CGR’s recent Civil Rights Revelations; Nate Silver may have the Answer
Literally, there are people who might be in school in Arkansas or Tennessee and might never interact with someone, in a positive affirmative way, from a different part of the country or a different racial group…Once something is predictable, it is what I call ‘designable.’ You can start thinking about solutions to solving that problem eventhough it is pernicious and as intractable as racism. If we understand that root cause of the behavior and where it manifests itself and where it doesnt, we can start to design solutions to it.
Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight.com
From CoastGuardReport.org:
Also of concern to this Committee is ensuring the level of minority acceptances at the Coast Guard Academy reflects the composition of America. To have offered only nine African-Americans acceptance for an entering class of approximately 300 this coming Fall is unacceptable. Clearly, the Coast Guard did not listen to this Committee last September when our Members challenged them on low admission rates for minorities.
-Congressman Jim Oberstar on the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Fascinating. Could this be a factor in the Civil Rights (non) discussion? This may be a root of the Civil Rights difficulty that has Congressmen, traditional and non-traditional media lambasting the Coast Guard’s practices. The problem has been predictable for some time now and the solution should be designable, by this point.
The discussion on Coast Guard Civil Rights at CGR will likely continue for a very long time. The issues run deep and Coast Guard has not addressed them for over a decade. Congress noted on 1 April 2009 that Coast Guard has not even attempted to resolve many issues identified over a decade ago.
Admiral That Allen has been absolutely silent on this issue. He’s between a rock and hard place. If he says one thing he’ll admit he’s part of the problem. If he says another, he’ll admit he didn’t monitor this problem. He hold the pink slip to USCG, the buck stops with him either way.
His silent action or lack of action both leave the American Taxpayers and the men and women of the Coast Guard wanting for transparency and ultimately leadership. The longer the Commandant remains silent, the longer his ship sails without a rudder. Coast Guard Civil Rights is already hard aground. Its sails are shredding in the wind.
Comment by TJ | April 27, 2009