THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
I read Kerry DeRochi's comments (My Turn) about how Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Boorda was questioned as to why the Navy keeps having problems with sexual discrimination.
All I can say to Ms. DeRochi and to others who wonder why discrimination continues is Get Real! How fast do you expect change to occur? And do you really think that every person told to act a certain way will do so?
What I think Admiral Boorda was trying to say was that though the Navy is working to correct the problem, it is impossible to control the behavior of all 433,000 people in the Navy. There will be bad apples in every group.
Name a major organization with more than 1,000 people, and I can almost guarantee that you will find discrimination occurring, whether racial or sexual. The spotlight on discrimination is very powerful and makes us all look at this very real problem. But it remains with us, as we are constantly reminded.
Did Ms. DeRochi write about the highs that the Navy is having? Did she write about how long it has gone since Tailhook with no major problems with sexual discrimination? Of course not. She would rather shine the light on the very few sailors who screw up rather than the vast majority who are conquering the seas, the air and sexual discrimination.
We are talking about a major social experiment here. And no matter what the experts say, society and human behavior are unpredictable and dynamic. But it takes time to affect major changes. Sometimes a generation.
Let's not the actions of the few sour our taste and respect for the rest of the group. They deserve and need our respect.
JOHN KOEHLER
Virginia Beach, Nov. 22, 1995 by CNB