Journal of Unabridged Genius

Journal of Unabridged Genius - Vol. 2, No. 1 - January - June 2010

1/19/2010

This is an opportunity to reflect on articles in this issue of the ejournal constructively and possibly build on the research.

4 Comments

David J. Jefferson

1/24/2010 05:24:37 am

As a followup to the article that we wrote for this issue ("An Expose of the Emperor: The Illusion of Reverse Discrimination"), we'd like to propose seven practical tips to guide interactions with individuals who claim that reverse discrimination is operant, or that American society is contemporarily post-racial. These recommendations are:
1. Validate the person’s perspective, no matter how much you disagree. We are all blinded by our own experience. If an individual has been privileged enough to avoid the reality of race-based inequality, the contemporary existence of disparity may be difficult to fathom.
2. Don’t believe everything you see on TV. The images broadcast through popular media are not necessarily representative of reality at the street level. Just because Obama was elected doesn’t necessarily mean that the option to run for President exists for all people of color (or all white people for that matter). Relatedly…
3. Meritocracy is a myth. Meritocracy is the very American notion that we can all lift ourselves up by our bootstraps if we only have the gumption to do so. This is simply false. While we do indeed live in a democratic society, our access to wealth, success, and opportunity very much depends on variables beyond our personal control, such as where we live, who we know, and how often we’re in the right place at the right time.
4. Nobody is colorblind. If we possess the capacity for eyesight, physical characteristics are inevitably among the first things that we notice about others. Even if we personally don’t judge based on these characteristics, others do. Moreover, our ancestors definitely judged one another based on physical traits such as color, and created the social systems in which we now operate based on these judgments. To claim colorblindness is to deny that the past is still present today, a dangerous and ignorant assertion.
5. “Reverse discrimination” is illogical. Programs and policies that give preference to groups of people based on historical discrimination can only be considered to be unfair if true, widespread, and comprehensive baseline social equality has been achieved. Otherwise, reversal based on extant reality would entail discrimination on the magnitude of pre-Civil Rights Era practice against groups that were previously the oppressors. Nothing like this actually exists.
6. Part of the problem or part of the solution? Whatever our personal experiences and beliefs, we must acknowledge that we live in a pluralistic society. This means that there will inevitably be people whose ideas run completely contrary to our own. Yet if we are the true sons and daughters of democracy then we should strive for compromises that value the perspectives of the most diverse sample of the population as possible. Therefore,
7. Dialogue is key. When two sides disagree it is all too easy to retreat into defensive positions. Doing so only isolates and exacerbates the distance that already exists between people of different backgrounds and experiences. To ally against racism and all other forms of discrimination, we must all be able to share our stories with honesty and to listen to the stories of others with humility.

KOH

1/24/2010 12:11:53 pm

Excellent recommendations. I would also be curious to know if you and/or your co-author have had an opportunity to operationalize these seven tips in a workshop forum. Also has it been your experience that different ethnic groups react to your research differently? If so, how?

KOH

Walter Lanier link

2/5/2010 06:48:54 am

Like your discussion on color blind; it - "color blindness" is a trick bag in the socio-legal process.

Attributed as magnanimous in grand in the Plessy v. Ferguson dissent "[o]ur constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens," Justice Harlan is often given credit for poetic language and the lofty ideal. However, it is his other language in the dissent that tells the real story . . . "[t]he white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country. And so it is, in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth and in power. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be for all time, if it remains true to its great heritage and holds fast to the principles of constitutional liberty."

In other words, by my reading of his language, the language of "color blind" is okay because it does not, in the end, interfere with white supremacy.

In still other words, those who utilize the phrase "color blind" as a goal are quoting a white supremacist.

My two cents . . .

cleveland percy

2/10/2010 02:06:09 am

The opportunity to submit my article on race/cultural labels was a great pleasure. In my verbose presentation of a complex issues I hope the message is not lost that personal character has no color and "we do not have to be twins to be brothers" Anon I would also like to congratulate the other writers who have taken their time to offer positive perspectives.

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Journal of Unabridged Genius - Vol. 2, No. 1 - January - June 2010

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