Here’s a thought experiment: you’re about to undergo highly risky heart surgery. Would you feel more comfortable knowing that your surgeon was the very best around? Or would it warm your soon-to-be-open heart to know that they were promoted because of their race?
These are the inevitable dilemmas raised by “diversity and inclusion” quotas. Such quotas do a disservice to everyone: firstly, to those who get bumped down the ladder solely because of their ancestry; secondly, to the genuinely meritorious who also happen to align with the quota-favoured. Because, no matter how good they may or may not be, the stink of being a diversity hire follows them around.
Oh, and if you opted for merit above race, you’re a “racist”
1News has heard from several students who have been subject to racist remarks both online and during their lectures, singling out their entry into the degree through the Maori and Pasifika Admissions Scheme (MAPAS).
MAPAS is an initiative by the university which sees it allocate 30% of its entries to Maori and Pasifika students.
Such comments claim Maori get special treatment over other students because of the scheme, and that it is easier for them to get into the course.
So, what exactly are these “racist” comments? If it simply observing that Maori are getting preferential treatment, well that’s just an obvious fact. The percentage of the New Zealand population identifying as Maori or Pasifika is under 25%. If 30% of admissions are being allocated to those groups, then that inevitably means that it relatively easier for them to get into the course.
Second year medical student Blayze Waddicor has been on the receiving end of racially-driven comments such as: “Maori receive special treatment”, and, “Maori are given everything thanks to the taxpayer”.
1News
The special treatment claim is a simple statement of fact. Beyond being given preferential admissions, Maori and Pasifika are bestowed with a range of racially-preferred benefits. These include selective tutorials, racially-separated computer spaces (do they have “Whites” and “Coloureds” computers?), as well as financial, accommodation and “spiritual and religious support”.
These services are all predicated on “verified indigenous New Zealand Maori or Pacific whakapapa/ancestry”. In other words: race.
Naturally, of course, the left-media wave their CRT bingo cards, screeching the requisite buzz-words, “racism”, “colonialism”: you know, the same stuff they always use in lieu of actually having to argue their case.
But at the end of the day, programs like MAPAS are all about greasing the rails for specially favoured races. When other people notice this, it’s not “racism”, it’s simply stating fact.
In the end, as Charles Murray has exhaustively demonstrated, such racial preferment helps nobody. It breeds resentment for those on the losing end, and a lingering suspicion that diversity hires just weren’t up to scratch on normal merit. It does another disservice to the very people it purports to help, often by promoting them above their personal ability. As statistics in the US show, when perfectly capable second-raters are artificially promoted to the highest levels, they almost invariably struggle — leading to a higher dropout rate.
“Diversity and inclusion” policies might sound all nice and huggy-bunny, but they help no-one.
And I’ll opt for the top-of-the-class surgeon every time, regardless of their ancestry.