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i think the silent word in all this is priviledge.
does participation in whiteness confer on certain individuals higher access to opportunities, networking, education, wealth, etc.?
If that's true, and i certainly think it is, then to do nothing is to continue the operation of white privilege, and to continue to disadvantage members of non-white groups.
is affirmative action, as currently deployed, that solution? I'm not sure. but i tend to think it's better than nothing.
you mention international diversity vs. domestic diversity, and you do raise a good point. the school i just graduated from has a strong record of internationalism, but has had to make cuts in forigien student grants in order to beef up aid to domestic students of color. we're finally getting a better atmosphere for those students, so that they don't feel quite so much like tokens, and particpate as valued members of the community. to add to that, this didn't happen just by throwing people in the pot. groups for white students to explore their idenity and position as white were key in producing these results. first time i heard the term "white idenity collective" i had visions of neo-nazis. in reality, it was a strong group working to hash out questions of what it mean to be white, and how white idenity can either contribute or work to dismantle institutional racism.
metaphorically, melting pots rarely get hot enough to melt people without first burning them...it takes more work than throwing people together to produce a diverse community.
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For God so loved creation, that God sent God's only Son that whosoever believed should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-John 3:16
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