[NYT] Comment from The Guy Who Got Where He Is Because He's Black

I don't agree that white people in general benefit from the past. Not all of us have these country club connections that every proponent of affirmative action points to. I don't agree that the discriminations of the past are the responsibility of the current generation to fix, I never (owned slaves, passed Jim Crow laws, segregated schools, etc.), so I don't think it is my fault. I don't agree that (if you accept the premise that there is not a level playing field, and it is slanted in favor of white people) the best way (or even a remotely acceptable way) to level things is to tip it the other direction until everyone rolls back to the middle. I don't agree that two wrongs make a right. We can all recognize that it was wrong to give preferential treatment to white people in the past, but for some reason you think it is OK when the shoe is on the other foot?

I am not a big fan of preferential treatment for anyone, but if you insist on a better plan to "right the wrongs", how about a system that considers social class instead of income. If we are concerned with people that do not have all of the advantages, why not target the group entirely composed of people that do not get all of the advantages. Another method that would work great for school applications would be to completely eliminate biographical information from applications and base admissions purely on the numbers (test scores, GPA, class rank, etc.), which I believe you are doing in Texas, with the top 10% rule. Any of those systems would pass the "not facially racist test" that is failed by Affirmative Action.

You can choose from:
Yes, we had to expand our membership base because of the unfair racist laws being passed by the government.
-OR-
Psht, like Jews are white.

How about walked to the Superdome sometime in the days before the storm arrived. No one was forced to remain below sea level.

 

Whether you benefited or not, the opportunity was there for you that weren't there for others or for your ancestors. Furthermore you do benefit at least indirectly. The system is geared up, tailored and structured using things that you can relate to, and have an easier time understanding. Test questions are written for people with similar experiences that you've had, most history in school is European history talking about people that looked something like you, and had customs more similar to yours. The customs and ways of communicating among the elite is something more naturally close to your way of communicating and customs that you are familiar with.

One way to change that power structure is to change some of the people in power. If the system in place that puts people there is already unfair then compensations can be made to make sure a capable, but more diverse group shares that power.

Of course for some of those people,if they moved away from whatever jobs they might have had, and sucked at the welfare teat in another state, that wouldn't have been good either.