2003-06-06 - 8:10 p.m.
I'm really, really tired of hearing about the University of Michigan affirmative action case.
I don't know the story of the white girl who sued--I know she was an outstanding student, and I also know she only did okay on her admissions exams.
But it's featured on Dateline tonight, and I'm annoyed already, and it's only 10 minutes into it.
There's an activist from UM, a black girl, and apparently she's made it her mission to oppose this suit. The first clip they showed of her was at a rally where she was shouting things like "they don't want us to succeed" and "we're on our way, and nobody can stop us."
What the hell. This is NOT about holding down black people. This is about leveling the playing field so everyone gets a fair shot.
And in the real world, some people are poor, some people are rich. Some white people are actually poor--I was one of them. When I was a freshman, my EFC on my FAFSA was $16. For the entire year.
So, this affirmative action is supposed to give black people, people who were historically disadvantaged and faced road blocks, a boost to help them go to college. Way back when, when there weren't many black doctors or lawyers or executives, this was a good idea. It was a good start to lead to the black doctors, lawyers and executives that exist today.
We don't need it anymore. I guarantee you, GUARANTEE that every single black woman in my office makes at least twice--twice--what my white mother makes. I know this simply based on their position titles and the fact that state position classifications and their salaries are public information.
People argue that disadvantaged black children do worse in school due to their lack of financial resources, therefore they need a boost to get into a good college.
We were on welfare for a good chunk of my life. My family life was NOT exactly healthy or happy, and you know what? I did what I knew I had to do to avoid growing up and having a life like that. I also worked, and managed to squeeze in band (with a university-owned instrument, I couldn't afford my own). Just because you're poor or have an unhappy, unhealthy family life does not mean you're destined to be a failure.
What about women? Women typically make less than men for doing the same job, that makes us disadvantaged--shouldn't we get affirmative action to help us be more successful later in life? We're not treated fairly, so how is that different, just because we have boobs instead of non-caucasian skin?
They argue that affirmative action encourages interracial socialization and promotes awareness and understanding. This is true, if awareness, understanding and socialization means "there are people of another heritage around, and I'm aware of it." Just because you live next door to a black person or an Asian person or whatever does not mean you're going to be best friends. It also doesn't mean you'll be best friends with only white people. You're friends with people because of who they are, not because of the color of their skin, and colleges should admit people based on who they are and what they've done and their potential and accomplishments, not the color of their skin.
Granted, this mentality doesn't apply to your rednecks or hillbillies--but generally (and I say that lightly, because yes there were racial issues at Olivet College in the 90s, but remember Olivet is a small institution that just happens to be in a hillbilly town) those folks don't go to college, especially to places like UofM.
Anyway. I don't know what else there is to say about it. School is school. Private colleges are another story, though, because they don't receive government money.
This girl is arguing that the black middle class and the white middle class are different, and the black middle class is still worse off than the white, and that they don't have all the resources available to them, etc. How is that so? Someone please explain this to me. I just don't get it. I don't know one single person in this world that has never been treated a certain way because of their age, gender, color, size, etc. Not one. I don't know why one is worse than the other. And I can guarantee you that if I went over to the south side right now and applied for a job in one of the stores or shops that are black-owned and black-operated (for example, there's a night club over there that actually sued the city because they got citations for noise and alcohol violations, citing racism... whatever, dude, serve a minor and you get a ticket), I wouldn't get a job there because I was white. No way in hell.
That professor on tv was right. If they gave points for being white (they give points for being black), and then argued that there were other categories where you could earn points, it wouldn't cancel out the discrimination. Bingo.
Anyway, I'm going to shut up now before I dig myself into a hole even more. I just really, really get so frustrated with this whole issue. This issue isn't about promoting diversity as its supporters claim--if people are qualified, they should be admitted--whatever their skin color--so if people of different races are qualified, more power to them. Qualifications alone can result in just as much diversity as with affirmative action.
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