I am as stereotypical as they come — a white kid from suburban Illinois. There were maybe 100 minority students in my high school of more than 2,000. I don’t like admitting it because it carries with it the stigma of being sheltered and ignorant, which could be true. But how would I know? I’ve never experienced anything else. Why should I have any say in what’s fair? What the hell do I know about oppression?

As an oblivious bystander, when it comes to affirmative action, I have to trust the policy-makers and those who whole-heartedly believe in its necessity do so for good reason, as do all of us. And, today, I see no reason to think otherwise.

For any debate that is still ongoing within our democratic system it is safe to assume it continues because both sides, to some degree, are right and wrong. Opponents of affirmative action will cite reverse discrimination, while proponents will cite the years of injustice. It’s a tug-of-war that, fortunately, is going the way of the proponents.

To the opponents of affirmative action:

When thinking in generalities, as all government policies have to do, white people have no one to “blame” for affirmative action but themselves. We are the ones who have created and continue to perpetuate the hostile work environment that led to affirmative action and its years of enforcement in the first place. In the grand scheme of things, our complaints about reverse discrimination are and should be nothing more than a minor irritant, like a mosquito bite on the ankle of the government.

Affirmative action shouldn’t be condemned for its flaws. The ones who fought for the equality that affirmative action tries mightily to enforce likely see the policy as a great stride forward. Sure, over the years its inadequacies have begun to surface but the differences it made and continues to make are real and, for the most part, positive.

There are still racial and sexual injustices occurring in America. Until people either learn to rid themselves of this ignorance or create a better policy that still produces results but excludes the reverse discrimination that seems to get white people’s Dockers all in a bunch, affirmative action remains our only option to correct these injustices.

Before criticizing affirmative action, one should ask if any policy can truly encompass all injustices.

Someone may have suffered from a divorce or a traumatic experience that distracted them from living up to the trite standard that employers or admissions offices see as adequate. Is it fair that someone who never experienced those things be judged by the same standards as those that haven’t? Honestly? Probably not, but they are. Those people would likely benefit from a little understanding, a little compassion.

Failure to embrace the policy for what it is is not a shortfall of the policy but instead a shortfall of humanity. It seems that a person’s compassion extends only as far as not inconveniencing themselves.

By protesting the current affirmative action ideas, you are putting yourself in front of the others that are benefiting. And by doing so you are saying you are more important than the masses. Accept that the inconvenience is for reasons bigger than yourself.

To me, an individual who finds himself in unyielding opposition to affirmative action resembles a 6-year-old at the check-out line of a grocery store, pouting because his father just told him he couldn’t have a Butterfinger. The father tries to explain to his son it’s so he doesn’t ruin his dinner or because he’s been eating a lot of candy lately, but all rationalizations do is just make the kid hold his breath longer and stomp his feet harder.

The fact that, despite the complaints, affirmative action is still an actively debated idea signifies that the majority still see sexual, racial and ethnic discrimination as a problem in America. For those who are opposed to it, the burden is on you to find a better solution.

Please, in the online forum or in a letter to The Badger Herald, mention an instance where you, the people, were directly negatively affected by affirmative action. Jobs lost, applications denied, hopes for equality crushed and how a new policy that still supports equality in the workplace and at universities could right those negative experiences. I don’t think it is possible. Convince me otherwise.

There are plenty of ways to be screwed over in life. Why not provide a crutch to those who have been screwed over the longest?

David Carter ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in forestry.