People are fond of writing and saying "Diversity is our strength." Voices raising doubts about that assertion are not often heard. I propose to raise the issue.
In a heterogeneous society like ours, certainly diversity is a strength, in that it enables most of us to feel included. I question whether it should be our only, or even our most important strength.
I argue that if we were to pick our key strength, it should be that group of things variously labeled skill, merit, excellence, or superior ability. If most people selected for a particular job come from one subgroup, because they are best able to get it done, that is more important than diversity.
Diversity would suggest NBA teams should be roughly 60% white, 20% Hispanic, and 12% black. That isn't the case, a majority of the most able players are black and the teams reflect that.
Hispanics are seriously underrepresented in basketball, while overrepresented in MLB. When the job is staffing the most capable team, we become color-blind and look for superior ability. Why is that wrong in other occupations?
Let's say you're a middle aged guy, slightly overweight with a sedentary occupation. You stand a good chance of needing open heart surgery sometime in the next decade or two.
How excited are you to learn that today's medical schools are all about "diversity is our strength?" Believe it, they are. I find that a scary thought, perhaps you do as well. Wouldn't you rather med schools were ruthlessly meritocratic? I would.
An argument can be made that diversity programs actually foster discrimination against graduates from groups known to be favored. The programs raise suspicions about their qualifications that wouldn't occur if discrimination in their favor was not government policy.
