WHEN “FIRSTS” ARE MEANINGLESS

And When They Matter

"I am obviously acutely aware that my presence at this podium represents a few firsts. I am a Black, gay, immigrant woman, the first of all three of those to hold this position," she said. "If it were not for generations of barrier-breaking people before me, I would not be here. But I benefit from their sacrifices. I have learned from their excellence, and I am forever grateful to them." – Karine Jean-Pierre

Jean-Pierre led her briefing off with the “important news” of her “first.” First, she has forgotten what her job is—to be the spokesperson for the President.  The press doesn’t care about her background, her desires, her hopes or anything else. They’re present to listen to her explain the policies the President has explained to her.  Sadly, she felt it important to make it about her and when called upon to answer specific questions, she read from prepared notes, even when they failed to address the question.

The Value of Being First

Being first is of value primarily to ourselves.  It’s a way of tracking personal bests, but note:  most people don’t care.  And if your first is only about your success, let it go.  It doesn’t rank with the Black teens who fought their way into the all-white high school or the first female doctor who had to be more than twice as good as the men to survive.  Simply being the first of your race, creed, color, sexual preference or whatever is NOT important to anyone else. 

But in some cases, it is completely meaningless.  With Jean-Pierre, who else was Biden going to pick?  She had four points on the HR scale – Black, female, lesbian and immigrant.  No one would be surprised that she would tower over more competent spokespeople simply by ticking those boxes.  Biden is more concerned about identify politics than competency (Kamala Harris, for example). And Jean-Pierre couldn’t really address questions. She read from notes but only had the data for her chosen point of view.  Spokes people need to “dance in the moment,” and figure out a way to spin their answers to appear to be responsive.  She couldn’t even do that.

Identity Doesn’t Matter Now

When I first entered the field of IT, so few women appeared at conferences that I was regularly mistaken for a “booth babe,” the women vendors hired to “decorate” their trade show booths.  In meetings, I was always the one asked to take meeting minutes and get coffee for people.   Pro tip: make the coffee weak and you won’t get asked again.  Sexual harassment was the norm, although fortunately, it never got so bad that I had to leave a company.  But men who spoke up were considered assertive:  I was accused of being aggressive.  Still, I persisted, and I hope that by sticking it out and becoming successful, not only did the world pivot for me, but it made it easier on the next generation.

I won’t vote for any candidate who makes a big deal of their identity.  I would hope you wouldn’t either.  Being gay, Black, Mormon or whatever means nothing about your competence.  It’s irrelevant.  I’d vote for the best person even if they were an alien with green skin and the body of a spider.  Most people would.

Being the first of a race, creed of color doesn’t matter much now, given that the barriers to success for most groups are very low.  Most people, if asked, would have voted for Colin Powell to be president, even as we really didn’t know his politics back then. Electing Obama wasn’t that big a deal; for some, he looked like he would be great AND they enjoyed pulling the lever for a Black man. But in reality, nothing stood is his way.  Jesse Jackson failed for years because many didn’t like him, nor did they feel he was competent.  The first woman president won’t be a big deal either.  Get someone great to run and she will win.  No one cares.  We’re looking for someone promising us to make our country successful, which will percolate down to us, and who shares our values. We want competence.  No one is really being shut out.

What Barriers Matter Now?

There are still those who struggle for success because of limitations that daunt others.  When I was a child, a man in our community went to law school and became a successful lawyer.  This was a huge deal, as he was blind from birth and most law books weren’t in Braille.  He memorized things, make careful notes on his Braille typewriter and basically did more than anyone else to become successful.  It was incredibly hard and I admired that.

People with a wide variety of handicaps are being shut out of opportunities they can handle because of perception.  As a career coach, I see this all the time.  Companies would rather fill quotas on identity politics than buy a slightly better screen for someone with vision problems.  A wheelchair-bound interview candidate can lead a manager to be more hesitant to hire that person, even as they are  likely to be even more productive since they can’t easily wander around and schmooze.  As more people are found to be “on the autism spectrum,” some accommodations need to be made for them, but again, given that many struggle to be as social as their co-workers, they are likely to be more diligent.  And yet, how often do you hear anyone bragging about being the first blind person hired by a company?

You don’t.  The reason is the same reason people climb mountains and run ultra-marathons—to challenge themselves and strive to achieve more than they dreamed possible.  Not for public recognition, not for some trivial “first” banner.  For the satisfaction of beating the odds and becoming greater than you thought you could be.  It’s personal.

My Wish for the Future

Let’s stop calling out these fake triumphs and focus on helping each person achieve excellence by providing more school options, understanding better where individuals shine and supporting them to get to that goal.  Ignore all those identity issues; identity doesn’t mean much except to the individuals and their families.

Let’s just celebrate individual success.  For each person, becoming their best is special and each of us, no matter our identity or even our handicaps, can push past barriers and achieve their dreams.

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