> The problem is that in reality, certain "merit-based" programs such as workplaces or colleges don't also align with the racial demographics of the general public, and it's a discrepancy that should make you ask "why?".
> Of course we want to only hire qualified people, but a disproportionate number of people of certain races were not given the opportunity to get those skills already.
Like all wicked problems, there are many reasons - not exclusively caused by one group. I'm the son of italian & french immigrants and I grew up in a poor neighborhood with many black/hispanic neighbors. I wasn't poor, I was middle class. In my observation (admittedly a relatively small sample), the differentiator between my peers (white and non-white, poor and not) was the parental emphasis or lack-thereof on education. My parents never made it beyond high school education, but it was assumed I was going to college. The friends (white and non-white) whose parents emphasized education have fared better than those who did not. How do you fix that? We can offer everyone the opportuntity to go get an education, but we can't change the parents' mindset to its importance.
A stable home environment and an emphasis on education at home would do wonders to advance these inequalities. To be clear, I'm not saying it "their fault", but there is plenty of "blame" to go around. Let's give people a living wage. Let's stop treating K-12 school like a babysitting service, etc.
> Of course we want to only hire qualified people, but a disproportionate number of people of certain races were not given the opportunity to get those skills already.
Like all wicked problems, there are many reasons - not exclusively caused by one group. I'm the son of italian & french immigrants and I grew up in a poor neighborhood with many black/hispanic neighbors. I wasn't poor, I was middle class. In my observation (admittedly a relatively small sample), the differentiator between my peers (white and non-white, poor and not) was the parental emphasis or lack-thereof on education. My parents never made it beyond high school education, but it was assumed I was going to college. The friends (white and non-white) whose parents emphasized education have fared better than those who did not. How do you fix that? We can offer everyone the opportuntity to go get an education, but we can't change the parents' mindset to its importance.
A stable home environment and an emphasis on education at home would do wonders to advance these inequalities. To be clear, I'm not saying it "their fault", but there is plenty of "blame" to go around. Let's give people a living wage. Let's stop treating K-12 school like a babysitting service, etc.