I think that you believe that they are equals as it is, and I don't agree with that, hence our Disagreement. <snip for brevity>
We agree more than we disagree. My point is that we are ALL equal, and it's up to us to ensure that we take advantage of the freedoms we have. If an employer doesn't want to hire someone because they're "X,Y, or Z", then do you really want to work for them in the first place? You can't change a bigots mind by forcing something on him, what you CAN do however is make it known that he's a bigot, and suggest in the strongest terms possible that people not do business with them.
As for Affirmative Action, like the Unions, it may have been necessary at one time, but also like the Unions, it quickly morphed into something that in no way resembles what it was originally supposed to be about, and became another form of welfare. Giving anyone a job, a promotion, or anything else because they're "X,Y, or Z" and not simply because they EARNED it IS welfare, and I've seen it time and time and time again over the years. PROTECTION is all well and good, and ALL Americans deserve that protection, regardless of their race, creed, color, sex, or national origin, but preferential treatment and special dispensations are another issue altogether, and I think we agree on that. If any American is
unfairly discriminated against, then fine, we need to address that particular incident, but as discrimination against an AMERICAN, not against an "X,Y, or Z", because when we do THAT, we're not stopping discrimination, we're PROMOTING it.
Another point is this; you say that you don't believe that we are equals, and I find that to be sad. If we aren't equal, and in fact you believe that blacks, women, the handicapped, gays, or some other group are in fact un-equal to other Americans, then that brings up the issue of whether or not they can be given the same Rights as everyone else, or if they should be disenfranchised and "taken care of" as children or the mentally challenged. If you are going to say that blacks, or anyone else from some special interest group is in fact NOT equal, you are therefore saying that they are "children", that we must care for, then how can we allow them to vote, or have any say in our country when we disallow real children from doing so? If, however, we
are to accept that "all men are created equal", then we are duty bound to TREAT them as equals, guarantee them all of the same rights, and demand all the same responsibilities, just like we do from every other American.
As for Lib, I don't believe he's a racist, I believe he (as I do on occasion) simply uses the extreme cases to accentuate the point, since they are so obvious, and egregious, and it does bring the point of reverse discrimination and hypocrisy to the forefront. You may not care for the tactic, but you cannot deny the facts.
