I was discussing the blog with a friend not too long ago, and she brought up an interesting point. ”You have this forum to talk about almost anything and you’re spending it on Mr. Potato Head, GI Joe and Batman. Why don’t you talk about something more serious, like Affirmative Action?”

So here’s the first (and last) time that you will hear about Affirmative Action on this blog.

Affirmative Action is, much like the Americans with Disabilities Act, a double-edged sword that causes as many problems as it solves. Companies may want to hire someone who could have been discriminated against, but the Sword of Damocles (lots of swords are involved) that is fear of the race card/disability card being pulled at any time actually lowers the chance of the disabled or minorities getting hired. In an interesting parallel, this problem occurs with the habitats of endangered species.

But fear not! Factors like the election of a black President and the change from a Caucasian majority to a minority should show the progress that has occurred in race relations, making such laws almost a moot point!

Right?

Well, when it comes down to it, the problem with discrimination of any type is that it’s caused by a difference from what one perceives as the norm. Anything that separates people from one another is grounds for bias, mistrust or blame. So I’m going to work off of a hypothetical we can call the Bulworth/Phantom Tollbooth* Conjecture:

Suppose everyone is the same color. And not only that, let’s say that we all have identical physical features across genders. So everyone looks exactly the same. Height, weight, hairstyles, etc. But people have different personalities.

Groups will be formed based on social and political beliefs. People will still enjoy different recreational activities. They will hold different jobs, like different books and entertainment, and have different names.

There will still be discrimination.

Of course, this discrimination is based on personality – whether one person gets along with another, whether they like them, whether this person seems like a good “fit.” Just think about why you have the friends that you do, and why you don’t like other people – you’re making discrimination based on personality.

But personality discrimination is an acceptable type of bigotry – if someone shifts the blame onto someone because of political affiliation, career choice, geographic location, education or entertainment preferences, it’s acceptable. After all, these are the things that make us individuals. It’s not all right to deny someone the right to their opinion, but it’s permissible to hate them because of it.

Even though people still carry prejudice against others because of race, gender, age, nationality or disability, as a society, we have stood up to say, “This is wrong,” and enacted laws and regulations to mitigate or eliminate such biases. However, the disconnect that exists when comparing extraneous characteristics and internal (chosen) characteristics is a wide chasm that no one wants to cross.

Then again, becoming fully accepting of others means that rewards, acknowledgement, success and promotion can no longer exist. Everyone must be on the same level, without defining characteristics to separate them from everyone else. So a little discrimination is fine, as long as it’s based on something that isn’t physically observable.

Because everyone has to be special, or else no one will be.

*In the movie Bulworth, the titular character’s solution for racial tensions is that “everyone should keep [mating] until we’re all the same color.” And in the book The Phantom Tollbooth, a war was started because two groups couldn’t agree as to whether numbers or words were more important, despite being the same in every other way.