Or worse, to exclude others because their race or gender do not line up with diversity goals.
Unless you believe that the EAA board is purposefully excluding POC, then the entire subject is more or less just rabble rousing. If EAA is purposefully excluding POC, then there truly is an issue. They aren't, BTW.
If the best candidate that applies for a given job every time a job is posted is white, and the company wants to hire the best of those that submitted a job application, the company ends up with all white employees.
From the company's standpoint this is good. From the governments stand point it is bad. The government will declare it is bad for the employer. The government apparently knowing better what the company needs than what the company believes they need.
Decades ago when applying for an airline position I was constantly rejected since there was always some ex Air Force type with thousands of heavy jet hours in front of me. Every time. I never thought that I should have been able to fill a claim due to the airline always selecting the more qualified over me.
I am a diversity guy, my wife is another race. I am an engineer and aviationist for long time. All most everyone here doing the building are old white guys. No one is excluding women or other races, they just arent participating, Think about it, basketball players are mostly Black, should we have a similar rule for them?
However i agree with you. So how do we handle that?
Kurt- I am a “social justice warrior” as you put it. I am also in agreement with you completely on hiring the most qualified people period regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or any other category anybody can think of. I’m also a firm believer in social justice issues. Everyone deserves dignity, a sense of purpose, pride and a positive role in our community. We are fortunate enough to live in the wealthiest country on the planet. As such no one in our country should be homeless, hungry, sick or a societal outcast. Everyone deserves basic human rights and those are rights. If the Jeff Bezos’s of the world would simply pay what they are supposed to pay in taxes, as opposed to manipulating the system to pay zero in corporate taxes and then on top of it, receive 789 million in corporate welfare, maybe we could make America Great Again by ending homelessness, hunger and provide world class health care for ALL Americans regardless of income, class or social status. As a pilot, lifelong EAA member and proud American I stand up for what I believe is right. I think we can all work together as EAA members to help make not only EAA a better place but our world as well. We are all super fortunate to be in positions to own, operate and fly aircraft. Clearly to be able to do what we do, we have the financial capabilities that others might not. As such it’s our moral obligation to help when and where we can. For me, that means volunteering my time and aircraft to take disadvantaged kids up to Northern Minnesota in my 182 Amphib for a month every summer for floats, Fishing and fun. We work on life skills, Sea Plane Flying, Fishing, surfing, wakeboarding and in general have an amazing time. It’s not only great for the kids but it’s great for my girlfriend and I as well. I do what I can to have a positive impact on my community and I’m a firm believer in all of us doing the same thing. It’s simply the right thing to do. I follow the golden rule and I am my brothers keeper. It’s that simple. As EAAers and pilots, we all have that moral obligation and that’s what being a Social Justice Warrior means to me.
SJW. I'm sorry to hear that....
I will offer the observation that everything in aviation is colored by the experience of leaving the earth in a flying machine. Mother Nature and the laws of physics do not care what your race, religion, gender, financial success, position on social justice, how kind you are to other, or any other "soft" achievement is, all that matters is your skill in operating the machine and ability to make successful decisions about weather, mechanics, and other "hard" factors. Excellence is what gets you into the sky and back down to the ground successfully. Everything in aviation is colored by this. Including who self-selects to lead aviation organizations. Coloring flying decisions based on what we want rather than what Mother Nature and the laws of physics give us simply increases the accident rate. Moving fuzzy decision making into the operation of aviation organizations puts already fragile organizations on the path to extinction.
Best of luck,
Wes