When "Diversity" Means "White People, Keep Out!"
A young woman who is white, Samantha Niemann, is suing the Getty Foundation, "alleging she was denied an undergraduate internship with the institution because she is white," reports LA radio station, KFI:
Due to inquiries from potential applicants as well as internal and external discussions, several months ago the Getty modified the eligibility criteria for 2016 to state that applicants must be members of an underrepresented group, including but not limited to, those of black, Asian, Latino, Native-American or Pacific-Islander descent, according to the statement.The suit filed Friday states that in February 2015, Niemann `"was deterred from applying'' for the internship program and told that only black, Asian, Latino, Native-American and Pacific-Islander candidates were eligible.
A Getty Foundation representative confirmed to Niemann -- who is of German, Irish and Italian descent -- that she was disqualified from applying because of her race and national origin, the suit says.
Niemann was "well-qualified'' for the internship because she was a student at Southern Utah University with a 3.7 grade-point average, according to her court papers.
Of course, there's the question of whether "diversity" simply means skin color.
Maybe actual diversity means letting in a few of those evil Republicans or maybe nixing some black kid from Harvard for some kid of whatever color from some extremely unfashionable part of Kansas.
And maybe, just maybe, people should be chosen on merit and promise -- regardless of their skin color, sex, age, or anything else.
That's how I've always hired. Mainly because choosing otherwise is idiotic.
Being female isn't "diverse" enough any more. In addition to excluding whites, there was no mention of Asians - or many others. A century ago there'd be signs that "Irish need not apply." Fifty years of Affirmative Action has brought us back to where we were, and well past that point.
Wfjag at May 3, 2016 4:08 AM
Shoot, Irish, Italians, and Germans were all discriminated against by WASPs in the history of this country. In the 20s, my grandfather and my great-uncle changed my family's last name so it wouldn't sound so foreign and "German", since they were both serving in the military at the time.
spqr2008 at May 3, 2016 5:56 AM
I don't know how far Ms. Niemann's lawsuit will go. Without having read any further than the linked article, it seems to me that, as a private foundation, if the Getty Foundation wants to have a minorities-only internship they can have one. From what I can tell, the problem is that the Getty Foundation wasn't clear about their minorities-only criterion at the time Ms. Niemann applied.
Oh, and the first part of the KFI story struck me as weird:
Harassment? Retaliation? What did Getty do to this person?
Oh, while we're at it: Would she have had any problem with a women-only internship? Just thought I'd toss that out there.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at May 3, 2016 11:20 AM
My parents are pure gringo, but I was born in Venezuela (dad was an oil engineer); can't I call myself "Hispanic"?
jefe at May 3, 2016 4:20 PM
To jefe: No, anyone knows ethnicity and nationality are not the same.
Plus, many (most?) people would also refuse to refer to you as Venezuelan, unless you are currently a citizen of that country.
Reminds me of what it says in the introduction of "Halliwell's Filmgoer's and Video Viewer's Companion," 9th edition, 1988 (the author died in 1989, the following is not verbatim):
(Regarding the listing of Joan Fontaine as British) "The fact that Joan Fontaine was born in Tokyo does not make her Japanese, nor do her many years in America discount her essential Britishness."
BTW, Fontaine's older sister, Olivia de Havilland, was also born in Tokyo.
lenona at May 4, 2016 7:44 AM
How about my wife Lenona? She is of Dutch extraction. The family moved to Argentina post WWII. After a couple of generations her branch headed up to Mexico. Her parents ended up in the US (getting freedom from a controlling father). She speaks Spanish as do all her close relatives. Far as I can tell she is Hispanic but unless you start talking in Spanish I doubt you could tell (still very Dutch looking).
Ben at May 4, 2016 9:32 AM
Call her what you and she please; I am obviously not Halliwell and I take it she is not an actor anyway.
lenona at May 4, 2016 12:16 PM
A few years ago my staff were all Mexican men. The one who spoke fluent English appeared to be pure Native American and the one who spoke no English appeared to be pure Caucasian.
DaveG at May 4, 2016 3:56 PM
And, for what it's worth: if you go to Spain, you can find plenty of blondish people, mainly, but not only, in Galicia (where the Moors never bothered to invade).
lenona at May 4, 2016 4:16 PM
"Diversity" and "Minority" and the buzzwords are confusing.
I worked in an urban girls' school with no white kids. Once a white lady came as part of some enrichment program and gave a speech about how when she was growing up she was a minority in her neighborhood.
Afterwards I was discussing it with the kids and they were like, "She used to be black?" It was very confusing for them.
And then I said something about being white and one girl asked "Wait, you're white? I thought you said your mother was an immigrant?" It was only the one girl, though, the rest were quick to yell, "From EUROPE where white people COME from"
NicoleK at May 9, 2016 4:55 AM
Hey Jefe! My Mom was also born in Venezuela due to my grandfather being an oil engineer! What a coincidence!
And Lenora, ethnicity and nationality are not always the same, but there is some overlap. Like, here we have four native ethnicities but they are also tied to the nation... The Romands are Swiss-French, not French. The Swiss-Germans are not Germans. The linguistic culture matters and ties us to the speakers outside our borders, but the Swissness is important too.
NicoleK at May 9, 2016 4:59 AM
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