Photos Hurt Diversity
Navy Mustang
Back in July 2020, then SecDef Esper banned the use of photos in promotion and selection boards to counter any racial bias.
In a memo to the service secretaries and the JCS, Esper included the photo removal as part of a series of steps aimed at eliminating “discrimination, prejudice and bias in all ranks” to promote equal opportunity, morale and the readiness of the force.
“We must root out prejudice and bias that may exist but isn’t always transparent” throughout the military, he said.
His tenure as SecDef was terminated by President Trump.
Now the Chief of Naval Personnel, Vice Adm. John Nowell Jr., is saying the photo ban has just the opposite effect.
Poetrooper sends.
Navy Admiral Admits Removing Photos from Promotion, Selection Boards Hurt Diversity
KRISTINA WONG
The Navy admiral in charge of personnel admitted at a conference this week that a step taken last year to increase racial diversity among leaders has backfired and actually hurt diversity.
Vice Adm. John Nowell Jr., chief of naval personnel, said Tuesday while speaking at the Navy League’s 2021 Sea-Air-Space Exposition that after the Navy decided to eliminate photos as part of its promotion and selection boards for sailors, diversity went down, not up as intended.
“I think we should consider reinstating photos in selection boards,” he said at the conference, according to the Navy Times. “We look at, for instance, the one-star board over the last five years, and we can show you where, as you look at diversity, it went down with photos removed.”
He argued that although promotions and selection is a “meritocracy” and the Navy is “only going to pick the best of the best,” “we want them to consider diversity across all areas.”
“And therefore…I think having a clear picture on this just makes it easier. So, actually, our data show that it would support adding photos back in,” he said.
Diversity or meritocracy, Admiral? One is a time-tested, proven path to promote the most qualified; the other is a quota system. Which choice best “…defends the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic…”
Thanks, Poe and Andy11M for the links.
Category: Big Pentagon, Diversity, Guest Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNh3ZWw9MJg
Stop promoting the best?
“The Best” is a racial construct created by white supremacists, promulgated by the white patriarchy, enforced by systemic racism and rewarded by the white-owned military-industrial complex. We should have a promotion system based on the needs of the individual and the collective success of the unit. Equity demands that all will be able to reach their desired rank, without having to suffer through varying levels of discrimination.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to puke.
You should have said that “THE MAN” is behind it…’cause “THE MAN” is keeping our azzez DOWN!!!
It’s coming (no pun intended):
Though I agree with diversity (and always have) in our ranks, for the most qualified regardless of race/gender or whatever, I do understand why lack of photos caused the issue. If you are going to force a preconceived notion or program to insure there IS diversity (including the less qualified), you must have a photo, and/or a demographic checklist to know you hire, promote and push the correct potential candidate for the job that fits the agenda. The boards/hirers need to know who to push.
Race/gender/etc as an agenda seems to bring down my brothers and sisters that fit into a minority as they try to be the best, in silence, and compete on a level playing field. We would all have doubts about our promos, or lack there of, in this environment. Damn.
Whatever happened to reputation, skill, knowledge, and leadership. Guess I have been out too long.
Rambling over.
Skin color and/or “who you know,” comrade!
The Regressive Agenda.
Back in 92 or 93, I attended an officer “class” given by an LTC that had recently sat on a promotion board. The class was on how the board works.
IIRC it went something like this.
Every board member reviews the file, including the picture, then assigns a grade in the form of a number.
When all was said and done, the list was ranked ordered 1 to n and a line drawn at the number to promote. The list was then analyzed as to race, gender etc.
If the demographics was not “right”, the promote line was redrawn to get more promotees. Then those soldiers ere reevaluated until the list was “correct”
Bottom line is that promotions have been adjusted for demographics for a long time.
Sounds like the “Good Idea Fairy” got bit right on the ass.
Promote THE most qualified…period! But we all know that won’t happen. We’ve all seen it. Even worse on the Civil Service/Corporate side.
Just don’t call it a quota, say “goal” of course.
Pretty soon first names are gonna be scrubbed. Names like Shaquille, Trayvon, Lashawn, Dontrall, Shaniqua, Sheena, Shalondra, Ogonna, Jonelle, Dremiel. Jozy, etc..might bias the board.
And any name with a punctuation mark or special character. L@‘Kw@nd@/} can’t catch a break in today’s racist society.
Not to mention “click” language speakers like Kung bushmen…
!Kung
The first sound is a tongue-click.
I knew a white chick who went be “Sheena” once, long ago.
Of course, that was her stripper name…
I had to go in front of a promotion board for promotion to Sergeant E-5. Pretty sure they all noticed I’m a white male. They also noticed the two potential promotees in front of and behind me were black males. They couldn’t answer some of the questions, I could. I got promoted, they didn’t. Sure glad we didn’t have Diversity quotas then.
Those times are long gone.
Promoting or hiring people because of their skin color isn’t racist when Democrats do it or something.
The photos were only to show how you looked in uniform, such as if you were ten lbs of lard stuffed into a burlap sack. Your ethnicity was not in question. Now, evidently, we need to see if you are a certain demographic so you can get extra consideration. Diversity does not equal equality. Stop the social experiments before we have to learn Chinese.
Yeah, but you can tell if someone one is fat by looking at the height & weight. You don’t need a photo for that.
The DA Photos were not originally intended for racial quotas, but that’s how it ended up being used.
No CSM sitting at the E7 board will risk being called teh racisss.
Off topic, saw this article. A CMSgt w/ 30 yrs service stationed in Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait dies from non combat related incident. Under investigation. RIP Chief.
This is reportedly the 3rd non combat related death of air force personnel at this base in the past year.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/08/05/air-force-chief-master-sergeant-dies-in-kuwait/
Summer is brutal in Kuwait.
RIP
Can confirm this. Also, being on the ocean, the heat in Kuwait is NOT a ‘dry heat’ like in AZ.
125 degrees F and 80% humidity…
I saw this coming from a mile away.
The moment the DA photos were dropped, the promotion boards stopped worrying about race and diversity and started promoting the best regardless of ethnic makeup.
Stupid wokes don’t understand how the real world works.
Nor will they understand that they created the environment that rewards those of a certain dermal pigmentation for mediocre performance, taking away their motivation and ensuring that only a few will excel. Those not favored by quotas will bust their ass. The end result is completely predictable, and the only racists involved were the leftists who decided that lowered expectations were justified for those not white enough.
Alert! Alert! Forbidden outcome! Reset rules until commanded outcome is achieved! Alert! Alert!
“I think having a clear picture on this just makes it easier”
I had to read that twice….
Because they must not say:
“Promotions will be allotted in accordance with satisfaction of the political ‘pull’ of groups, such pull being primarily determined by skin color, with careful attention to hard-left outrage dejure, thus ensuring the politically correct divvying up of spoils.”
“Equity” is the politically correct divvying of spoils by an all-powerful authority. It has no rules, other than “all power to authority”.
See North Korea.
So what if they have two potential candidates that are equally qualified, and both fit into a category of minority that is targeted for a “diversity promotion”. But the pigmentation of one candidate is darker than the other? Is the lighter skinned candidate passed over because he/she is not dark enough?
And just what kind of “diversity” are they looking to fill? Is it just based on race? How about ethnicity? Sexual orientation? Physical characteristics? If diversity is truly your strength, then we need morbidly obese in leadership positions. After all, morbidly obese are the (literally) the largest minority in America.
Yes cut out photos to remove racial bias, but let’s not look at names like D’Shaun, or Laqeshia, no bias there at all.
Hmmmm……Chad Worthington Winchester III, Armando Diaz, or DeShaunte Washington…who should get the promotion?
So are they going to establish a quota based on skin shade complete with a color card to insure they have the mandated “diversity”?
Given how hell-bent the current administration is on destroying our Military, it wouldn’t surprise me.
Back in the Big War, it was not uncommon for Stalin’s Red Army to jump an outstanding company commander two steps, to regimental commander. Probably no photographs involved/
So they took the photos away because they felt they were promoting people simply based on race.
After reviewing the data once the photos were removed they discovered they had, in point of fact, been using the photos to promote based on racial criteria.
So now they would like to put the photos back into play and continue promoting based on the racial criteria displayed in the photos…because without knowing what color the candidate was they were only promoting based on credentials not skin color and they didn’t like the results they were getting…
Well abracadabra that’s some fucking magical thinking right there…
Just remove photos and names and simply give the promotion boards the information with only a number attached to it, then review the results.
If those results remain racially skewed there’s now some data that is actually usable in terms of reviewing it for other issues with education and training opportunities, or you find there is no racial skew once no names and photos are involved…
Seems easy to resolve.
Entirely too easy, therefore it’ll never happen.