Keep Affirmative Action About Race
| AR Articles on Racial Preferences in Education |
|---|
| The Hollow Debate on Race Preferences (Jun. 2003) |
| The Cost of Affirmative Action (Dec. 1996) |
| More Blows to Affirmative Action (Jun. 1997) |
| Search AmRen.com for Racial Preferences |
| More news stories on Racial Preferences in Education |
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Professor [William B.] Allen said, “affirmative action only affects the top 50 or so colleges and universities and, in the case of black folk, hardly more than 5 percent of all (blacks) who go to a university. Every other college or university accepts just about everybody that applies, if they meet very minimal qualifications.”
His idea is supported by a Pew Research Center study that found more than 80 percent of applying students were not affected by this controversial policy. But even understanding that affirmative action isn’t perfect and doesn’t affect everyone, it still needs to be in place, and it still needs to be about race.
{snip}
People often suggest that affirmative action should be about socioeconomic level, but there are already policies in place that address that issue. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, helps students in need pay for college. In addition, many application processes look at a student’s economic affluence in their determination of who gets accepted. If affirmative action was changed in such a way, it would negate its purpose. After all, both poor and “rich” blacks faced discrimination.
{snip}
In order for blacks to “make up for lost ground,” policies are needed to counteract actions of the past. But when blacks use historical references in support of affirmative action, we are often called whiners and are told to “just let it go.” But these same critics also use past references for their counter arguments. They quote the Constitution and the words of our “forefathers” as legitimizing claims to why affirmative action is unjust.
Why is that when it is black history that is being used as support, it is deemed unworthy or illegitimate, but when it is the history that critics choose it is seen as the perfect counter claim?
One of the quotes most frequently used by affirmative action critics are the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Professor [Professors Michael Eric] Dyson counters, saying, “As eloquent and inspiring as those words are, they are the words of an ideal future, not the words of the realistic present. Affirmative action is only the starting steps to a color-blind future. It is the basement, not the ceiling. Yes, one day Dr. King’s words will come true, one day affirmative action will not be needed, but that day isn’t today.”
{snip}
Paul Cruse III is a junior in political and computer science and is one of the very few blacks who benefit from legacy preference.
(Posted on April 2, 2008)
Comments
Even more revolting than affirmative action is the policy of legacy admissions. How contradictory for the author to denounce arguments against the former but benefit from the latter. Admissions prefences for the revolving elite and for minorities only. Hard working middle class whites are left out… yet again.
Posted by changing majors at 5:26 PM on April 2
“Every other college or university accepts just about everybody that applies, if they meet very minimal qualifications.”
The good professor Allen should replace the work “everybody” with the word “black.”
Posted by Sensitivity Trainer at 5:32 PM on April 2
Affirmative action denigrates the legitimate achievements of qualified blacks. It sends people to college who shouldn’t be there. As someone who has worked in academia for almost thirty years, affirmative action has been responsible, along with the desire for increased enrollment at all costs, for dummying down the college curriculum. A college degree today is equivalent to a high school degree from the 1920s and 1930s.
Posted by Sardonicus at 5:33 PM on April 2
The contempt that both the “Blacks” and their fellow Whites (whether it is expressed or not) have for “color blind” White people is well deserved.
Ronald
Posted by Ronald at 5:50 PM on April 2
“After all, both poor and “rich” blacks faced discrimination.”
There’s no end to how ridiculous these racial set-asides can get. For example, a major American corporation recently broadcast its list of scholarships for children of minority employees. A reader did not need to be at all knowledgeable about American geography to note that these supposedly disadvantaged minority scholarship winners were from upscale suburbs.
As a second example, how about this: A person with ancestry from a Spanish-speaking nation in South America qualifies as a Hispanic, according to the racial set-aside derby sponsored by the American government. But you say that you’re from Brazil (ie, Portuguese-speaking)? Sorry, Whitey!
et
Posted by et at 5:58 PM on April 2
“In order for blacks to ‘make up lost ground’” we must invent a time machine that allows us to go back about 50,000 years in hopes that blacks take a different evolutionary path. I personally don’t want to wait that long for my civil rights to kick in.
Posted by Hector at 6:25 PM on April 2
What? Can he not tell the difference between appealing to an eternal, unchanging ideal as to right and wrong, vs. a fixed, historical moment that has come and gone, no longer having anything to do with anyone alive? I’m sure whoever this writer is, he must also be here due to affirmative action. Otherwise such an insane illogical moral equivalence could never be drawn.
Posted by Diamed at 6:29 PM on April 2
Actually, opponents of affirmative action point to Constitutional Law: the Equal Protection Doctrine. Private Universities may do whatever they want to do. But the State may not discriminate on the basis of race without a compelling state interest. The only other time race based discrimination has been permitted, the compelling interest at stake was national defense.
What is so compelling about blacks getting more municipal contracts or attending better colleges? Oh, that’s right, because without those things blacks would be rioting in the streets. Silly me, I forgot.
Affirmative Action isn’t even worth griping about in universities anymore. Its the municipal contracts we should focus on. Business should be about merit. Last time I checked, the races were equal and if blacks are still underrepresented in business its because to many blacks come from a cultural background that doesn’t value hard work and accountability.
Posted by David Traywick at 6:46 PM on April 2
“affirmative action only affects the top 50 or so colleges and universities and, in the case of black folk, hardly more than 5 percent of all (blacks) who go to a university.”
It hardly effects more than 5 percent of all blacks… and 100 percent of white males trying to find a job.
Posted by at 7:24 PM on April 2
Affirmative action in college admissions is pretty much inconsequential. If Harvard or Northern Alaska State Agricultural College feel the need to have some dullards of color on campus, they just expand their enrollment of Whites by the same number and send the Blacks to the African American Studies department. It is in the trades, particularly with government jobs, where affirmative action hurts. When a state highway department finds that the Blacks it has hired can’t get the job done, instead of hiring Whites to work, and keeping the Blacks around as window dressing, the department will simply double the number of Blacks, and hope that each of them can do half a job. The sort of Whites who support affirmative action generally despise manual work and the people who do it, and assume that their Black pawns can do the work as well as anybody, if a bit more slowly. And they also recognize that we productive Whites are their class enemy, and so are anxious to displace us in any event.
Posted by Schoolteacher at 7:35 PM on April 2
The entire nation watches as Hillary gets schooled about how affirmative action really works. heh, heh
But its doubtful she’ll learn anything. Though a majority of Americans know what an unfair policy it is.
Posted by at 8:49 PM on April 2
“In order for blacks to “make up for lost ground,” policies are needed…” How many generations Lord, how many will have to pay for this lost ground that happened hundreds of years ago? Even Moses only wandered in the desert for 40 years.
Posted by cartman at 9:22 PM on April 2
“Yes, one day Dr. King’s words will come true, one day affirmative action will not be needed, but that day isn’t today.””
When the black IQ will magically rise.
Posted by at 9:41 PM on April 2
If blacks want racial preferences then they must accept the stigma that goes with it.
Posted by at 10:22 PM on April 2
The real problem is that the “Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, helps students in need pay for college.” Your hard earned money is confiscated by the government and given to kids so they can avoid work and go to school. When they’re done, after four “spring breaks” you will not be getting any money back.
I just heard today that the US government is throwing away $50 Billion, (that’s a B), on AIDS in Africa. Of course all the politicians spent the day patting themselves on the back and telling us how generous and caring they are.
Let’s say around 50% of Americans work. That’s 120,000,000divided into the $50,000,000,000 equals $416 for each worker to pay so politicians can feel good about themselves. If some one came to your door and asked you to give him $416 for African AIDS wouldn’t you throw him out?
Posted by P Noctura at 10:27 PM on April 2
The author makes an interesting little blunder in his reasoning.
He says that we shouldn’t use the quote of Martin Luther King (the “content of their character” quote) as a counterargument against affirmative action, because they are the words of “an ideal future.”
However, that implies that whites can be justified in prejudice against blacks in the present.
Sure, I’ll judge people by the content of their character at some unknown time in the future. Until then, I will lump all blacks together into one group.
Is that okay, Mr. Cruse?
Posted by Reader-1 at 10:47 PM on April 2
Tim Wise is correct. White people need to be marginalised in the US in order for racial justice and equality to prevail. Thank God for the impending demise of White power worldwide.
Posted by David Farrer at 11:38 PM on April 2
Chaff about affirmative action but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater in regards to legacies. Success should beget more success.
Things have never been handed out to any of our American ancestors. Students enjoying legacy admissions are the benefactors of their ancestors’ hard work. Someday I hope my lineage will benefit from my hard work.
Posted by Suburban Refugee at 12:12 AM on April 3
I wonder how we will know when affirmative action is no longer needed? I guesss some black will tell us!
Posted by Frank at 12:24 AM on April 3
I don’t need a professor or a research center to tell me how I’m supposed to feel about affirmative action! With most US citizens with internet access, I just wish our politicians would send us all an internet poll each month and they would find out how the majority of this country REALLY feels!
Posted by at 6:13 AM on April 3
“Professor [William B.] Allen said, “affirmative action only affects the top 50 or so colleges and universities and, in the case of black folk, …”
Well, “whoa”, stop right there.
“Black ‘folk’”
Are there any other American “folk”?
What or who is a “folk”?
Does anyone else use this childish type language—but the “black ‘folk’”?
A.A. confirmed.
Posted by Cousin Charlie from TN at 6:56 AM on April 3
Dear Suburban Refugee,
I don’t think your position is philosophically tenable. Legacy admissions are blacks’ best argument for affirmative action, and it has to go if we want to maintain the moral high ground while fighting anti-white discrimination.
Posted by sofita at 7:42 AM on April 3
Colorblind is a pc word like gay. Colorblind is really a medical condition where everything is in black and white which is really opposite the meaning the pc crowd intends.
Posted by at 8:38 AM on April 3
“If blacks want racial preferences then they must accept the stigma that goes with it.”
It seems the more racial ‘preferences’ blacks receive, the more it is whites who have to live with a ‘stigma’.
Why can’t they just be honest about it like Jared Taylor?
Posted by at 9:36 AM on April 3
““Colorblindness” is for later.”
Why, I think those very words were spoken before… by those justifying human slavery. That is, if you believe what we’re told about ‘slavery’. I don’t. Why would ‘slavery’ be the only thing we’re told about the past that’s actually true?
Posted by at 10:35 AM on April 3
The 50 or so top universities in this country are about the most anti-American groups as exist this side of the Mexican government and - of course - the actual Federal government.
They definitely should have affirmative action and open immigration enrollment so that no more than 5 % of the students can be US natives and those will all be minorities. Definitely make legacy enrollment illegal. The Preference for the Bushie types is what under grids their influence. Let the new world order have elite higher education, and we send our young people to directional colleges that we can control if we ever re-grow any spines.
Posted by at 10:43 AM on April 3
Aren’t a lot of the affirmative actions slots going to black immigrants? How do you justify that?
Wasn’t affirmative action originally suppose to be a “temporary” fix to make up for “past” racism? It would appear the affirmative action juggernaut is here to say. Now you are considered racist if you oppose the practice.
Posted by Dennis at 11:37 AM on April 3
Affirmative action has never been needed, is not, and never will be. Any wrongs done to blacks in the past (some of which were committed by other blacks) cannot be made up for by discrimination against whites now. In fact, a current wrong against a black cannot be used as an excuse to discriminate against a white. If Cruse doesn’t see the difference between referring to the Constitution and using wrongs against blacks as an excuse to punish whites who had nothing to do with anything (and these wrongs have been exaggerated greatly), he has a problem.
It’s absurd to say that someday a.a. will not be needed but it is now. Blacks haven’t been able to compete with whites no matter what, as a whole, so why will it be any different x number of years from now? If blacks are as good as whites, why do they need a.a.?
I am, incidentally, a WASP female who opposes a.a. for women of any race, and I oppose legacy beneficiaries, although to a lesser extent than I do a.a.
Posted by Cindy at 11:50 AM on April 3
Why not have another special program just for blacks, but make it clear there is a statute of limitations? After a specified time, ALL set asides, special programs and affirmative actions must cease. If they cannot swim after all this time, too bad?
This way, it is clear to all the obvious (which we knew anyway), and no one can argue they did not have a chance to better themselves.
Posted by Duh at 12:10 PM on April 3
No matter how few blacks benefit from a.a., it’s still wrong. By the way, check 2 college directories that state which colleges and universities consider race as a factor: US NEWS and WORLD REPORT, and also PRINCETON”S GUIDE. It’s sickening to see how many do.
Posted by Cindy at 12:45 PM on April 3
I’m personally very suspicious of ever believing professors’ statements about any socio-political/racial idea (opinions really) as fact, given how many are blatantly spouting the liberal line. Particularly a well-known anti-white racist like Dyson.
Of course he feels we “aren’t there yet”. His bread and butter come from continuing the lies.
But it doesn’t matter what percentage of whites are affected. ANY affected is wrong. It would not be acceptable to hold back 20% of blacks, or any other racial group who qualified for a position. Why must it be okay to hold back whites? Is this really the way to set up a society? Anything other than merit not only breeds malcontentment, it also results in a poorer future for the output from that generation. And it spirals ever downward. Other non-western countries don’t follow this ridiculous liberal nonsense.
Further, EVERYONE has ancestors who have been subjugated at some point in time. How far back do you want to look? Mine were subjugated by the Romans. Does that mean they must pay me and my descendants benefits now and forever more? And do we forget all of the positive stabilizing and advancements they brought to Europe? How about the subjugation upon blacks by other blacks throughout history in Africa? Or upon native Americans by other native Americans? How about by the Mongolians upon the ancient Chinese, or by the Japanese upon the Koreans and Chinese before and during WWII? The list goes on and on.
Black America needs to collectively grow up, take responsibility for itself, and quit looking for a handout.
Posted by Student at 1:33 PM on April 3
I attended a PhD program in Texas in the early to mid 1990s. I had probably the best GRE test score of anyone in the program. I worked very hard and had almost a perfect 4.0 GPA (I think I got 1 B in 4 years). I applied for several scholarships, but never received a thing. I had to sell my 100 shares of Dell Computer stock to pay the rent one semester! If I had not sold that stock it would have split so many times that I would now have almost 10,000 shares worth $20 a share, or $200,000. Had I only been a minority I would have received enough scholarship money to keep that stock, and maybe buy more! Anyway, the minority students got ALL of the scholarship money, even though I had better test scores, a better GPA, and worked harder! I used to work hard, even on the weekends. I was once asked why I worked so hard, and I replied that I had to work extra hard in order to overcome being a white male………
Posted by rty at 2:00 PM on April 3
The real significance of affirmative action laws is the proof they offer that the Congress has made itself free via arbitrary action to override the US Constitution whenever it wishes.
- i.e, as our nation’s commanding legal document, the US Constitution is now dead.
Posted by Gary at 2:10 PM on April 3
Affirmative action————not no child left behind, rather no child gets ahead. I would be insulted if someone told me that I was incapable of competing due to being a “person of color”——unless, of coarse, it was the truth.
Posted by eurotexan at 3:41 PM on April 3
I am sure this judge would have protested A.A. if it were his job on the line. Hypocrite!
Posted by White is Beautiful Robert at 4:29 PM on April 3
So ONLY 20% of college applicants are potentially being hurt by affirmative action? Oh, well what’s all the fuss about then…it’s only 20%. It’s almost not even worth talking about if that’s the case.
“Professor [Professors Michael Eric] Dyson counters, saying, “As eloquent and inspiring as those words are, they are the words of an ideal future, not the words of the realistic present.”
Please tell us Mr. Dyson, what is YOUR definition of “an ideal future”, and can you provide us with a ballpark estimate of when that will be achieved…just a guess, maybe even, which century?
Posted by Ray Cist at 9:31 PM on April 3
> Please tell us Mr. Dyson, what is YOUR definition of “an ideal future”, and can you provide us with a ballpark estimate of when that will be achieved…just a guess, maybe even, which century?
It certainly won’t happen in any of our lifetimes. What I see happening over the next couple-hundred years is two factions of blacks emerging. There will be more and more of the civilized Beyonce/Halle Berry types who assimilate nicely due to mixed marriages, and there will still be the Sister Souljah/gangsta types who are just too different to ever assimilate. But, their accusations of increasingly abstract nuances of racism will even begin to bore the aforementioned assimilated blacks.
Hispanics will assimilate more quickly, becoming more and more American, and the ones who can’t will eventually leave.
Keep in mind, this will take hundreds of years, but it will smooth itself out. Despite my resentment of black victimology and the “cry racism” mentality, I do believe it will fix itself. Unfortunately, I’ll be decomposed before that ever begins to happen.
Posted by Concerned Citizen at 3:15 PM on April 4
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
I think we all here judge blacks by the content of their character.
20% of freshman admissions are going to foreigners on student visas. They stay and then compete for jobs of Americans. Affirmative Action limits opportunities, but foreign students given aid are real competition. The black question is answered - they got their opportunity and proved it wasn’t “discrimination” causing their bad performance. Worry about immigration - that’s the real threat to our future!
Posted by at 8:29 PM on April 4
Interesting how they keep changing the facts and the rules to continue extending their reach and filling their pockets. Initially, it was a dream that all children would get along, and a desire for equal opportunity. A desire to not have segregation. Then it became okay to have minorities segregate themselves. Now they are given privileged centers on most campuses, given scholarships, networking opportunities, selective placement in jobs, etc- now it is not about colorblindness, but about “making up for past injustices” nonsense.
Reminds me of “Animal Farm”, where the pigs kept going back and changing the rules and sayings to suit their needs. Just slip it in a little bit more at a time, change history to hide what happened and justify their causes.
Posted by Student at 12:43 PM on April 7
Its not true that only 20% of white students get affected, by the way. What of their future families for example?
Not only that, but what happens to those 20%? If we are to believe the story, they are individuals who would’ve otherwise gotten into elite schools. They of course don’t just throw in the towel- instead they enter a University the next tier down- which forces 20% of those whites out- who enter the next tier down. And so forth. My guess would be that the ones who lose the most are the whites nearer the bottom who might otherwise have been able to at least get a college education who now cannot. Of course fewer and fewer whites can afford it anyway, as more and more scholarships and fellowships are given to minorities and denied to whites.
Posted by Student at 1:00 PM on April 7
I know that we should all be polite to the blacks on this site and things will be just fine. The USA tried it with Saddam and things are fine and as the other races stomp us into the ground things will be fine. And while the blacks and browns hold a knife to our throat and we beg and whimper, things will be just fine.
If we will just stay on our knee’s, things will be just fine.
Teddy Roosevelt said “Walk softly and carry a big stick”.
Whites walk softly and the blacks carry a big stick.
Posted by at 7:23 PM on April 8