Racism is alive and well in Britain

[rustypouch]

So the British government is racist. There are jobs you can't apply for if you don't have the right skin colour. link

 

[Jekyll's Guest]

So the British government is racist. There are jobs you can't apply for if you don't have the right skin colour. link

Isn't it just 'prejudiced' if it's anti-white?

At least that's the crap you see spouted all the time.

Racism, ironically the only thing all humans have in common.

 

[AvalonXQ]

These aren't "jobs", they're two years of paid training to try to get more of Bristol's minority population into the government workforce.

'This traineeship was started because of the marked under-representation of ethnic minorities in our workforce.
'The normal recruitment process was not rectifying this unacceptably low trend so there was a strong case for this small positive recruitment traineeship for two ethnic minority graduates a year.
'We have a workforce of more than 9,000 employees, excluding school staff, so this is a small training programme.
'Graduates from any ethnic background are open to apply for the national graduate local government programme which we recruit from every year - we have just recruited two graduates in this way.
'We also run a successful apprenticeship programme for the under-24s - so far we have placed 62 to date. And of course there are a range of jobs advertised externally via our website, which graduates can apply for.
'It is also worth remembering that this is a training position - at the end of the two years there is no guarantee of work and the successful candidates would have to apply for a job with the council in the usual way on the open market.'

 

[Alt+F4]

So the British government is racist. There are jobs you can't apply for if you don't have the right skin colour. link

You shouldn't rely on the Mail for your information. No where in the ad does it say that white people can't apply. I just applied for the job, I listed my race as white. They scheduled an interview for me on June 10.

 

[Tatyana]

So the British government is racist. There are jobs you can't apply for if you don't have the right skin colour. link

The Daily 'Hate' Mail that supported Mussolini and Hitler during WWII really isn't a very good source for anything.

It is a jumped up gossip rag for white collar workers, or to clarify, a huge pile o'*****.

 

[Primus]

Regardless of what you think of the policy this is a job. It's a 2 year fixed contract job that will almost certainly lead to a permanent position.

My personal stance on this is that it is counter productive. If you want more non-white people to apply to work for you then stoking a sense of resentment towards them by implying that they can't get jobs on merit is a very stupid idea and should be revisited.

Edit: sorry forgot to quote. This is a reply to AvalonXQ

 

[Cainkane1]

That would be called reverse racism in the USA.

 

[Last of the Fraggles]

So the British government is racist. There are jobs you can't apply for if you don't have the right skin colour. link

I knew before I clicked that link it would be the Daily Mail. They have about 1 of these stories every other day and they are mostly completely imaginary or grossly mis-reported.

If I assume its true for a minute, I don't like the idea of ethnic minority only applications, however, it appears that treating everyone 'equally' did not result in the desired outcome either.

 

[Big Les]

For once, the Mail may actually be onto something here (a stopped clock and all that). It really is a job, yet if it were described as such, they'd fall foul of discrimination legislation. By defining it as a training programme consisting of a series of placements, they've avoided that (though actually, I think a lawyer could have a field-day with it given the term and salary).

 

[Architect]

I seem to recall the Mail once getting upset at local authority jobs dealing with the public in north Wales actually requiring candidates to speak Welsh........

 

[Dragonrock]

Bristol council has 9,000 members of staff, not including teachers, of which 630, or seven per cent, are from ethnic minorities.
Because 12 per cent of Bristol residents come from minority backgrounds the council has begun trying to redress this imbalance.

Ah yes, let's cure racism by being racist. It reminds me of the official policy for hiring US federal employees from back in the 90s. If 2 applicants were otherwise equal then you should hire the person who comes from a minority group. As someone mentioned earlier, all things like this do is cause dissent in the workplace and make people question whether the new person got the job because of skill or because of some arbitrary physical feature.

 

[Primus]

The Mail definitely blows nearly everything out of proportion but this does happen. I have seen local authority jobs when I lived in Newcastle that stated "We would prefer applications from ethnic minority groups and women"

You can be as liberal as you like but when you're unemployed/stuck in a crap job this kind of thing does make you incandescent. Also if you're a bit racist to start with it gives people fuel for their percecution complex. It can also can be used on BNP material and then obviously can't be disproved as it has happened.

There are ways to try and remedy monochrome workplaces but I think this is one of the worst ways to go about it.

 

[bpesta22]

I'm for affirmative action, but in America it cannot "trammel the interests of whites". If the story linked in the OP is true, it should be illegal (one of two filled by a minority seems the fair way to do it).

 

[Primus]

You shouldn't rely on the Mail for your information. No where in the ad does it say that white people can't apply. I just applied for the job, I listed my race as white. They scheduled an interview for me on June 10.

Would you mind letting us know if you get the job?

 

[TraneWreck]

Ah yes, let's cure racism by being racist. It reminds me of the official policy for hiring US federal employees from back in the 90s. If 2 applicants were otherwise equal then you should hire the person who comes from a minority group. As someone mentioned earlier, all things like this do is cause dissent in the workplace and make people question whether the new person got the job because of skill or because of some arbitrary physical feature.

Oh, and there's that small little bit about providing opportunity to people who have been systematically denied such chances. But why should a society attempt to correct its past wrongs?

And in anticipation of your reply, let's see how Affirmative Action has harmed the white male in America. Let's see those stats!

 

[Fiona]

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news...b-vacancy/article-2235050-detail/article.html

Another account of the scheme

 

[Primus]

Oh, and there's that small little bit about providing opportunity to people who have been systematically denied such chances. But why should a society attempt to correct its past wrongs?

And in anticipation of your reply, let's see how Affirmative Action has harmed the white male in America. Let's see those stats!

One thing worth remembering is that this is not happening in America. These schemes in the UK nearly always are done as a result of a low % of non white applicants rather than racist interviewers.

 

[Dragonrock]

Oh, and there's that small little bit about providing opportunity to people who have been systematically denied such chances. But why should a society attempt to correct its past wrongs?

And in anticipation of your reply, let's see how Affirmative Action has harmed the white male in America. Let's see those stats!

My point is simply that in most cases the people applying for a job had nothing to do with the racism of the past either as persecutors or victims. Not giving someone a job because someone of their same skin color once treated someone of another skin color badly is racism regardless of the reasoning behind it. The only way to get rid of institutionalized racism is to get rid of institutionalized racism. Hire people on merit and deal with discrimination as individual cases.

 

[bpesta22]

My point is simply that in most cases the people applying for a job had nothing to do with the racism of the past either as persecutors or victims. Not giving someone a job because someone of their same skin color once treated someone of another skin color badly is racism regardless of the reasoning behind it. The only way to get rid of institutionalized racism is to get rid of institutionalized racism. Hire people on merit and deal with discrimination as individual cases.

The problem I have with this is independent of the cause, there are profound differences in well-being across race groups. If we let people compete only on merit, minorities will continue to be vastly under-represented in jobs that foster well-being.

How do we solve this (throwing trillions at education isn't working)?

 

[Ziggurat]

Ah yes, let's cure racism by being racist.

Indeed, there is substantial irony here.

“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
- Chief Justice John Roberts, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1