Affirmative action by its very definition is institutionalized racism. It victimizes the victims. Proponents of it basically tell African-Americans and Hispanics they are inferior and, therefore, need special help.
If you ask an African-American student on this campus if he thinks he is treated like a second-class citizen, most likely he will reply that he is. And he is right. When I was a news reporter, I covered the Multicultural Student Center shortly after the doctored admissions booklet was brought to light. The minority students were very angry and frustrated about the doctored photo, as well as their status in general at UW-Madison. One student said she always felt like everyone watched her as she took her seat in her classes. They attributed this to white racism, but really it is a symptom of what affirmative action does to a group of people.
According to author Robert Bork, affirmative action divides people and hurts the targeted groups. “Since everyone knows about affirmative action, those who do graduate are likely to be suspected by prospective employers and fellow employees of not really having the credentials their diplomas suggest,” Bork said. What does this mean? Black students who earned their way into medical or law school and then excelled there, will always have to battle with other people’s preconceptions.
This policy sets up hurdles for well-qualified students, and unfairly places a stigma over their heads. It also sets up barriers between students. Polarization has increased over time. One need only look at the MCSC to see we are committed to dividing and segregating ourselves. If you visit the Rathskeller, you see whites hanging out with whites, Hispanics with Hispanics, and so on.
It is obvious that wealthy white liberals like to patronize minorities and chant the diversity mantra. (Fighting for diversity especially rings hollow in universities when you consider just how “diverse” their faculties are. If you think conservatives are represented according to the U.S. population, think again.) It makes them feel good about themselves. People of color are no fools. They know when they are being patronized, and they rightly resent it. They also know that when a university doctors a photo on an admissions booklet, it is merely looking for politically correct images. Individual students do not matter to the system. Consequently, liberals just do not care that when you thrust unprepared people into a school, repercussions (high attrition) are bound to take place.
One of the ugliest results of affirmative action is white patronization. The thinking goes like this: “I am here because I earned my way into this institution. John, over there, did not. He made it here by another way.” For their entire lives, African-Americans are forced to wear the label of “quota filler.” White people, on the other hand, smugly congratulate themselves on “helping the Black man out.” In classes, I have seen students eagerly listen to people of color, and treat them differently. They will not debate or criticize their points in argument. Rather, white professors or students are more concerned about patronizing people and being “sensitive.” The students at the MCSC said racism was not necessarily with words ? it was with a certain look.
That look, which they encountered while walking around the campus, encapsulates what minorities really fear. It is the look that says, “You are here only because of the color of your skin.”
The solution to this problem lies in outlawing affirmative action. It is 2002, and there is no reason why we should continue to perpetuate discriminatory practices. Minorities worry that if affirmative action disappeared, the same old discrimination would bar their entrance into good universities. One way to fix this concern is to drop racial categories on the applications. Who cares about our race? We are people.
You might even cover the name of applicants during the application process, in the event that a name might betray one’s ethnicity.
Affirmative action hurts people of color. Minority students who are qualified have to endure and fight the second-guessing and white patronization that come along with preferential policies.
The real shame, though, is in allowing unqualified people to take places for which they are not ready. These people endure a great amount of pain once they realize others do not take them seriously. Passing people along in order to fit a political agenda is not just a ridiculous policy ? it involves playing politics with people’s lives, and that is wrong.
Anna Gould ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science.
