Certified Correct

Certified  Correct

by Michael Coughlin

Belonging to a “minority” in America today has its advantages, thought just what a minority is is sometimes difficult to determine.  I have run a one-person print ship/book bindery for years.  Just me.  Solo.  About as much of a minority as one can get.  Yet, I was contacted by one of my customers with a request to provide my minority bonafides.  Produce or be excluded from working with them.  So, I inquired:  “I wonder which minority you want me to register as being a member of?”  I knew that I was dealing with code language.  Minorities meant “people who have black skin, yellow skin, red skin–anything but white skin, or people we were born female.”  How about the minority of “one?” I asked.  Never heard back and no more work came my way.  I guess they couldn’t find my minority on their list of approved vendors.  Sad when superficial characteristics such as gender or skin color have been elevated to “preferred” status–all n the name of being “inclusive.”