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?Reverse? Discrimination Against A Half-Japanese Professor

Every time I hear or read about ?reverse discrimination,? I?m reminded of reversible clothing, like this sweater (?Two looks, two colors, one soft finish?), which in turn always calls to mind the observation (mine, I think; no one else would claim it) that all clothing is reversible ... but most of it would be inside-out if worn one way.

Moving back to discrimination after that jarring introduction, my real point, as I?ve argued here too many times to cite (no, that?s not all), is that there?s no such thing as ?reverse discrimination.? Treating people better or worse because of their race or ethnicity is discrimination ? nothing ever ?reverse? about it regardless of the race or ethnicity of the victims or beneficiaries.

My objection to the concept of ?reverse discrimination? was prompted this morning by the sad story of ?[a] former professor who last week won a reverse race discrimination lawsuit against the University of Oregon....? (HatTip to Inside Higher Ed)

A U.S. District Court jury awarded Paula Rogers more than $164,000 after finding that she suffered adverse treatment and a hostile work environment in the UO?s East Asian Languages and Literatures department because she is only half Japanese....

The jury ordered the UO itself to pay Rogers $132,333 in damages for subjecting her to a hostile work environment because of her race.

It also ordered her Japanese former department supervisor, Noriko Fujii, to pay Rogers $30,002 in damages for subjecting Rogers to race-based disparate treatment, to a hostile work environment and to retaliation for filing a race discrimination grievance.

Rogers said her treatment by the University of Oregon reminded her of the treatment she had received as a child in Japan.

Rogers was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and American father. She grew up there, first coming to the United States at 18 to attend college.

She called her experience at the UO a ?microcosm? of the inequality that mixed-race residents face in Japan.

As an example, Rogers recalled her disparate treatment as a child because her father was not permitted to establish a household registry because he was not Japanese.

?It was like being illegitimate,? she said.

What is truly and offensively illegitimate is the behavior of the UO East Asian Languages and Literature Dept., and the decision by university officials to defend it, spending taxpayer?s money to the tune of ?

Full post as published by Discriminations on February 17, 2010 (boomark / email).