Posted on 12/05/2012 10:53:12 AM PST by ColoCdn
The clock ticked a little impatiently, waiting for an answer. My answer. The interviewer’s question stuck in my mind, “Have you worked with diverse students before?” Looking past her wide set eyes, I focused on the picture of MLK behind her head. He stared down at me with knowing eyes. Brooding. Silent. Without reserve.
I paused, finding the answer to her question. “Yes. I have worked with diverse students. I mean, I’ve been an English Language Development teacher for the past two years and all of my students have been Hispanic.”
“I wouldn’t call that diverse.” She caught me with smug eyes. I looked down at my white hands, and knew she was right. The word, “diverse,” stuck in the air, stranded between generations, mollified by affirmative action, silently accusing me of a skin color I had no control over.
The air was heaving with Presumptions.
My thoughts sputtered and stuttered, like my Ford’s engine trying to turn over. Revving through my mind, I managed to control their violent whirring with a modest, “You’re right. I guess I have not worked with a very diverse population.” The interviewer studied me coolly. She knew she had won. Beat me at her own game. Presumptions settled comfortably in the office air.
Shakily I grabbed my coffee, almost spilling the tasteless liquid onto my dress pants. Taking a slight sip, I tried to calm my nerves. This was a job I really wanted. I wanted to be a writing teacher. A teacher who inspired other students. Students who may not have a love for writing, but students I could convince to love it. If only, I could have a chance. A chance to—
“ So then, why do you want to work with the students at our school?” The interviewer’s cool composure remained, interrupting my confidence. From his spot on the white wall, MLK gazed at me, a little sorrowful, a little pained.
“Growing up, my family didn’t have very much money. We got by, but we didn’t have a lot, which meant I had to find a way to pay for my own education. My father encouraged me to go to college, no matter what—he was an immigrant himself, you see, from Canada. He used to say, ‘No matter what happens, no one can take your education away.’ And I believed him, with all my heart—and went on to be the first person in my family to graduate not only with a bachelor’s, but with a master’s degree. And now, I want to help others achieve the same goal.”
I took a breath, pleased with my answer, trying to read the interviewer’s poker face.
“Uh-huh.”
Unimpressed, the interviewer scribbled a few words down on a scratch sheet of paper. I couldn’t help but feel a bit slighted. My words were like whispers to the Presumptions. Presumptions that didn’t know about the children of Canadian immigrants. Presumptions that weren’t interested in the white children of blue collar workers. Presumptions that claimed they knew what I was all about; who played Master of the Interview and Master of Diversity.
MLK’s eyes looked down at me still—careworn and concerned. They reminded me for a moment of my father’s eyes. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character…” I looked at my interviewer, the gavel raised in her eyes.
“Well, that’s all I have for you. Do you have any questions for me?”
I thought for a few seconds, concerned that I wasn’t being heard. That my worth was being measured by less than what I was.
“Not right now.” I said, feeling defeated by Presumption. Defeated by premature assessment. Defeated by Prejudice.
“Okay,” she said. “Your next interviewer will be in shortly.”
The gavel banged down, sentencing me to Presumption and Presupposition. I took one more calming sip of my watery coffee and suddenly the words of my father came back to me, “Life isn’t fair.” Only now, I truly understood what he meant.
Interviewer's thought process: "What do I mean by diverse??? What you think I mean, Cracker? Were you teachin' any bruthas? That's what I wanna know. Stupid Cracker mofo. No way I'm hirin' yo sorry ass."
Interviewers response: "Well, at our school, our students tend to come from disadvantaged backgrounds. I was wondering if you had experience dealing with some of the problems that can arise due to poverty?"
Was the interviewer Amish, or a broomstick up the ass white liberal?
Welcome to America 2012, equitable to NAZI Germany 1936.
About a million years ago, I managed the IT field team for a medium-sized organization. There were three of us in the division, overseeing 70-80 people. All colors, from all over the world. Gay/Straight, both bathrooms, etc etc etc.
A fairly prominent IT publication (that will remain nameless, since they're still around) asked to interview us managers. We were all fairly young, naive, and full of ourselves, and gladly said "Yes!", thinking - hey, here's our chance to show off how great we are - approximately.
Interviewer and Photog come by. We all sit down in the conference room. First question out of the interviewer's mouth..... "Please talk about the program that you used to achieve such fantastic diversity in your IT division".
We three looked at each other. There wasn't a program, we just hired the best people as they came in the door. And, we said approximately that.
End of interview, right there, on the spot. "Thank you very much, we'll be in touch." It was an eye-opener for me as a young, up-and-coming IT engineer.
“I see you have a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King”. That’s very inspirational. My favorite quote was “Judge me by my character not by the color of my skin”. What was yours?”
I would rather have seen her answer along the lines of, “of course I have, in fact every student I have ever worked with is his own unique personality and learning style. As a result, I have had to learn to teach to every single unique individual, to take into account his learning capability and style.”
Take the opportunity to define Diversity for the interviewer and leave race out of it.
***Was the interviewer Amish, or a broomstick up the ass white liberal?***
The good side of this is they can always go to a costume party dressed as an ice cream or chocolate bar.
“Diverse students?” Define. By definition, all students are diverse. Racially diverse? Economically diverse? Gender diverse? IQ diverse? Blondes and brunettes? Curlies and straights? Gays and straights?
They didn’t want to hear that, did they? They were looking for programs, emphasis, assistance, consideration, and all that, weren’t they? They were looking for a deliberate program that took into account anything racial, and nothing qualified (except for the token, “of course, we’re assuming they’re qualified” mantra).
In my field defense engineering, accepting nothing less than the best is an ethical lapse in my opinion because our soldiers lives’ depended on it. Diversity on its own merit was not justification for engangering our military.
I would recommend that she not take a cup of coffee into her next job interview, and if offered one by the interviewer, politely decline (not that it would have made a difference in this case.)
JMHO.
When and if the majority of people who follow the Constitution will start taking the confident lead only then only then will the Constitution be protected.
And God bless MLK.
One’s caution light should virtually explode when any organization uses the word “diversity” in anything related to their work.
Any productive organization (we’re eliminating the lib arts departments of most universities, virtually all public schools, all government organizations - save the military, and vast portions of American enterprise) lives to create valuable output.
If diversity is stressed, it simply means that the management doesn’t care about quality.
Period.
And no, liberal idiots, I do NOT mean that folks from different backgrounds are not capable of outstanding performance. I DO mean that folks that you dorks pick because of “diversity” most probably are indeed not capable of outstanding performance.
Example?
The Obamadork/felon/cretin
QED
Yeah, the left (learning from the ideological “father” in John 8:42) lives in the realm of the obfuscated definition and the twisting of the meaning of words.
Asking/demanding that they define their terms exposes this, but it would probably just make the interviewer angry.
“Diverse”, by the way, means simply “not white” in terms of ethnicity, and “not American” in terms of culture.
As I grow older and as wisdom settles in more deeply, I see that everything has a purpose according to His will. Everything happens for a reason.
Your daughter has a talent for writing but it seems that education, especially public education, may not be God’s will for her. She would only experience more conflict and pain in such a setting and the ensuing frustration could eventually consume her; she would not grow her talent or her purpose.
Besides, teacher positions and salaries are going to take a hit, a huge hit in the coming years as the series of ‘stimulus after stimulus’ fade and bend to reality. Nurses, school teachers, public jobs have been propped up and have attracted a number of new aspirants to the job markets. But that wave is coming to an end.
I really don’t know what to advise but my own sister who was always a writer prodigy, now 46 years old, started with a little town newspaper, then became a reporter for the Providence Journal in Rhode Island, and then finally hit the bigtime as a reporter for the Wall St. Journal often writing stories for page 1. And she is tremendously happy, confident and secure in her job. She has a good salary and plenty of travel budget to explore the world with.
Still the schools need good writing teachers. Perhaps your daughter could take a 2 or 3 year job with a special ed school and then jump to a better public school. Good public schools do exist. I’ve had one friend who started in special ed experiencing all the horrors thereof, then jump to assistant principal of a good high school, becoming principal within a few years (very political career path). Special ed is a good stepping stone, no one really wants these jobs, but they provide the experience and if one can manage nasty kids, they can manage any group of kids.
I wish your family good luck.
The earliest primate is from Wyoming ~ not Africa. This has been known for some time in National Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080303-american-primate.html and another find in that regard was just reported in Science News. Then there are the Chicoms and they’ve got a really old batch of different hominids and not a one of them came from Africa ~ http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21586-chinese-human-fossils-unlike-any-known-species.html
The key to getting a job is to convince the interviewer that you are better than them. Not that you think you are better but that you really are better. Your work will make them look good to their bosses.
In every interview, I was told later that I seemed very confident. I never mentioned the 5 years of acting experience. Pretending to be confident is easy.
Your daughter seems to have the makings of a great teacher...I hope she's persistent enough to find a job where she can use her talents.
That said, I took on a role as a mentor a few years ago, to boys in an inner-city public school. To put it bluntly, those children are being "raised" with ideas of success much different than mine. Hard work to them, is not what you and I consider hard work. Pursuing an education, and prioritizing it in their lives is not their idea of success. Inspiring "diverse" children to write is a foreign concept...many of them don't believe they have much of a future beyond the next year or two, why would they consider a developing a skill that takes effort? Diplomas and college degrees? Those are for suckers and non-diverse people. To many "diverse" kids, gang-banging, drugs, and government checks are success. Their aspirations are short-term, and there are no plans for legacies among them.
During his time in Athens, Paul was disturbed by an altar bearing the inscription: “To The Unknown God.” Sadly, I see that altar as a picture of today’s America.
Our diversity culture seeks to adopt all “truth” into one collective truth so that there ultimately is no real truth.
- Jonathan Falwell
Get out Whitey! you aint gonna get dis job.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.