Comments | bludragon: A Progressive's Case Against Affirmative Action

bludragon

A Progressive's Case Against Affirmative Action

Feb 19, 2007 09:13

the Economist, 1 February
MSN Lifestyle, 19 FebruaryThe reason why I am mentioning these two things side by side is because they both hint at the same topic: black power is outdated, and ultimately self-defeating ( Read more... )

Comments 4

sirenz February 19 2007, 13:44:56 UTC

Well-written. I agree with many of your points. Black history month is not going to heal the wounds of slavery. Affirmative action is only so successful. However, (this may be a tangent) I think diversity is a worthy goal in itself. The way to make someone less of a bigot is to have them get to know someone of a different race or sexual orientation. Poverty among African-Americans was institutionalized by slavery then Jim Crow laws.

Poverty knows no race. But if you happen to live in a community that is 80% black (like I do), chances are the majority of any one group (wealthy or poor or educated or uneducated) will fall into the race of the majority.

Argh, this topic is so loaded . . .

bludragon February 19 2007, 14:40:23 UTC

Hey Sirenz ( ... )

little_e_ February 20 2007, 07:20:41 UTC

There is a big problem with Affirmative Action per se as I see it that, no matter how much we want to help people who've been denied equal access to schooling/education/etc. due to institutionalized racism, poverty, etc., by the time we get to the college level, it is in many cases too late. Throwing someone with a poor education into a classroom full of people who've had good educations may in rare cases result in that person suddenly catching up, but in most cases one would reasonably conclude that the person with a poorer education would simply end up lost and confused.

Rather, the focus needs to be on ensuring that the basic fundamentals get taught way back in kindergarten and elementary school. If a kid doesn't get those by third or fourth grade, chances are, they never will.

bludragon February 20 2007, 19:36:45 UTC

I mostly agree. It needs to start with the kids.

The thing is, last time I checked people aren't just plucked out of grade schools and thrown into universities. They still have to work for it. It just means black kids with high GPA's are more likely to receive scholarships than most other demographics.