A quick idea...

A couple of days ago I was browsing over the book: 100 People that are screwing up America, and Al Franken is #37, and one of the chapters was about Lee Bollinger, current President of Columbia University, and former President of University of Michigan. The conservative author of 100 People..., Bernard Goldberg, not only dislikes Bollinger because he's the head of a LIBERAL IVORY TOWER College, but because as President of U-M he DEFENDED their Affirmative Action policy. The issue, if you recall, went as far as the Supreme Court, and their ruling defended the Affirmative Action policy, but banned quotas, which led to the current point system. Now I disagree with about 95% of everything Goldberg writes in the book, but he does bring up the point, that perhaps its time to reform the Affirmative Action program from a racial standard to a socio-economic standard or some mix of the two. He doesn't talk in length about it, but the idea struck a chord within me.

Historically, I am a huge advocate of Affirmative Action. Like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, I have personally benefited from Affirmative Action programs both in the private sector and academic institutions, and I know that I would not be where I am if not for Affirmative Action. So on one hand I have a personal debt to the program. I also believe that Affirmative Action is just as necessary now for the country as it was when it was first instituted. I loath the arguments that the "playing field" is now "level." Why? Because Puffy has a bejillion dollars, and Kanye is able to get on television and say "George Bush doesn't like black people?" The exception is not the rule, and though blacks are one of the fastest growing middle classes in the nation, they still rate far behind or VERY far behind whites in most major categories such as infant mortality, life expectency, health care coverage, and income. But economic reasons aside there's another strong cultural reason behind Affirmative Action. Pretty much every one I've heard speak about racism talks about the negative effect of seperating the races. Affirmative Action, more than any other program in the United States, bonds the races together in common causes. Whether it be a group project for a class or putting together a presentation for a job, Affirmative Action puts blacks, and Latinos, and Asians, and whites together, strengthening their ties and developing mutual understanding. And if a interracial couple comes out of it, well I'm sure as hell ain't complaining.

And yet...

Ideologically, Affirmative Action in its present form does create some problems. It goes against the grain of the American spirit of equality, because, in essence, it does benefit a particular race over another.

So we have pragmatism versus ideology. For me, I believe pragmatism must come out in front, but there has to be respect shown to the ever changing world around us. Until we hit Utopia (which will occur in 2180, or when ever the rapture hits your block) there will always be our haves and have-nots. For a nation, it is important for have-nots to have equal access to opportunity as everyone else. Right now blacks, as a group, have a nice hold on that have-not status, but as Globalization sweeps over Earth, and our markets shift, and poverty goes on the rise we are now threatened by a new class of have-nots, and this new class won't be so easy to identify. They are springing up like weeds all over the towns and cities of America and they come from all races and religions. On a personal and spiritual level we should want them to succeed for themselves, but as citizens of this country, we should want them to have the opportunities to make our nation stronger, and more competitive. I don't believe in a sink or swim mentality, which only leads to the road of tyranny, but I do believe now may be the time to seriously begin looking at reforming Affirmative Action, not to shut it down, but to open it up to embrace a more diverse population than ever before.