Sadly, in modern times Dr. King's dream of basing ones judgement of others solely on character (including merit) rather than on skin color is considered by many to be passé. I must quickly add that I am not of that modern group -- I still cling to the notion of a color-blind society as being the 'right' approach. Clearly we need "gender blindness", too. However, counting colors and genitalia and striving for parity across all colors and parts has proved, over and over, to cause as many errors as it solves.
I'd pose the same question to professional women as has been posed to black males for decades now: "Are you wanting to define yourself as a great lawyer/doctor/engineer, or a great _black_ (or in this case _woman_) lawyer/doctor/engineer?"
Personally, I have far, far greater respect when the gender and race is not part of the definition. Otherwise it seems there is a message of "I get extra points due to the mistake of my birth". Is that not just another form of 'privilege'?
I saw Neil Degrasse Tyson speak a few months ago. In his talk, he mentioned how strange it was that he was always referred to as "a black physicist," since he had always thought of himself as just "a physicist."
I'd pose the same question to professional women as has been posed to black males for decades now: "Are you wanting to define yourself as a great lawyer/doctor/engineer, or a great _black_ (or in this case _woman_) lawyer/doctor/engineer?"
Personally, I have far, far greater respect when the gender and race is not part of the definition. Otherwise it seems there is a message of "I get extra points due to the mistake of my birth". Is that not just another form of 'privilege'?