Klarinet Archive - Posting 000288.txt from 1999/02

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Women and orchestras
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 17:38:52 -0500

Don, it seems to me that the problem is clearly one a CULTURAL bias, not
genetic bias. It is still a bias, and still unfortunate, but it is almost
certainly not genetic (although there has been, and probably will not ever
be, any real proof of this.)

A more cogent point, to me, is that the whole issue of "this group is better
than that group at doing something" is quite beside the point. In an
audition, or a LSAT, or a 100 M sprint, we are judging INDIVIDUALS, not
groups. If person A is better than I am at (say) playing a clarinet, it
makes absolutely no difference whether the mean of the group with which A
identifies is higher or lower than the mean performance of the group with
which I identify. In a 100 M sprint, the criteria for "better" are very
objective, for the LSAT somewhat less so, probably, and for clarinet playing
really quite subjective. But we still (all of us) have a duty to make a
sincere attempt to make the necessary judgments in a way which is
independent of extraneous considerations - among which are the average
performance of some group or other.

"Reverse discrimination" is prejudice undertaken in an attempt to correct
the average. To the extent that this results in selection of persons
because of any extraneous criterion (race, for instance) it is almost as
reprehensible as "forward discrimination". The only difference is that the
practioners of forward discrimination usually have less civilized intentions
than the practioners of reverse discrimination. But it is still prejudice,
it is still bias, and it is still wrong.

At 01:57 AM 2/6/99 EST, you wrote:
>In a message dated 2/5/99 9:16:51 PM Pacific Standard Time, bhausman@-----.com
>writes:
>
><< You are right. Ever notice how Black people born and raised in England
> don't speak Ebonics. They have British accents! (By the way, what do you
> call them, to be politically correct? African-Englishpersons?) >>
>
>Wait just a minute here! No one EVER said Black English or Ebonics was
>geneticly influenced. Well, if they did, then they are a very silly person.
>Also, lets try to keep this topic focused on how bias pertains to equal
>opportunity in music.
>
>Don
>
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