Gov. Palin and the New Millennium Affirmative Action

The selection of Gov. Sarah Palin for the Republican candidate for VP is a momentous occasion. The Republican party has selected a woman, for the first time, for this position. However, is the selection of this woman really a good idea. I think not. I believe her selection sets the struggle of women back decades. Why you ask? Well, here's why.

The selection of Gov. Palin reminds me of another time when the rights of a woman to enter into an all-male arena was challenged .

In the mid-1990s, Shannon Faulkner applied to the Citadel, one of two all-male military schools at the time. She deleted any information on her application that identified her as a woman since women were not considered. Based on her application, she was accepted but when the school found out she was a woman, they refused to allow her to enroll. She sued and subsequently won. She was allowed to attend the school, but voluntarily left after the first week sighting psychological stress and physical exhaustion. She wasn't ready.

Although there is no excuse for the taunting that she received, what did she expect? I do not condone it but I am not surprised. Even beyond the psychological aspects of the first week, which is the equivalent to a hell week for those who may have pledged a fraternity or sorority or gone to any military training, it was a given that there would be physical demands. Why wasn't she at least ready for that? And, quite frankly, the psychological taunting is not something that was specific to her. All first your students are put through changes both physically and psychologically during that first week. In all fairness, she was not the only person to dropout that week. Cadets do resign in the first week because it is overwhelming. Many cannot take it. However, failing was not really an option for her.

Many people can tell you, whenever "minorities" or women or LGBT folks enter into an arena that is uncharted for them, they have to be better than the best. Tiger Woods, Jackie Robinson, the Tuskegee Airmen, Aurthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, everyone has had to go above and beyond to be accepted because they are entering into a field where they are believed to be less than and are expected to fail. Like it or not, when she entered the Citadel, she was representing all women against a system that believed women to be less than. When you go up against that you have to be the best. Is Gov. Palin really the best woman?

I am not a Sen. Clinton supporter. I was early on but changed as the race progressed. I do not know that she was necessarily the best person or best woman but she did have a wealth of experience. She was a de facto representative of the United States to the rest of the world as First Lady for 8 years and she is a Senator of New York and sits on major committees. Gov. Palin was a mayor of a city of 6000. Like it or not her successes may be her own but her failures will be attributed to that of all women. Ask yourself why it has been 24 years since a major party selected a woman as a VP candidate. Just as there are people who will not vote for Sen Obama because he is Black, there are those who will not vote for a woman. Gov. Palin is not just representing herself and her family (and apparently the great state of Alaska) but all women. I hope she's ready. But the fact that we are asking the question just shows that she was not picked for her experience or her judgment. She was picked because she is a woman and she appeals to certain constituencies.

One day after the anniversary of Dr. King's speech and we still are not judging people by the content of their character. It wasn't the color of her skin upon which she was selected, but the type of her anatomy. She is another example of what I call the new millennium Affirmative Action. You can select unqualified people for all sorts of jobs. You just can't use their race as a factor. Their political affiliations, who they know, how much you owe them, just not their race. That would be wrong. Just ask Mike Brown, a man hired to be director of one of the largest emergency management agencies in the world, FEMA, with no national emergency management experience. Well, he wasn't hired because he was Black.

Have we really made progress?