Weakened at Bernie's

[footnotefetish]

These über-conservatives have a love/hate relationship with affirmative action. There's hate for the program but looooooove for its existence since they can use it as an excuse when minorities get ahead of their white, pimply asses in business. They can claim race preference rather than have a self-realization that they might not be the sharpest

Comments

[footnotefetish]

I'm already back in town, but hopefully that's equally exciting. I can't wait to catch up with you again!

I'm sure I'll come up with some sort of costume, even if it's not very original, but right now I'm coming up with nothing.

[minervarain]

See, I wanted to be Frida Kahlo for either Halloween or the All Souls' Day Procession, but, honestly, where outside Mexico can a girl on a budget get a huipil? And how do the folks from Oaxaca do those intricate braids? It's unlikely I'll be able to pull that off in so little time.

[footnotefetish]

That would be a good costume indeed. I wonder if you could borrow a huipil from someone.

Convenience

[flw]

Reminds me of a joke I was trying to write:

What do you tell the unqualified, alcoholic, unshaven, one shirt tail not tucked in, late for the interview, friend of your bosses nephew prospective employee was the reason you couldn't hire him?

Affirmative Action.

There are so many situations when you can't hire someone who is white and you need to give them an excuse... or someone who is white needs an excuse for why they didn't get hired. This is the primary function of Affirmative Action if you ask me. Some people are astoundingly persistent and will call and call and call even though they are desperately under qualified or possessing other obvious mental deficits that you can't bring up, and a good old, "Between you and me, we had to hire a black woman." gives these people the excuse they need to lay off. Then they tell everyone at the bar... and then before you know it... everyone at the bar is telling the same story

[footnotefetish]

lexanlet quoted something by Heinlein a while back--something to the effect of every guy thinks he would have been the baddest motherfucker around if he'd been dealt different cards at the beginning of his life, or perhaps at some crucial turning point. It's sort of a combination of braggadocio and a delusion of martyrdom. I think affirmative action lends well to that whole mentality.

What's really telling is that other types of unfair preference happen all the time in hiring, like nepotism and picking the more physically attractive candidate, but they never stir up the same ire. When someone non-white is hired because of his or her ethnicity (whether this is fact or just imagined), suddenly it's some great outrage. This is classic conservatism right here. Be pro-life until birth. Be indignant about immigration, but only mention Mexicans. Be upset about hiring preferences, but only if they're race-based. Say you believe in academic freedom, but not if it applies to Ward Churchill. Of course, if you ever get called on it, you'll say

[minervarain]

I thought I'd add this this with more from Occupied America about "ethnic politics":

"In New York and Chicago pundits openly calculate the 'Jewish vote' or the 'Polish vote' or the 'Irish vote.' It is only when pundits judge people of color that this vote suddenly becomes un-American."

Rodolfo Acuña

[footnotefetish]

Touché! I once read an article in The New York Times about a conservative teacher who was claiming that his academic freedom was being infringed upon. Among his beliefs was the idea that multiculturalism was un-American. Well, if that's the case, I'm as un-American as hell, and I would gladly like to drag his American ass out into the street and kick the shit out of him.

[mi_tigre]

go as Razor Ramon aka "Hard Gay"

[footnotefetish]

Hey, that might be an idea right there. People often think I'm gay, so maybe I should take the path of least resistance with my Halloween costume.

[minervarain]

somehow, i can't see you in hot pants.

[footnotefetish]

Yeah, I don't really have the butt for it. But maybe I could pull it off for Halloween.