Positive discrimination? White police officers.?

Question

Due to lack of black and asians police officers in the UK, forces are now disregarding potential white applicants just becaus of their race in order to boost ethnic minority numbers.

Is this unreasonable? I believe ppl should be recruited on the basis of merit and not on their colour

Answer 1

if a country has a majority of white then the majority of law officers should reflect that, likewise if a country is black or yellow or red or green. Imagine going to pakistan and demanding more white officers because there are not enough of them and are therefore racist?

Answer 2

i think you know as well as i do that the answer to this question is double sided. If you solve the problem by hiring less qualified individuals for the soul purpose of mixing the races and appeasing the masses, then you leave out the real reason that they should be hired, their qualifications and skill that they really need to be an officer,
If you go by skills and qualifications, then you may not have the ethnic diversity that would please the general public. You say the population of minorities are less than the white population, it would stand to reason that there are more white officers than ones of other races. Maybe hiring more officers of different ethnic backgrounds would prompt more diverse applicants. There is no real solution to this for everyone, we have the same struggles (as I am sure you do in the UK) with women in the department......I am sure if you asked a person of color (any color) they would want to be hired because of their qualifications instead of just the color of their skin. I feel that to hire an unqualified person OF ANY RACE is just doing a severe injustice to the community they live in.

Answer 3

IT seems that this is being done to avoid the apearance of racism,
yes, maybe only white people are interested and or qualified to work there, but if its all white folk, in an area that the population is more divided, then it opens the way for an accusation.
is it right? No
is it needed? yes
where I work there was a man, from a minority group. He refused to do his job (happened to be cleaning toilets) because it was beneath him
Now as it happens, the job was cleary defined when he applied for it, ( really, its not brain surgry if you apply for a cleaning job, it includes the toilets)
so they said "if you aren't willing to do the job you hired for, then you can go"
he files suit that he was fired for discrimination.

and I'll tell you another breif story,
here, we have some minority police officers,
some in the minority races felt, hey thats great, he won't target us, he'll understand more ( usually were talking about trafic violitions such as speeding where the officer has discretion to make a warning, or a ticket and fine)
well,
now those officers, So as to avoid the apearance of favoritism, are stricter on the minorities, so it doesn't help them at all.

ps: in my faimly, I am married to a minority, and we see these kinda issues from both sides first hand.

Answer 4

It is racist! It's not just the police it is happening throughout the business world in this country thanks to Labours namby pamby poofs who jumps everytime an ethnic gets upset but ignores the wishes of the BRITISH people. I have recently returnewd to Britain after working abroad for 3 years (Due to my fathers death) and recently lost out on a job (Short list of 2) as a retail manager (20 years experience) and the reason given.......The other person had more experience.!! He black 19 and black! How does that work? By the way he lasted in the job 6 weeks. I still can't get work here despite an unblemished record. It is time we stood up for British rights!!!

Answer 5

In South Africa the government is doing the same thing.
They will no longer employ white males, it is the apartheid era in reverse and is totally wrong they are calling it affirmative action and a lot of the jobs are advertised as such.
All people should have equal opportunities and recruited on merit.
Besides what happened to the days when the bobbies in London had it be 6 foot tall and English, in the true sense of the word.

Answer 6

It is still illegal. It just shows though, how bold and contemptuous the lefty PC nutters have become, when they think that they can ride roughshod over the Law, because they believe that they are engaged on a high born moral crusade.

PEOPLE DO NOT TAKE UP EMPLOYMENT AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMMUNITY, THEY ARE EMPLOYED IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY ARE CONSIDERED THE BEST APPLICANT FOR THE POSITION THAT THEY HAVE APPLIED FOR.

It also implies that, even when there is a genuine representative element involved, as with politicians, that males cannot represent females, females cannot represent males, whites cannot represent non-whites, and non-whites cannot represent whites. This is clearly ridiculous, because it is policies that matter, not race or sex. In fact, if these things did matter, it would turn equality on its head, ( I do not mean moral or religious equality) because it would demonstrate that we don't think that we are equal. So, following that reasoning, it would be perfectly sensible for me to decide to pre-select a white male category for a position, if I thought that that group in society would be most likely to provide me with the skills I was looking for.

Answer 7

A meritocracy only works when you assume everyone has had the same opportunities. It is unfortunate but some people are more equal than others. This is to say, some people have had opportunities that others have not.

Positive discrimination provides people with an opportunity they may not have had otherwise because of their background or upbringing.

In South Africa, for example, there are three generations worth of people who have had no education because of an apartheid government. Positive discrimination, or affirmative action as it is known in South Africa, is prevalent as a result of this. It provides on the job training and a chance to prove themselves.

Of course positive discrimination is not necessarily racial. It addresses minority inequalities throughout the employment sector.

Answer 8

I think I'm correct in saying that the very fist UK Asian police officer was recruited in 1966 in Coventry, he and his brother who later joined got in on merit and one was later promoted, on merit. Whilst it initially seems attractive to load the dice towards a certain group long term it is counter productive for all and also means those in the preferred group may never ever know if they are being used for some p.c. reasoning or really deserve their job.

Answer 9

This is the sad state of affairs and it will get worse if political correctness is not curtailed. Just suppose the white and black applicants joined as equals, who do you think would get promotion? Its the same reason there is a Black Police Federation but a white one is deemed racist and is not allowed. All these things combine to make reasonable people consider their skin colour...absolute madness!

Answer 10

because of the fact that for many years minorities were not given a Chance for promotions and the exams were worded so that not everyone could understand. the tests were changed and the standard were lowered which makes for what we see today the streets were safer years ago when police offices had to be around 5ft7 or taller.hiring should be base on ones ability to do the job and not on race mental exams should also be given not everyone is cut out to handle the job

Answer 11

It may be looked at as a denial of a race's civil rights. We have had the same discrimination here in USA with the resulting bad feelings. Certain subcultures have brought up their children to serve in only certain jobs. My family has several foreigners in it and all the races, so I see many differences on how they bring up their children vs how I was brought up. But I think there is greater difference between the sexes than the races.
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