Color Conscious: The Political Morality

¶ … Color Conscious: The political Morality of Race" by K. Anthony Appiah and Amy Gutmann

Define the following concepts and show their interrelationship: Social Purposes for a job and qualifications for a job

A candidate possesses the basic qualifications for a job if he or she satisfies the standard educational and experiential requirements to do the job properly. For example, a doctor must have a degree in medicine, and the necessary qualifications and experiences to function as a specialist in a particular position. The social purposes of a job as a doctor, such as promoting health and wellness, and administering medical treatment in the most beneficial way to the sick are less clearly defined but are also essential, although the doctor cannot perform such roles without a medical degree and experience (Gutmann 119). The social purpose might also demand certain other personal attributes of a candidate, like the ability to communicate well to patients and to have a good bedside manner.

II: Using as a case study the hiring decision to retain Williams over Taxman, describe the similarities and differences between a "normal" hiring decision, and a "preferential" hiring decision.

When deciding whom to fire, Williams or Taxman, the teachers' qualifications and seniority would be the first factors taken under consideration. This would be the case under both 'normal' and 'preferential' circumstances. A teacher needs a degree to teach, and tenure is always a factor in teacher hiring and firing. However, in a preferential hiring situation, once the merits of the two candidates were established as relatively equal, the social benefits accrued by considering race and other demographic characteristics of the candidates would also be taken into consideration. These factors would be 'considerations' rather than absolutes. In other words, it would not be a pre-established fact that the African-American woman would be retained, until both candidates' qualifications were reviewed; although the fact Williams was the only African-American on the staff would be given some weight, in contrast to a 'normal' situation. The benefits for society, rather than the benefits of retention specifically for Williams, would be the additional issue considered in a preferential hiring decision.

III: Under the conceptual framework sketched out by Amy Gutmann, the retention of Williams, the only Black instructor in the Dept. Of Business Education, by the Piscataway School Board, might be justified two ways:

a) That, this is a normal hiring decision where her race/ethnicity was a legitimate qualification for the job -- a qualification that Taxman did not have -- given the social purposes for the job at the Department of Business Education at Piscataway High School.

The social mission of a school is to teach students. This at least partially requires teachers to serve as role models for students. Thus Williams possesses an additional social qualification that Taxman does not, particularly due to the lack of representation of Black instructors at the school as a whole. Acting as a role model for students is critical for instructors, and Williams can provide additional insight about what life is like as a Black professional when teaching in the classroom that Taxman cannot. This is linked to Williams' role as a business instructor.

b) That the school board's decision to retain Williams was a perfectly legitimate form of color conscious preferential hiring -- since it recognized that Williams' race/ethnicity (which was not, strictly speaking, a qualification for the job of business education instructor) could help the school accomplish other social purposes (specify what these purposes might be) in addition to the social purposes for which business education instructors are normally hired under.

Serving poorer members of the community, uplifting them through education, and providing them with instructors who inspire them and understand their plight is a critical social mission of the school. Students require realistic models so they will understand how an education can benefit them in the future. Given the demographic composition of the school and the history of racial injustice, retaining Williams has social merit. It also helps to create a more proportionally representative faculty, so the students are less apt to perceive the faculty in an 'us vs. them' manner and are thus more likely to continue with their education in an enthusiastic and empowered fashion.

Gutmann states that qualifications alone do not give someone the 'right' to a job, a statement that she sees as implied in anti-affirmative action lawsuits and legislation. The historical injustices committed in America's past must not be forgotten. We have never lived in a color-blind America, and pretending that we do now after centuries of discrimination is itself a form of discrimination (Gutmann 148).

IV: a) Describe fully the CSUN EOP program, describing the various programs they provide to entering freshman students. And, the criteria that CSUN EOP employs to select its program participants.

The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at California State University, Northridge is a program that is designed to make it easier for low-income student to attend college, and also to make students more apt to stay in school through mentorship and financial support programs. It recognizes the fact that students who are poor or first-generation college students may lack some of the support structures of other students. The EOP encompasses an array of programs that can help students in the transition to college from high school and throughout their years at the university.

Low income, according to the program is defined according to a set criterion. For example, the maximum total income for a family of two is $33,200. The income is based upon what the students report on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In addition to other financial aid accorded by the university, students are eligible for an EOP grant for up to $2,000 per year, although funding cuts have reduced the average award per student to $810. This aid package seems small, although it is not the only financial aid the student will receive while at CSUN.

Students are provided with additional social support through transitional programs that function as kind of 'pre-orientations' to college and have access to other programs that ease them into college and help them seek out opportunities while they are at school, including faculty mentors. Every different college or division at CSUN has a specific advisory division devoted to EOP programs, so students can seek out aid that is specific to their academic program and their needs.