Faced with a dearth of academically competent students from black and Hispanic households coming out of today's American high schools, attorneys representing the University of Michigan will appear before the U.S. Supreme Court in March to defend their admissions policy that gives extra "points" to this particular group of students, based on their racial background. The university is basing its argument on its belief that a "diverse" student population enriches the overall learning experience.
While there is no disagreement here on that point, since when is having a certain color of skin, or experience, worth more than an exemplary SAT score? The administrators don't want to say it this way, but giving people from the "favored" ethnic/cultural groups an extra 20 points just for being "of those groups" is the same as subtracting 20 points from everyone else for NOT being of those groups. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects every citizen from being discriminated against in this way. Why is "diversity for diversity's sake," now more important than either the law, or human fairness? Why are "the under represented" not motivated enough to meet the standards as they exist, so that there is no question of their readiness and maturity to handle the rigors of college work? What will be the extra expense associated with coddling them? Could it be race- and culture-specific graduation ceremonies, for example? How "diverse" is that?
You can bet that the first black students admitted to the University of Georgia in 1961 did not have academic "deficiencies." You can bet that when James Meredith entered the University of Mississippi in the fall of 1962, his academic credentials weren't at issue. So why are we capitulating to educational and political expediency today, when the formidable barriers that people like these routinely went through, are no longer there?
The diversity debate is not the only form of special treatment virus (STV) going around. There is the long running discussion on affirmative action. Black people are still quite vocal about the status of affirmative action policies in academia, and in the workplace. It is as though the absence of such policies would explain the chronic under-employment and profound under representation in management that black people appear to have turned into an art form, if not a science.
I don't mean to make light of a bad situation, but the answer to the conundrum of black or Hispanic participation is not in the presence or absence of an affirmative action program, which is another form of "special treatment." The answer lies in true affirmative action, which can be elected and demonstrated by anyone, whether a policy exists, or not. Contracting STVs appear to cause one to define their opportunities and limitations on the presence or absence of a preference policy, therefore giving the policy more power than the "virus carrier" gives him or herself.
One who understands, and uses the power of personal affirmative action will transcend limitations, bringing forth the courage and will to tread where they may have never ventured before, and succeed where others may have failed. It doesn’t mean that opposition won’t be encountered, or that said opposition won’t be formidable. But all great quests involved perseverance against all odds, and opposition. All failures simply involved abandoning the quest, or never embarking.
The black students of that forgotten era enrolled at major universities that refused to admit them on general principle. They weren't seeking integration, or fighting discrimination per se. They were seeking an education at the school of their choice. They were exercising their rights that the schools had long denied them. Their academic viability wasn't a question. Now, because so many blacks and Hispanics are inadequately prepared, representatives of said schools are trying to lower the bar just for them in the hopes that some will show their faces on campus. Lowering standards is no way to show a commitment to higher learning. It must be the virus.
The call for reparations is another pet idea of some STV carriers. They proffer the suggestion that black people are owed some remuneration from society for simply being black. I've distilled it down to the "nitty gritty" (remember that term?), for the reasoning behind reparations has to do with America's history of slavery. It is another way that people are trying to affect a transfer of wealth from "the haves" and give it to the "have nots" (less a commission or fee, of course) by way of legal extraction.
If a fraction of the thought that has gone into obsessing over how to "squeeze blood from a dead rock" were turned toward motivating explorations in new industry, technology, enterprise, invention, and opportunity in today’s world, the gaps and "divides" (digital and otherwise) that some black "leaders" -- with assistance of politicians and the media -- consistently rub the public's nose in, would eventually disappear. Special treatment programs and initiatives maintain the perception that black people possess only remedial ability, and have an ongoing need for supplementation. Is that what anyone really wants to be known for? How can anyone claim to want equality, but be advocates for reverse inequality, when it is still inequality?
Who really wants to watch attorneys stand before the Supreme Court and argue that an entire ethnic group and culture still needs special treatment? Who wants to be perceived as being unable to compete in a fair, or even unfair competition, or unable to do well on tests that other cultural “minority groups” consistently excel at? Who wants to take pride in “getting over”, and having something given to them that wasn't rightfully earned through today's dedication? We can't change the past, which is just as well, because we weren't there. We can change tomorrow though, if we are at, and doing our best, today.
There are many opportunities open for those who have the eyes to see, a mind for positive change, and the willingness to excel. Said opportunities are abundant, and available to all who embrace them, and give them life. They go to the mobile, not the intransigent; the inspired, not the malcontent, and the willing, not the belligerent. It boils down to a choice of what standard one will stand for… will it be a group affiliation standard, or a human one?
There should be a chorus of black folk stepping up, knowing their innate ability to overcome any obstacle, who take exception to special treatment schemes, as proposed by the University of Michigan (and adopted at other major universities). Yet, many of whom who do so are ridiculed or ostracized by black folk. The gap in academic scores between blacks and Hispanics and "mainstream" students is indeed alarming. But diversifying the faces of the student body by "point padding" won't solve the real problem.
A school of higher learning should be, first and foremost, about higher learning. Any student admitted should demonstrate that he or she has adequately prepared for the experience that lies ahead. A penchant for study and commitment to research will show up in their test scores, and should be far more important than the color of their skin.
Students should also be free of having any assumed special treatment applied on their behalf, at the expense of any other student's rightful ability to be there. That is what a "level playing field" is. That is what Civil Rights activists fought for, and sometimes died for. The pendulum has swung to the other extreme. We know that we are equal. It's now time to practice being that way.
It seems that a generation ago, in my lifetime, leaders of the Civil Rights Movement argued eloquently for liberation, inclusion, equal protection under the law, and equal treatment for all citizens. Laws have changed to such an extent as to turn that great hope into reality. But something has happened. It appears that we're still arguing, not for "equal" treatment, but for special treatment. You'd think a virus was going around, infecting well-intentioned minds.
Adam Abraham is author of I Am My Body, NOT! (ISBN 0-9700209-1-0 from Phaelos Books) and A Freed Man: An Emancipation Proclamation (ISBN 0-9700209-0-2). Send an email to: Mr. Abraham can be reached at adam@phaelos.com, or his publisher Phaelos Books & Mediawerks (www.phaelos.com).
Also by Adam E. Abraham:
When the Reality of Race Oneness Sets In
Favoring Meaning Over 'Ease'
It’s Not the ‘Ism’ Anymore
Calling for More Good Change
Putting the Spirit of ‘Us vs. Them’ to Rest
Notes from a ‘Political Expatriate’
Allowing the ‘Miracle’ of Change
To the Birth of I Can
Focus On Humanity
A Wonderful and Not So 'Silly' Dream
Musings of a Philosopher: Or When 'Silence' is No Longer 'Golden'
Wedges Are Not ‘Tools’ Of Unity
On the ‘Birthing’ of New Futures
When Simple Truths Are Submerged In Complexity
Bush’s Dilemma in “Gunning Down” Saddam
Race as Yesterday's Religion
Arcing of Conscience From ‘Black’ to Human
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