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Laurence Thomas: What Good Am I

question 19

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Laurence Thomas: What Good Am I?
In "What Good Am I?" Laurence Thomas addresses the debate over affirmative action by asking why, given that knowledge is colorblind, the race and gender of professors should matter. What, in other words, is the benefit of a diverse professoriate? One answer is that a diverse professoriate provides role models for minority and female students. Thomas, however, rejects this answer because it is often presented in a way that suggests minority and female faculty have little to teach students from outside historically marginalized groups apart from how not to be racist and/or sexist. But even if this so-called role-model argument were innocent of such a suggestion, Thomas claims many would still object to affirmative action on the alleged grounds that affirmative action appointments are, by definition, not the best qualified applicants. After all, so the objection goes, if a job candidate were the most qualified applicant, he or she would not need any form of preferential treatment. According to Thomas, however, this objection completely ignores the existence the entrenched biases, which can persist even alongside a sincere belief in equality. In a morally perfect world free of these kinds of biases, women and minorities of superior qualifications would be hired on the basis of their merits. But that is not the kind of world we live in according to Thomas.
For Thomas, the best way to understand the benefit of a diverse faculty is in terms of intellectual affirmation, trust, and gratitude. Teaching, on Thomas's view, involves more than the mere transmission of knowledge. Crucially, it also involves providing intellectual affirmation, which is impossible in the absence of trust between student and teacher. Given that sexism and racism can make it difficult for female and minority students to develop this kind of trust with white male professors, a diverse faculty helps remove one obstacle standing in the way of some students achieving intellectual affirmation. Moreover, the mere presence of a diverse faculty can give female and minority students hope that the university is an environment where intellectual affirmation is possible for them. Finally, Thomas argues that intellectual affirmation creates gratitude, which when felt by white male students toward female and minority professors can help undermine academic "ole boy" networks that have served sexist and racist ends in the past.
-Thomas finds the role model argument unsatisfying because:

Definitions:

Supreme Court Of Canada

The highest court in Canada, serving as the final court of appeal and deciding on the most significant legal issues affecting the country.

Fiduciary Duty

An obligation to act in the best interest of another party, typically in a relationship where trust and confidence are essential.

Duty Of Care

An obligation to take steps to avoid foreseeable harm; an essential element for establishing liability in the tort of negligence.

Breach Of Fiduciary Duty

A legal violation that occurs when a trusted individual or entity fails to act in the best interests of those they owe a duty to.