Covering

I recently read an New York Times article entitled "The Pressure to Cover." Erving Goffman defines "covering" as "[being] ready to admit possession of a stigma... [but] nonetheless [making] a great effort to keep the stigma from looming large."

I'm not sure how covering is different than fitting in. But the point of the article is that pressure to conform to "mainstream" society is the "new discrimination" that will be tested in the American court system. The author of the article, Kenji Yoshino, singles out several court cases. For example, American Airlines tried to enforce their grooming policy against an African-American employee who worn corn-rows to work. In another case, a Jewish Air Force officer wore a yarmulke against a military rule forbidding headwear indoors. These cases concern traits that are mutable. You can't change the color of your skin, but you can alter your hairstyle.

While Yoshino praises the remarkable advance in civil rights cases of the 1960s, he says, "with respect to legal remedies, we must shift away from claims that demand equality for particular groups toward claims that demand liberty for us all."

I sincerely hope that both the legal system and society will move towards an accepting attitude. If college dormmates can accept each other despite sexual orientation, dress, religion, etc., maybe America as a whole will become more accepting in a generation or two.