Discriminations

Maybe I've been reading this stuff too long, but I find this report of a Central Michigan University conference fascinating, revealing, and depressing.

The most noteworthy thing about it is ... that it's so un-noteworthy, commonplace, even banal. It's just like hundreds, maybe thousands, of similar meetings that are now, alas, a part of contemporary life. And the vested interest of all of the "affirmative action officers" and Associations of Affirmative Officers and umbrella groups of various associations of affirmative action officers underscores how difficult, or even impossible, it will be to rid ourselves of them, Justice O'Connor's fig-leaf of a 25 year life-span for affirmative action notwithstanding.

I was also struck by two other items in this report. First, the "building bridges" talk was presented to "the Black Caucus Foundation of Michigan’s fourth annual Diversity Conference." I find the idea of a "black caucus" inside a "diversity" conference itself interesting (are there any whites or Asians or Hispanics in the Black Caucus; if not, what of "diversity"?), but I'm sure that's just me.

And then there was this:

“It was an excellent opportunity to interact with young people on how diversity impacts their environment, the challenges they face, their issues and possible solutions,” said [CMU Affirmative Action Officer Phyllis] Powell. “The emphasis was that each individual is unique and should feel comfortable talking about and sharing that uniqueness with those around them.”

Leave aside diversity impacting environments and each individual sharing what is unique about them [sic]. Here's the rub: if each individual is unique, and that uniqueness is what is important about each individual, then what is the point of a black caucus, not to mention such diversity "tools" as "a utilization analysis that establishes appropriate hiring goals and timetables"?