Then what are you going to replace it with to get rid of discrimination? Open discrimination is still allowed, despite federal laws. My last company had an hr guy who called those tho complained blackmailers if they thought of going to the EEOC. The one with an ethics hotline in his office!Once you brought up your concerns internally, you were on a blacklist(how ironic). And our local EEOC office has been known to ignore legit complaints if it involves the companies of powerful good old boys. This wasn’t a small company, but one you all fawn over when you hand out political perks. If a company that makes money off of federal contracts won’t do it right, who will? They had several complaints that were deemed valid, yet they stay in business discriminating daily.

I agree this is a time for change that is hard for those who benefit from an unequal playing field. But none of these selfish people wanted to do right before it involved THEM, else we wouldn’t have to make laws for equal treatment. I watched them promote white males who broke equipment because they did not have the knowledge to properly work on it and did not have lower level training past competent women. I watched them refuse to let secretaries even have a decent title when they asked for it. Young male engineeers had signs made calling them mister. The women didn’t get that respect. I watched them give plum assignments and introductions only to white males. There were NO people of color in the executive ranks. Maybe one hispanic. I met no jewish folks there in high ranks that I know of. I watched them fire older good workers to avoid retirement costs. I watched one of our young white males be charged with interviewing new employees. He made fun of one applicants asian sounding name. And yep, that competent applicant didn’t get the job. Our department head got most of his contractors from two nearby white counties. We know the demographics there. There was a certain good old boy country mindset that made them more comfortable, even though they made their money in a metro area with more varied demographics. I watched them make fun of asian restaurant food in meetings in front of asian employees. I watched them insult women with vile comments their daddies would have punched them for to humiliate them in meetings. We won’t even get into the treatment of gays outside the urban areas of MO.

We can’t even get enforcement half of the time even with laws. How do you expect over half of our population to thrive if you gut what little protections they have? And despite what the bigoted ones would have you believe, it isn’t easy to file a case and get it heard, much less dealt with. Our repub bud GB has sent and set the tone that I hope Obama will reverse. We see from the nasty election how nasty and entrenched in hoodom many of the folks still are. Ask these folks what they will have to replace this then. Not a dog and pony show, but a real change into true equality.

If you won’t treat folks equally, at least prorate their taxes down. What is your alternative? You can’t even protect whistleblowers in your state. The world would respect us more if we were honest and said F-NO, we do not feel anybody is as worthy as white males to exist in equality. That’s the day to day reality. How can you feel you are superior white men when your history has folks having to work ten times as hard doing better work every day than you do for less pay and respect?

And let’s not forget, this is how hitler got his evil done. If you study what led up to the evils in germany, you will learn that hitler roused the folks into evil during very bad economic times. Women were just being hired to work in factories and have good jobs. Well, the good old boys in little leather shorts didn’t like that and hitler suddenly had his little army of goodness ready to do battle. We have so many parallels to that time here in amerika right now. Evil still walks and it walked across the ocean and set up shop here. Those who do not remember history…

Damn, I wanted to be the first to reply to a blog for a change…the mixed one beat me to it! Cheers fellow traveler for the quick fingers!

Interesting headline, Jake. Is this anti-affirmative action? Or is it anti-gender/racial preference?

How do you say potato?

I have been conscious, as far back as I can recall, of a desire not to even inadvertently give off a racist vibe, and yet I find myself privy to a whole lot of “dirty little secret” racism still permeating society in this part of the country. I can only imagine how free the rednecks might feel to unleash the fullness of their bigotry if they found in me a kindred spirit on some level. In my view, any white person that proclaims that affirmative action is unnecessary to help compensate for the insidious racism that still keeps a lot of doors in this country shut tight to minorities (or more pathetically, that it is reverse discrimination) is either willfully ignorant of the true landscape of opportunity or has failed to thrive as a white, male, hetero despite it all. At the very least you are disingenuous in your outrage, and you might just be a loser that no one wants to hire or promote to boot. How can you begrudge anyone whose ancestors came to this country in chains an opportunity based (in very small part) on racial preference in combination with other merit-based factors?

Maybe every “redneck” out there doesn’t appreciate being equated with cavemen by snots like you?

The election of Barak Obama proves that this nation has reached a level where anyone can reach the highest heights the country has to offer, regardless of race or religion (the candidacy of Sarah Palin offers arguably the same assurances to women)
Affirmative action did not get Barak Obama where he is, he did that on his own. Anyone still claiming ‘the big bad white man’ is holding him down just isn’t trying hard enough.

Oh, Really? Did you follow him every step of the way, to every institution to which he applied for a job or an education, and see what boxes he checked and what consideration was given to the corresponding answers? I wouldn’t be so sure about your assertion that affirmative action never did a thing for him. You should go have coffee with a group of 40-something African-American men and women here in Missouri and listen to their (his-)stories relating to education and jobs. If you really listen, I think it wouldn’t take you long to realize that just trying hard does not open enough doors.

Well, how do YOU know he did or didn’t. I want my president to be the best possible. If affirmative action helped Obama get where he is now, that’s a check against him.

-BTW, What about rich black people? They get the best of both worlds, don’t they?

Two wrongs don’t make a right, but three lefts do.

The Post Dispatch is discriminatory in who they hire on their paper. Most of the journalists are liberal. I think we need affirmative action for political views to stop this obvious bigotry.

There are more blacks playing in the NBA than whites. That is racist. We need affirmative action in place there to allow discriminated white players to get their fair shake.

The unions do not allow non-union workers at their factories. That is discrimination. Independent workers need an affirmative action program to get them the same jobs as union workers get.

Non-US citizens cannot be President. We need an affirmative action program to allow people born in Kenya, for example, to be allowed to be President. It is not fair to discriminate.

Nobody is able to make it on their own abilities any more. We are all discriminated against and need the government to step in an take action.