A Progressive's Case Against Affirmative Action
the Economist, 1 February
MSN Lifestyle, 19 February
The reason why I am mentioning these two things side by side is because they both hint at the same topic: black power is outdated, and ultimately self-defeating.
Before I go any further, I need to address the very first point I can guarantee someone will attack this essay on. This is not a racially motivated essay. The purpose of this is to discuss a possible way forward with economic and legislative policy for the African-American demographic in the USA. Given that a large portion of my family is African-American, this topic is very much close to home. Even though I consider this fact irrelevant, most African-Americans I've talked to (particularly from Utah and Massachusets) don't.
Ironically, by choosing to keep themselves as a racial demographic separated from the rest of the US, African-American leaders are closing doors that might otherwise lead to greater prosperity for the demographic itself. As it mentions in the Economist article, affirmative action legislation isn't having an effect on the lowest income brackets of African-Americans like it should. Indeed, all it has done is to create a greater separation between rich and poor.
As it also mentions in the Economist article, the African-American community would benefit much more from legislation and actions targeted at poverty and low-income groups than from more quotas or differentiated treatment. Even now, they make up a disproportionately high percentage of this income bracket, and any economic changes designed to benefit those below the poverty line would help the African-American racial demographic more than anyone else.
In the MSN survey, the comparatively high ratio of individuals in favor of black history month suggests an ownership of the day and the affirmative action behind it, which is good. However, it also suggests by the high percentage of those who see it as a token gesture that even the African-American community realises the tendency towards marginalization gestures like this create.
It isn't as big a step to believe that differential treatment leads to marginalization and isolation. It's human nature. This is the reason why Brown vrs. the Board of Education worked so hard to eliminate segregation. This is the reason why apartheid in South Africa was so destructive. This is the reason why the bilingual programs in both Quebec and California failed. And once again, economic moves done in the name of repatriation have turned into another "Separate but Equal" status.
However, the elimination of affirmative action on its own will not help, as we've noticed with the University of California system (when quotas went away, so did the number of black students). Poverty itself as a whole must be targeted, not for any single racial demographic. Not only will that help African-Americans more than any other move, but it will also be far more likely to get support from all progressives regardless of color lines.
MSN Lifestyle, 19 February
The reason why I am mentioning these two things side by side is because they both hint at the same topic: black power is outdated, and ultimately self-defeating.
Before I go any further, I need to address the very first point I can guarantee someone will attack this essay on. This is not a racially motivated essay. The purpose of this is to discuss a possible way forward with economic and legislative policy for the African-American demographic in the USA. Given that a large portion of my family is African-American, this topic is very much close to home. Even though I consider this fact irrelevant, most African-Americans I've talked to (particularly from Utah and Massachusets) don't.
Ironically, by choosing to keep themselves as a racial demographic separated from the rest of the US, African-American leaders are closing doors that might otherwise lead to greater prosperity for the demographic itself. As it mentions in the Economist article, affirmative action legislation isn't having an effect on the lowest income brackets of African-Americans like it should. Indeed, all it has done is to create a greater separation between rich and poor.
As it also mentions in the Economist article, the African-American community would benefit much more from legislation and actions targeted at poverty and low-income groups than from more quotas or differentiated treatment. Even now, they make up a disproportionately high percentage of this income bracket, and any economic changes designed to benefit those below the poverty line would help the African-American racial demographic more than anyone else.
In the MSN survey, the comparatively high ratio of individuals in favor of black history month suggests an ownership of the day and the affirmative action behind it, which is good. However, it also suggests by the high percentage of those who see it as a token gesture that even the African-American community realises the tendency towards marginalization gestures like this create.
It isn't as big a step to believe that differential treatment leads to marginalization and isolation. It's human nature. This is the reason why Brown vrs. the Board of Education worked so hard to eliminate segregation. This is the reason why apartheid in South Africa was so destructive. This is the reason why the bilingual programs in both Quebec and California failed. And once again, economic moves done in the name of repatriation have turned into another "Separate but Equal" status.
However, the elimination of affirmative action on its own will not help, as we've noticed with the University of California system (when quotas went away, so did the number of black students). Poverty itself as a whole must be targeted, not for any single racial demographic. Not only will that help African-Americans more than any other move, but it will also be far more likely to get support from all progressives regardless of color lines.