SIMMONS: Bias, prejudice and discrimination come in many forms

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Bias. Prejudice. Discrimination.

Sometimes, those human conditions get the best of us.

Take the LGBT movement’s precondition propositions, the railings against Condoleezza Rice joining a traditional all-boys club or school budget policies that are tilted against level playing fields for children.

Bias, prejudice and discrimination come in many forms.

On Tuesday evening, this diddy came across my email transom:

“On Monday, [D.C.] Councilmember [Anita] Bonds staff met with representatives of Mary’s House for Older Adults, Inc. that seeks to provide a safe and caring communal living environment for the District’s LGBT elder residents. It would be the first mixed-income housing of this type in the city for the LGBT population. We see the development of Mary’s House for Older Adults, Inc. similar to the Wanda Alston House facility that offers housing and support for LGBT youth. There are few housing environments that intentionally support LGBT elders in the country. Mary’s House will be the only one of this size and concept, communal living with eight rooms with closets and private baths, that requires less than $1.2 million to build and operate. It is being touted as a possible model for the country in this area.”

If a prerequisite to residing in Mary’s or Wanda’s house is that a human being must identify herself as an L (lesbian), G (gay), B (bisexual) or T (transgender), then the words on the mat at the front door should spell d-i-s-c-r-i-m-i-n-a-t-i-o-n w-e-l-c-o-m-e.”

Because that’s precisely the way Ms. Bonds’ descriptors sound, as if doors are closed to heterosexuals.

And now from the testosterone-driven wide world of sports and its community of prognosticators.

ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy reported Wednesday that the new college football playoff panel will be made up of 13 members and their names will be announced on Oct. 16.

That’s plenty of time for biased members of the prognosticators club to have their say. Already, many of them have been unmasked, revealing their misogynistic views.

One of the most oft-quoted is Auburn University former coach Pat Dye, who, upon learning the name of the former secretary of state was on the list, told WJOX Radio in Birmingham, Ala.: “All she knows about football is what somebody told her. Or what she read in a book, or what she saw on television. To understand football, you’ve got to play with your hand in the dirt.”

Well, begging Mr. Dye’s pardon, but to corrupt a quote from his generation, Mr. Dye don’t know squash from shinola.”

The playoff panel can no more pick the champions than the NCAA selection group can guarantee which schools will win their way to the Final Four.

The bottom line is Condi critics are using the wrong stick to determine whether she, shall we say, measures up.

Now, let’s turn to the level-playing-field crowd and zero in on the anti-reform enthusiasts who oppose charter schools, vouchers or any other option that would upset the status quo.

A new report is recommending what true reformers have been saying all along: Education dollars should follow students inside the building.

Indeed, a report commissioned by the city government studied the uniform per-pupil funding formula and recommends ending the financial bias against public charter students by allotting an additional $79.2 million annually to cover maintenance and operations, nurses, mental health clinicians, legal support, procurement and tech services.

Traditional public schools always have received funding for those costs, and the bias is reflected in the fact that traditional schools get about $1,407 per student in D.C. government agency services but charters get only $172 per student.

Bias that exempts human beings from one set of rules is bound to reflect prejudice or discrimination against another.

It’s up to us to recognize prejudice in all its forms.

• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.