I was discussing the blog with a friend not too long ago, and she brought up an interesting point. ”You have this forum to talk about almost anything and you’re spending it on Mr. Potato Head, GI Joe and Batman. Why don’t you talk about something more serious, like Affirmative Action?”
So here’s the first (and last) time that you will hear about Affirmative Action on this blog.
Affirmative Action is, much like the Americans with Disabilities Act, a double-edged sword that causes as many problems as it solves. Companies may want to hire someone who could have been discriminated against, but the Sword of Damocles (lots of swords are involved) that is fear of the race card/disability card being pulled at any time actually lowers the chance of the disabled or minorities getting hired. In an interesting parallel, this problem occurs with the habitats of endangered species.
But fear not! Factors like the election of a black President and the change from a Caucasian majority to a minority should show the progress that has occurred in race relations, making such laws almost a moot point!
Right?
Well, when it comes down to it, the problem with discrimination of any type is that it’s caused by a difference from what one perceives as the norm. Anything that separates people from one another is grounds for bias, mistrust or blame. So I’m going to work off of a hypothetical we can call the Bulworth/Phantom Tollbooth* Conjecture:
Suppose everyone is the same color. And not only that, let’s say that we all have identical physical features across genders. So everyone looks exactly the same. Height, weight, hairstyles, etc. But people have different personalities.
Groups will be formed based on social and political beliefs. People will still enjoy different recreational activities. They will hold different jobs, like different books and entertainment, and have different names.
There will still be discrimination.
Of course, this discrimination is based on personality – whether one person gets along with another, whether they like them, whether this person seems like a good “fit.” Just think about why you have the friends that you do, and why you don’t like other people – you’re making discrimination based on personality.
But personality discrimination is an acceptable type of bigotry – if someone shifts the blame onto someone because of political affiliation, career choice, geographic location, education or entertainment preferences, it’s acceptable. After all, these are the things that make us individuals. It’s not all right to deny someone the right to their opinion, but it’s permissible to hate them because of it.
Even though people still carry prejudice against others because of race, gender, age, nationality or disability, as a society, we have stood up to say, “This is wrong,” and enacted laws and regulations to mitigate or eliminate such biases. However, the disconnect that exists when comparing extraneous characteristics and internal (chosen) characteristics is a wide chasm that no one wants to cross.
Then again, becoming fully accepting of others means that rewards, acknowledgement, success and promotion can no longer exist. Everyone must be on the same level, without defining characteristics to separate them from everyone else. So a little discrimination is fine, as long as it’s based on something that isn’t physically observable.
Because everyone has to be special, or else no one will be.
*In the movie Bulworth, the titular character’s solution for racial tensions is that “everyone should keep [mating] until we’re all the same color.” And in the book The Phantom Tollbooth, a war was started because two groups couldn’t agree as to whether numbers or words were more important, despite being the same in every other way.
I am against affirmative action; but mainly because it is promoted as a solution to a problem — while it really is just a band-aid on the issue, at the best.
The real problem is rooted in economic background and position. Yes, minorities are more likely to be poor than non-minorities. It is poverty that is the main culprit to disadvantage and not necessarily race. Black Americans (or others) are not living in a social climate where the majority culture is giving them the message that they are sub-human, as was the social climate before the 1970s (stereotypes still prevail…but that is another issue). What Black people are in fact a victim of is that of access; access to good professional networks and role-models; access to “old wealth” and family connections; access to diverse environments. But not all Black people are in this situation. On top of that, there are plenty of White people in that situation as well.
This is an instance where I am not afraid to promote a more democratic socialist approach. Give all children (yes, it needs to start when they are young) equal access to the same quality of education. Those who show themselves to be bright and motivated are effectively presented with opportunities to help them succeed. Leave the factor of race out of it. And yes, some more work will need to be done in regards to support from the Black community. But I really feel that if they could see a government-backed system in place that would promote academic excellence and the development of professional skills, they would come around.
Right now, I am (and I am surrounded by) a young Black woman who did well in school, graduated from college. When I evaluate why it is that I have not moved into the middle-class economic strata as of yet, it is mainly due to this issue of having lack of access. I was born to a poor family with no experience, no connections to the professional world. In my career, I have to work at a lower-level while I work on forming and developing those connections. College provide chances to intern and study-abroad and do other co-curriculars that could have helped me years ago, but I could never participate because I had to work to put myself through school myself. None of this was a racial issue…but an economic issue.
Affirmative action to me is like giving someone a snow suit and skis; then expecting them to ace the slopes without any lessons. It just doesn’t make sense, and does not really help people in the long run.
Thanks for commenting, Rishona! Your skiing simile is definitely on point.
I agree with the points that you’ve made, but perhaps there’s another step that should be taken with regards to education: checking on the quality of educators. With programs like No Child Left Behind and some of the standardized testing (like AIMS in Arizona), teachers are teaching more for their students to pass mandatory tests than to teach. As such, the standards for what we expect from teachers has changed, and not necessarily for the better. A re-examination of educational priorities would go a long way to finding a more stable foundation for students (and communities as a whole) to develop in a more positive direction.