The recent surge of anti-affirmative action sentiment has given me much joy. I hope that this trend will continue, for there no longer exists today -- more than three decades after the passage of the Civil Rights Act -- any intelligent justification for affirmative action as part of U.S. educational institutions' admissions policy.
To compensate for past discrimination and ultimately to improve race relations, affirmative action purportedly provides socioeconomically disadvantaged ethnic minorities with basic opportunities most Americans take for granted. Ideally, those selected through the program possess laudable qualities -- for example, diligence or compassion -- though they may not necessarily be the best students. The endorsers of affirmative action believe that such opportunity redistribution, by enhancing the African American status, helps to ameliorate race problems in the U.S.
However, because numerous schools employ affirmative action only to be politically correct, the practice has instilled pervasive cynicism in American youths. On one hand, students attending those hypocritical schools often witness minority classmates who force them into doubting their institutions' admissions integrity, as well as dedication to education. On the other hand, cynicism toward the administration plagues even those students fortunate enough to be part of schools that invest serious effort into the program. This is because many of the latter group of students, alarmed by the hypocrisy of some institutions, feel the need to police affirmative action; they want to assure that it is instituted with the sincerity that their schools claim they have.
And when students assume this role, they inevitably become captious of minority students, increasingly attributing any of their ostensible flaws to failing affirmative action. They callously refuse to examine whether or not these flaws are typical characteristics among many. For instance, an angry white student might think that he too frequently descries an inebriated black student in the basement of a Dartmouth fraternity and conclude rashly that this minority student is an unfortunate product of affirmative action. However, careful analysis of the observation might reveal that the rate at which this black student appears in the Greek scene is equal to that of any other student.
In fact, having spoken with enough of self-claimed victims of affirmative action at Dartmouth, I am willing to say that most of their accusations are unfounded. Humans often become incapable of seeing the truth, especially in emotional times. But, unfortunately, these student police, driven by irrationality, cry that unqualified minority students, such as the one in the above example, are enforcing racial stereotypes like: "no blacks are dedicated students." So, instead of alleviating racial tension, affirmative action seems only to have worsened it.
Even if the practice contributes to the eradication of America's racial rift, there remains a serious moral problem; it sacrifices the individuals who have never discriminated against ethnic minorities. The U.S. Constitution, particularly the fourteenth amendment, clearly prohibits such an action, which deprives one of equal protection. One cannot even make a utilitarian justification, claiming that the greatest number of people benefit from the opportunity redistribution, because the much larger drop-out rate of minority college students than the average rate evinces that many of the opportunities granted to them simply become deadweight losses.
I do not deny that affirmative action in school has facilitated racial integration superficially. Rarely do we encounter people today who hate members of a certain race only because of the color of their skin. However, to overcome racism of a more profound degree, such as racial stereotypes, people of color must learn to become self-sufficient. Many years have passed since the legislation of the Civil Rights Act, which marked the pinnacle of federal racial preference policy. Now, ethnic minorities should distance themselves from government care. To me, the removal of affirmative action in school appears the most painless, and thus the most appropriate, first step toward true racial integration.
Last October, we learned from the Million Man March that the African-American community is prepared to rely more on community-based action than Uncle Sam to tackle its grave social problems. All other ethnic-minority communities, as well, must encourage this mindset in their peoples. By first eliminating affirmative action implemented by educational institutions and eventually the entire Civil Rights Act, society can then finally defeat the most pernicious cause of racism.
