In education, but not only there, we talk a lot and more and more about discrimination. Some of these discussions take place with regard to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies which now take an important place, and which are intended as a way of fighting against discrimination.
The concept and its challenges
The word “discrimination” and its derivatives typically have negative connotations from the outset. “It’s discrimination”, “it’s discriminatory” are thrown like accusations of injustice which claim to settle a question, very often complex and controversial.
I think that we are often a bit fast in business and that the democratic conversation in general, and the world of education in particular, would gain more clarity and precision in the use of this ideologically very charged word – like the are also the words “inclusion”, “diversity” and “equity”. But let’s stick to the first one.
To discriminate means “to differentiate between people or things on the basis of distinctive criteria”. In short: it means to discern, to distinguish, to separate. This distinction is based on a criterion, a standard, and it is not only theoretical: it typically has consequences for the distinguished persons.
Certain forms of discrimination and their consequences are harmless and are not open to debate. The person who punches your cinema ticket distinguishes between valid tickets and those which are not, and on this basis whether or not they authorize access to the theater. What could be a problem here is the application of the rule, for example if the attendant let in friends with invalid tickets.
So, when we discriminate, we have a standard or rule; its application; and known consequences. When discrimination is a problem or gives rise to debate, it may therefore be that the rule seems to some unfair and to others just; or that its consequences are considered by some to be unacceptable; or that its application is considered inadequate; or all of this at the same time.
I think that our discussions on the cases of discrimination should clarify in these terms our possible disagreements, rather than launching as obvious which claims to close the subject: “It is discrimination”.
Practical applications
Let us see this in practice on – more or less – recent controversial cases of discrimination in education. Each time it is up to you, if you do not agree with the recommended discrimination, to specify where your disagreement lies and to say how you justify it.
Ten things to think about
1. Secularism: in Quebec, teachers in the public sector are not allowed to wear religious symbols. Refusing to follow this rule closes the doors of the profession.
2. A so-called positive discrimination is practiced at Harvard University: it favors, for the very competitive and coveted admission, African-American students, even if they and they have less good academic results than other applicants.
Sub-question: Asian Americans suing Harvard University. According to them, a student of Asian origin who would have a 25% chance of being admitted would have a 36% chance if he was White; a Hispanic student would have a 75% chance of being admitted with these academic results, and an African American 95%.
Another sub-question: People have been reported to lie about their racial origin to increase their chances of being admitted.
3. In the United States, large donations of money from individuals to a university have made it easier for their children to get there.
4. On a Canadian research grant application form, you must say that you will favor the hiring of research assistants in accordance with these famous EDI policies. McGill University professor Patanjali Kambhampati wrote that he would only consider candidates’ skills. He assures us that this is what earned him the rejection of his request.
5. Children’s books which present a certain image of certain groups are removed from the library. And for some burned.
6. Children’s books which are signed by authors belonging to certain groups are de facto and for that reason alone purchased by the school library – if children from these minorities attend school.
7. Those applying for a professorship in Social Inequality and Social Justice at the University of Toronto at Scarborough must show their support for “anti-racist, non-Eurocentric and decolonialist” approaches to these topics.
8. A professorship in public law at Concordia University is reserved for racialized or Aboriginal people.
9. A yoga class was canceled in 2015 at the University of Ottawa because the teacher was white. We then take it up again with a teacher with an Indian-sounding name… but who was born in Calgary.
10. The prestigious Journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry adopted a new offense policy. It reads: “It is the recipient’s perception that must be taken into account, regardless of the author’s intention. “Offensive content is:” Any content that could reasonably offend a person because of their age, sex, race, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, marital or parental status, or physical characteristics, national origin, social status or disability. “