For example.  When is the last time you heard anyone suggest that women should be playing in the NBA?  Or the NFL.  Why not?  Well the truthful answer would be that they can’t compete against much larger and faster men.  Technically that would make them incompetent (not qualified or suited for a particular purpose).  Everyone knows it and everyone accepts it – in sports competition.  What do you suppose the comments would be toward someone who suggested that because certain West Africans were genetically better-suited to long distance running that they should be in a separate class of runners.  Don’t they have an unfair advantage contained in their genes?  An unfair advantage is the basis in forbidding performance-enhancing drug users isn’t it?

To me, the best system is one where the best person for the job gets it.  Race, gender, height, weight, sexual proclivities, religion and other such characteristics should not be considered.  Just give me the best person for the job.  How does being homosexual have any relevance to an accountant?  Yet if a homosexual were running for the office of State Controller it would almost certainly be a factor as far as the opposition was concerned.

Really, you shouldn’t have it both ways – if you want equality based upon equal representation then apply the standard everywhere – in sports, politics, religion, business, government, universities, etc.

In my view that would be as stupid as requiring MIT or Stanford to educate the mentally challenged and give up places in programs which could be occupied by those who could really put that learning to use for our nation.  Or requiring the NBA to have equal representation among all races and genders – that would lead to some pretty dull games I think.  Not to mention bringing down the high-standard for playing to a much lower standard.

How would you like to find out that your surgeon was graduated from med school because she matched a particular “equality” requirement and not necessarily because she met the same standards as all the other graduates?  Wouldn’t you rather have the person who was the best at their specialty regardless of race or gender?  If you were in a serious car wreck would you want to be attended to by the first EMS person who could get there?  Or would you rather wait for the one who matched your diversity criteria? It is interesting to me that those who demand equal representation in business, government and politics  based solely on race or gender don’t seem to have the same attitude when it comes to other areas.

Mr. Bailey is an icon for the American success story. And McDonalds is an icon for American business success.

My neighborhood has a mix of poor and middle-class. It is has significant populations of Hispanics African-Americans and Whites, plenty of teen-agers and plenty of retirees, apartments condominiums and homes. There is no shortage of available labor for a business like the McDonald’s in my neighborhood.

I’ve noticed something odd about the McDonald’s in my neighborhood however. And in thinking about it, something insidious comes to mind.

In my experience (I’ve been paying attention for several years now), 100% of the non-customer conversation is in Spanish and 100% of the employees are Latino. The moment the employee stops speaking directly to the customer, they begin speaking Spanish. That is not exactly a huge problem for me, but it is improper language etiquette.

The bigger problem is that it totally eliminates the possibility for success of any non-Spanish-speaking employee. I have noticed once or twice a non-Spanish-speaking African-American or elderly employee there, but they never last long. In an environment where employees are directed and supervised in Spanish, how can a non-Spanish-speaking employee be successful? Why would anyone hire someone they knew, in advance, would not be successful? Why would anyone even apply for a job in an environment which conducts business in a language an employee didn’t understand?

The rhetorical answers to the above questions, of course, are they wouldn’t and they couldn’t.

What that means to me is that the Spanish-speaking workplace environment of my neighborhood McDonald’s precludes employment by non-Spanish-speakers.  And, since most Spanish-speakers are Hispanic, a workplace environment which precludes employment by non-Spanish-speakers is effectively, if not factually, discriminating if favor of Latinos and against non-Latinos.  The practice of Spanish-speaking in the workplace  creates a self-perpetuating environment of employment discrimination.