I 've been a sports enthusiast for years, and I have always thought that when it comes to racial, ethnic or religious discrimination, the professional athlete has it more right than any other group.
When the black Christian point guard steals the basketball and sees one of his teammates under the basket, he does not think "Shou ld I pass the ball to that rich, white, Jewish guy , or should I help my Buddhist teammate from Hong Kong get his fair share of the points?" If he is a winning team player, the only thing he thinks is "Here's the ball. Score." And when he does score, the two hands high fiving are not a black one and a white one but simply two teammates congratulating each other.
And the reason for that is simple: It is because all of that racial, ethnic and religious stuff is irrelevant. Was there discrimination against Jackie Robinson when he first came up to play in the major leagues? Yes, until players saw how good he was and that he could help win games and that the color of his skin was irrelevant.
It is a good lesson for all of us to learn. Almost always, a person's skin color, culture and ethnic heritage are totally irrelevant to the issue under discussion. "I love learning about ancient lands and religions, so I talk often with my Muslim neighbor from what once was Persia." That is relevant identification. "My Muslim neighbor broke the lawn mower I lent him" is irrelevant identification.
It would be a good lesson for the government to learn. Laws that require me to hire a fair cross section of racial groups, for example, promote irrelevant identification. Race is not a factor in productivity. Welfare programs targeting particular ethnic groups promote irrelevant identification since poverty touches every group. And all promote rather than lessen discrimination.
You don't identify me as a brown eyed person and you shouldn't identify me as a black person. I am one of those...but which one is almost always irrelevant.
No comments:
Post a Comment