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[ginness]

Several years ago, I was on a campus visit. Toward the end of the visit, I expressed to the SC chair that I was serious about this position, that I was not just out to get "interview practice." The SC chair then said, "Well, there are a lot of things to consider, like affirmative action. I was on an interview once in which I was the 'token white man' and did not get the job..."

No joke. This is what the SC chair said to me. What was he saying exactly? Was he revealing to me that I was the 'token white man' called out to campus for this round of interviews and that my chances of getting the job were already shot?

[offthemarket]

Maybe.  Probably.  He was doing you a favor, it sounds to me.

[yellowtractor]

Why are you asking about this now, years later?

If it's keeping you up at night, there are therapy options.  Or jogging.

[slac_barbarian]

or Playstation.

[untenured]

Several years ago, I was on a campus visit. Toward the end of the visit, I expressed to the SC chair that I was serious about this position, that I was not just out to get "interview practice." The SC chair then said, "Well, there are a lot of things to consider, like affirmative action. I was on an interview once in which I was the 'token white man' and did not get the job..."

No joke. This is what the SC chair said to me. What was he saying exactly? Was he revealing to me that I was the 'token white man' called out to campus for this round of interviews and that my chances of getting the job were already shot?

He is using his race as an excuse for not being hired at a job where in all likelihood he was not the most qualified applicant.  This statement tells you more about the chair's perspective on the world than it does on the actual job position.  Implicit in his statement is that if a minority got hired over him, it must have been on some characteristic upon which he could not possibly complete, like race.  Also implicit is the assumption that affirmative action is nothing more than a job a grab bag for inferior minority applications.

[slac_barbarian]

"race as an excuse for not being hired at a job"?  Imagine that!

[larryc]

The chair was a jackass.

[beacon1]

It takes one to know one Larry C!

[oldfullprof]

Yeh, he was a f______ jackass.  And he put his college at legal risk too.

[ginness]

Maybe he was a jackass in terms of professionalism. He was a excellent host, however. And even if he knew I had no chance, he treated me as if I were royalty.

Why am I still worrying about this? I am not, really. I am curious, as I thought his comments were odd. Do I really believe I did not get the job because I am white? I gave the search committee plenty of other reasons not to hire me. It was amongst my first campus visits and I was woefully inexperienced.

[hegemony]

My guess is that he was just passing on his rationalization about not getting a job he applied for, without thinking about how it sounded and without meaning to imply in any way that you were in the same position.  He applied for a job, he somehow concluded that the other candidates were minorities, and he thought that that meant they had the edge and that's why he didn't get the job.  "It's not my inadequacy, it was affirmative action that meant I didn't get the post."  So to him this translates into "Sometimes it's not about your worth; the search committee has its own agenda."  Now, this is certainly true, although his particular formulation comes mighty close to holding a grudge against affirmative action, and if he has a grudge against it, he shouldn't trumpet it to all and sundry.  But anyway, his claim doesn't make any sense, because if a search committee were so biased that they'd only take minority candidates seriously, they'd feel no need to include a token white man.  So I think he regarded this as a "joke." 

However ill-considered his remarks, I seriously doubt he meant to imply that you were in a similar situation -- I'd guess he meant, "We can't take not getting a job personally."

[fruupp]

On two occasions--during telephone interviews--I was asked if I was black. (I'm not).
On a third occasion I flew cross-country for an on-campus interview,
only to be told by the search Chair, "We thought from your CV that you were black!"
I had him take me back to the airport and caught an early plane home.

During a search a few years ago, for which I sat on the hiring committee, we were told by the
Affirmative Action officer to hire someone of Asian descent. "Check the last names on the CVs."

It happens.

[oldfullprof]

On two occasions--during telephone interviews--I was asked if I was black. (I'm not).
On a third occasion I flew cross-country for an on-campus interview,
only to be told by the search Chair, "We thought from your CV that you were black!"
I had him take me back to the airport and caught an early plane home.
During a search a few years ago, for which I sat on the hiring committee, we were told by the
Affirmative Action officer to hire someone of Asian descent. "Check the last names on the CVs."
It happens.

Illegal and illegal.  The affirmative action officers are usually like this for a couple of years.  Then they settle down into a nice cushy job, don't oppose faculty much, and faculty start liking them.  Seen it happen three times now.  Ours, once an activist, won't say "boo" now.

I had a friend (white) who did his diss on Martin Luther King.  His last name is very common among African-Americans.  He got an interview at a far better university that his own.  Imagine how their faces fell, when they met him at the airport.  He was then perfunctory-marched through two days of interviews by depressed handlers, with nary a call later.

My wife's R-1 department definitely has two tenure standards.  Not only do minorities start at $10,000 more, but they are allowed to publish one-third as much for tenure.  Some were tenured with four publications (the standard is 12).  One minority edited volume editor, who got some of us to write chapters, abandoned the work after he got tenure with four publications.       

[offthemarket]

I once saw affirmative action work exactly how it is supposed to work.

A set of candidates was invited for interview.  An additional candidate was added to the interview list (above the normal search budget) by administration who needed the diversity for the pool.  Based on his CV and application, little was expected of this candidate compared to the others invited.  But he clearly rocked the interview, gave a great talk, and was obviously a great fit to the institution once we met him in person.  He was chosen solely on merit.  He got the 1-year visiting slot he interviewed for, and converted it to a tenure-track position and now he's a productive associate professor with a reputation as an awesome teacher.  And he never would have gotten the interview if it weren't for affirmative action.

[menelatar]

This reminds me of when I interviewed at a CC for a full time position (thanks the Gods I was not hired)

After it was all said and done, they hired someone who did not have a Ph.D. and had no teaching experience--had not even completed her comps...but that was ok.

 Interestingly, she called herself "Dr. X" at meetings for us adjuncts when she was, in fact, a doctoral student. Heck, the CC newspaper referred to her as "Dr. X."

Anyway, after it was all over, a buddy of mine on the hiring committed told me "you were the token white guy."

LOL...thanks goodness I did not get hired for that gig!!