How typical of America to begin Black History Month by focusing on a white kid's claims of reverse discrimination against the University of Michigan. Once again, a negative light is shining upon affirmative action policies that work against some whites.
Affirmative action is a very tricky subject. There is this "damned if you do, damned if you don't" attitude toward any support for programs that assist the progression of people of different ethnic backgrounds. In light of the recent University of Michigan cases and the affirmative action climate, I could only imagine the worst in terms of how our country might be today without such policies in place.
We are not out of the woods yet. There remains a real necessity for such policies to remain in effect. The only mechanism that should be used in eliminating affirmative action programs is our own education, the only means by which our society will ever elevate above our atrocious racial barriers.
But education is not the quickest of fixes. We have celebrated Black History Month for well over a decade now, but little has changed, as evidenced by many responses to the cases to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court later this month.
In the Jan. 27 issue of Time, Michael Kinsley points out that the current Bush administration opposes the affirmative action policies used by the UofM. Bush said, "At the undergraduate level, African American students and some Hispanic students receive 20 points out of a maximum of 150, not because of any academic achievement or life experience, but solely because they are African-American, Hispanic, or Native American."
Certainly the "life experience" of an African-American, Hispanic, or Native American in this country deserves the additional 20 points when competing against whites for like positions.
Kinsley further points out that Bush himself had affirmative action on his side when entering Yale. He notes that the son and grandson of alumni are given special consideration. That reeks of affirmative action even if it was aimed at helping a white.
Right now, we have a month-long opportunity to further our knowledge about an ethnicity, a race that has a much longer history than the one we're taught in grade schools. Beyond the slave trade, most students learn no history of African Americans.
After beginning my education in racial diversity when I entered military service in 1990, I learned that within the African American community, tensions exist which play off of the politics of skin color. Pretty ironic, isn't it?
I know that the subject of reparations often comes up during this month, and no one has quite figured out how to compensate those whose family tree begins its roots in early American naivety. Affirmative action is not the same compensatory method that the United States extended to Native Americans or Asian citizens after World War II, but it may be the best means for the time being.
Until our country comes to grips with the realization that affirmative action still has its place, we will never be able to move beyond it. I have spoken to plenty of students who would like to see affirmative action done away with so everyone has an equal chance based on merit alone.
Unfortunately, a citizen in this country born with any ethnic background other than white is already behind on merit when competing in our businesses and institutions, and we need to level the scales.
Brian is a justice studies junior. Reach him at brian.searles@asu.edu.
