Comments on: how obama redefines diversity

By: Cathy @ RiseSmart

Cathy @ RiseSmart — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:51:45 +0000

Very interesting post. I’ve never been more proud to be an American as I was the day we elected a minority (not just any minority – a brilliant man) to lead our nation. I truly believe this a statement on where we are as a nation and where we are heading. It’s very inspiring.

By: Colleen Aylward

Colleen Aylward — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:49:35 +0000

Thanks, Rita. I have much respect for your years in the recruiting industry, and admire your coaching work with candidates and hiring managers alike (www.jobsearchdebugged.com). We need more readily-accessible advisors like you out there to help executives navigate these changing times keep setting the bar higher for the word “professionalism” in the hiring process.

By: Rita Ashley

Rita Ashley — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:54:18 +0000

Colleen, Highly appropriate point of view. I do wonder if the walls of employment discrimination will completely fall away any time soon as a result of the election. While I have absolute faith in the next generation I have less hope that the mindset of the current generation is changed regarding who gets hired…We can hope. We did hire a minority to lead the most influential country in the free world.
Good Blog. I love that you keep the conversation rolling on this all important topic because this sort of dialogue does much to lower the walls. You rock.

By: Colleen Aylward

Colleen Aylward — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:41:33 +0000

Thanks, Robert… Yes it is and was meant to be a blog post for our world of Recruiting and not politics… although “politics” is the maneuvering of human beings…

But i would rather see us stay on topic, which is about diversity in the workplace, what diversity means now and in the future, and how definitions may, in fact, increase some possibility of creating classes of “have nots”…

And, further… in a global sense, if we are producing more and more blended (race and ethnicity) humans, will discrimination change? Lessen? Stay the same? Increase? Will discrimination no longer be about race and ethnicity and more about education, affiliation, power, circles of influence, global reach, language expertise, travel experience….?

By: Robert Allen

Robert Allen — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:42:08 +0000

this is (was) a recruiting blog…yes?

By: Martin Snyder

Martin Snyder — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:24:01 +0000

Colleen its dangerous to take identify politics to their logical end, which is where your questions go regarding other ‘protected classes’.

William is right but maybe for the wrong reasons. Identity politics present major moral problems; there is no clean way to ration opportunity based on anything but individual performance.

Affirmative action v. action that levels the playing field is the moral question. Its not a matter of “guilt” or “debt”, its a matter of justice.

IMHO there should be one and only one protected class: the poor. And the protection should only seek to level the game, not to advance any player until such time as no more leveling action is needed.

The protection should take the form of educational opportunity and a reasonable welfare safety net so that the poor can compete for jobs on the basics of being able to get to work in the first place in some kind of condition to work a full day and return to some kind of home.

A very wise man once told me that any human problem capable of solution can be solved in one way (at least): throw dollars at the problem.

By: William

William — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:52:49 +0000

Great article, Colleen. It’s amazing that more people in the election focused on his accomplishments or qualities versus his race. Yet they have been constantly reminded of guilt for which they still “owe” something. The real guilt should be carried by those in politics who constantly reminded the African American community of their past and victimhood – giving no hope to them that they (not the party) could make a better future for themselves. Democrats failed, Obama won.