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Only one-fifth of the Winston-Salem Police Department's latest class of recruits are "members of underrepresented groups." To most of us, this statistic is a matter of indifference; we read it with a shrug of the shoulders as if to say, "So, what's the problem?" But it is a matter of grave concern to Police Chief Scott Cunningham, who told the Winston-Salem Journal, "The department is not where we want to be. We want to mirror our community."

Whether it is necessary, or even beneficial, for the police force to mirror the population at-large (to be composed of the same percentage of men, women, blacks, whites, Asians, etc.) is debatable at best; whether such an objective is practical is a no-brainer: it is not.

Intellect and ability vary wildly across the population. It is irrational to assume that everyone is capable of, or interested in, being a brain surgeon. It is irrational to assume that everyone is capable of, or interested in, being a lawyer. Likewise, it is irrational to assume that everyone is capable of, or interested in, being a police officer.

Yet, the diversity zealots among us insist that virtually every field of human endeavor -- teaching, law enforcement, journalism, business administration -- is insufficiently diverse. All too often, they diagnose the "problem" as racism or sexism, without bothering to offer evidence.

According to the diversity cult, the fact that females are "underrepresented" among firefighters can be attributed to discrimination against women. But not every woman wants to be a firefighter; some would rather stay home and raise their children. Others choose to work part time. Some women lack the physical ability to fight fires; some who possess the ability nevertheless prefer to work in an office. Shall we force women (regardless of qualifications) into the occupation, so that our fire departments mirror the population?

In order to appease the diversity zealot, we would have to abandon standards altogether. In the aforementioned Journal article (reprinted in the April 20 N&R) on diversification of the Winston-Salem police force, UNCG assistant professor of sociology Gwen Hunnicutt laments the fact that many of her female students "want to pursue careers in law enforcement, but they face obstacles." What is the nature of the "obstacles" to which Hunnicutt refers?

We learn from the next paragraph in the article that, "Many women have difficulty passing the physical and written tests to become police officers." In other words, Hunnicutt used the term "obstacles" as a synonym for "qualifications" and "standards." The solution, according to the champions of diversity, is to eliminate standards.

To the dismay of many alumni, Wake Forest University has done just that. According to the Associated Press, Wake has just admitted its "first class of applicants who could decline to submit SAT or ACT scores." Disappointed alumni argue, with ample justification, that Wake is "putting diversity ahead of standards." In true multiculturalist fashion, Wake Provost Jill Tiefenthaler argues that "more diversity is essential for building an educational community." How so?

Diversity cultists never explain the academic benefits of their schemes, and Tiefenthaler is no exception: "You've got to have different people from different backgrounds with different talents," she says. Never mind why, or what academic benefits are derived from such a student body.

Standards, unfortunately, are routinely set aside in favor of the alleged benefits of diversity. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case (Ricci v. DeStefano) in which officials in New Haven, Conn., set aside written exams that had a "disparate impact" on black firefighters, and denied promotions to qualified white candidates.

In New Haven, more than 100 firemen took the exams to qualify for promotions. The test was reportedly written at a 10th-grade level "in an effort to provide equal opportunity for all applicants," but the passing rate of blacks was only half the rate of whites. New Haven officials, upon discovering the abysmal scores of black candidates, simply refused to certify the test results. In short, because blacks could not qualify, the qualifications were thrown out as illegitimate.

We learn from news reports that New Haven's population is 37 percent black and 21 percent Hispanic. We should be disturbed, presumably, that only 15 percent of the fire department's officers are minorities. But the alleged benefits of diversity do not justify abandoning the qualifications that serve as gate-keepers for law enforcement, fire fighting, university admissions and innumerable other enterprises. Equally important, abandoning or lowering standards to accommodate women and minorities is condescending and offensive to those who are prepared to compete.

Charles Davenport Jr. (daisha99@msn.com) is a freelance columnist who appears alternate Sundays in the News & Record.