Human Race

I understand Affirmative Action. I just don't believe it is necessary. If we truly believe race doesn't matter, why do we have to indicate our race on everything.

I get that there are groups of people who get discriminated against. I understand that Affirmative Action was the governments way of fixing that problem. seriously though, when did the government ever come up with a good solution. Personally, I'd rather get hired based on my qualifications than the fact that my employer just needed to hire more women. Now, I can see if a company had a difficult time choosing between two candidates who are equally qualified, then I could see how affirmative action could help with that decision, but I don't think it is necessary.

Now, I know a lot of people are prepared to tell me how I am wrong and we need Affirmative Action for all of those people who are treated unjustly. Just hear me out.

If (as Michael Jackson put it) "it doesn't matter if your black or white" (or Hispanic or Asian or whatever), then it why do we put it on all of our documentations? There are only a few places where I believe it is necessary to declare your race.

1) at the doctors - it is important to know because there are some diseases that are more prevalent in some races than others
2) Birth Certificate - as a form of identification which becomes necessary for my number 1 reason
3) Driver's License - as a form of identification because your race is a part of who you are.

I can't think of any other reasons but that doesn't mean there aren't any other reasons. If we ask for that information if makes it important. We are classifying people based on their looks, not their merits.

If we stop asking for people's race (and sometimes gender), then we people will start believing it doesn't matter. It won't  happen over night, change rarely does.

Right now it matters because of Affirmative Action. But take that away and you have employers looking at applications and resumes and identifying the most qualified individuals. Then you have them interviewing based on merit, not the color of their skin or whether or not they have a Y chromosome.

When we make those distinctions you are discriminating against someone. When I was in high school, I was looking in this huge book of scholarships. I was feeling discouraged because I couldn't find anything for me. When I found a scholarship for tall black girls I knew I wouldn't find anything for me. Where were the scholarships for short white girls?

Yes, there are jerks out there, There are people who won't hire someone because of the color of their skill or lack of a Y chromosome. But you have to admit, today, in 2016, there are less of those jerks than there were in 1966. Just think, what it will be like in 2066 if we look at people based on their merits and not the color of their skin.

What is my race? The human race!

Wait, What?

So, I was reading on the CDC.gov website and I noticed something peculiar. First of all, I was reading about childhood obesity. I read about how it is more prevalent in Hispanics. Then it talked about non-Hispanic blacks and I thought, "That's funny. I've never heard of a black person who considers themselves Hispanic, 'Hispanic black.' " There probably are some, I don't know of any, though, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. Then it talked about non-Hispanic whites. A term, with which I am very familiar. I'm used to the comparison of Hispanic vs non-Hispanic white. Though, when I first had that option placed before me I thought it was a weird distinction. Why would that wording be used to describe me, but, oh well. Then it talked about non-Hispanic Asians. Then I thought, "Wait a minute!" Come on! When did we come to the point where we are describing ourselves as whether we are Hispanic or not? This was the United States of America's Center for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Now, I know that race becomes an issue when you discuss certain diseases. I get that. So, that is important to know. But why not say white, Hispanic, black, Asian, etc. Why the distinction of Hispanic versus non-Hispanic?

Come on, if you really want to be "politically correct" the United States of America declared their independence from England so maybe we should be calling everyone English vs non-English. Okay, well the colonists didn't want to be a part of England any more so maybe American vs non-American should be better. Oh, but wait! The Native Americans were here first. Why not Native Americans vs non-Native Americans. Oh, but that brings me to my other issue. There are people who claim to be native to California or native to Arizona or native to New York (I think you get the idea) but non of those people also claim to be native to America.

When and why did we start labeling people Hispanic versus non-Hispanic?

I'd appreciate your comments on this to help me understand. Not to ridicule, but to help clarify. Stay tuned - I'll be posting more about this issue.

Have you seen the latest post by Low Cost Styles?

Adults

I am convinced that one of the reasons why children have lost all respect for their elders is because their television shows depict adults as morons and children as the geniuses who know everything!

How many sitcoms have children doing all sorts of things and the adults (parents, teachers, store clerks, etc) are clueless about what is actually going on? How many times do children get away with things and the adults never do anything to correct the behavior?

Children need to grow up seeing strong adults leading by example. Entertainment has a strong influence on children. Young children watch those shows and movies and believe it is a reflection of reality. They don't have a firm grasp on the differences between fiction and nonfiction. . . yet. They need to see strong adults leading by example in real life as well as in the entertainment they watch.