Affirmative Action
Alright, so here's the background, in brief: A lot of people have been mentioning Affirmative Action lately. Some in support, most in opposition. It bothers me to no end, because most of the people that state that they are in opposition to Affirmative Action are supposedly liberal, definitely white, and avowedly for the goal it espouses. So here's my response.
You don't understand.
Seriously. There are two parts to this lack of understanding. The first is about Affirmative Action itself. There are TWO ways that people go about Affirmative Action, or at least two major ones. One is the University of Michigan model which President Bush was very outspoken against a few years back. It provides for quotas of admissions (or hiring, or whatever the case is) based on the overall population of either Michigan, the country or the applicants. In other words, if Hispanics make up 5% of the population of Michigan, 5% of all admitted freshmen must be Hispanic. Many people oppose this - I name myself an advocate of Affirmative Action, yet I oppose this too. The reasons are simple, and do not require too deep of an analysis for the purposes of this writing, but in brief, they amount to the accusation that it is reverse racism that solves nothing, and does not really fulfil any purpose that the system was designed for, preventing people from accomplishing more than they can as a group based on their race. Notice, for example, that Asians are FUCKED in this situation. More likely to go to college, more likely to be able to afford it, more likely to want to get in, more likely to get in, but the same amount of proportional spots.
Here's the part that people miss when they say "I oppose Affirmative Action." You don't see the OTHER strain of thought in it. Affirmative Action is any program designed to end racism in hiring, admissions, housing, and so on. So the DOMINANT group of things done were laws saying you can't discriminate on race, legal principles that could be cited by a black guy when he gets denied housing in favor of a white guy and so on. It was telling the Universities that they had to take minority applicants, ending the segregation of colleges. Now you have HISTORICALLY black colleges. Not black ones, historically black ones. No longer are colleges segregated by race unless the applicant pool is dominantly one racial group.
More important than even that - because in a lot of cases the gap between real discrimination and perceived opportunity was great, even though there was a great deal of discimination - was the PERCEPTION it gave. It gave a black seventeen-year-old the idea that they could go to college if they got the grades and the money. They didn't need the skin color, it was one thing less. And maybe some day we'll get rid of the money necessity, and everything will be on merit. But until then, at least some people can get the money through scholarships and stuff. You can't change your skin color. Affirmative Action programs in college made it so you didn't have to.
Yeah, there's weaknesses. We should find a way to not let decision-makers see names, so that they'll not know a difference exists between Kwame, Jamal or Shaniqua and Alyssa, Jessica and Thomas. We should find a way to avoid the quota system, not only because it looks bad and pisses off white people but because it doesn't serve the needs of the people it is intended to (Asians, yes, but also any group). But the point is that Affirmative Action must be maintained.
Why? Well, here's the other part that you don't understand.
You don't understand what it's like not to be white. Go on, tell me that there's no discrimination in this world. Say it. Tell me even that it's just LESS than people make it out to be. Oh yeah, because YOU have experienced it, right? Wait - you're white. Don't tell me about my life when you haven't lived it.
You don't understand what it's like to be pulled over when there's a white guy speeding and you're going the speed limit.
You don't understand what it's like to have people approach you and talk slowly because they don't know if you only speak Spanish.
You don't understand what it's like to have people bet on whether or not you're going to be "randomly pulled out" of the security line in an airport, turn around and tell them that it's not going to happen and turn back around to see the security guard asking you to step out of the line.
You don't understand what it's like to be shot at by cops, beaten by cops, when you reach into your pocket to get your driver's license out when asked for it, or convicted of a crime without evidence if you're in the South and the victims were white.
You don't understand what it's like to know that minorities or multiracial Americans make up 25% of the US population, of which black people are 12.3%, yet there's one black Senator, and in the history of our country, there have only been five.
You don't understand what it's like to have everyone assume YOUR job is being a janitor, or working at a Taco Bell, AND that you're lazy about it, just because you're Mexican.
You don't understand what it's like to have people call YOU "sand-nigger" in November 2001 and get suspended, nearly expelled from high school because of how you stood up for yourself.
Did it hit you in your gut, in your heart, during Barack Obama's speech when he said the line about "eradicating the slander that says that a black youth with a book is acting white"? Did you stand there with the tears rolling down your face when he talked about the "hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who thinks that America has a place for him too?" I really hope it did. It still gives me chills today.
So don't tell me that racism doesn't exist. You just don't see it because you have blinders on and think America is great within. Some of you know what we do outside. Take a look at what STILL happens inside, and you may come to the same conclusion I have.
Affirmative Action's not perfect, but I credit it with giving me the right to go to amazing public schools. I credit it with the right to apply and be considered fairly (rejected once, then accepted) for the University of Washington. I credit it with the right to apply for a job and know that I might actually have a shot at it. I also credit it with helping to change society, so that 25 years after implementation, I can live in the suburbs if I want. I can shop and eat where I want. And while I still get strange looks every now and then, I can take out the girl that I care about wherever I want, even though she's white.
So if you think Affirmative Action is flawed, fine. Think of something better. Until then, I'll keep what I have.
You don't understand.
Seriously. There are two parts to this lack of understanding. The first is about Affirmative Action itself. There are TWO ways that people go about Affirmative Action, or at least two major ones. One is the University of Michigan model which President Bush was very outspoken against a few years back. It provides for quotas of admissions (or hiring, or whatever the case is) based on the overall population of either Michigan, the country or the applicants. In other words, if Hispanics make up 5% of the population of Michigan, 5% of all admitted freshmen must be Hispanic. Many people oppose this - I name myself an advocate of Affirmative Action, yet I oppose this too. The reasons are simple, and do not require too deep of an analysis for the purposes of this writing, but in brief, they amount to the accusation that it is reverse racism that solves nothing, and does not really fulfil any purpose that the system was designed for, preventing people from accomplishing more than they can as a group based on their race. Notice, for example, that Asians are FUCKED in this situation. More likely to go to college, more likely to be able to afford it, more likely to want to get in, more likely to get in, but the same amount of proportional spots.
Here's the part that people miss when they say "I oppose Affirmative Action." You don't see the OTHER strain of thought in it. Affirmative Action is any program designed to end racism in hiring, admissions, housing, and so on. So the DOMINANT group of things done were laws saying you can't discriminate on race, legal principles that could be cited by a black guy when he gets denied housing in favor of a white guy and so on. It was telling the Universities that they had to take minority applicants, ending the segregation of colleges. Now you have HISTORICALLY black colleges. Not black ones, historically black ones. No longer are colleges segregated by race unless the applicant pool is dominantly one racial group.
More important than even that - because in a lot of cases the gap between real discrimination and perceived opportunity was great, even though there was a great deal of discimination - was the PERCEPTION it gave. It gave a black seventeen-year-old the idea that they could go to college if they got the grades and the money. They didn't need the skin color, it was one thing less. And maybe some day we'll get rid of the money necessity, and everything will be on merit. But until then, at least some people can get the money through scholarships and stuff. You can't change your skin color. Affirmative Action programs in college made it so you didn't have to.
Yeah, there's weaknesses. We should find a way to not let decision-makers see names, so that they'll not know a difference exists between Kwame, Jamal or Shaniqua and Alyssa, Jessica and Thomas. We should find a way to avoid the quota system, not only because it looks bad and pisses off white people but because it doesn't serve the needs of the people it is intended to (Asians, yes, but also any group). But the point is that Affirmative Action must be maintained.
Why? Well, here's the other part that you don't understand.
You don't understand what it's like not to be white. Go on, tell me that there's no discrimination in this world. Say it. Tell me even that it's just LESS than people make it out to be. Oh yeah, because YOU have experienced it, right? Wait - you're white. Don't tell me about my life when you haven't lived it.
You don't understand what it's like to be pulled over when there's a white guy speeding and you're going the speed limit.
You don't understand what it's like to have people approach you and talk slowly because they don't know if you only speak Spanish.
You don't understand what it's like to have people bet on whether or not you're going to be "randomly pulled out" of the security line in an airport, turn around and tell them that it's not going to happen and turn back around to see the security guard asking you to step out of the line.
You don't understand what it's like to be shot at by cops, beaten by cops, when you reach into your pocket to get your driver's license out when asked for it, or convicted of a crime without evidence if you're in the South and the victims were white.
You don't understand what it's like to know that minorities or multiracial Americans make up 25% of the US population, of which black people are 12.3%, yet there's one black Senator, and in the history of our country, there have only been five.
You don't understand what it's like to have everyone assume YOUR job is being a janitor, or working at a Taco Bell, AND that you're lazy about it, just because you're Mexican.
You don't understand what it's like to have people call YOU "sand-nigger" in November 2001 and get suspended, nearly expelled from high school because of how you stood up for yourself.
Did it hit you in your gut, in your heart, during Barack Obama's speech when he said the line about "eradicating the slander that says that a black youth with a book is acting white"? Did you stand there with the tears rolling down your face when he talked about the "hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who thinks that America has a place for him too?" I really hope it did. It still gives me chills today.
So don't tell me that racism doesn't exist. You just don't see it because you have blinders on and think America is great within. Some of you know what we do outside. Take a look at what STILL happens inside, and you may come to the same conclusion I have.
Affirmative Action's not perfect, but I credit it with giving me the right to go to amazing public schools. I credit it with the right to apply and be considered fairly (rejected once, then accepted) for the University of Washington. I credit it with the right to apply for a job and know that I might actually have a shot at it. I also credit it with helping to change society, so that 25 years after implementation, I can live in the suburbs if I want. I can shop and eat where I want. And while I still get strange looks every now and then, I can take out the girl that I care about wherever I want, even though she's white.
So if you think Affirmative Action is flawed, fine. Think of something better. Until then, I'll keep what I have.