Laurence Thomas: What Good Am I

question 14

True/False

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 argues that feelings like trust and gratitude can serve racist and sexist ends.

Understand the establishment and development of different churches and religious movements, including the Mormon Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Grasp the impact of key literary and philosophical figures on American social thought and labor movements.

Appreciate the influence of legal and illegal migration patterns on American society, including the roles played by Irish and German immigrants.

Recognize the technological and infrastructural advances made during the period and their impact on American society.

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Definitions:

Theories of Science, Technology, and Society

Interdisciplinary frameworks that explore how scientific knowledge, technological innovations, and societal conditions influence each other.

Agency-Structure Integration

A theoretical perspective that emphasizes the interrelation between individual (agency) actions and overarching social structures, proposing a reciprocal influence rather than viewing them as separate entities.

Micro-Macro Integration

A conceptual approach in sociology that seeks to understand the connections and interactions between individual (micro-level) behaviors and broader societal (macro-level) structures.

Ethnomethodology

A sociological perspective focused on the ways people use everyday conversation and gestures to construct a shared social reality.