Return to Article: OPM blamed for under-representation of Hispanics in government
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18895
Dear DHS,
Actually, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in case 05-7044, Mastro v. Potomac Electric Power, decided that white males are a protected class, and that the federal government can be found guilty of racial and sexual discrimination. So the quotas used in other cases are now applied to all. Interesting life.
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18703
To DHS,
I agree with you. I worked for the federal government for more than 15 years. I have been through (and seen) upward mobility programs, affirmative action, special hiring and all that stuff designed to give the "disadvantaged" and "underrepresented" a boost upward. Most of these programs (especially Upward Mobility) were gimmes for the "haves" at the agency. Also, if nobody at an agency wants to hire/promote you, no affirmative action program that you "qualify" for is going to help you achieve your goals.
What I did learn was that anything that I got worthwhile was the stuff I worked for myself and didn't have to "thank" any beneficiaries for, such as my degrees from school and other hard qualifications that helped me to advance in the real world. Those who can help themselves do. Hispanics and other minorities -- wake up. These programs are a sham and a waste of taxpayer resources.
Dis-gruntled.
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18695
Qualifications and addressing racial/ethnic backgrounds are not mutually exclusive. It does not have to be an either/or situation. The question really is this: How will government agencies, in their hiring practices, continue to address the historical legacy of inequitable distribution of economic and political power?
It is not simply about the bare fact of one's racial or ethnic identity. It is about one's connection to a racial/ethnic group whose history is tied to being a part of a group that was not on the receiving end of racial privilege (i.e. white males). White males, for most of this country's history, received privilege based upon racial oppression and exclusion. Now that we have become conscious of this racial privilege and have enacted legislation and policies to address it, we cannot buy into the rhetoric that suggests that this is simply about the bare fact of one's racial identity.
Quotas are about addressing past inequities and historical white privilege over others.
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18694
If we are going to have an honest discussion about 'quotas' we have to talk about where there is such a thing. White males have had quotas for most of American history. That's the point.
Nobody gets anywhere on their own. We all have had mentors, positive reinforcement, a hand up somewhere, a community or communities that profoundly shape us for good or ill. So-called quotas, again, are an attempt to address historical legacies of inequitable distribution of political and economic power. Until this is seriously looked at by people on the other side of the argument ,dismissing affirmative action programs and pontificating about white male victimhood only reveals the entrenched-ness of white privilege and unconscious racial habits.
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18634
Service Representative SSA Concord. Why are you so against qualification mattering more than race/ethnic background. I am Hispanic and don't expect to get a job because of my background. You don't know how it feels to have people talk behind your back saying it was a hire based just on filling quotas.
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18503
"Everybody has been helped by somebody along the way". Well, I wish that was so, but in my case, I earned a college degree, took the PACE examination, scored well on it, and was called for a job interview, which led to a position in the federal government, where I have worked for the past 26 years. No quotas, no EEO, no preferential hiring in my case, although that did come into play later in my career, when it came to promotions (perference given to females and minorities who scored lower on promotion exams than I, a white male, did). Going back to your quote, who was there to help me get this job? Nobody, and nobody helped me when it came time for promotions. This is why people are skeptical of quotas, and prefer a truly level playing field. These days, white males are the new minority!
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18501
With contracting out, a bulk of the non-college level jobs are no longer available. So when looking at the percentage of any group in the Federal Service, you need to look at the percentage of college graduates. That is the challenge for anyone. If you want to call "cracking the Senior Executive Service is tantamount to climbing Mt. Everest," then look at the graduates of Harvard or MIT twenty five years ago. What was the percentage of Hispanic, or any group then? That should be what you are comparing to, not the general population, regardless of qualification.
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18497
"Speaking as a so-called Hispanic, I don't see why we have to hire people based on their race/ethnic background."
The rationale behind such a thing has little to do with the bare fact of one's race or ethnic group. The issue is a bit more deeper than that. It has mostly to do with the historical antecedents of inequitable distribution of political and economic power. For a long time in this country non-whites were unjustly treated. Such a long legacy still has lingering effects in our society. 400 years of structural advantage to whites meant 400 years of structural disadvantage to non-whites. It has only been 40 years since Civil Rights legislation began to take effect. 40 for 400. Simply wishing away racial and ethnic socalled 'preferences' will not wash away a long and deep fissure of injustice.
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18449
" It is up to the individual to get educated, and work to get what they want out of life. This is the individual's responsibility, not the government's!"
Such a Darwinian-individualist stance is not what caused the progress we have made in this country regarding racial justice. It has been an awakening of the common good that has done so. That requires both the individual and society. Positive change needs both moves made by the individual and the gov't. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The two should work in concert.
To suggest that it is solely up to the individual is crass ideological move of asserting rugged individualism, when historically no racial group has actually used rugged individualism. Everybody has been helped by somebody along the way.
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18417
Over at DoD, where I used to work, it didn't matter if you were Hispanic - or a woman, or black, blue, purple, or yellow. All that mattered is whether you were part of the "Boys Club" and if you had a friend in a high place that could get in and help you advance. And, if someone in the club didn't like you, you could count on spending the rest of your career in oblivion as the management stuck together. I've seen talented people in the Federal govt. stagnate for years - they couldn't get promoted and they couldn't transfer to a job where they had better chances - it must've been because they got into an argument with their supervisor back in 1991. Why are we focusing on under-representation of certain groups in the government, yet can't do anything about the Boys Club?
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18340
Back in the late 1980s we were overstaffed with APIs (Asian - Pacific Islanders). The reason was because they were the ones who applied and were qualified. It's a factor to consider before jumping on a bandwagon. How many women apply for jobs as high steel workers? A lot less than 50 percent; so they can't very well be hired, can they?
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18283
All Americans should be able to compete fairly for federal, state or local government, or private sector jobs without preferences. If Hispanics want federal jobs, they can apply just as the rest of us did. To blame OPM for alleged "under-representation" is absurd. There are many Hispanics who work for DHS, probably in greater proportions than their numbers in the general U.S. population. It is up to the individual to get educated, and work to get what they want out of life. This is the individual's responsibility, not the government's!
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18209
"We attribute the continuing under-representation of Hispanics in federal employment in part to OPM's failure to develop and implement effective strategies to address this problem."
Right, because it's all one agency's fault. I'm not an advocate for OPM, but good grief. And the fact these people get upset over some (absolutely correct) statement made from OPM just shows how petty and stupid their accusations are.
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18166
Aug. 7, 2006
Dear Editor, GovExec.com:
On behalf of the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, we are writing to respond to a statement by an employee of the Office of Personnel Management. In this article, Antonio San Martin, Jr., an attorney in the Office of General Counsel at OPM, is quoted as follows:
"I can't show up to a conference with 50 jobs in my pocket and give them out to the people there as door prizes," San Martin said.
Mr. San Martin's statement, which falsely compares Latino demands for fair federal employment policies to "handouts," is outrageous. The HNBA, MALDEF, PRLDEF, and other members of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda demand nothing more or less than effective federal outreach, hiring, and employee retention initiatives for Hispanic job candidates and employees. As documented in the NHLA report that was the subject of your article, OPM has failed to make any inroads regarding the effective recruitment, hiring, and retention of Latinos, as it is required to do under federal law.
We renew our call for OPM to implement effective measures to address the underrepresentation of Hispanics and to recognize the gravity of the civil rights and legal issues involved. We attribute the continuing underrepresentation of Hispanics in federal employment in part to OPM's failure to develop and implement effective strategies to address this problem. Mr. San Martin's public comment has served to increase our level of concerns regarding OPM's current efforts.
Sincerely,
Nelson Castillo
President
Hispanic National Bar AssociationJohn Trasviña
Interim President and General Counsel
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational FundCesar Perales
President and General Counsel
Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund -
18143
Speaking as a so-called Hispanic, I don't see why we have to hire people based on their race/ethnic background. Speaking for myself, I want to get a job based on my qualification and not because of the color of my skin or because I am Hispanic. Truthfully I don't want to claim that I am of Hispanic descent because of all the illegals that come across and expect to be taken care of by our welfare system. Let's just continue to give them welfare by giving them job that they don't qualify for. This is the dumbest thing that can happen!
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18135
The quota system has contributed significantly to the mess the government is in now. Hispanics are hardly the first group that has cried foul about being under-represented. Other groups have been doing so for decades. OPM has often done a knee jerk under political pressure and forced federal agencies to hire under-qualified people and fast track many of them into management jobs they couldn't do.
Just as with those other groups, if the interview process was racially blind, the Hispanic candidates would still be under-represented. The federal workers and the taxpayers have suffered enough for politically active special interests. Hispanics have access to the same federal job postings on the Internet as everybody else. Many people in federal jobs come from the areas where there are federal jobs. Maybe, Hispanics should live in those areas if they want those jobs.
The federal government is in such a state of decline that the last thing we need to do is to hire less than qualified people to meet another quota.
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18064
The figures used in this instance are comparing apples with oranges. Unlike other groups, a large number of Hispanics are non-U.S. citizens, with some of them being illegal workers. Since they are not eligible for federal employment, the percentage of Hispanics in the general workforce is irrelevant to federal employment. The only valid number for comparison would be the percentage of Hispanic-American citizens in the federal workforce.
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18040
Quotas and similar forms of presumptive entitlement are a thing of the past. Self-improvement is the thing now. Hispanics in the United States would be better served by NHLA if they were to devote their resources to addressing the exceedingly high Hispanic student drop-out rate. Perhaps then, there would be more attuned and qualified job seekers and the representation needs they see would be satisfied.
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18036
Hopefully, your employment percentages in private industry only include Hispanics who are in the United States legally. Illegal immigrants don't qualify for federal employment.
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18029
Let the screed begin. Seems I remember that the last time an article like this was printed, there were more than 50 responses. Folks, there is no denying that ethnic, racial, etc. bias exists and is practiced in the hiring process. But, I'd love to see a well-reasoned response to this question by someone that advocates boosting ethnic/racial group hiring practices at the expense of any other:
Would those that want the percentage of workers for any racial/ethnic group like to see vacancy postings that say something to the effect of, "We currently have an excess population of (fill in the racial/ethnic group of your choice) workers in the U.S. government workforce. Due to ethnic/racial balancing requirements imposed by ethnic/racial special interest PACs, no member of the (fill in the blank) group need apply until overall government workforce makeup equals the national averages."
If we use national percentages, something like that may be the only way to make some currently under-represented groups satisfied. But that will be only until they are the ones being excluded; then it will likely be lobbied against as a very bad thing and unfair to their particular special interest group. In that respect, special interest leadership is no different than the average Democrat, Republican or Independent politician.
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18028
This comment made me laugh out loud:
"The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda released its own findings, accusing OPM of a failure in leadership and an unwillingness to hold agencies accountable for the gap between the percentage of Hispanics employed in the private and public sectors."
OPM has spent years failing to lead and being unwilling to hold agencies accountable for anything. This should come as no surprise. I've spent years watching OPM be an incoherent agency and not only incompetent but detrimental to federal sector human resources. This group should tell me something I don't already know. All I can say is welcome to the OPM Fan Club.
HR Specialist
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