Wednesday, April 22, 1998
Affirmative action continues bad cycle
DISCRIMINATION: Preferential treatment doesn’t end racism; we
must all work together to solve problem
"As I would not be a slave, so too I would not be a master."
Abraham Lincoln’s statement has ricocheted against the canyons
of time and echoed through the corridors of history as a guide for
those who would draw the black and white races together. Today,
however, that statement has become little more than a catch phrase;
Lincoln’s argument falls on deaf ears, largely ignored in the
labyrinth of modern civil rights rhetoric. Affirmative action, a
perfect example of this rhetoric, is arguably racist, and in its
current practice should be ended immediately.
Our nation has strayed from the moral principles that once
guided its citizens in their quest for racial unity and equality.
It is time the prodigal son returned to the moral principles that
fathered the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation
Proclamation, the very principles that gave birth to our nation
and, later, to the process of reconciliation between the black and
white races. We have taken on the Great Emancipator’s burden to
create racial equality, but without an understanding of the
principles that guided them we can never hope to fulfill the goal
of racial harmony.
Lincoln’s statement is pregnant with moral significance. While
many of us understand the implications of this assertion, the
majority of us do not know the moral premises upon which Lincoln
founded this argument.
He believed that we cannot base a moral judgment on attributes
we are powerless to affect, because such attributes carry no moral
implications. Thus, just as it was wrong to enslave African
Americans because they were black, it was also wrong to "reward"
whites (because of their color) by making them slave owners. This
principle obviously has been forgotten, or perhaps conveniently
ignored, in the implementation of affirmative action.
If we ever are to realize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream
that our nation would, one day, not judge its children by the
"color of their skin but by the content of their character,"
affirmative action as we know it must cease to exist. Perhaps a
system whose eligibility criteria was based on socio-economics
would suffice, but certainly not what has come to the forefront
today.
The major purpose behind the civil rights movement was to
eliminate the problem of racial discrimination in our nation. The
question I have for affirmative action’s defenders is, "Do you
really think that perpetuating discrimination is truly going to end
it?"
For the fact remains that the proponents of affirmative action,
however noble their intentions may be, do discriminate against
whites. Bestowing benefits on some while withholding them from
others is the very epitome of discrimination; it can never break
the vicious cycle of racism.
I posed this question to some friends who happen to be avid
supporters of affirmative action. They conceded that affirmative
action may not be morally just in and of itself, but that it is the
only way to curb the discrimination against minority groups in
college admissions offices and in the work place. I disagree. The
only way to ensure the complete obliteration of racial
discrimination is to stop practicing it, regardless of whether or
not it is aimed at achieving a good end.
Many advocates of affirmative action support the policy because
it increases diversity on college campuses. I would argue, however,
that it is the individual, not his or her race, that adds new
dimensions to a campus.
Choose me because I am interesting; choose me because I am
talented; choose me because I am able; but do not choose me because
I am black. The color of my skin is not going to add any more depth
to the campus than the paint on the buildings does.
Affirmative action is also largely responsible for the fostering
of mistrust between races and the undermining of minority people’s
confidence in themselves. Take the hiring of a Native American
doctor, for example. As a Native American man, he wonders if he was
hired because of his talent and ability or because of his minority
status (if he doesn’t wonder that, others around him most certainly
do). Furthermore, those who need medical treatment and are assigned
to this doctor fear he might be an affirmative action appointee.
Though thought of by many as his blessing, affirmative action often
turns out to be his curse.
Affirmative action was meant to create greater equality of
opportunity between the races. Unfortunately, it has failed
miserably because of the inherently contradictory and fallacious
logic upon which it is based. It seeks to end discrimination
through its perpetuation; it seeks to create equal opportunity for
all by denying it to some (solely on the basis of their race); it
seeks to create a color-blindness while fostering a greater race
consciousness.
I must concede that there is a necessity for some form of
preferential treatment in college admissions. This treatment,
however, cannot be based solely on race and gender. Socio-economics
must play a crucial role. For example, if a Latino received a
diploma from Bel Air High School, he should most certainly not be
looked upon more favorably than any white with a similar
background. Both obviously came from affluent families and had
equal opportunities to succeed throughout their high school
careers, and thus their racial differences should not be considered
in admissions to any university.
On the same token, any child (African American, Native American,
Latino, white, etc.), who comes from a family with substantially
limited resources, perhaps necessitating their attendance at a poor
high school, or someone who was forced to work to support a family
throughout their adolescent years, should receive some admissions
privileges. Clearly, affirmative action as it is preached by many
on our campus is racist.
This country still suffers from the open wound of racism; on one
side of the wound are minorities and, on the other, whites.
Unfortunately, we are struggling to close the wound by using the
same blade that caused it. Thus, affirmative action is only cutting
deeper, slowly draining our nation of its life’s blood.
The wound must be closed by people, not policies, as the injury
caused by racism and discrimination lies within each individual’s
heart and mind. The problem cannot be solved through the physical
congregation of the races on college campuses and at the
workplace.
As a nation, we must unlearn the legacy of hatred and distrust
we have inherited from the time of slavery, and the mind-set that
gave birth to it: racial discrimination. Also, we must
re-internalize the depth of Lincoln’s statement, allowing his words
to flow like a river from our minds to the part of us that thirsts
the most for racial harmony: our souls.
When we have finally freed ourselves from the yoke of race
consciousness and racial division, we will truly be able to realize
the day that King so vividly saw in his dream; "a day when … all
of God’s children – black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,
Catholics and Protestants – will be able to join hands and to sing
in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at
last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.’"
Unfortunately, affirmative action has turned that dream into a
nightmare, a nightmare that will not end until we awaken from our
ignorance and truly make our nation an "oasis of freedom and
justice." This is our hope. This is our dream. It is what we strive
for; it is what, together, we shall attain.