White People Need Not Apply, says Mass. Cabinet Secretary
Well now. It’s always entertaining to read when government officials say stupid shit, but this is some of the most egregiously stupid shit I’ve read about in a very long time. I mean, it’s on a par with ‘nucular’ for just outright stupidity, and it could qualify for a whole new category of prize, since it represents the official position of a department of government.
From the Worcester Business Journal:
Suzanne M. Bump, Massachusetts secretary of labor and workforce development, said she could staff her entire operation with solely white lawyers
[snip]
“I could fill my office with white lawyers,” Bump said. “We’re choked with applications from them. But they’re not going to get the job done.”
[snip]
Bump offered her remarks last week at a forum on diversity in the workplace held in Natick, co-sponsored by the MetroWest Alliance for Workforce Diversity and the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce
Now, I’m just gonna jump right out here and call bullshit. Isn’t the whole idea of our anti-discrimination laws that the color of your skin does not determine whether or not you can ‘get the job done?’ I mean, anyone that works in Human Resources in any capacity will tell you that you don’t get to pick who you hire or let go based on their race, gender, age, or what body part they’d rather get fucked with. And now a government official not only steps up to the plate and (a) admits that it’s her practice to do so, but also (b) extols it as the only way to ‘get the job done?’
Some people believe that the concept of ‘reverse discrimination’ or ‘reverse racism’ does not exist, and quite frankly that it cannot exist. To those people, I offer up this challenge with respect to the above-linked article. Re-read it, but every time that the word ‘white’ appears, substitute ‘hispanic’ or ‘African-American.’ Are you finished yet? Now are you pissed? Great.
This is not about white power, or supremacy, or any other bullshit about how white people are better … it’s just about equal fucking protection. Same rights that everyone else gets. It is flat out fucking illegal to discriminate against anyone based on race. For the Massachusetts laws, see Title XXI. For Federal laws, shit. Title VII of the CRA, and the CRA of 1991 are good places to start. Hell, Massachusetts is working on some new laws prohibiting height / weight discrimination. Watch out - in a little bit here, the whole ‘you must be this tall to ride’ or ‘weight limit: 600 pounds’ may be illegal! But … it’s perfectly legal to not hire white lawyers because ‘they’re not going to get the job done.’
For any white lawyers that have applied for positions with the State of Massachusetts, particularly in the Department of Labor, and were not hired, there’s an office of the US Gov’t Equal Employment Opportunity Commission located at 15 New Sudbury Street in Boston. Phone number for them is (617) 565-3200. Print out the article I linked to above and take that with you, along with a copy of your resume and (if you have it) your application.
There’s a few different ways this could go, here.
- Suzanne M. Bump is fired or resigns in disgrace one step ahead of the pink slip, as her office and the government of Massachusetts is served with a massive flood of discrimination lawsuits from every white lawyer that ever filed a job application with the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
- Suzanne M. Bump decides, because her skin is white and she is therefore unable to ‘get the job done,’ to resign in favor of a disabled multi-racial transgender lawyer with severe mental issues, who will obviously be better able, by virtue of his / her / its “diversity of skills, perspective and cultural background” to provide the leadership necessary to ‘get the job done.’
- Nothing happens to Bump, and the state pays hush money to quietly make the massive flood of discrimination lawsuits go away.
Guess which way I think it’s going to go?
-jesse custer
Edit: I have been informed that Title VII might not actually be the appropriate set of laws to use in this case. While the State of Massachusetts is certainly a large enough employer for the Title VII guidelines to be applicable, depending on the time frames involved, the statute of limitations may have already expired. Furthermore, there are some specific guidelines as to dispute resolution through the EEOC, and what the maximum penalties are. 42 USC S. 1981 might be more useful in these circumstances, as there are clear precedents where federal courts have held the contract verbage to include ‘at-will’ employment.
Given lawyers’ tendency to wield the law like a weapon of extortion, I am confident that they’ll remedy the situation to their satisfaction.
I think that the intent / purpose of anti-discrimination laws is to promote diversity. Not to give defenst to racial purity. Hiring all white lawyers just because they are qualified, or even MORE qualified, isn’t what the laws are about. Otherwise, this couls always be a legitimate defense by racist employers.
The intent / purpose of anti-discrimination laws is to … PREVENT FUCKING DISCRIMINATION. Period, end of story.
What does it mean to not discriminate, in terms of hiring?
Well, I’m so glad you asked. It means hiring the person who is best qualified for the position, without regard to their race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, residential status, etc. Or at least, that’s what the government says. Please find and point out to me anywhere in Title VII that it says that the purpose is to promote diversity.
And yes, this would be a perfectly valid defense to use for hiring a white person who is more qualified than a minority. If the company is racist, then they’re fucking scumbags, but they’re within the law. If you follow the law, then the scumbag issue does not come into play.
I was deleting a botched comment as requested by its poster, but I think I may have accidently removed 2 comments. Sorry!
Okay, granted I’m drunk on Sake bombs before noon (again) but I am for some reason not crying about this. Was the comment inappropriate? Absolutely. Should she apologize and recieve no punishment like every racist cracker that came before her? Sure. But keep this in perspective. White rage is not justified. It’s assinine. You people rule the known world and have for some time. EVERY SINGLE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN WHITE. The number of incidents of racism leveled against minorities and the number of “racist” (check the oed definition) remarks and acts directed at whites by minorities don’t even belong in the same sentence. I know it’s hard being white. I know it’s hard being the most priveleged group on earth but searching desperately for avenues like “reverse racism” (a ludicrous idea) to express your anger serves only to enrage and embolden the rest of us. Try golf.
@Jody: The reason the majority race rules an a given government is because its the majority.
75% of the US population is white.*
We’ve only had 43 presidents in the history of our country. Throughout much of that time, the white ratio was higher. Statistically, we’re not far off the mark.
There are countries in the world where the majority(quantity) and majority(power) are as out of whack as worker bees to queens, but we are not one of them.
*US Census 2005
Click here to vote for this as a WTF on Technorati!
@Jody:
So, if I say, ‘My office is choked with applications from black people, but they’re not going to get the job done,’ that would be discrimination, right? That would be a horribly racist thing to say, right?
So why is it any less racist, any less discrimination, when someone says ‘my office is choked with applications from white people, but they’re not going to get the job done.’
What is it that you don’t understand about the following passage:
UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES
SEC. 2000e-2. [Section 703]
(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer -
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or
otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his
compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of
such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants
for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any
individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his
status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin.
(b) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency
to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate
against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin, or to classify or refer for employment any individual on
the basis of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Title VII
Do I seem like a person who gives a shit about the law? If the laws in this country had more to do with real morals, let alone right and wrong, we wouldn’t be having this debate. The whole basis for this great nation was a fallacy. “…liberty and justice for all”. Was that some kind of sick joke? The laws of this land have either been outright lies or tools to trample on the rights of people… of course at one time your precious laws stated that black people weren’t human. Maybe you guys can quote that law next time you use your power as the majority to oppress the rest of us who have to live in this country. But we’re the minority, right? I guess we should just shut up and like it. This is why “reverse racism” fails as a concept among those educated in logic. Racism is a practice in which those in power oppress those without. Is it prejudice? Yes. Is it bias? Obviously. But racism it’s not. And with that said, what makes it different? History. You all are the two most priveledged groups in the history of the world. If white lawyers are discriminated against in this country, somehow, I think they’ll be okay. When most minorities experience discrimination, lives are on the line. When you all become the minority, and you will, remember all of this. If and when that day comes you may not be so smug.
… ummm, I just reread the blog. SHE”S WHITE??!?!?!?!??! WE’RE ARGUING ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE OPPRESSING WHITE PEOPLE!??!?!?!?!
… also, as was pointed out by my good friend, The Hurricane that now that we know she’s white these comments are most likely taken out of context. I am searching now… odd, no full transcript to be found. Funny that our beloved media can trumpet her guilt all over the world but not give us all the evidence. It’s as if they pick the stories they want to run and then mold them for maximum impact… nah, that’s not possible. Let’s just dance to their tune without question, overreacting to every little story they shove down our thoats and why? So we won’t start thinking about things that really matter.
Go back to sleep, America.
This message brought to you by the commitee to elect Jody Eugenius Wilson the longest comment leaver in the history of blogging… and President of the World.
Well now, I suppose that would be the big difference between us, then.
I -do- give a shit about the law, and I don’t think that law should be about morals. I don’t want the government dictating my morality to me.
Now, here’s my question: why are you so self-hating? Are you not concerned about your own rights? Or are you one of those people that simply says ‘ah, fuckit, let the government tell me what my rights are. I don’t need to care.’
1. Yes, we are different.
2. Congratulations on loving the law. What is it that you love about the law if it has nothing to do with morality? Isn’t that why murder is illegal or is it just not profitable?
3. No one dictates anything to me. You might’ve guessed.
4. Self-hating. Do you really want to use that term with someone you hardly know? I am the proudest Jew you’ll ever meet, and although I may be caucasion, I ain’t white.
5. I clearly stated earlier that I don’t give a shit about the law. What about that makes you think I would “… let the government tell me what my rights are”. I believe in self-determination, particularly for myself, and have a very clear sense of my rights, my beliefs and my morals. Again, ain’t nobody tellin’ me shit.
6. Hopefully I’ve cleared up any confusion about who I am and what I believe.
I bid you good morning, Jesse.
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I get where all this is coming from, even though I don’t agree. I understand why people are trying to give the dark-skinned man a chance. Duh. Because THE MAN just keeps us down. Please.
But I also believe it can go too far. The fact is racism still exists. Another big duh. In fact, just here in Texas a few days ago, a bank called the police because a black man entered the bank to do some legitimate business and some tellers were just sure that they were going to be robbed. He wasn’t even armed. The cops, just doing their job, have the guy outside and handcuffed. This is just the beginning of that story. And yet I don’t see friggin’ Al Sharpton anywhere near Frisco, Texas!
My point is because so many ridiculous people still do things like that bank in Frisco. And because of that people like Bump and the state of Mass. are going to these lengths. Racism has been recognized most assuredly in that region and maybe this is a step in a direction to solve it.
BUT. A big old fat one.
If we keep making everything about race—work, relationships, politics—we JUST CAN’T MOVE ON. I don’t look in the mirror everyday and remind myself I’m black. I really don’t need anyone else to do it either. Hire who is qualified. But make sure you get a large pool of qualified INDIVIDUALS. Not just one race of swimmers.
AJJ: I think activism has brought us as close to equality as it can. Further activism only reminds us of perceived differences. We need to just chill. Racism will die out over a few more generations if we just shut up and let it. If we keep picking the scab, it’ll never heal.
I include the so-called ‘reverse racism’ in that. People who think they’re helping by giving the ‘poor ignorant little negros a hand up’ aren’t helping anyone. The free market wants the most creative, hard working people, and it will get them, in all colors, if we just leave it be.