On Wednesday, The Daily wrote an editorial “demanding” a “more diverse faculty.” After reading the article however, it was difficult for me to see exactly what those demands were. The message was clear however: OU’s faculty is not diverse enough.
So, was the editorial arguing that the university should favor hiring minorities? If so, then they are dead wrong.
I thought this was an interesting quote: “This isn’t to say the OU administration doesn’t actively seek out diverse faculty members — they do. But why can’t they get a more equal number of minority faculty members?” Let us define “equal,” or more specifically equality.
What is equality? Should equality be a direct reflection of state or national demographic numbers?
If we were to use the U.S. Census Bureau’s factsheet on Oklahoma’s demographics, then OU should have a faculty consisting of 78 percent white, 8.1 percent black, 8 percent American Indian, 1.7 percent Asian, 8.2 percent Hispanic, and, don’t forget, 4.1 percent mixed race.
Of course, if you do the math, these percentages add up to more than 100, since 8 percent of the white population is actually white Hispanic. Don’t forget other factors such as that people of “mixed race” might consider themselves more Asian than white, for instance.
If we follow this model, then the first thing OU needs to do is stop hiring white and Asian faculty members immediately! Just look at how overly represented Asians are at OU.
According to the editorial, there were 141 full-time Asian faculty members at OU in the fall of 2009. Asians comprise almost 10 percent of the faculty. That means that they are five times overly represented according to Oklahoma’s demographics. Talk about unfair! We should do something about that, shouldn’t we?
Thankfully, we don’t. Because race does not play a roll in who is chosen as faculty and who is not. These people are chosen based on their merits and ability to perform their jobs successfully. Being black, white, or Asian doesn’t get to be factor anymore in the job process.
So what is equality in our country? Is it equality of opportunity? Equality of wealth? Equality of skills?
No — what makes this country so special, so wonderful, is that we are all equal under the law. No court of law in this country is allowed to rule in favor of or against someone because of his or her color. That’s a great thing! That means that nobody can use the law to stop someone from, say, opening a restaurant in a city just because they are black
That has not always been the case. Throughout our country’s history, both the federal and state governments have drafted legislation which barred peoples of different ancestry, beliefs and colors from pursuing their own personal interests of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But those days are over. The government no longer has the legal authority to prohibit any race of people from pursuing their self interests.
But that’s as far as the government should go. We all now have full equality under the law.
Cherish that, please, I beg of you. If Oklahoma created a law which made it mandatory to have a certain number of minorities working at OU, then we would no longer enjoy that legal equality. A set number of positions at the university would be reserved for a specific group of people based solely on the way they were born.
That, readers, would be a legally favored class.
The editorial also argued that minorities have difficulties getting into graduate school because of financial concerns. But if you really want to pursue a career in academia in this country, you can. There are hundreds of ways for low-income students, especially minorities, to receive financial aid for both undergraduate and graduate studies. And if you can’t get a full ride, you can always take loans.
Yes, that’s right. Sometimes, in order to succeed in this country, you have to take risks. Borrowing money for school is a risk. It is a risk that I myself will soon take. But if I work hard, those risks will be rewarded. That’s the beauty of America. We all have the right to take risks, to either profit from those risks or not.
Some of us will fail, and some will succeed, regardless of our skin color.
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toastergirl 1 year, 8 months ago
THANK YOU!!!!
mustafa 1 year, 8 months ago
In order to get more blacks on the faculty, we first need to get more of them to finish High School.
kdbp1213 1 year, 8 months ago
hire the most qualified and deserving person regardless of race, gender, religion, etc. affirmative action is reverse racism. get rid of it. it is outdated.
qwerty 1 year, 8 months ago
The Daily's online comment moderator has made some interesting choices this year.
mitc0155 1 year, 8 months ago
"We all now have full equality under the law." Okay. Have you seen the documentary, "With All Deliberate Speed"? Only a few decades ago, blacks and whites were segregated, and we're still faced with a lot of discrimination in the financial and educational sectors. Take a look at the work of Jonathan Kozol, or Gregory Mantsios, and you'll find people who have done their homework when it comes to race, class, and privilege. The law declares us equal, but we're far from experiencing full equality. When this author writes, "If you really want to pursue an education ... you can." That's a nice synopsis for all of the under-privileged inner city children (black, white, AND hispanic) that end up dropping out of high school because they need to make money quicker than going to school will allow them. I found this piece incredibly misinformed.
mitc0155 1 year, 8 months ago
As to a previous commenter - "reverse racism" doesn't exist, literally. You can't have "reverse" racism - only racism. For "reverse racism" to be real, you'd have to at first admit that racism comes primarily from whites to begin with. You'd have to be calling yourself inherently racist.