It was bound to happen sooner or later...

The D&C reserved the front page of the Sunday paper for a penetrating story with the following headline: "The coaching staffs at area Division III colleges mirror a national trend, leaving nonwhites IN THE MINORITY."

They could have shortened it to: "MINORITIES ARE IN THE MINORITY," but that was probably too insipid - even for our hometown fish wrap. This reminds me of something out of the collected wit and wisdom of that prosecutor in Boston who said that the little lite brites found throughout the city could have been dangerous if they had been explosive.

This is another example of frequent cries of alarm that we hear about the lack of "diversity" in professions in our community. Before we get into this, however, we need to define our terms. When condescending liberal types talk about diversity, they don't mean diversity of thought or socio-economic background. They really mean people who are nonwhite, or GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, or .... train collectors?), or some other countable "category."

In any event, if this lack of "diversity" was the result of racist hiring practices, then I would be happy to take up the cause. However, I find it hard to believe that all the human resources professionals in our region are racists (call them buzzword-spewing simpletons if you must,* but don't call them racist).

In fact, we have the opposite situation in almost every profession. Employers fall all over themselves trying to attract and to hire minority candidates.

Admittedly, these efforts have been less than successful. So what could explain the lack of diversity in many professions in our region?

First, let's take a look at the demographics. Our region closely mirrors the demographics of....well...Idaho. Here are the percentages of whites in the counties in our region: Monroe (80.8%); Orleans (91.2%); Livingston (95%); Ontario (95.7%); Gennesee (95.3%); Wayne (94.8%); Wyoming (93.1%). (These figures are from the US Census Bureau Website).

Second, everyone agrees that we aren't exactly a hot spot for employment.

Third, we do not live in a major metropolis with its own gravitational field - the sort of place that draws people in from all over. I love this region, and I'm happy that I live here, but I think we can all agree that NYC it ain't.

We aren't a very "diverse" region to begin with, and we aren't the sort of place that draws in lots of people. Put this all together, and I think the lack of "diversity" is pretty unremarkable.

This state of affairs does assist those who like to use diversity as a cudgel. Worse, you end up sounding like a jerk - or worse - if you say anything critical about any kind of "diversity" agenda.
I don't like being coerced into short-circuiting my critical thinking skills. So expect another article in the near future analyzing the case for diversity. Until then, read up on the state of the field at http://www.workforcediversitynetwork.com/. You get a prize if you find a single sentence with out "proactive," "synergy," or other meaningless buzzwords (oops, I may have given away my feelings on this subject).

*I wouldn't call human resources managers any such thing personally, but I know people who have done so.