Viewpoint

Afrmative action is misunderstood

All too often, we see the potent ideology behind the concept of affirmative action trampled upon and forgotten by innocent arguers and debaters who have a fundamental misunderstanding of what exactly this policy is and what it seeks to accomplish.

Affirmative action, as I understand it, is the idea that, in order to correct the faulty balance of racial representation in our society, race, gender and ethnicity must all become factors in the evaluation of candidates who wish to occupy positions in it. Affirmative action does not seek to wipe out racism in America, nor does it seek to facilitate the selection of hopelessly unqualified candidates solely based on their race or gender. The latter is counterproductive, the former is impossible. What needs to be clarified is that most affirmative action supporters realize that the policy in itself is flawed; it is not a perfect solution to creating a level playing field in our society because it does serve to select candidates based on color or gender rather than their merit. This is irrelevant, however, when one realizes that the entire point of this less-than-perfect system is to integrate minorities into academia and professional communities. Try to understand that this idea is at most a gentle tug at the sleeve of the empowered white male American elite when one takes into account the three centuries of misrepresentation and exploitation of American people on the basis of gender, race and even class.

The average anti-affirmative action argument exemplifies the creed of the average American: "Me, me, me!" American society is based completely on the individual. America - unlike nations such as Japan or Africa - has built a social ecosystem around the concept of the individual over the group, rather than allowing times where the group is more significant than the individual. Every single anti-affirmative action voice I have ever heard has been the same in this respect: they all hate the idea of one person being overlooked because of something other than sheer merit.

I hate that idea too. Because no one ever wants to make any sort of sacrifice in America to help the greater good (which would be a balanced representation of all of America's rich ethnic and racial diversity in positions of power and influence) the anti-affirmative action rally becomes a simple two-word anthem: "Why me?" Right now someone is reading this and saying, "Why should I be punished for what happened to them?" Because it is your group that holds the vast majority of power and influence in America. Look at it this way: Something very, very special happened to minority groups in America in the past 300 years. Now something special needs to be done to help them along so America can truly celebrate its diversity, not claim that serious racism doesn't exist.

I challenge all anti-affirmative action individuals to recognize and admit to their fruitless behavior. I, for one, am a bit tired of reading and hearing opposition to something as controversial and important as affirmative action when the voice I hear offers absolutely no better alternative. Yes, affirmative action hurts some while it helps others, but our society needs what affirmative action is trying to accomplish. In fact, I challenge any reader - professors, students, staff, or GSIs - to come up with a plausible, water-tight and just alternative to affirmative action. If you don't like the idea of it, fine. Just be a part of the solution.

09-08-97