Let's be blind

It's a commonly accepted notion that our society puts a heavy emphasis on appearance. Whether in a job interview or on a first date, people judge others constantly by how they look or what their background is.

Our society has taken steps to alleviate this kind of discrimination by putting programs like affirmative action into effect. Equal opportunity programs have helped us eliminate many forms of bias, but certain flaws have made them somewhat outdated in today's world.

For example, people abuse the system. One employee of a library at Harvard sued the institution, claiming that she was passed over for promotion because she was "too good looking." She lost, thank goodness, but just think of the legal mess she caused because she couldn't accept the fact that maybe she wasn't the best fit for a promotion at the time.

And then there is Joe Johnson, a police chief in Columbus, Miss., who was recently awarded thousands of dollars in back pay because he claimed he was passed over for promotion because he was black. The promotion did go to a white man, but let's not forget the fact that the white candidate had two years seniority over Johnson.

What our society needs, and is ready for, is a completely blind approach. It shouldn't matter what color your skin is when applying for a position, whether it's a scholarship, job, or any other opportunity. It shouldn't matter what gender you are, how old you are, or what your sexual orientation is.

These factors hold absolutely no bearing when it comes to individual talent, so why are we discriminating for or against them?

The policy reads "equal rights," not "special rights."

I honestly think that if we were to enact this concept, equality would come naturally. One author and researcher, Malcolm Gladwell, wrote a book titled "Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking," in which he talks about auditions for seats in an orchestra. Before the study, there had been far more male performers than females chosen due to a preconceived bias that men were better players. Participants for the book auditioned behind a screen where judges could not discern age, race or gender, and judges ended up picking more females than males, thus leveling the playing field.

Imagine if all auditions or interviews were conducted in a manner where it didn't matter if you had short or long hair, dark or light skin, or couldn't afford expensive clothing.

If you are given a position of interest due to something you have no control over, you are discounting your own ability. If I obtained a job simply because I wore brown shoes and the rest of the candidates were wearing black shoes, I would be cheating myself. Shoe color holds no bearing on my potential, and neither do any of the aforementioned factors.

My roommate is a female in the field of engineering. People will constantly say to her, "You'll get a great job because you're a girl in a male-dominated field." But what about her ability? Does that count for anything?

With society pushing the idea of racial or gender equality, how can we move on if we continue to judge each other based on our differences? We're so obsessed with having a diverse society that we've lost one of the fundamentals of a productive society: the most qualified person gets the offer.

My point is neither liberal nor conservative. I simply think that if we're going to take a stand against discrimination, we have to be fair to whites and blacks, homosexuals and heterosexuals, the young and the old.

With focus and a blind eye, our generation can become the first to truly lose sight of outer appearance. Equal rights policies should be just that - equal, not special.