My Complicated Relationship with Affirmative Action
Here in Missouri, a businessman from California named Ward Connerly is attempting to get our state constitution altered to eliminate Affirmative Action in this state. He calls this the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative. Sounds good, right? But the effects of it's approval are the same. Minorities and women will be discounted in much consideration for employments, contracts, and school enrollments. Mr. Connerly has already been successful in Michigan, where minority enrollment in post-secondary education has dropped dramatically since it's approval.
I believe in diversity in government, commerce, and education. I believe that everyone who engages in these activities should be given the same opportunities to succeed, and let the nature of the markets, the skill and talents of the individuals decide who is successful. I recently graduated from a school whose student body was probably 30%-40% minority. I enjoyed that greatly, I believe, that sharing learning experiences with people who look, speak, and believe differently than you creates a more dynamic and fulfilling educational experience. In short, it makes college better. So, considering the above, I should be very concerned about Mr. Connerly's current action.
I am concerned, however, I am not very concerned.
I grew up in a small-town community, forty miles south of St. Louis. That area was probably 98% white. Today it is somewhat more diverse. I'd put it at 95% white. I grew up with poor, working-class, and middle-class people who were mostly union workers with little education. There were no latinos, very few blacks, and if you were indian or asian you were probably a doctor's kid. Racial diversity was not a daily concern, and many of them didn't want to have anything to do with non-whites. While I did not retain such attitudes at race, and indeed in my adult life have made it a point to be in racially diverse areas, something of those attitudes has stayed with me.
I am suspicious of Affirmative Action. There is a pervasive fear of this program in the white community that one is competing for jobs with individuals less qualified but fill a racial/ethnic quota. This is illustrated by a powerful scene in the film Crash in which racist-cop Matt Dillon says to the black woman handing his fathers medical problems something like, "When I look at you I can't help but think of the dozens of better qualified white people who could be helping my father instead of you." This fear and suspicion does not work to improve race-relations and level the playing field but foster more fear and racism of minorities. This isn't hypothetical. I've seen it happen.
My struggles don't end here though. While I know that not all whites feel this way, I cannot right off those who do as ignorant racists. This is a plausible fear. I have had considerable difficulty finding sufficient employment since I've graduated from college. I know that this is for a lot of reasons: the tightness of the job market in general; the tightness of the job market in my chosen fields in particular; my inability to properly sell myself; positions being filled internally, but policy states that interested parties must be interviewed; etc. But why shouldn't I think (short of fear of being called a sexist or racist) that a minority or a woman is being hired in my place that has fewer qualifications than I? I don't think this, but I think it is a question that should be asked? I have never heard this concern addressed by proponents of this program.
But...
How often do less qualified minorities or women get hired over better qualifies white men? Are there statistics on this? Is this even remotely measurable? Sure, people can claim that affirmative action cost them a potential job, but can it be proven? Is this a minor occurence blown out of proportion by a sensationalist people who don't want their status quo challenged? And does a hiring of an individual based on Affirmative Action standards make the job search for one that program is not designed to help significantly more difficult?
Furthermore, to say that Affirmative Action is no longer necessary implies that sexism and racism no longer occur. I think most would say that these attitudes no longer occur on the scale that they did in the twentieth century and previously, but they certainly still occur.
I believe in diversity in government, commerce, and education. I believe that everyone who engages in these activities should be given the same opportunities to succeed, and let the nature of the markets, the skill and talents of the individuals decide who is successful. I recently graduated from a school whose student body was probably 30%-40% minority. I enjoyed that greatly, I believe, that sharing learning experiences with people who look, speak, and believe differently than you creates a more dynamic and fulfilling educational experience. In short, it makes college better. So, considering the above, I should be very concerned about Mr. Connerly's current action.
I am concerned, however, I am not very concerned.
I grew up in a small-town community, forty miles south of St. Louis. That area was probably 98% white. Today it is somewhat more diverse. I'd put it at 95% white. I grew up with poor, working-class, and middle-class people who were mostly union workers with little education. There were no latinos, very few blacks, and if you were indian or asian you were probably a doctor's kid. Racial diversity was not a daily concern, and many of them didn't want to have anything to do with non-whites. While I did not retain such attitudes at race, and indeed in my adult life have made it a point to be in racially diverse areas, something of those attitudes has stayed with me.
I am suspicious of Affirmative Action. There is a pervasive fear of this program in the white community that one is competing for jobs with individuals less qualified but fill a racial/ethnic quota. This is illustrated by a powerful scene in the film Crash in which racist-cop Matt Dillon says to the black woman handing his fathers medical problems something like, "When I look at you I can't help but think of the dozens of better qualified white people who could be helping my father instead of you." This fear and suspicion does not work to improve race-relations and level the playing field but foster more fear and racism of minorities. This isn't hypothetical. I've seen it happen.
My struggles don't end here though. While I know that not all whites feel this way, I cannot right off those who do as ignorant racists. This is a plausible fear. I have had considerable difficulty finding sufficient employment since I've graduated from college. I know that this is for a lot of reasons: the tightness of the job market in general; the tightness of the job market in my chosen fields in particular; my inability to properly sell myself; positions being filled internally, but policy states that interested parties must be interviewed; etc. But why shouldn't I think (short of fear of being called a sexist or racist) that a minority or a woman is being hired in my place that has fewer qualifications than I? I don't think this, but I think it is a question that should be asked? I have never heard this concern addressed by proponents of this program.
But...
How often do less qualified minorities or women get hired over better qualifies white men? Are there statistics on this? Is this even remotely measurable? Sure, people can claim that affirmative action cost them a potential job, but can it be proven? Is this a minor occurence blown out of proportion by a sensationalist people who don't want their status quo challenged? And does a hiring of an individual based on Affirmative Action standards make the job search for one that program is not designed to help significantly more difficult?
Furthermore, to say that Affirmative Action is no longer necessary implies that sexism and racism no longer occur. I think most would say that these attitudes no longer occur on the scale that they did in the twentieth century and previously, but they certainly still occur.