boatgeek
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The since-locked thread on MLK Day got me thinking about inclusion. I think the thing that really hit me on that thread was the statement that if you try to make a club more diverse, you’ll end up discriminating against white men. I can understand that argument (though I disagree with it) where there are a limited number of positions available, but last time I checked, there aren’t limits on how many people you can have in your rocketry club.
Rather than making an appeal that would sound good to my (admittedly liberal) ears about justice and inclusion, let’s look at this from a cold-hearted accountant’s perspective. Imagine for a moment a rocketry club in the Kansas City, MO area that has 36 members. They all happen to be white men. What would that club look like if it still had those 36 white male members but was representative of its metro area both in terms of gender and race? It would have 36 white women, 12 African-Americans, 8 Hispanics, 2 Asians, and 4 other/mixed race, for a total membership of 100. Do you think that the club president would be pretty happy to have 64 more people in his club? And that’s what it looks like in a relatively white area. In more diverse areas, the differences would be even more significant.
If you’re concerned about the long-term health of the hobby, it’s an awfully good idea to broaden the base beyond white guys. I am squarely in the white guy over 40 demographic, so I’m not a good person to ask about how to do that. I did ask my daughter about appealing to/not turning off women, and can report on that in the comments if people are interested.
Please keep this civil and relatively rant-free so that it doesn’t get locked.
Rather than making an appeal that would sound good to my (admittedly liberal) ears about justice and inclusion, let’s look at this from a cold-hearted accountant’s perspective. Imagine for a moment a rocketry club in the Kansas City, MO area that has 36 members. They all happen to be white men. What would that club look like if it still had those 36 white male members but was representative of its metro area both in terms of gender and race? It would have 36 white women, 12 African-Americans, 8 Hispanics, 2 Asians, and 4 other/mixed race, for a total membership of 100. Do you think that the club president would be pretty happy to have 64 more people in his club? And that’s what it looks like in a relatively white area. In more diverse areas, the differences would be even more significant.
If you’re concerned about the long-term health of the hobby, it’s an awfully good idea to broaden the base beyond white guys. I am squarely in the white guy over 40 demographic, so I’m not a good person to ask about how to do that. I did ask my daughter about appealing to/not turning off women, and can report on that in the comments if people are interested.
Please keep this civil and relatively rant-free so that it doesn’t get locked.
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