racial and sexual inequality (was Re: various bits)

[Bradley M. Kuhn]

John M. Klassa wrote:
> 
> >>>>> On Sun, 1 Aug 1999, "Bradley" == Bradley M. Kuhn wrote:
> 
>   Bradley> Cincinnati has a lesbian mayor, though, which is pretty cool.
 
> This comment struck me...  What makes this cool?  Is she better qualified
> to be a mayor because she's a lesbian?  I'm not trying to start an
> argument here -- I'm just genuinely curious about this kind of sentiment.

Someone from a minority group, particularly a minority women's group, is
much more likely to be sensitive to the causes of the oppressed.
 
> Last year, before our church held vestry elections, I overheard one guy
> say to another, "I think it's great that Patti is running.  We need more
> women on the vestry."  I wondered why.  I mean, really, it seems like
> you'd want people who are qualified to do the job at hand, not those that
> fit some particular label.

I didn't say that she wasn't qualified, did I?

Given two qualified candidates, though, someone from a minority or a group
that is oppressed by the white male patriarchy in this country is always
preferable.


> Whether those you elect are men, women, black, white or otherwise
> shouldn't matter, so long as they're qualified and have a desire to serve
> the interests of those they're representing.

Again, I agree, however, if given a choice between two qualified candidates,
why not pick someone from the group that has been passed over for years
because of the oppressive nature of our social structure.

This entire country's social, economic and professional structure is
designed to keep white men in power.  Without active to work to modify that,
it will continue that way indefinitely.

Remember that women have only had the right the vote for less than 100
years, and less than 200 years ago, all black people in this country were
*slaves*.

That sort of damage doesn't repair itself with a few marches and sit-ins in
the 1960s (although they did help).
-- 
         -  bkuhn@ebb.org  -  Bradley M. Kuhn  -  bkuhn@gnu.org  -
                          http://www.ebb.org/bkuhn