Justice
Over the last thirty years, minorities have
been given a better chance to
succeed in America by way of Affirmative
Action. Recently, there has been a
surge of non-minority Americans claiming
reverse racism. Affirmative Action is
now being called "preferential
treatment". In the beginning, it was designed
to help minorities have a more
equal opportunity in the world. A group of
non-minority Americans in
California claimed that they were being denied
admittance to universities in
the admitting process. This led to Ward Connerly,
a member of University of
California Regents, promoting the anti Affirmative
Action message
(NLSPAC, 1). Proposition 209 bans both discrimination and
preferential
treatment to various minorities on the basis of race, creed, sex,
or place of
origin (NLSPAC, 1). Connerly does not clearly structure his mode of
thought.
His understanding of reality is not real pertaining to minorities. The
social
context of Affirmative Action is its origin in the Civil Rights
Movement.
It was designed to give minorities and women special
consideration for
contracts, employment, and education (Froomkin, 2).
Connerly is not a woman and
he does not acknowledge the fact that he is
African American, a minority.
Connerly owns a consulting firm and only
divulges his race when necessary, " I
felt that it could be damaging to my
business to be identified as a minority
firm," he says (Pooley, 4). Connerly
does not understand or cannot relate to
other minorities about the struggles
that minority’s face getting into
corporate America. Since Connerly has
already received his degree, owns his own
business, and does not reveal his
race for contracts, he does not understand
what minorities who do not have
these things go through. Therefore, his mode of
thought is completely
obscured and distorted. I consider Connerly’s group to
be minorities.
However, he cannot relate to his group because he does not speak
the same
language as his group. By language, I mean social attitude. Most
minorities
try to accept all of the help they can get. For instance, the
government will
defer a company’s capital gains taxes indefinitely if that
company sells a
cable system to a partnership controlled by a minority (Birnbaum,
1).
There have been other programs like this one where minorities
benefited.
This too will end if Affirmative Action is ended. Connerly
does not understand
that minorities still need special privileges to be as
successful as
non-minorities. He does not realize how much minorities stand
to lose.. The
meanings or opinions of a situation depend on which group you
belong to in
society. There are two different opinions to the same situation.
One is held by
minorities and the other by non-minorities. Connerly
associates himself with the
non-minorities. Connerly’s inherited situation
changed twice during his
childhood. When he was four, his mother died and he
was taken in by his middle
class uncle and aunt (Pooley, 3). At age twelve,
he went to live with his
grandmother who was in the lower class bracket. It
was during this time that
Connerly’s work ethic and also hate of his race
began (Pooley, 3). He worked
to help his grandmother and resented the fact he
went to a lower income
household. Connerly could not further his ways of
knowing in his inherited
situation because he disassociated himself from
others in his race. This is due
to struggles that he faced. Connerly’s
struggle with nature is one of his
biggest problems. It is a natural fact
that he was born a black male in the late
1930’s in a lower class family.
Civil Rights had not been established and he
was considered an inferior
citizen. Connerly wishes he could live in a
colorblind society. Therefore, he
could not be classified by something he wishes
he were not. The struggle of
an individual with another individual happens on a
daily basis. Minorities
and non-minorities compete for contracts, educational,
and employment
opportunities on a daily basis. This causes major conflict
between people.
Critics of Affirmative Action claim that schools rely too
heavily on racial
double standards (Gwynne, 2). Now that Affirmative Action is
helping
minorities, non-minorities are feeling the same effects of not getting
jobs
and contracts that they had been getting previously. The playing field
is
more equal and non-minorities are getting upset. They are the ones who are
being
passed over for jobs, contracts, and educational opportunities. That is
how
Connerly got involved with Proposition 209. His friends, Jerry and
Ellen Cook,
(a white family) were upset that their son was not accepted into
the school of
his choice (Lynch, 1). Helping the Cook’s became his mission.
This is another
example of struggles between social groups. The particular
issue, Affirmative
Action, always leads to clashes between race and
gender. America has many
problems and race is a large part of many problems.
People of different races
have been arguing since the forming of our country.
It has even lead to a civil
war. Gender is another problem since women are
steadily moving up the corporate
ladder. People have been trying to overcome
the limitations imposed upon them by
society for centuries. Non-whites have
to prove themselves worthy and competent.
Society has labeled them as
slackers, lazy, and inferior. Women have been trying
to overcome being seen
only as domestics and homemakers. This has taken many
years. Women could not
even vote until the twentieth century. It has gotten
better for women, but
there is still a glass ceiling that they reach. Connerly
has a problem with
the struggle regarding his understanding with his group. He
does not fully
understand the true day to day struggles that minorities go
through. The
human possibilities are endless for minorities if given the chance.
The
government has come to realize the detrimental effects that would come
if
Affirmative Action were abolished. Social groups are very practical
about their
concerns. People’s basic concerns are making a descent living and
providing
for their families. This is why minorities are upset that Connerly
is supporting
Proposition 209. Social groups are close knit groups. When
something happens to
effect the group the bond gets closer, however there is
backstabbing, and mud
slinging among them. When Connerly went public, there
was an outcry from
minorities all over the country. They rallied together and
tried to stop this
initiative. Rev. Jesse Jackson organized rallies and
others got petitions
together. Social groups exist for very real purposes.
Hispanics and women are
gearing up to lobby together to save as many programs
as they can (Birnbaum, 1).
Individuals in this country have not been very
successful fighting for causes by
themselves. Connerly is just another
example of one group using a person from an
opposing group to make a point.
Connerly chose to help end the very program that
helped him start his own
business. Connerly has been very successful at his
consulting firm. He does
not realize that by ending some of the positive effects
that has come from
the program. The Joint Center for Political and Economic
Studies shows
that Affirmative Action programs opened new opportunities for
blacks, but the
measurable benefits in terms of wages and employment have been
quite small
(Birnbaum..., 2). While social groups act with and against one another,
they
also think with and against one another. It is human nature for people
to
bond more closely when a crisis arises. When Connerly went public,
minorities
all across the country thought of him as a traitor. People tend to
think of
themselves as hard working individuals. Connerly made this thought
more
prevalent in people’s minds. He brought to the surface many feelings of
old
mentalities to minorities. Old ways of thinking such as racial
discrimination
for jobs. It has taken minorities many years to win the
confidence and respect
of non-minorities and Connerly made people think back
to hard times. Social
groups also think against one another because of
competition. There is a great
competition for jobs, educational
opportunities, and contracts between
minorities. Everyone is out for self. If
given the opportunity, people will make
other look bad to give them a boost.
In this particular case, the social groups
hurt their own chances by not
thinking together and coming up with a game plan.
The minorities did not
work together. Women had their own agenda, while Latinos
had theirs. No one
worked together as a collective group to help end this
proposition.
African-Americans called the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who lives in a
different
state, to help them. He has clout in Washington D.C., but the decision
was
being made in California. People act in accordance with the position of
the
groups to which they are members. Minorities are very hostile to
non-minorities
who are in competition with them for contracts, jobs, and
educational
opportunities. They understand the fact that through Affirmative
Action the
government is trying to give them an equal chance for success.
Also, minorities
understand that non-minorities are upset and jealous over
the "preferential
treatment" given to minorities. Minorities tend to act on
the defensive and
they try to make sure that certain policies such as
Proposition 209 stay in
place for the future generations. They also try to
help society understand the
inherited situation of minorities. This is done
through events such as Black
History Month and other cultural events.
Many minority groups have heightened
cultural awareness. Groups ten to act in
a certain way. It has taken many years
but African-Americans have tried to
disprove the stigma of the character that
they are loud, defiant, and lazy.
Minorities, especially African-Americans and
women, have tried to dispel
those myths. They strive by trying to change the
mindset of people and also
by educating the younger generations on what is
appropriate and how to help
themselves. Connerly does not strive in accordance
with the character and
position of the group in which he belongs. He is trying
to change the
surrounding world, but against his group. Connerly has a false
consciousness
towards Affirmative Action. He has taken the position that
everyone loses
with the program. The direction of this will to maintain produces
problems
for minorities. Sometimes they are seen as "stepping out of line"
or taking
advantage of the system. This is Connerly’s view of Affirmative
Action.
Connerly believes that colleges teach segregation by allowing
ethnic
ceremonies at graduation and by letting racial groups live (as a
collective
group) on the same floors in the dormitories (Lynch, 8). It is his
perception
that when African-American students get out of school, they will
have been so
sheltered by segregating themselves they will not know how to
deal with white
America in the outside (business) world. His mentality is
African-Americans are
always looking for a handout. They have separated
themselves so long that they
expect other races to treat them the same. It is
sad that the opinion the
Connerly takes is that Affirmative Action is
only hurting African-Americans. The
concepts that Affirmative Action produces
for African-Americans is a more equal
chance than before of getting the best
jobs, contracts, and educational
opportunities. African-Americans have formed
the thought that equality can only
be made through justice. Justice in this
case is the Affirmative Action Program.
Since their ancestors did not
have an equal opportunity, they want to make sure
that they and the next
generations have a better opportunity. The crisis of
supporters of
anti-Affirmative Action is causing disorder in many states in the
country.
The problem is how can opposers of Affirmative Action believe that
the
program is going to make the racial situation better in America? Human
nature
allows us to have a dominant group. The dominant group in our culture
has always
been white males. Since the time when our country was first
founded, white males
have been the primary focus. African-Americans, Indians,
and women have been
downplayed as being by-standers during every major
historical event. Minorities
in the culture were seen as people who just did
not need to succeed. They were
there to assist the white males in society.
During the Civil Rights Era, the
government realized that minorities would
never make it in society if they were
not given a more equal chance. This
brought about the Affirmative Action
Program. It is hard to believe that
an African-American male is leading this
group of opposers to Affirmative
Action. He should understand clearer than
almost anyone about the hardships
that African-American males face. The fact
that he denies that Affirmative
Action has never helped him in his life is
troublesome. Ward Connerly is
leading a group to end Affirmative Action. He and
his followers believe that
Affirmative Action is bad and should be ended. They
feel it is doing the
opposite effect than what it was designed to do. Connerly
believes it is
making minorities expect a handout or helping hand because they
are a
minority instead of because it is needed. He feels African-Americans,
in
particular, have become lazy and dependent –not self-sufficient
like
Affirmative Action was intended. The future of the country depends
on programs
like Affirmative Action. If they cease to exist, society will
become more one
sided than ever. I am hopeful that Connerly is not
successful. It is hard enough
now for minorities to get jobs. It was even
tougher for them thirty years ago.
But if the program is gone totally,
getting jobs will be more difficult than
ever. Connerly believes race should
not matter, but he has not had to go look
for a job in the last twenty years.
Society needs programs like Affirmative
Action and minorities are not
going to let one man hold them back.
Bibliography
Birnbaum,
Jeffery. "Turning Back the Clock." URL:
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1995/950320.politics.html
(March 20,
1995) Froomkin, Don. "Affirmative Action under Attack."
URL:
http://wpo.washingtonpost.com (October 23, 1998) Gwynne, S.C. "Back to
the
Future." URL:
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970602/nation.back_to_the_f.html
(June
2, 1997) Lynch, Michael. "Racial Preferences Are Dead." URL:
http://www.reasonmag.com
(February 1998) New Liberal Society Political Action
Committee. "About Ward
Connerly." URL:
http://www.nlspac.org/aa/connerly.html (February 1999) Pooley,
Eric.
"Fairness or Folly?" URL:
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/dom/970623/race.fairness_or_fo.html
(June
23, 1997)