FCC Reinstates Diversity Rules

[TheBigA]

The FCC by a 3-2 vote reinstated the rules requiring stations to post diversity information:

FCC Reinstates Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Collection Rules - Radio Ink

The Federal Communications Commission has reignited controversy with a 3-2 party-line decision to mandate detailed yearly EEO reports.

radioink.com

To me, this fits with the decision replacing the public files rules with posting online. But some don't see it that way. Over the weekend, commissioner Brandon Carr posted a very public dissent.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Breaking news: Old white Republican man opposes rule mandating equality.

Here's his twitter/X rant:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1760784050032156989

 

[TheBigA]

The thing these folks want to ignore is that EEO is the law. All they're doing is following the law. The law does not require companies to hire based on gender or race. The law is that companies can't overlook someone because of their gender or race. It's the complete opposite. The FCC has all of these programs trying to encourage more minority participation. This is just part of it.

 

[Mark Roberts]

What Angry Brandon doesn't seem to realize is that the most effective way to bury a proposal or initiative is to have reports on it instead. A few interested parties will read the reports and that will be that.

But I enjoy watching Republicans totally fail to understand how bureaucracies work. Didn't they read their Max Weber? Apparently not.

 

[davideduardo]

Breaking news: Old white Republican man opposes rule mandating equality.

The real opposition is that radio is so unprofitable that any added regulatory expense takes away money that could be used for something that would benefit listeners.

Back in the 70's when we had to do those reports every year, I was managing stations in Puerto Rico. I got the form and sat there in a state of total stupor. I called my department heads and office staff and had a spontaneous "Town Hall" meeting.

Back in the 70's, prior to the 1980 Census, there was no such thing as "Hispanic". Our government invented that term in time for the Census to comply with all the rights protection legislation of the era, but in the mid-70's they had not even come up with a name for such a group.

So the employment report had categories for race that covered Black, White, Native American/Indigenous People and Asian.

Now, in Puerto Rico, about 99.9% of the population is what today we call "Hispanic". But what all of us together could not figure out or understand is what to call each person. On the Island, essentially everyone has bits of two or more races. A huge majority have some African heritage. A smaller percentage have Indigenous heritage, despite the Spaniard's efforts to either work all the native population to death or to kill them from European diseases. There is even a small percentage of people with Asian heritage.

When people in Puerto Rico try to act like they are pure European, there is a response: "Y tu abuela ¿dónde está?" (And where is your Grandmother?") meaning that nearly everyone had some black heritage.

The problem is that we did not get an illustrated manual showing when a person stopped being Afro-Antillean and became "White". How dark was your skin to be before you were "Black" or "Indigenous"? So, I asked my little group of staff members, how do I classify each of us.

The conclusion was that not only could most of us not be easily classified, but that the questionnaire itself was offensive and racist.

I called our FCC counsel in DC and explained how nasty my staff found the form. We spent hours writing a response, and I collected written protests from a number of members of the state senate and house who found the procedure disgusting. We asked the FCC to allow us to write in "Latino" on a new line and to ignore the race questions. Surprisingly, the FCC agreed and sent some type of notification to all licensees in Puerto Rico that "Latino" was an acceptable response but only in Puerto Rico.

In this case, as in many others I see today, excessive classification does not unite people, it builds walls and resentment.

 

[TheBigA]

The real opposition is that radio is so unprofitable that any added regulatory expense takes away money that could be used for something that would benefit listeners.

But there's no real cost here, and that's not why Carr opposes it. Stations have to complete these forms anyway. They're saving money because they don't have to staff a receptionist anymore so people can view the public file. The file is now online. Its been that way for years. All they're saying is also post your EEO form. A lot of stations are actually doing it already. It's not hard, and doesn't cost any more money. So that excuse is off the table.

In this case, as in many others I see today, excessive classification does not unite people, it builds walls and resentment.

Then we should do away with Hispanic heritage month. No more Cinco de Mayo. just call it May 5th. Because celebrating Hispanics divides us. IF we take the wrong attitude about it. That's what this is about. There are people who are afraid that minorities (blacks, women, Hispanics, etc) will replace them, rather than celebrating that we all come from different places with different experiences. That's what EEO is about. EEO isn't imposing a quota system. If that's what it was, I'd be opposed to it too. All it says is consider other people. Then hire whoever you want. Post it online with the rest of your public file so it's not a big secret. That's neither hard, nor expensive.

 

[davideduardo]

Then we should do away with Hispanic heritage month.

That is something set up by mostly White Eastern politicians. There is no such thing as "Hispanic" except in statistics.

No more Cinco de Mayo.

Good idea. It's a non-item in Mexico, and only promoted in the US by beer and liquor companies.

Because celebrating Hispanics divides us.

Dividing people into groups divides us.

"Hispanic" includes pure Afro Antillean folks from the Dominican Republic, a huge Asian community in Peru, the nearly 50% of people in Argentina who are from Italy, the pure indigenous people in much of Bolivia, the people who speak more than 100 non-Spanish indigenous languages in Mexico, the descendants of Holocaust survivors who went to Latin America when FDR refused them entry to the US, the predominantly German communities in parts of Chile and so on. The government term "Hispanic" makes it seem like they all share something in common, which they do not.

Again, one of my daughters... who is a lawyer... loves her T-Shirt that says "Not Hispanic. Not Latina. Puerto Rican".

You can't bring people together by grouping them in categories. That separates them.

IF we take the wrong attitude about it. That's what this is about. There are people who are afraid that minorities (blacks, women, Hispanics, etc) will replace them, rather than celebrating that we all come from different places with different experiences.

Maybe, instead, we should celebrate the fact that we are now all here together and build on togetherness, not differences.

That's what EEO is about. EEO isn't imposing a quota system. If that's what it was, I'd be opposed to it too. All it says is consider other people. Then hire whoever you want. Post it online with the rest of your public file so it's not a big secret. That's neither hard, nor expensive.

It's bureaucracy and big government at its worst.

 

[TheBigA]

Again, one of my daughters... who is a lawyer... loves her T-Shirt that says "Not Hispanic. Not Latina. Puerto Rican".
You can't bring people together by grouping them in categories. That separates them.

Then your daughter's t-shirt should say American. She is playing up her culture, which you say is divisive.

We separate people into categories all the time. Radio is built on separating people into categories. We call them demographics.

It's bureaucracy and big government at its worst.

In the battle between big government and big corporations, somebody has to represent the little guy. Once again, this policy doesn't require any more work or any more money. These companies want to operate in secret and that's not serving the public.

 

[Bongwater]

Brendan Carr was appointed to the FCC in 2017 by Donald Trump. That's all you need to know about Brendan Carr.

 

[bturner1]

I was in one market of 34,000. We were 97% Hispanic, 2% mix and 1% Anglo. There was one black family. I step in as GM of the AM FM combo.

My group manager tells me 50% of my staff had to be Hispanic and 1% had to be Black. My group owner wanted me to take a letter to the one black family (a husband and wife who were both Pharmacists and their grade school daughter) saying they were not interested in working for our stations. I explained how insane it was to do this but I was following my group manager's instructions. In fact we all got a great laugh out of it...after all they were the pharmacists I went to. I was the only Anglo at the station.

 

[davideduardo]

Then your daughter's t-shirt should say American. She is playing up her culture, which you say is divisive.

No, she is saying that artificial categories like "Latino" and, especially, "Hispanic" are fake and don't allow the identities of a very diverse group of people.

And her T-Shirt is no different than the Lone Star state or other state and regional identities.

We separate people into categories all the time. Radio is built on separating people into categories. We call them demographics.

But, in my case, it was only very recently that I realized that most of my dearest friends in Puerto Rico are what the U.S. Government folks would call "Black". Before this obsession with color, I never thought of them as anything but friends. But then again, I was the "token whitie" at my first job at an R&B station, so I see things from a different perspective.

In the battle between big government and big corporations, somebody has to represent the little guy. Once again, this policy doesn't require any more work or any more money. These companies want to operate in secret and that's not serving the public.

Adding paperwork... meaningless paperwork... is not helpful.

 

[TheBigA]

No, she is saying that artificial categories like "Latino" and, especially, "Hispanic" are fake and don't allow the identities of a very diverse group of people. And her T-Shirt is no different than the Lone Star state or other state and regional identities.

But you say categories divide us. So there should only be one category: American. No state or cultural identities.

Adding paperwork... meaningless paperwork... is not helpful.

There's no additional paperwork. Just including it in the online public file.

 

[davideduardo]

But you say categories divide us. So there should only be one category: American. No state or cultural identities.

One is civic pride, which is what motivates some to volunteer for community service and the like. The other aspect is more "them vs. us" and divisive. Being proud of one's state or region is no different than supporting your home team. Creating massive divisions such as the horribly devised "Hispanic" term does not unify people.

Tell me how an indigenous person from Oaxaca state who only speaks Zapotec has commonality with a person born in Buenos Aires of Italian parents? There is no commonality and it can't be forced on people.

There's no additional paperwork. Just including it in the online public file.

As I explained in my example of the absurd requirement to categorize people by "race" in Puerto Rico, making people feel "different" by their categorization can be highly damaging.

 

[TheBigA]

There is no commonality and it can't be forced on people.

Yes I know. That's why it's futile to say "categories divide us." They only divide if you let them.

As I explained in my example of the absurd requirement to categorize people by "race" in Puerto Rico, making people feel "different" by their categorization can be highly damaging.

As I explained, people ARE different. Trying to deny it is absurd. This is a basic form that radio stations have completed for years. It's based on the US census, which is required by the constitution.

You're making a contradictory argument. On the one hand, you want people to be allowed to have differences, and at the same time you say making them feel different is damaging. Which is it? It can't be both.

 

[davideduardo]

You're making a contradictory argument. On the one hand, you want people to be allowed to have differences, and at the same time you say making them feel different is damaging. Which is it? It can't be both.

My focus is on commonality. The "common good". The "nation of the people" and not the nation of A people, B people, C people and D people.

One thing is taste, as in my green shirt and your blue one. But true equality does not segregate, it unites.

 

[exdjted]

So there should only be one category: American. No state or cultural identities.

My great-grandmother was full-blooded Sauk, so we validated your parking when the Mayflower landed, so there...

Why all this vitriol over labels? I have Dutch, Sauk, Welsh and Irish on my Dad's side, and English and French on my Mother's side. My Mom's brother used to go on about my grandfather's side being a direct descendant of Anne Boleyn, but I always said it was nothing to lose your head over. Badump-bump.

The only thing I know about my Sauk great-grandmother is that she sat on her front porch in her old age and spit at passers-by, so I feel closer to her the older I get.

Serious question though. What ethnicity do I put down for my soon to be all-AI staff? Hmm? Where it was coded? Where it's IP address is? Questions, questions, questions...

 

[TheBigA]

My focus is on commonality. The "common good". The "nation of the people" and not the nation of A people, B people, C people and D people.

Then you're against demographics. You're against civic pride and localism.

 

[davideduardo]

Then you're against demographics. You're against civic pride and localism.

That is a misinterpretation. I am for everyone joining together, not the creation of separatist groups and movements.

 

[TheBigA]

That is a misinterpretation. I am for everyone joining together, not the creation of separatist groups and movements.

The FCC form 395-b does not create any separatist groups or movements. It's a standard form using standard methods.

 

[Megatron]

It's extra and more paper work is all and just checking the box as well.