Originally Posted by
stlukesguild
I think "affirmative action" does a disservice to everybody, especially those it's meant to "help," but it's been overblown and misrepresented, as has this whole concept of "white male victimization." For the record, I think giving a hiring advantage or "extra points" to a minority/female is wrong, but I also think it's been overblown. I'll find stats and post them later.
Some institutions get wrapped around the axle about appearing diverse (for an example, see every college or university's promotional pamphlets...) and might try to purposely skew the numbers, but I don't know that it really makes a huge difference in the end if they get accepted because of the automatically negative attention they get.
I agree that "affirmative action" does a disservice to all concerned and is essentially institutionalized racism... the Orwellian terminology be damned. It is simply part of the misguided attempts by some to change the past, rather than focus on the present and the future. We get the same crap in education with the efforts to promote falsified history in the belief that this will change things. I'm not interested in seeking out documentation of the racism involved in "affirmative action" but yes it does exist. Recently there was the info released by a disgruntled college employee that documented the fact that prospective Asian students needed to score well above Black, Hispanic... and White students because the college felt there were far too many Asian students in comparison to their percentage within the overall population. In my own school district there have been repeated efforts to establish a quota where a set percentage of all construction contracts must be awarded to minority-owned businesses regardless of who makes the best bid or is the best qualified.
Having said this... I work in a school district that services students who are predominantly minority. Seeing the lives and the obstacles that these students face there is no way to suggest that racism is dead or that white America is losing... for there is no way these kids are "winning." There are any number of issues that come into play... from the memory of slavery, the lack of a supportive community and family, generational poverty exasperated by the Welfare state, drugs, alcohol, etc... One thing we all might do well to recognize is the psychology behind motivation. America has benefited more than is ever recognized from immigration (in spite of the stupidity of conservative efforts to curtail immigration). When one considers just what is entailed in abandoning one's homeland, language, customs, etc... and traveling to a new nation one recognizes the motivation that already exists with most immigrants. Thus it is not surprising that these same outsiders rapidly assimilate and move up in American society... often starting their own businesses... stressing the importance of education to the children. This is not the reality of Black Americans... most of whom trace their heritage to forced slavery followed by generations of institutionalized racism... Jim Crow laws... etc...
Again... I feel "affirmative action" is totally misguided... and only increases racial tensions and hatreds. What I do believe, however, is that the nation owes it to every child living in poverty... in the Black and Hispanic urban schools and in white Appalachia... to invest far more in education... in early childhood development, in after-school programs, in offering day-care to working parents, in giving students enrichment experiences (trips to the museums, zoos, colleges, etc...) than they currently do to assure every child has an equal opportunity.
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