Saturday, May 05, 2007

A Playing Field Not Leveled, Part 1

I recently had a couple of synapses fire regarding the sinking of the Affirmative Action ship in 21st Century America. Sinking so badly that even Black folk are beginning to say that it is unnecessary and a waste of time and resources. Of course I looked at those Black who said that and realized that they are the very ones it wasn't designed to assist. So quite naturally they would have said that. We won't talk about Uncle and Aunt Tom though...

Affirmative Action is not really where the problem exists. In a perfect world, it would never have been needed. In an ideal world, post Affirmative Action implementation, it should be dying a quiet death from under usage. But it can't really die because the world is not ideal. Why? Because they dropped the ball y'all. They tried to fix under representation in employment and higher education. This creates the problem because it tries to fix the problem after it becomes a problem. What they didn't do at the same time was to enforce equality in education at the primary and secondary levels. So I am sure you see the problem here.

Conspiracy theory follows...

Cut the legs out from under a whole population and you are ahead of the game already. So when the most determined of them crawl to a point where they pull on them bootstraps, they are already crippled. Give a few handouts, get a few converts, keep the rest down. And most of the ones you do get by then often won't be able to challenge for management positions and such. Of course Affirmative Action still being in place messes up that whole plan by strong arming those who have into making a show of promoting a few minorities. Then they call that "progress". At the same time those displaced by AA cry long and loud about reverse discrimination. Which of course makes it possible to raise the question of how AA can be a good thing when people who are qualified have to lose out to promote those less qualified. Soon AA goes away as unnecessary and outdated. What are you left with? The same shit as 40 years before but at least it looked like something was being done for 40 years to make things better.

I smell a new Civil Rights Movement coming...

2 comments:

Coko Mulan said...

Yeah.. Ward Connerly just brought his campaign to Michigan and with Prop 2.. ended affirmative action.. I'm pretty sure my campus will be even less diverse than it has been... but we are still fighting

The Second Sixty-Eight said...

Much luck up in A-squared. That seems to be the new battleground for this issue in this state. More power Sista!!!!

I am still laffin' at that white chick who had to sue to get into UM-Law School. Not good enough to make the cut? Sue, and take somebody else's spot!!!! To me that only made her look dumb AND desperate! Always somebody gotta fuck it up for erebody when they ain't happy!