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  • From: Chris Hedemark <chris AT yonderway.com>
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Trent Lott, segregationist
  • Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 11:30:50 -0500

On Monday, December 9, 2002, at 07:07 PM, Diana Duncan wrote:

The thing about many Republicans is that
they hide behind statements such as yours to cloak their racism in some sort
of respectability.

That statement implies two incorrect notions:

1) That I am a Republican
2) That I am racist

If I were one of the many that takes great offense at every insult thrown my way, I would probably be crying bloody murder right now. As it stands I'm unsurprised yet disappointed that my comments on the issue weren't approached with independent thought.

If we didn't have some sort of system to reward companies, schools and
politicos for at least considering minorities, people like Mr. Powell and Ms.
Rice wouldn't have a chance.

Wrong. Powell is undoubtedly the best man for the job. We've seen him at work before and he is probably the man with the most integrity in the whole of the administration. I've got a pretty low opinion of Rumsfeld and it is no surprise that the two men seem to be at odds with each other all the time.

I had never heard of Rice before her appointment with this administration but she seems to be extremely intelligent, professional, and level headed. She does not strike me as the type that would be hired simply because she is a minority.

Hiring should be done strictly on merit. If color is still a problem for some backwards people (the most blatant examples of which can be found in the minority community by the way), then instead of the reverse discrimination of affirmative action maybe we should hold all initial interviews by phone, and only have in-person interviews at a very late stage (if at all).

As it is, minorities are still underrepresented
in all aspects of American life, except perhaps in poverty, criminal and
victim statistics.

It's high time for people to take personal responsibility for their own actions (or inactions). I've been a hiring manager at a company that practiced affirmative action and the applicants that I was given under that system really were substandard. Setting the bar lower produced applicants that didn't try as hard. In other companies that were smaller and didn't participate in affirmative action, I would see minority applicants that would try just as hard as anyone else and were truly competitive. Affirmative action is simply an excuse for people to not be their best. There was a good reason for it years ago, perhaps, but it is high time to eliminate reverse discrimination.

Chris Hedemark .. Hillsborough, NC .. http://yonderway.com
Homeland Security begins at home; support your Second Amendment.






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