Currently the state of Michigan is debating the topic of Affirmative Action and their final decision could possibly bring about a snow-ball effect that could hit the US like Armageddon. The saying that it takes one person to make a change still remains true. After all there was Christopher Columbus, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks, and on the contrary there is Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, and Jennifer Gratz.
Jennifer Gratz, a white woman from suburban Detroit who graduated an honor roll student, 12th in her class with a grade point average of 3.8 was denied acceptance to the University of Michigan in 1995. In 1997, she filed a suit based on discrimination after being denied acceptance. In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gratz's favor and found that the University's point system for undergraduate admissions to be unconstitutional.
Prior to the court ruling the University gave some applicants extra points for being a member of an underrepresented minority group. However, the Supreme Court stated that colleges and universities could still consider a student's race when making admissions decisions in order to promote diversity.
But the story does not end there because Gratz sought the assistance of Ward Connerly. Connerly, a black California business man led a successful voter initiative to ban affirmative action not only in the state of California, but also in the state of Washington. Together Gratz and Connerly came up with Proposal 2 backed by a group called the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.
Jennifer Gratz emerged as the executive director and Ward Connerly the financial investor, donating several hundred thousand dollars to the cause. This group is now demanding that the Michigan constitution outlaw consideration of race and gender in deciding which applicants get into college, who receives government jobs and which businesses secure state and local contracts.
While "We the People" are not strangers to change, there is work that must be completed before jumping from start to finish. If we do plan to dispose of affirmative action there are prior problems that should be dealt with first in order to make the transaction realistic.
Racial profiling, stereotyping, and segregation of the races cannot exist in a color-blind society. When lesbian and gay people have equal rights to marry, poor people have equal access to health care, inner city schools have equal education and we rid ourselves of ignorance and fear to establish equality where all races can learn to value diversity, then we can eliminate affirmative action.
So yes, it would be nice to do away with affirmative action, but it is still needed to anchor equality in the unfair and unbalanced society in which we live. Affirmative action is needed because minorities have historically suffered and continue to suffer invidious discrimination, denying them educational and economic opportunities that the majority has taken for granted.
While affirmative action still needs to improve in some areas, affirmative action has actually helped minorities to jump over major hurdles and open doors that at one time were deemed impossible. Yet still minorities and women advance at a slower pace in corporations than their white male counterparts.
To Ward Connerly, who has publicly stated "I think it's wrong for our government to be discriminating against its citizens based on the color of their skin", I highly suggest you look in the mirror and read your history, because a few hundreds years ago, no one would give a damn what you thought.
To those who believe that 40 plus years of affirmative action has allowed enough time to set equality, I disagree. It does not compare to the 250 years of slavery, plus an additional 100 years of segregation, along with the broken promises of 40 acres and a mule that African Americans have endured.
Today, the most effective way to regulate access to equal education and employment opportunities has been affirmative action efforts. Nevertheless, affirmative action is still needed to overcome the inequalities and inefficiencies that slavery and bigotry bequeathed.
On November 7, the state of Michigan must grasp the importance of their vote which could cause a historical change on the rest of the country. Until a strong foundation has been laid in our society whereby all people regardless of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation have equal access to opportunity; affirmative action must be used.
Robert D. Snowden
Juris Doctorate
Albany Law School
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Comments: 7
I would also like to say, before continuing, that I was raised by a very bigoted step-father and grandmother. Fortunately, even at a young age, I could tell the difference between stupidity and reality. I have close friends and family of various ethnicity including Japanese, Dominican and African-American. I detest racism and bigotry passionately. I view the following items as promoting segregation, and segregation promotes racism.
Fraternal organizations who have specific "clubs" for blacks and whites. Such as The Elks, The Masons. A lot of people who are in these organizations don't even know about this, but most do. The Elks have the Improved Elks. The Masons have the Prince Hall Masons. What would posess anyone to join a fraternal organization that told them they had to be in a seperate group because of their race?!?!
BET (Black Entertainment Television) bothers me a little. I mean, why do we need a network centered around black entertainment? I would like to think that we have progressed at least beyond the need for this. This is seperatism in my opinion. What exactly is the benefit of having this network? There are so many incredible actors and actresses in the world today that are of all different races, I just don't see how this is good for promoting integration. I could be wrong. When I see it though, it makes me feel like African-Americans WANT to be secluded in this way. It never really occured to me that this might be a bad thing when my 9 year old daughter asked me one time what BET was. I told her it Black Entertainment Television. She asked me why there was a BET. I honestly had to tell her I wasn't sure. I mean, if I said it is a televison station that focuses on black entertainers, that might seed the notion of segregation, and I am proud to say that neither of my children consider race as an issue.
For 2 years we heard stories from my daughter about her "best friend" at school, and when I finally met this girl I found out that she was African-American. I just thought it was awesome that for 2 years of hearing stories and phone conversations about this girl, that not ONE TIME did my daughter ever mention that she was not white. THAT is the most important progress. The children.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976823527
Affirmative action that involves giving points for a specific demographic characteristic is not allowed according to the supreme court. However, trying to create a diverse class for the benefit of the members of the class, their future clients, or in recognition of prior difficulties is legal. The problem with Gratz and those that agree with her is that their argument is not necessarily borne out by stats. What is the real substantive difference between an SAT score of 620 and 780 in terms of being successful at an institution? Not much, I'd wager. Folks like William Sedlacek at UMd have done a lot of research into onther non-cognitive predictors of academic success that are much more predictive than GPA or SAT score. The tests that these folks want used are just not fine tuned enough to make the distinctions that they would like them to. To consider more than just a test is not a form a racism, it is simply acknowledging that these tests are fallible.
The world has suffered with segregation and its ills for centuries and the only way to eliminate the need is to educate people and our children in the morally responsible and humanistic ways that we were meant to. It's time to re-examine Affimative Action policies and adapt it to our ever-changing world, with changing attitudes and awareness, it will not be needed.
I think affirmative action needs to be adjusted to reflect the overall track record of an employer or learning institution. I think any person should be judged on their attributes and equally, regardless of race or ethnicity. I think it would be a huge benefit to the children.
However: Any employer or institution who is caught purposely negating potential candidates who are of any color or ethnicity should be held accountable.
The law needs to change to give any person who is discriminated against a legal pathway to fight their way through. However, it should not be used as enforcement or a license to discount any person of any other race if that person is qualified.
This would actually create more incentive rather than disintegrate equal opportunity. It would mean that the mentality of entitlement ceases to exist and that all are forced to be judged by their personal acts. Several of my black friends openly oppose affirmative action. They say that the law harms families of color - it doesn't help them.