The Bruin’s editorial board is troubled that
“only” 22.7 percent of freshmen think that racial
discrimination is a problem (“Study results on
students’ racial views are worrying,” Feb. 4). I
imagine they’d be really miffed at the Time/CNN (hardly a
bastion of conservatism) study that revealed that 89 percent of
black teens reported “little or no” racism in their
lives.
When white people fail to show much concern over racism,
it’s easy to simply label them racist. I suppose when black
teens do the same thing, we can label them ignorant. Much better
than giving credence to their firsthand experiences.
In regard to this “troubling” poll, I came up with a
bizarre explanation. Maybe, just maybe, the decline in the number
of students who believe that racial discrimination is a problem is
not a reflection of ignorance and apathy on the part of complacent
students.
Maybe it’s a sign that racism is significantly less of a
problem than it was in 1994, when the previous poll was taken.
I know, I’m talking crazy here. Maybe those 89 percent of
black teens are right. Now, this notion does not sell many
newspapers, and it doesn’t help politicians in minority-heavy
voting districts who love to ride racism into office.
But when we get past students, academics and politicians, and
when we get to people who have held private-sector jobs, people see
something new. Maybe they realize that companies are so terrified
of lawsuits that many of them lock their pay scales based purely on
seniority, encourage diversity for good PR or social concerns and
basically bend over backward to avoid not only impropriety, but the
appearance thereof.
But that’s certainly a story too frightening to tell here.
Even in the context of a race-blind admissions process at UC
campuses, there are still diversity scholarships and companies at
job fairs that actively promote diversity.
Now, one thing that equal opportunity will never do is guarantee
equal results across groups. This is good news (pun intended) for
the Daily Bruin, because any time there are unequal results, an
intrepid reporter is free to infer that there must have been
unequal opportunities.
However, this produces at least two negative consequences. One
is rather minor, and the other is rather major.
The minor one, dear God, is tiresome. No matter how many days go
by that you treat everyone you run into exactly alike, regardless
of race, you can just about always open up a newspaper and read
about how pervasive racism is.
The major problem, though, is even more significant. There are
minorities in elementary school through high school, and they are
bombarded with messages of racism.
They are told that white America is out to get you. They are
told it almost doesn’t matter what you do, because the system
is rigged and you’re pretty much screwed no matter what you
do.
It’s unfortunate that in the haste to get this message
out, another message is ignored ““ there is unbelievable
opportunity in this country. If you work hard and make good
choices, you have a fantastic chance to succeed. And African and
Latino/a and Asian Americans prove it every day, just like their
white counterparts.
We can see evidence of success among Asian Americans after
Proposition 209 was passed. Asian American enrollment, previously
stifled greatly by racist diversity policies, skyrocketed when
those policies were lifted. Of course, we never see mention of the
great benefit that accrued to this minority once the emphasis was
on achievement, not diversity. Asian American students, not white
students, were the ones most helped by Proposition 209.
Personally, I’m encouraged by the 89 percent of black
teens who are getting through their lives experiencing little or no
racism.
What’s troubling to me is not the 22.7 percent of freshmen
who don’t think it’s a problem; I’m troubled by
an editorial board that shoves racism down everyone’s throat
even after the overwhelming majority of the most historically
oppressed group in American history disclaims its existence in
their lives.
Oakes is a first-year law student.