Sublime
Sublime
Friday, October 8, 2010
Are All People Equal?
One of the questions asked to the class was "are all people equal?" The truth is that people are not all equal. There are small people. There are tall people. There are smart people. There are not so smart people. Race should never be the determining factor for anything, and it bothers me that it some times is. A few years ago I was working for a clothing company that was required to meet a racial quota. I was informed that my hours were going to be cut in half because they needed to hire somone that was a minority and that the person would be taking some of my hours. At first I thought it was not such a bad idea, that is until the guy who was hired turned out to be an extremely bad worker. The guy was not a bad worker because he was black, he was a bad worker because he was lazy. While I realize that racial quotas in the work place are meant to prevent racism, they actually promote it. My first thoughts after having my hours cut so that I could be replaced by some one who is taking advantage of a system were definitely not "Oh my! I feel so thankful that the government provides equal oppurtunities to all people!" The idea that I am trying to get at is that people should not be treated equal, they should be evaluated and hired based off of their skills and attributes which would make them valuable to a company. Race should make no difference. I propose equal rights, not a system that gives advantages based on race.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree, not everyone is equal. We all have equal rights, but we don't have equal qualities, ethics, beliefs, or values. Some might be similar but definitely not the same.
ReplyDeleteMany of us wish everyone was equal but in reality this isn't true. We will always have these stereotypical views and prejudices against others. You're right race shouldn't make a difference and everyone should be presented with equal opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people ought to be hired or promoted based on merit, but even this seemingly simple statement is fraught with bias. Who determines who is "qualified" and who is not? This was, traditionally, the reason why Affirmative Action began. I'm not saying that AA doesn't need to be thoughtfully revisited, but it began for a good reason. For example, a friend of mine, a second-generation American born Vietnamese citizen, worries that his application will not be considered, because of the discomfort it may cause others to properly pronounce his name: Hieu Bieu. His name is "uncomfortable" or too "UnAmerican" to say...hence he's never called, hence he never has the opportunity to "prove" his worth to an employee.
ReplyDeleteI suppose all I'm really trying to say here is...it's never as simple as we would like it to be...or that we sometimes like to pretend that it is...
My two cents :)