Are heroes only white? Do black female heroes have a lower standard? Black, White, Hispanic, Male, Female are not words you'll find on these pages very often. Why? Is it because we fail to recognize their achievements? No, not at all!
When a Sheepdog, whether Soldier, Police Officer, or Civilian risks their life to save another, it does not matter what tint their skin or whether they wore skirts or shorts as a child. True equality does not come so long as an emphasis is placed on skin or sex. To put an emphasis on how a hero is a minority implies that such an achievement is rare for the category emphasized.
Is there a need for special programs and promotions for minorities? No! All hiring, firing, and promotions should be based on merit and achievement. What does it say when someone or some class of individual needs a lower standard to attain the same level of authority? It implies that that class of people is incapable of attaining the standards that those without the special lower standards can achieve. That implication is racist or sexist.
Does that mean that all people have the same opportunity? No. Life is not "fair." Where each person starts out in life is a simple matter of luck of the draw. I was lucky enough to be born as an American Citizen, with rights guaranteed by the US Constitution. That makes me a minority in this world. Only 2% of the people in this world have that distinction.
Where you start in life is the result of your parents. Where you finish is the result of you. Where your kids start is on you and your choices in life. You have about 18 years to further their capacity to succeed or fail. In the interim of life you will have luck and setbacks. Not all things are in your control but the overall trajectory is up to you. Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates all demonstrate that starting with nothing does not mean finishing with nothing. They got where they are because they achieved it, in their fields.
I'm proud to be an American. I have always been proud to be an American. Our Nation has done great things. Our People have done great things. There is no place on earth that affords greater opportunity and greater freedom than does Our Nation. My pride in America does not in any way impart on Brits a lack of pride, nor on Poles, nor on the Japanese, but I'm American, not something else.
I have done many things of which I'm proud. I have seen great things and great events in history, most of which were a direct result of my enlistment in the Army and the things which I did while I was in the Army or the Army did while I was in it. I've "cashed in" on few of the benefits I earned from my Veteran service. My Military Service was payment for and insurance of the rights I was lucky enough to be born with.
I have owned more than one business. Business is a true test of abilities and character. No one can mandate success in business. Customers, like readers, will choose their source. That is the free market. Employees will make or break a business, but the business owner chooses what kind of employee to hire. A manager or business owner that puts more emphasis on sex or skin than ability is setting himself up for failure.
Veterans make great employees. The Military instills Values and a Work Ethic that is not easily abandoned. And those same values that make Great Troops make for good business.
Soldiers are "Green." There is no white, black, yellow, or brown. Benefits are not earned based on skin or sex. Recommendations for medals don't have blocks to check for sex or race. Until the rest of the world gets on board with the fact that using physical description for purposes of recognizing achievement or misdeed, it will continue to undermine equality. Physical description, including skin hue has its place, such as when putting out a means of finding someone, including suspects of crime, but not in describing why someone should be hired or recognized for their deeds.
I don't consider it "special" that the Police Officers that responded to Major Nidal were a black and a female. I consider it heroic that two Police Officers ran towards the sounds of gunfire to eliminate the terrorist rampage. They were doing their job, but they did it particularly well that day. They chose that job, knowing that it could put their lives at risk. They did what it took to save lives not only on that day, but in preparing for that day, in preparing for that job, in putting on their uniform on that day, and in responding as they did.
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