I'm listening to Dean's house call and I have a question

[PeaceProgProsp]

I was just wondering what people thought of Dean's allegory about race. In response to a question from Memphis about race ("what steps would you take to heal the racial divide") Dean said that we have to take a page from Bill Clinton's book and talk to white audiences about race...we've all heard the basics of this argument.

What left me scratching my head was the allegorical argument that followed. He talks about how the woman responsible for hiring in his office was hiring all women. Dean asked her to hire a man and she said there were no qualified men. Dean says we've got to stop people from presuming that people like themselves are better qualified.

I just find it odd that his allegory about race is really about gender discrimination, and that it's about how (white?) men were discriminated against. Granted, it's a cute way to make white men think about discrimination, but I really don't think it's all that sophisticated an analogy. Furthermore, you'd think he'd be able to come up with one that's actually about race. Also, I don't remember Bill Clinton talking about race THAT way.

[LSdemocrat]

1. It's more about the need for affirmative action

The example was meant to illustrate the fact that people tend to hire/recommend people that have similar characteristics that they have. Which is why we need affirmative action to help eliminate that traditional "you have to know someone" to get hired approach.

The specific mention of the woman was just to illustrate that anyone is capable of overlooking qualified candidates (intentionally or otherwise)

[PeaceProgProsp]

5. The thing is, I get the big picture -- diversity is good

However, it's the way Dean argues this that I find odd. His allegory says that replicating the workplace in our own images (regardless of whether you're black, white, man or woman) is bad. That's great, but is that the true story of the workplace in America? OK, I know he's operating from the presumption that white people (men?) control hiring, so, implicitly, he's saying lets not just hire white people. But something is really missing here.

Perhaps it's that he's trying to sell affirmative action not by saying, hey, you white people, we all lose when we hold anyone back (which was Clinton's message). He's saying, hey, it could be you, white man. It's like he's tapping into and encouraging a sentiment that really isn't accurate.

It's the Everybody Loves Raymond version of the white guy's experience of America -- that you're really the one being threatened by liberated women and by racial diversity. I find Raymond intollerable. The show totally encourages the most reprehensible behavior. There's something in Dean's story that reminds me of the Raymond view of the world.

[Speck Tater]

2. Makes perfect sense.

I read a study once that showed men tend to hire men, women tend to hire women, whites tend to hire whites, blacks tend to hire blacks. It's an unconscious habit to give preference to people who are "like us". That habit needs to be broken down before people will begin to see beyond gender and beyond race and see the real person, the soul, regardless of what kind of body that soul happens to be housed in.

[PeaceProgProsp]

6. But is the problem that blacks hire blacks...

...or is there a deeper, structural problem in America that results in not enough blacks and women even being in a position to hire?

[w13rd0]

3. The allegory is about personal experience...

...but as the Dean bashers can tell you, coming up with such a story from experience in Vermont would be rather challenging. The story is to illustrate the need for affirmative action, encouraging diversity rather than letting people "go along" with that inner voice that tells them to just go with the familiar (like)...

[PeaceProgProsp]

7. But, I've read that he had black roommates in college, that he taught in

a (presumable racially diverse) New Haven high school for 3 months, and that he worked on a (presumably racially diverse) Florida ranch.

You think, from those experiences, he might have come up with a story more like one that Clinton might tell.

[La_Serpiente]

4. Race

Well...To add on to that comment.

The group or people that benefitied the most from affirmative action were women who were mainly white really. Although he didn't say white, women were also a group that was discriminated against.

Although gender and race are two seperate things altogether, I think his point was not that we should hire more women. I think was he was trying to say that we should set a goal of putting diversity first...even if it was for men.

However, he didn't really talk about race...I'm a Dean supporter and I don't know if he understands the whole complexities of it, but I don't expect him to. A basic understanding of it is good enough for me. Perhaps he should touch on this later on during the primaries.

Overall, however, I'm firm that his main goal was to achieve diversity for all people of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, and the list goes on.

But one thing that caught my eye was the fact that he insisted on having a male in the department. Now what if this was applied to minorities? What if he insisted on hiring a black person?

The Supreme Court ruled recently that race cannot be an overriding factor when hiring someone.

You can think about it.

Sinceramente,
La_Serpiente

[newyawker99]

8. Hi La_Serpiente!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: