ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100026
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
THE ANGRY white male is subdued these days, reassured by recent Supreme Court rulings against affirmative action in education and placated by a corporate trend toward de-emphasizing diversity in the workplace.
This is hunky-dory for white men, and likely to be a relief even to some women and minorities grown tired of having every job offer, every promotion ascribed to their sex or race, as if hard work and ability could not possibly have anything to do with their accomplishments. The relief won't last - and pressure for change will build - if the shift in attitude stalls or reverses the progress they have made.
Unfortunately, there are signs of that.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows opposition to affirmative action among white males is falling: to 52 percent from 67 percent last year - still a majority, and well ahead of the 44 percent opposed in 1991. But some men who had been caught up in the backlash have discovered that affirmative action is not so bad after all - since it seems to involve little or no action.
That is the other side of this easing of anxiety. "'Ninety-nine point nine percent of the white men I send out get hired,''' a corporate recruiter told The Wall Street Journal. Great - but ... minorities fare less well, he reports, in part because there is less pressure to meet affirmative-action goals.
Fixed racial and gender quotas can be counterproductive, exacerbating or even creating hostility when companies are pressured to hire or promote some minorities and women over more qualified white men. Poor affirmative-action hires may make for good statistics on corporate reports in the short term. Long term, though, they reinforce negative stereotypes and bury real equality of opportunity even deeper under suspicions and animosities.
But a genuine commitment to diversifying, by widening recruitment and breaking down stereotypes, should not be lost - for the sake of fairness and for the sake of businesses. "'It's still mostly a white man's world where I work,''' one relieved United Airlines worker told the newspaper. The larger world is more diverse. And so will companies have to be to thrive.
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB