment should be: based on merit.
In reality, the only racism is that which considers a man as part of some group as his first identity. And then, maybe, treats him as an individual. Should the federal government make efforts to increase the proportion of Hispanics? Yes, but not to reach some mindless numerical goal.
Rather, hiring should be on merit. Merit in terms of ability to do well at the job for which he's being considered, and merit in terms of potential for doing other, related jobs -- both up the promotion ladder, and in related fields.
The simple fact is that Hispanics represent a relatively untapped pool of talent and industry. It is in the best interests of the federal government to reach into that pool and grab the best. Along the way, perhaps get rid of some slackers who've been on the dole, er, federal payroll, for far too long.
Both things would be in the interests of us long-suffering taxpayers.
posted by Jack Rich at 11:13 AM
I was born, grew up, and went to school in the Bronx, New York -- on the wrong side of the
tracks. Got the chance to go to college, so instead of joining the NYPD (the obvious career choice at
that time and place), I became an engineer. Spent
some years designing things that go boom (or things that take things that go boom to their destinations...), principally for our military.
Also took an interesting career turn and for some years was in charge of counter-terrorism for my agency...so I learned something about guns. And when to use them.
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