When Meritocracy Backfires and Harms a Black Professor
“Meritocracy is a sham.” -Daniel Markovits (The Meritocracy Trap)
On May 19, the world learned through social media and mainstream outlets that Pulitzer Prize-winning, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and investigative journalist Nikole Hannah Jones will begin as a professor at UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media without tenure. It’s reported that the witholding of tenure occurred as a result of the conservative political machine aligning against her in response to her development and promotion of the 1619 Project–a commerative and collaborative effort with The Times Magazine that reframes American history through the acknowlegement of the contributions of Black people, slavery, and systemic racism since 1619. Despite support from the university, faculty, and the dean, the board of trustees denied her application for tenure. It’s suggested this move broke with norms by movement of the goalposts. So, despite playing by the rules of meritocracy, why had this accomplished journalist been denied tenure?
The answer is in the myth and paradox of meritocracy. As author and Yale Law Professor Daniel Markovits says in his book The Meritocracy Trap, “Meritocracy is a sham.” The etymology of the term was meant to be satirical and pejorative but somehow has made its way into our lexicon. The term suggests that social and economic rewards come throught achievement and not privilege. However, it is often used as a smokescreen for privilege. Despite being successful players in the meritocratic game, there is often a double standard and the goalsposts of accomplishment are often moved for women and people of color. In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor, then Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, endured ad hominem attacks on her credentials when President Obama nominated her for the Supreme Court. In response, our 44th President said,
“…I’d met my share of highly-credentialed, high-IQ morons and had witnessed firsthand the tendency to move the goalposts when it came to promoting women and people of color–I was quick to dismiss such concerns.”
If the credentials of people like Justice Sonia Sotomayor are not sufficient, what chance do others have in the meritocratic game? The denial of Mrs. Hannah-Jones for tenure at UNC is emblematic of how meritocracy is often weaponized and the goalposts of success get arbitrarily moved. Despite being a successful investigative award-winning journalist, receipient of a prestigious fellowship, and playing the game, she was denied tenure at an elite institution. An instiution, per reports, that has approved tenure for people who have done less. Was it because she was Black? Was it because she was a woman? Or was it becasue her work on the 1619 Project threatened the disruption of the caste system by exposing the realities of the ugliness that is 400 years of systemic racism in America? That’s a question that the board of trustees can best answer.
No matter what the reason, meritocracy at its core is a myth that is often weaponized and harmful to the advancement of women and people of color. It is often used in objection to progressive agendas like DEI inititatives and in the case of Nikole Hannah-Jones likely weaponized against her receiving tenure.
