As you say in France we are taught not to see the differences. Indeed it is illegal to recognize any racial differences (gender differences are accepted in most scenarios ). You cannot be asked what is your ethnicity when you apply for a job. When I say to my american friends that I don't "see" color they don't believe me and they call it a racist thoughts. Months passing I realize that apparently very few people in the US want true equality, they want their own version with gender/ race specific advantages to fight the unfairness of history, which is very real.
As for the effects, I personally don't have the answer either, even if I try to draft possible outcomes (in another comment in this thread taking the finnish school example). From what I have read in the tech crunch article the encouragement had a weird effect in the Y Combinator selection: they may have managed to introduce "femininity" in tech but not "women". As somebody pointed out in another comment none of the women are technical founders...
But thanks for staying open minded, I believe that's how solutions are found: everybody listen to each other and a better understanding begin to take shape after a while, hopefully my indigenous perspective will help :).
Equality is still the goal, or it is supposed to be. It's not quite fair to say that very few people want true equality. They are aware of the circumstances in which they live and they are aware of history (to varying degrees for both, of course).
Like I said, I favor the American approach but I cannot say for sure which is better. Racism is far from gone in France according to my French acquaintances. Job applications may not ask your authenticity but I am told having the right type of name is often very valuable. Of course, once it comes to personal interviews it doesn't matter so much what is on the application.
I believe when some government departments collect demographic information they are also not allowed to collect ethnic information.
Public culture (in the media) in France does seem much more homogenous to me than in the US.
As for the effects, I personally don't have the answer either, even if I try to draft possible outcomes (in another comment in this thread taking the finnish school example). From what I have read in the tech crunch article the encouragement had a weird effect in the Y Combinator selection: they may have managed to introduce "femininity" in tech but not "women". As somebody pointed out in another comment none of the women are technical founders...
But thanks for staying open minded, I believe that's how solutions are found: everybody listen to each other and a better understanding begin to take shape after a while, hopefully my indigenous perspective will help :).