Is this a common situation?

[sharpy]

  Just spent the afternoon round at my brother in-laws (Dave is name is),chewing the fat as you do,when the conversation got round to the fact that our 16 year old boy as shown a keen interest in joining the fire brigade (or the fire and rescue service as it is now known).Anyway Dave is a fireman and has been for about 15 years,and was in his element telling us about how good a job it is. He eventually tells us that the service is currently recruiting but there was a few stipulations as to who could apply to join at the moment.Apparently (and Dave swears this is true) you have to be either;Female,An ethnic minority,Homosexual,Bi-sexual or disabled,to be able to apply.You cannot apply if you are a straight white male.

  Am I alone in thinking that in todays multi-cultural society this is wrong.That everybody should be given a chance to do the job/jobs on offer,or is this a common situation in todays society?

[Wardonkey]

Dave is talking bollocks.

[sharpy]

  That is what i thought but he does have a way of convincing people

[thetank]

Proponents of affirmative action generally advocate it either as a means to address past discrimination or to enhance racial, ethnic, gender, or other diversity. They may argue that the end result — a more diversified student body, police force or other group — justifies the means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action

Opponents claim that it has undesirable side-effects and that it fails to achieve its goals. They argue that it is discrimination, perpetrates new wrongs to counter old ones, and instills a sense of victimhood in the majority. It may increase racial tension and benefit the more privileged people within minority groups (such as middle to upper-class blacks) at the expense of the disenfranchised within majority groups (such as lower-class whites). In the British 2001 Summer of Violence Riots in Oldham, Bradford, Leeds and Burnley, one of the major complaints voiced in poor white areas was alleged discrimination in council funding which favoured minority areas.


It's an interesting one, happens all over the world.

[KingPoker]

Not neessarily talking bollox if they have to get the minoritities numbers up before some review!!!!

[AndrewT]

"I'd like to join the fire brigade please"

"Are you one of these minorities on this list?"

"Yes, I'm gay"

"Are you sure? You don't look gay"

"I really am super gay."

"OK then - you're in. The first task for all new recruits is to polish the fire chief's helmet and then make sure all our massive hoses are fully drained and cleaned."

[Indestructable]

 

[sharpy]

Posted on: Today at 05:55:18 pmPosted by: AndrewT 
Insert Quote
"I'd like to join the fire brigade please"

"Are you one of these minorities on this list?"

"Yes, I'm gay"

"Are you sure? You don't look gay"

"I really am super gay."

"OK then - you're in. The first task for all new recruits is to polish the fire chief's helmet and then make sure all our massive hoses are fully drained and cleaned."

   

  Quality

[kinboshi]

Proponents of affirmative action generally advocate it either as a means to address past discrimination or to enhance racial, ethnic, gender, or other diversity. They may argue that the end result — a more diversified student body, police force or other group — justifies the means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action

Opponents claim that it has undesirable side-effects and that it fails to achieve its goals. They argue that it is discrimination, perpetrates new wrongs to counter old ones, and instills a sense of victimhood in the majority. It may increase racial tension and benefit the more privileged people within minority groups (such as middle to upper-class blacks) at the expense of the disenfranchised within majority groups (such as lower-class whites). In the British 2001 Summer of Violence Riots in Oldham, Bradford, Leeds and Burnley, one of the major complaints voiced in poor white areas was alleged discrimination in council funding which favoured minority areas.


It's an interesting one, happens all over the world.

Worked for Ginger...

[FlyingPig]

Where I work, we a have a very strict BME % (Black, Minority and Ethnic Groups), which means that in our community wehre we are, if we a have a genral BME in the community of 5%, we will use 'Positive Discrimation' to employ people from the BME. So our BME workforce is 5%. Currently it's at 2.8% BTW.

We make sure all the companies we use measure the % BME of employees for them.

This is not something I agree with. Whoever is the best person for the job should get it, regardless of race, sex, disablity or sexual orientation.

[byronkincaid]

i know someone who was turned down for the police cos of that.

[thetank]

This is not something I agree with. Whoever is the best person for the job should get it, regardless of race, sex, disablity or sexual orientation.

Supporters of such programs would agree with this sentiment.

They don't see affirmative action as ideal, no person would, rather a means to an end.

[BrumBilly]

Chris Rock has an amusing take on this. Sure, pick the best person for the job but in the event of a tie pick the black dude as 'you white folk have had a 400yr headstart' (or words to that effect).

[Digger]

Nice one AndrewT   ...political correctness sucks!!

[AndrewT]

Chris Rock has an amusing take on this. Sure, pick the best person for the job but in the event of a tie pick the black dude as 'you white folk have had a 400yr headstart' (or words to that effect).

Black people had a headstart of tens of thousands of years over us whiteys.