Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Activists push to ban affirmative action
2 comments
Opponents of affirmative action are pushing to ban the practice in five states, initially inspired by citizens voting to cut affirmative action in Michigan. Advocates are hunting for signatures in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, while supporters of affirmative action are increasing efforts to keep the ban from passing. Ward Connerly is the nation's most prominent opponent of affirmative action:
First of all, I find it incredibly shocking that Connerly is a black man and such an avid opposer of the advancement of his own people. Second of all, using Obama and Clinton as examples as to why there is "no more need to compensate for racism and sexism" is ridiculous. Yes, it's fantastic that our Democratic candidate is either going to be a black man or a woman, but you cannot honestly say that because of this, our work is done. Political candidates are no indication of the lack of minorities in universities OR the number of minorities being rejected from certain occupations. Just because we have a black man and a woman in the political spotlight does not mean that our problems are over!
If ANYTHING, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska need affirmative action desperately. Let's take a look at a few statistics, shall we?
Anyone see a problem here? I do.
People need to understand that affirmative action isn't about discrimination. It's about offering people the chances and opportunities that they deserve, but because racism is so ingrained in our society, they are often denied. It's an attempt to fix all the ways our country has fucked up in the past and it's a chance for us to be better than our ancestors. Why is this such a terrible thing?
To learn more about affirmative action, as well as learn about ways to get involved, visit affirmativeaction.org.
(Article excerpt from the Washington Post. Statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics).
Connerly contends that the success of Obama and Clinton shows that preferences are no longer necessary "to compensate for, quote, institutional racism and institutional sexism."
First of all, I find it incredibly shocking that Connerly is a black man and such an avid opposer of the advancement of his own people. Second of all, using Obama and Clinton as examples as to why there is "no more need to compensate for racism and sexism" is ridiculous. Yes, it's fantastic that our Democratic candidate is either going to be a black man or a woman, but you cannot honestly say that because of this, our work is done. Political candidates are no indication of the lack of minorities in universities OR the number of minorities being rejected from certain occupations. Just because we have a black man and a woman in the political spotlight does not mean that our problems are over!
If ANYTHING, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska need affirmative action desperately. Let's take a look at a few statistics, shall we?
Anyone see a problem here? I do.
People need to understand that affirmative action isn't about discrimination. It's about offering people the chances and opportunities that they deserve, but because racism is so ingrained in our society, they are often denied. It's an attempt to fix all the ways our country has fucked up in the past and it's a chance for us to be better than our ancestors. Why is this such a terrible thing?
To learn more about affirmative action, as well as learn about ways to get involved, visit affirmativeaction.org.
(Article excerpt from the Washington Post. Statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics).
Posts
March 26, 2008 at 1:41 PM
Wow, I'm pleased to hear that racism and sexism exist no longer! That's great news. How ridiculous. Opponents of affirmative action should put more energy into opposing discrimination and eliminate the necessity of any tools to even the playing field.
March 26, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Hah, I know! We're done!
Obviously we wouldn't even need to consider affirmative action if we truly were equal and racism was no longer prominent.