Op/Ed EditorThere are few issues so politically and socially divisive as race and racism. As a result, a debate about affirmative action inevitably leads to disagreement and conflict. Our national dialogue about affirmative action was recently given new life when the Supreme Court decided to take up the issue of racial preferences in the admissions process at the University of Michigan.
Regardless of how the court rules, the decision will be a historic one. Either affirmative action will continue for decades to come, or it will be irreparably damaged. At the same time that our nation's highest court considers this issue, so, too, must the American people. We must finally decide what sort of nation America is going to be. What is our vision for the future? It is imperative that we achieve some degree of national unity on the subject of discrimination, particularly race-based discrimination.
At the outset, however, a few observations regarding the race debate in America need to be asserted. First, Americans are, in principle, committed to equality and ending discrimination. Unfortunately, we dislike actively engaging in a national dialogue about those issues with which we are least sure and least comfortable, race and racism being among them. The very fact that we have been relatively unsuccessful at pinpointing and actually enacting specific reforms is a sad statement about the lackluster way with which America deals with its racial minorities. Our natural tendency is to abhor racism, but rarely to delve into a serious discussion of solutions.
Second, while explicit racism is at its low point, implicit or subconscious racism seems relatively unaffected by our newfound liberal and multicultural ideals. Ask anyone on the street, and he will no doubt deny having a racist bone in his body. But, bridge the subject of affirmative action, and internalized racism often explodes with surprising fury. "I don't want my job taken by an unqualified person." By "unqualified," we instinctively mean black people, or racial minorities generally. That we refuse to recognize such an attitude as racist speaks to our willingness to embrace stereotypes about minorities.
Third, segregation is making a comeback. "Dozens of Charlotte, N.C., schools have basically changed color in the months since the appeals court lifted the desegregation order, and though few other places have seen swings so rapid, the city offers a time-lapse view of the steady transformation of the nation's schools," reported The New York Times recently. White students are no longer transported to predominantly black districts (and vice versa), in order to maintain racial diversity in public schools. Clearly, this demonstrates that we have never adequately dealt with segregation. At a time when racial barriers need to be broken down, they are, in fact, being fortified. Mary Frances Berry, chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, laments that "at a time when society is becoming increasingly diverse, it bodes ill to have increasingly segregated schools." A surprising report out of Harvard University notes that schools are more segregated now than they were 30 years ago.
Lastly, American nationalism is a myth. We have - minorities included - become so enamored with an "us vs. them" mentality that our hope of even becoming a "color-blind" society seems only to fade with time. Our recent move toward multiculturalism only amplifies this problem. For example, majority black schools emphasize the role of black people in American history, to the exclusion of a broader, more all-encompassing perspective. Now, the argument here is not that we should disregard the impact on and legacy of racial minorities in American history, but we have to do so within the larger context of an American history. Admittedly, the role of minorities has been wrongly downplayed in our public schools in the past. But that fact is license only to correct the exclusion, not overcompensate, as is the current trend. Political philosopher Michael Walzer argues that children must be educated for their role as American citizens, rather than members of a racial or cultural group. With schools becoming re-segregated and the rise of virtually exclusive ethnic and cultural communities, the national unity so desperately needed to heal America of its divisive and discriminatory past continues to slip through our fingers.
So, what does all this have to do with affirmative action? Well, given the foregoing observations, a few parallels can be drawn. Minorities have continued to isolate themselves willingly from our majority-white society. White people have denounced racism, but refuse to accept the reality that racial parity requires some minimal sacrifice on their part. Minorities have done everything they can to distinguish themselves culturally from white society, while white people have refused to enact and enforce effective anti-discrimination rules. Troubling, too, is the failure of minorities to take control of their political power. Where are the Martin Luther Kings of today? Lastly, and perhaps worst of all, white people have paid only lip service to minority communities, when it comes to the promise of substantive economic reforms. Government has continued to downsize government jobs, which vast numbers of minorities rely upon for employment. By closing doors of opportunity and refusing to open new ones or unlock existing doors, we have abdicated our responsibility to allow every American equal claim to the pursuit of happiness.
In short, we must begin to understand and appreciate what is truly at stake. Talk of equality is simply empty rhetoric if we are unwilling to back it up with action, not committees, reports, conventions or speeches, but real solutions. Sadly, we all feed the demons of racial discrimination. If we ever to overcome the long-entrenched disparities in political, social and economic status among all Americans, we have to come to grips with the necessity of racial preferences and affirmative action.
The time for hand wringing and selfish equivocation has long since passed.
