Equal Rights? I don't think so.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /news/news.html?in_article_id=536050&in_page_i d=1770

Since I am Married, Heterosexual, White, Aged, English, Male and Law-abiding.

I have long come to the conclusion that I am at the bottom of the pecking order in my own country.

[Quinlad]

What job were you hoping to go for? Maybe we can help?

[jake-the-peg]

I know all these black, gay women in positions of power.

The police is full of them and the judicery, you can't move for cabinet ministers and they take all the best jobs in the City don't they?

[anotheoldgit]

Selling 4x4s to the natives.

3 minutes you are slipping.

[Quinlad]

I just care about you, that's all.

I'm like an online version of Home Help.

[Le Chat]

It actually says this :-
"If two candidates were equally qualified for a position, employers would be able to reject the white person or the man in favour of a black person or a woman."
Well, they can do this now can't they??

[sp1814]

I saw this story over the weekend and my initial response was "This is an own goal, and devisive".

Then I thought, "Naaah...there's already positive discrimination favouring white, straight men...let's redress the balance".

Now, I don't know what to think.

I 'spose if someone could prove that there is absolutely no prejudice in any area of employment, then I doubt whether there would be any need for discussion documents like this to ever surface.

Do we all believe that every black/Asian man is judged on merit by prospective employers?

Do we all believe that women are given exactly the same employment opportunities as men? That they don't face the glass ceiling? That they worry about pregnancy impacting on their careers?

How about the disabled? Are we all 100% sure that they don't face prejudice?

If we can all be sure that these issues don't exist, then we can be comfortable about the status quo.

As it is...I don't think we can.

By the way, I would hate to think that positive discrimination had anything to do with what I personally have achieved.

[anotheoldgit]

Well you had 2 Brownie points to start with.

[Twenty20]

So, discrimination is ok now? So long as its against white males.

[Kromovaracun]

sp: If discrimination does occur, affirmative action does nothing redress it. The USA is quite a good example.

While affirmative action in the US has done a decent job of increasing numbers of ethnic minorities in higher education, it hasn't really done anything toward improving race relations (which have improved due to other things).

The affirmative action model doesn't really work so well applied over here, either. Why? Because things have always been kind of more class-oriented than race-oriented in the UK. I'm not saying they're unrelated, but it still won't work to apply the same template.

[sp1814]

Twenty20

Discrimination has never been right...but without putting into place positive discrimation, how do you deal with discrimation which currently exists.

Like I said before, I am really in two minds about this. I can see arguments on both sides that make sense.

So I'll step out of this.

I'm off to celebrate that Grabby Heather McCartney 'only' got �24.3million (she actually wanted �125million).

There is a God.

[Quinlad]

Heather Mills you say? I would have thought she'd get the full �125m...

After all, we seem to be saying that disabled single mothers are getting all the breaks these days, while their white, British, male, able-bodied ex-husbands get shafted by the 'system'.

;-)

[tigerlily11]

Prejudice is every where against some one or other. The banners that the foxhunting mob put up were always bleating about prejudice and lets face it most of them should know, they have spent most of their lives dishing it out.
It won't happen. Some prawn of a politicain always comes up with some silly idea and it never gets anywhere.
So don't panic Mr Manewaring, but if you want to please feel free revolt. I'm sure there must be enough of us white British left to storm parliment.

[andrea81]

Like in all jobs, the employer is going to employ the person that they feel can best fit the role!

For example my hubby wasn't the best qualified person for the job he has now, but he was told that the reason he got it above other candidate was because they thought he would fit in better with the workers and management as he's a likable person! so in the application/interview prosess, the people the company want to see succed probably will!

[sp1814]

Kromovaracun

You've raised interesting points, but I think the US model and the UK one are so different as to be not worth comparing.

America's relationship with black America is defined by slavery. Britain's isn't.

Also, when I watch American documentaries, I see far more black American judges, police captains, business leaders etc, than I do (as a proportion of the population) than I do in the UK.

There may be dozens of reasons behind this, but I don't think it's wise to dismiss positive discrimination.

By the way tigerlily11's point is excellent. These ideas normally get put forward by radical think tanks, mainly to test public response, and then quietly filed away once it becomes obvious that the vast majority of people (black and white) are against such endeavours.

[sp1814]

andrea81

Let's hope that all employers think like that.

[naomi24]

SP .......when I watch American documentaries, I see far more black American judges, police captains, business leaders etc, than I do (as a proportion of the population) than I do in the UK.

This is just a thought, but do you think that could be because (unlike ethnic minorities in the UK) as descendants of slaves, these successful black Americans are just as indigenous as the majority of the American white population?