Is Diversity a good thing

[GeneralMelchid]

what are people's takes on diversity on the job and diversity in general?

[Marko360]

Diversity on the job is a great thing. Its only bad when standards are lowered to increse diversity.

[bxhousing]

I think diversity is a good thing, but I don't understand why we have this "diversity at all costs" attitude. If a certain group of people is taking and passing tests then let it be... don't spend extra money trying to recruit those who aren't taking the test just for the sake of diversity.

Institutionalized racism is wrong, but people don't seem to have a problem with it if it helps them.

My 2 cents.

[GeneralMelchid]

bxhousing your right, some places have that diversity at all costs, in Rhode Island, it's 90.1 percent white yet they are actively trying to recruit minorities into the police departments, especially the state police, who are only made up of 218 troopers, currently 15 are women or minorities. Or In Maine, which is just moronic, since theres probably only one minority person and his name is bob.

[GeneralMelchid]

but we all secretly now what happens with diversity at all costs--look at detroit or whats left of it-----http://static.twoday.net/mahalanobis/images/detroit2.jpg

[Flanker]

[QUOTE=gadphto89;1421386]Diversity in general is terrible. Every empire that has fallen before ours was due to diversity. It crumbles from the inside out. One group of people that look, think and act alike are powerful together, but start adding in other groups that don't agree, don't act the same, and the collective group as a whole becomes weaker and weaker, until the levee just breaks. Look at Rome for an easy and verifiable example, one of the most powerful empires in the world. What happened to it? Mass immigration from other nations and cultures peaked, Rome became diverse, and very shortly thereafter Rome fell. It just became too saturated with many groups and cultures that don't agree with each other. Too much confusion and hostility from the inside. Rome's enemies made a mockery out of her.

QUOTE]



Rome was diverse from the very beginning. It did not become diverse and fall "shortly thereafter." From the beginning, Rome relied on the Italian Allies, who had different cultures, languages, and looked different. In fact, the military style that led Rome to conquer the world was adapted from another country, and the gladius that led to Roman infantry being the best...was a Spanish sword. Their cavalry units were Germans or Gauls. And Pompeii, one of Rome's greatest leaders, was a Picentine. And Stilicho (who was a Vandal) was one of Rome's best generals who held off the invading Goths for some time.

So no, diversity did not destroy the Roman empire. Diversity MADE the Roman Empire.

Lets take a look at some other empires....lets say WW2-era Japan and Nazi Germany. Their policies of having one group of people in power that looked, thought and acted alike really worked out for them.

[Jayc6018]

So let me guess "diversity" is the new code word for blacks and hispanics? Thats funny because from what I remember when jobs weren't diverse they still encountered the same problems they deal with now.

[ItIsWhatItIs73]

the difference between rhode island state police and police depts and the nypd is the rhode islanders refuse to lower there standards to increase the "diversity" on there job. the nypd will let anyone that doesnt have a domestic violence conviction on there record join (and thats only because the law doesnt allow people with domestic violence convictions own firearms)

[bxhousing]

So let me guess "diversity" is the new code word for blacks and hispanics? Thats funny because from what I remember when jobs weren't diverse they still encountered the same problems they deal with now.

When we're talking about NYPD, FDNY, or the Long Island PD jobs, yes... diversity revers to minorities and women. These people are "under-represented" within these jobs. You're not going to hear me argue that the demographic of the FDNY is representative of the city's population, but I will argue that it is wrong to attempt to recruit a candidate for any position anywhere based on that person's race, gender, or religion. If someone is given preferential treatment for hire based on their race, gender, or religion then that is institutionalized racism/sexism and it is as wrong, period... I don't care what the skin color or gender of that person is.

I haven't claimed nor have I seen anyone claim on this thread that a diverse workplace creates problems. That claim, if it is made, is ridiculous and ignorant. Please don't lump me in with anyone who makes that claim. We definitely have different beliefs.

When I was in the police academy I took part in a defensive tactics demonstration for community leaders. When we were through one woman who was watching said that she thought we did a nice job, but could she see the same demonstration using recruits of color. What do you call that? I call that racism. She didn't see skilled police recruits demonstrating DT... she saw as white first and foremost.

I'm a realist and I can talk about race honestly, so yes, I understand the historic problems that minority communities have with the police and I understand that PDs are trying to combat that problem any way they can. To institute policies that use race as a basis for hiring are wrong, have always been wrong, and will always be wrong. You cannot right the wrongs of the past by creating a new wrong. There's an old saying about that... you know how it goes.

I don't so much buy into Rome falling because they were a diverse society. Unfortunately when we speak of race you will always have people with extreme views that are more than happy to share them. One day there will be no more race... it will have all melted away. People will find new reasons to hate each other... they always do.

[boguesm]

Why is this thread in the New York forum? There are plenty of conservative boards on the internet, and there is a law and politics section in this forum as well.

[GeneralMelchid]

i don't know why, I wanted peoples opinions on diversity on the job, geuss it got scewed along the way. For me, without diversity, it would be a boring if everyone was of the same ethnicity, skin color, religion, thats why i would never go join the Maine State Police.

[perpwatcher]

Just my two cents I believe that the urge for diversity in the work place now is because there were past practices that prevented diversity or for the most part prevented minorities from gaining employment with certain agencies. So this could be a way to correct those past mistakes. I am sure there are second and third generation police officers of many different forces, so for what it’s worth a tradition that could have been started generations ago is not there. Just my opinion!

[ChrisF202]

I believe that the best qualified person should get a job whether it be a cop, firefighter, doctor, computer technician, etc whatever. I dont care if they are Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Male, Female, Homosexual, Straight, etc all I care is that he/she is the most qualified person to fill that job.

That being said we should absolutely not lower hiring standards just to make a job more reflective of the demographics of a particular area or as a "feel good gesture" to "bury the hatchet" over something that happened long before anyone alive today was alive.

[kingofqueens718]

but we all secretly now what happens with diversity at all costs--look at detroit or whats left of it-----http://static.twoday.net/mahalanobis/images/detroit2.jpg

Diversity didn't destroy Detroit. The loss of factory jobs and competition from foreign auto makers helped to slow the economy in Detroit. All of Detroit doesn't look like that.

[kingofqueens718]

Diversity in general is terrible. Every empire that has fallen before ours was due to diversity. It crumbles from the inside out. One group of people that look, think and act alike are powerful together, but start adding in other groups that don't agree, don't act the same, and the collective group as a whole becomes weaker and weaker, until the levee just breaks. Look at Rome for an easy and verifiable example, one of the most powerful empires in the world. What happened to it? Mass immigration from other nations and cultures peaked, Rome became diverse, and very shortly thereafter Rome fell. It just became too saturated with many groups and cultures that don't agree with each other. Too much confusion and hostility from the inside. Rome's enemies made a mockery out of her.

On this job, I would say diversity is however a good thing just from what I see, because you need black cops arresting black people or the black people will cry racism and try to sue the police department every single time, but if it's a black cop arresting or shooting them, then they really have no right to scream racism since blacks can't really be racist towards ... blacks. Same goes for any minority, just using blacks as an example here.

With the mass amount of illegal immigration and spanish speaking criminals in our country every rising, it's also good to have mexican cops that can speak their language and understand how they think. Diversity is also good in this regard.

So diversity for this job = good, diversity in general = bad.

So going on your theory white people should cry racism when arrested by white officers....or do only blacks and minorities cry racism? If you ever come on this job you have a lot to learn about different cultures that make up the 5 boroughs of NYC.

[GeneralMelchid]

kingofqueens--are you on the job?

[kingofqueens718]

kingofqueens--are you on the job?

Yes

[GeneralMelchid]

right--never mind then., Where though?

[kingofqueens718]

right--never mind then., Where though?

Brooklyn North

[TheKansan]

I believe that the best qualified person should get a job whether it be a cop, firefighter, doctor, computer technician, etc whatever. I dont care if they are Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Male, Female, Homosexual, Straight, etc all I care is that he/she is the most qualified person to fill that job.

That being said we should absolutely not lower hiring standards just to make a job more reflective of the demographics of a particular area or as a "feel good gesture" to "bury the hatchet" over something that happened long before anyone alive today was alive.

The problem is that sometimes in this world a less qualified white male is more likely to be selected as a police officer than a more qualified minority due to stereotypes and preconceived notions (whether they are spoken or not). I know that is hard for a lot of people to understand, but as a college educated black male, I have struggled to find employment in the past and it did indeed cross my mind.

I am not one to blame race on my failings, in fact my failing only inspires me to try harder, however I sometimes wonder if I am being held to even higher standards than others due to the many negative stereotypes of black males (violent, aggressive, lazy, etc.)

In the end I will try my hardest and do my best, but there will always be those who look at my success in life and say that it only happened because they needed to fill a "quota", or that they hired me even though there were better candidates available, which is just an excuse.

[thecongo]

Diversity in general is terrible. Every empire that has fallen before ours was due to diversity. It crumbles from the inside out. One group of people that look, think and act alike are powerful together, but start adding in other groups that don't agree, don't act the same, and the collective group as a whole becomes weaker and weaker, until the levee just breaks. Look at Rome for an easy and verifiable example, one of the most powerful empires in the world. What happened to it? Mass immigration from other nations and cultures peaked, Rome became diverse, and very shortly thereafter Rome fell. It just became too saturated with many groups and cultures that don't agree with each other. Too much confusion and hostility from the inside. Rome's enemies made a mockery out of her.

On this job, I would say diversity is however a good thing just from what I see, because you need black cops arresting black people or the black people will cry racism and try to sue the police department every single time, but if it's a black cop arresting or shooting them, then they really have no right to scream racism since blacks can't really be racist towards ... blacks. Same goes for any minority, just using blacks as an example here.

With the mass amount of illegal immigration and spanish speaking criminals in our country every rising, it's also good to have mexican cops that can speak their language and understand how they think. Diversity is also good in this regard.

So diversity for this job = good, diversity in general = bad.

Anytime an minority gets shot the entire police force is said to be racist. Just look at the Sean Bell case I believe 3 out of the 4 officers were african-american.

As far as mexican cops are concerned...Maybe out in the western states your opinion might be true. But in the east coast most Hispanic cops aren't Mexican. Miami PD for example id say 95% of their Hispanic cops are of Cuban descent. In the NYPD, Im sure most of the Hispanic cops are either of Puerto Rican, Dominican, or of Colombian descent.

Assuming we're all Mexican is a huge insult to alot of Hispanics. I really think this stereotype comes as a default to many peoples minds.

I believe Paul Rodriguez said it best "we can be as dark as Sammy Sosa or as white as Cameron Diaz"....

[GeneralMelchid]

the problem is that like asians, white americans can't tell the difference between mexicans, and el salvadorians and the such.

[gunslash]

just my 2 cents...
diversity is great as long as it doesn't affect my safety in this line of work...

if i call an 85 when i'm down, i really do not care if the hand that pulls me up is white/black/brown/manicured/etc... as long as that hand is there

also where I work, some citizens might be more receptive to a "minority" officer talking to them rather then a white officer. take it for what it is, but you know what, that makes everyone's life easier.

[TheKansan]

Having someone around who understands the unique cultures/traditions of a segment of the population can go a long way to easing tensions in the community.

[Togo]

Edit- Deleted. Found information contrary to what I had been previously informed.

That being said, the only thing that should ever matter is how qualified the candidate is for the position. Everything else (race, sex, religion, sexuality, etc.) shouldn't be considerd.

All in all, I say diversity is good any any situation because diversity in culture, race, sex, etc. will broaden peoples horizons to other people's points of view so long as people keep two things in mind. First, YOUR point of view is an opinion NOT fact. Second, SOMEONE ELSE'S point of view is opinion NOT fact.

[UpstateNYPD]

Rome fell because of high taxes, low patriotism, decadence, and the fact that 250 days a year were holidays. The attacks from the Mongols, Huns, and Vandals didn't help, either, nor did the fact that Rome was a dictatorship.
Diversity is great, so long as it isn't forced, or standards are lowered in order to achieve it. And it should be proportional to whatever municipality/county/state concerned.