[Vision2020] Diversity 1,2,3

[Edna Wilmington]

Dear Melynda,

Please accept my apology for failing to reply to your
questions back in November.  I left the country early
that month and have only recently returned to the U.S.
 Now I've been slogging through hundreds of email
messages that accumulated during my absence and would
like to answer your questions, even though it means
resurrecting an old thread.

I can understand your puzzlement, as my hasty posting
didn't make clear that I had in mind not only
affirmative action (which, in practice, amounts to a
quota system used to fulfill diversity profiles), but
also extension of the principles and practices of
affirmative action into the private sector via
executive orders pertaining to companies holding or
seeking federal contracts (hence, my employment of the
phrase "commercially sanctioned").  By the way, since
you referred to it, I have no substantial objections
to the 1964 Civil Rights Act (or the principles behind
it), and it is my antipathy toward racism and sexism
that drives my disapproval of affirmative action.

The fact that affirmative action exists as a supposed
remedy for unjust discrimination (racist and
otherwise) was the background for my quip about
"kings."  Perhaps it was a poor choice of words, since
some would rather live under a just monarch than the
demos infected with such bad ideas. Nevertheless, my
point was simple: We ought not attempt to rectify
injustice or prejudice by impatient, shortsighted and
unjust means, but if we're in charge, we can do
whatever we please, whether our actions happen to be
just, prudent, and visionary, or none of the above.

Thanks for your questions,

Edna Wilmington

--- Melynda Huskey <mghuskey@moscow.com> wrote:
> Dear Edna,
> 
> I'm puzzled by what you mean when you write
> "Affirmative Action."
> Do you mean the federal programs which require that
> hiring be
> conducted fairly if federal funds are received by
> the hiring
> authority?  Or do you mean civil rights laws which
> prevent
> employers from practicing racial discrimination or
> gender
> discrimination?
> 
> And who exactly do you think are the "kings" of our
> country?
> 
> Melynda Huskey
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Edna Wilmington" <edwilming@yahoo.com>
> To: <vision2020@moscow.com>
> Cc: <mghuskey@hotmail.com>;
> <rodneyjohnsoniii@hotmail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 8:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Diversity 1,2,3
> 
> 
> > Melynda Huskey wrote:
> >
> > > Racism is a self-perpetuating and systematic
> > > privileging of one socially constructed group
> > > at the expense of others. Racism in the U.S.
> > > confers unearned power on "white" people at the
> > > expense of others.
> >
> > That's funny. For a moment I thought I was reading
> a
> > perfect definition of affirmative action.
> Substitute
> > "Affirmative action" in place of "Racism" and
> "certain
> > 'deserving' minorities" in place of "white people"
> and
> > voila!: A splendid example of how pliable some
> folks'
> > notion of justice can be.
> >
> > Oh, by the way, may I suggest we add the
> descriptive
> > "institutionalized" (as in governmentally and
> > commercially-sanctioned) to "systematic?"  The
> > philosophical and functional similarities between
> > affirmative action and "white privilege" among
> racist
> > Southerners gives me goose bumps. The former
> simply
> > applies more broadly, and quite literally, has a
> > different, albeit more colorful face.
> >
> > It sure must be good to be the kings.  Then again,
> I'm
> > sure I must have this all wrong.
> >
> > Edna Wilmington
> >
> > __________________________________
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>
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>
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> >
> >
> 
> 






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