I really like Gov. Whitmer, but ... We're looking at white privilege in real time

[StarfishSaver]

133. It's not "executive level experience" that's being touted. It's being a governor

All of the women being considered have extensive executive level experience. Kamala Harris was the Attorney General of our largest state, overseeing a $700 million, 4,500-employee enterprise. Val Demings was chief of a major city police department. Susan Rice was the UN Ambassador responsible not just for diplomacy, but a large State Department operation, in addition to being a National Security Adviser with all of the executive management that entails.

And not only do these women have substantial executive experience, they also have national and foreign policy experience that the Michigan Governor does not have. But for some reason her position as governor is seen by many as superior to their experience. That's nothing new. Gubernatorial experience has long been viewed as giving someone a leg up in the presidential stakes - I simply pointed out that treating governorships as something special and superior perpetuates discrimination against people who have been consistently excluded from gathering that specific type of experience.

If a company makes having been a manager in a particular division a prerequisite for being promoted to an executive position in the company, yet has a history of never having hired a black woman as a manager in that division, that's a problem, even if on paper, the hiring process is colorblind.