Wow! You think that just because a minority is qualified that he will get hired based "solely on his qualifications"....WOW! What if I told you that "qualified" minorities were NOT getting hired because they did not "fit the mold" ...i.e DAL. You talk about character and equal treatment of people... oops I guess Katrina shows just how equal we really are in this country... YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
First off, how do you know they didn't get hired based on their race? Could it be that the psych eval downed them? Or perhaps they came across with a sense of entitlement? Whatever the reasons... you make it sound like black people should NEVER get rejected for any jobs they're qualified for.
So what does OBAP do? Does OBAP force Continental or Delta to hire black people? OK, so Delta's mins are 1200TT and 1000 multi, but most guys getting hired are getting hired with 4000-8000TT range. Isr it racism if a black guy with 1200TT doesn't get a call? Qualified? Sure... Competitive? Maybe not. But should the black pilot get hired at 1200TT? OBAP would tell you YES, despite that everyone else is hired at 4000-8000TT range. Is that fair to every other pilot applying for a job?
Katrina was a disaster in how it was handled, I'll give you that. But contrary to Jesse Jackson's statements, I believe it was way, way beyond racial issues. It was just an all-around screwed up situation.
BUT you can correct the future by knowing the past and being honest with yourself.
Agreed... but how do you become honest with yourself by promoting 'reverse racism?'
FD,
IF you were a black male in this country for more than a month.... you would definitely have a "come to Jesus" experience. To you these organizations "reek of reverse discrimination" but HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT ALL PEOPLE OF EQUAL QUALIFICATIONS GET TREATED FAIRLY?
Refer to my question above.....
Final thought...would you rather be a qualified black pilot or a qualfied white pilot at an CAL interview in TEXAS or a DAL interview in GEORGIA (southern states...i.e the good ole south) based on the history of this country?...with NO EEOC, NO OBAP, or any organization that attempts to block racial ]discrimination knowing about your interview?
Frankly, I'd rather be a qualified black female pilot at either of those interviews because I KNOW that the way things are currently... barring blatant screwups, the job is mine, because if it isn't... I'm suing for discrimination! Nevermind that I might not be a personality mold they're looking for, or I might have bombed their psych test, or I just give off a bad vibe - same as any other interviewing pilot, but goddammit... if I'm black, according to Jesse Jackson, I have grounds to sue for discrimination!
Look, let's talk percentages.... what percentage of white people don't get hired as opposed to percentage of black people not getting hired? Should every white person sue? Where is the EQUAL TREATMENT?
If I told you that you could be the richest man on the planet...BUT you would have to live as a black man , would you do it?
Think about it....
Somehow I don't see Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson (aside from his HIV status, which BTW... how the hell did he manage to live being HIV-positive for now 17 years without actually getting AIDS?) suffering or being discriminated against. I don't see Denzel Washington being discriminated against. Hey, how about Chris Rock? I love that guy... he's hilarious!
What's even more significant about these individuals is that they've done exactly what I've said - pushed themselves to become someone. They didn't get sucked into East Coast rap vs. West Coast rap wars/killings, or Bloods vs. Crips drivebys, or drugs, so on and so forth. They put themselves above the rest and they made it.
To bring it to our level, recently, I rode jumpseats on United and Delta and both captains to give me a lift were black. Yes, can you believe that? A black Delta captain. But then again, this man was an active Air Force pilot, who then transitioned to Air National Guard when he got hired at Delta and is still in the Guard. Now he's a 767-400 captain at Delta. Similar story with the United captain - he flew F-15's before UAL. Now he's a 767 captain.
Could it be that these guys were more than just qualified, but rather competitive? I think so.