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Originally Posted by roachboy
1. where does the idea come from that anyone who benefits from aa is necessarily less qualified than a white guy? on what basis do the claims above regarding "reverse discrimination" operate? please do not simply repeat the claims--provide some proof.
2. on what basis, really, can you seperate aa from the history it was constructed to redress?
3. do you really believe that the united states is somehow not still a deeply racist country? on what basis? again, the claim in itself is meaningless--if you are trying to persuade folk who do not accept your politics up front that your argument is interesting or important, then you need to address the kind of questions that others consider when they think about this question. you do not control the frame of reference. you simply make an argument.
4. it seems to me that alansmithee posed an important question that politico in no way addressed...unless you really believe that there is no racial or class discrimination in the united states, the question of what you would replace aa with is critical. you cant duck it by trying to switch the terms of debate. answer the question: give your assumptions.
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1. If the minority was better-qualified than the white person, then affirmative action would not be needed for that minority. Definitionally, affirmative action is not a program in which the best qualified candidate is chosen. Obviously, you will run across cases where the two candidates are
exactly equally qualified, in which case the best candidate would be chosen despite affirmative action. What should not be overlooked, however, is that there would be no need for affirmative action if members of other races where competitive with white and asian people.
2. I don't think you can seperate those two things. My question for you is this: is the best way to redress having had your distant ancestors inslaved and your more recent ancestors lynched, disproportionately jailed, pulled over, treated poorly in restaraunts and stores, etc. - to (effectively, even after
Michigan) to add some points onto your college application to increase your odds of being accepted? This looks like a serious case of apples and oranges from my perspective. Is higher ed. really the place to redress these widespread social injustices? It isn't the place for minorities who never even apply to college...
3. The United States
is still a deeply racist country, although the situation continues to improve.
4. I guess that I would have to know the purpose of affirmative action before I could possibly offer a substitute program that would accomplish the same goals. Can someone explain to me, please, what the
specific goal(s) of affirmative action is/are? And I don't mean "increased minority enrollment in colleges". I want a deeper answer.