Posted By:
Marc S.Assuming someone's ethnicity based on their bidding patterns indeed can be an incorrect assumption.
However, noting someone is of a particular race means nothing at all. That Julie said the bidder was black was based on her review of the person's bidding patterns. However, she made no comment as to the bidder's (potentially) being black actually meant anything.
People in this country seem to be so afraid of race, in many ways, and this is a perfect example. We decided to burn Julie at the stake, simply because she noted her (potentially incorrect) assumptions about the ethnicity of another bidder. She did not say her actions or behaviour were affected at all by her conclusion.
In this society, we have to make assumptions about race every day. In fact, the stringent laws surrounding Affirmative Action, the American Disabilities Act, and Equal Opportunity laws, in general, have forced myself and employers at large to become more acutely aware of race, age, gender, etc. No longer is it even reasonable to simply select the most qualified candidates for positions. Every interview opportunity must be accompanied with a race/gender matrix of those who applied, those who were given an offer, those who accepted, etc. It is these very laws that have forced many of us to make more of an effort to discern race and age in people -- with the irony being that the goal is to disregard that which we are forced to acutely record.