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Are Merit Systems in Academia and Work a Method of Enforcing White Dominance?

J

JBG

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Angela Putnam, a Pennsylvania State University-Brandywine professor thinks college faculty need to do more to undermine their students' belief in "meritocracy" and the value of "hard work" (link). Her view is that meritocracy entrenches white power and privilege. See “Working Hard” Is A White Lie, According To Penn State-Brandywine Professor (link to article) The two articles both come from what some would call right-wing websites. I personally found the rhetoric to be conclusory, and not likely to persuade many people outside the Internet echo chamber. Thus, I visited Ms. Putnam's website (link to main website) and associated blog (link to blog). I will post a few excerpts and keep them brief enough to stay within posting rules. Excerpts:

Angela Putnam said:
They believe that if they don’t think racist thoughts, or say racist things, or commit racist actions, then they must not be racist....In my own work, I define racism as a system of subjugation and oppression that is pervasive throughout U.S. structures and institutions, and that works to privilege some people based on perceived group membership.
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Angela Putnam said:
However, I must also make clear that I do believe that those of us with more privilege—those whose invisible knapsacks are bursting at the seams with privilege (thank you, Peggy McIntosh, for that invaluable analogy)—bear even more of the brunt because our privilege allows us access to resources and connections that those with less privilege do not often have at their disposal.
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An abstract from one of her seminars (link) states "Three ideological discourses emerged before, during, and after the seminar – Liberal Pluralism, Meritocracy, and “Reverse Racism.”"

It is quite difficult for any institution with academic rigor and selective admissions to be other than a meritocracy. That is just common sense. However, not all professors exercise common sense or even coherence. As much as I criticize right-wing websites, I find the so-called "work" of Angela Putnam to border on incoherence. She argues that "every white person—no matter how rich or poor, old or young, educated or uneducated, can and should step up and work toward dismantling systemic racism and fight for equity and social justice." She gives no suggestion as to how that "dismantling" would occur.

Other professors even argue that white civility towards blacks is somehow racist. Two professors at University of Northern Iowa,C. Kyle Rudick and Kathryn B. Golsan "say classroom 'civility' promotes 'white racial power'" (link) & (link to paywalled article) .

Perhaps there answer is in a less restrained, even violent and/or chaotic academic environment that prevails in many schools and much of society. I actually believe that the merit system is time proven, works and benefits all.
 
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If you believe the answer is yes, that means you're racist.
 
JBG said:
It wasn't a yes or no question.
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yes it is. The question is "Are Merit Systems in Academia and Work a Method of Enforcing White Dominance?"

Merit systems either do enforce white dominance or they don't.

So the answer is very clearly yes or no.
 
JBG said:
I actually believe that the merit system is time proven, works and benefits all.
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Do you have an example of a merit system that isn't subject to the conscious and unconscious biases of those that chose merit? I cannot think of any place where "it's who you know, not what you know" doesn't apply.
 
CLAX1911 said:
yes it is. The question is "Are Merit Systems in Academia and Work a Method of Enforcing White Dominance?"

Merit systems either do enforce white dominance or they don't.

So the answer is very clearly yes or no.
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Oh OK. I forgot about the topic name. Good point.
 
spud_meister said:
Do you have an example of a merit system that isn't subject to the conscious and unconscious biases of those that chose merit? I cannot think of any place where "it's who you know, not what you know" doesn't apply.
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I met my boss on the train on June 19, 1986. He barely knew who I was before, and hired me as his law associate. Does that count?
 
JBG said:
I met my boss on the train on June 19, 1986. He barely knew who I was before, and hired me as his law associate. Does that count?
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No, because it's an anecdote. Actual research shows people are biased towards the familiar, and this limits the ability of outsiders and minorities to penetrate "meritocracies".
 
JBG said:
Angela Putnam, a Pennsylvania State University-Brandywine professor thinks college faculty need to do more to undermine their students' belief in "meritocracy" and the value of "hard work" (link). Her view is that meritocracy entrenches white power and privilege. See “Working Hard” Is A White Lie, According To Penn State-Brandywine Professor (link to article) The two articles both come from what some would call right-wing websites. I personally found the rhetoric to be conclusory, and not likely to persuade many people outside the Internet echo chamber. Thus, I visited Ms. Putnam's website (link to main website) and associated blog (link to blog). I will post a few excerpts and keep them brief enough to stay within posting rules. Excerpts:

An abstract from one of her seminars (link) states "Three ideological discourses emerged before, during, and after the seminar – Liberal Pluralism, Meritocracy, and “Reverse Racism.”"

It is quite difficult for any institution with academic rigor and selective admissions to be other than a meritocracy. That is just common sense. However, not all professors exercise common sense or even coherence. As much as I criticize right-wing websites, I find the so-called "work" of Angela Putnam to border on incoherence. She argues that "every white person—no matter how rich or poor, old or young, educated or uneducated, can and should step up and work toward dismantling systemic racism and fight for equity and social justice." She gives no suggestion as to how that "dismantling" would occur.

Other professors even argue that white civility towards blacks is somehow racist. Two professors at University of Northern Iowa,C. Kyle Rudick and Kathryn B. Golsan "say classroom 'civility' promotes 'white racial power'" (link) & (link to paywalled article) .

Perhaps there answer is in a less restrained, even violent and/or chaotic academic environment that prevails in many schools and much of society. I actually believe that the merit system is time proven, works and benefits all.
Click to expand...

Ms Putnam believes blacks are less intelligent and less capable than whites.
 
JBG said:
Angela Putnam, a Pennsylvania State University-Brandywine professor thinks college faculty need to do more to undermine their students' belief in "meritocracy" and the value of "hard work" (link). Her view is that meritocracy entrenches white power and privilege. See “Working Hard” Is A White Lie, According To Penn State-Brandywine Professor (link to article) The two articles both come from what some would call right-wing websites. I personally found the rhetoric to be conclusory, and not likely to persuade many people outside the Internet echo chamber. Thus, I visited Ms. Putnam's website (link to main website) and associated blog (link to blog). I will post a few excerpts and keep them brief enough to stay within posting rules. Excerpts:

An abstract from one of her seminars (link) states "Three ideological discourses emerged before, during, and after the seminar – Liberal Pluralism, Meritocracy, and “Reverse Racism.”"

It is quite difficult for any institution with academic rigor and selective admissions to be other than a meritocracy. That is just common sense. However, not all professors exercise common sense or even coherence. As much as I criticize right-wing websites, I find the so-called "work" of Angela Putnam to border on incoherence. She argues that "every white person—no matter how rich or poor, old or young, educated or uneducated, can and should step up and work toward dismantling systemic racism and fight for equity and social justice." She gives no suggestion as to how that "dismantling" would occur.

Other professors even argue that white civility towards blacks is somehow racist. Two professors at University of Northern Iowa,C. Kyle Rudick and Kathryn B. Golsan "say classroom 'civility' promotes 'white racial power'" (link) & (link to paywalled article) .

Perhaps there answer is in a less restrained, even violent and/or chaotic academic environment that prevails in many schools and much of society. I actually believe that the merit system is time proven, works and benefits all.
Click to expand...

I want to point out something that may be lost in the shuffle here: she is not criticizing the ideal of hard work. She is criticizing the social structure that promote belief that hard work will unfailingly get you ahead in life. There's quite a difference, and it's not clear from your description which she is doing.
 
ashurbanipal said:
I want to point out something that may be lost in the shuffle here: she is not criticizing the ideal of hard work. She is criticizing the social structure that promote belief that hard work will unfailingly get you ahead in life. There's quite a difference, and it's not clear from your description which she is doing.
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Maybe the three essays by or cited by her are incoherent?
 
Good thing other cultures don't take this hard work and meritocracy thing to heart in any way, otherwise the might do great. Can you imagine if all of the Asian cultures just worked hard and strived for merit based recognition... we'd probably have to penalize their SAT scores for college admission just to keep things in check. /sigh :roll:

In other news, the morale of my workforce has increased dramatically after ensuring they have clear standards that apply to everyone and simple benchmarks to strive for that allow for a merit based competitive promotion process, and promotion disputes have dropped from 67% of promotions being complained about to about 12%. I'm sure those two data points just prove how powerful the lie of meritocracy is though.
 
My kids school does merit awards for various things. Students get awards for attendance, being a helpful student, being a good student, most improved student etc ...
These awards are handed out on a quarterly basis and there is an awards ceremony for the kids and parents are invited to see it. Different students get different awards
from merit to grades etc ...

It is a positive enforcement system where kids see other kids get award and then they strive to get one as well. They go to all different races of students from white to black to Hispanic etc ...
No merit awards is not white supremacy BS it is an acknowledgement of people who go above and beyond what they are supposed to do.

It shows that their effort is worth noting. for students it shows that they are doing a good thing and others want to strive to get it next time.
 
ashurbanipal said:
I want to point out something that may be lost in the shuffle here: she is not criticizing the ideal of hard work. She is criticizing the social structure that promote belief that hard work will unfailingly get you ahead in life. There's quite a difference, and it's not clear from your description which she is doing.
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give me 1000 people of all colors with great work ethic and the same intelligence levels

now give me another 1000 people with low work ethic and the exact same intelligence levels

the first 1000 people will outperform the second 1000 by a huge degree over their lifespans

and color, age, sex, sexuality, and religion have nothing to do with it

are there outliers where hard work alone doesnt matter? sure....

but they are again, outliers

hard work pays off for the vast majority of people no matter what other circumstances there are...period
 
gdgyva said:
give me 1000 people of all colors with great work ethic and the same intelligence levels

now give me another 1000 people with low work ethic and the exact same intelligence levels

the first 1000 people will outperform the second 1000 by a huge degree over their lifespans

and color, age, sex, sexuality, and religion have nothing to do with it

are there outliers where hard work alone doesnt matter? sure....

but they are again, outliers

hard work pays off for the vast majority of people no matter what other circumstances there are...period
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The truly sad thing is a-that has to actually be said in the first place and b-that people will still argue that the comment is racist.
 
TTB said:
Good thing other cultures don't take this hard work and meritocracy thing to heart in any way, otherwise the might do great. Can you imagine if all of the Asian cultures just worked hard and strived for merit based recognition... we'd probably have to penalize their SAT scores for college admission just to keep things in check. /sigh :roll:

In other news, the morale of my workforce has increased dramatically after ensuring they have clear standards that apply to everyone and simple benchmarks to strive for that allow for a merit based competitive promotion process, and promotion disputes have dropped from 67% of promotions being complained about to about 12%. I'm sure those two data points just prove how powerful the lie of meritocracy is though.
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Just so you know I have only a limited regard for the scholarship listed in the OP.
 
JBG said:
Just so you know I have only a limited regard for the scholarship listed in the OP.
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Your opinion of the regard of the scholarship was quite clear in the original post and I didn't conflate your opinion with the source. Also, you shared an article that I would not have otherwise have seen and for that I thank you! It's important to understand what other points of views are, and why they exist.
 
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