| By singhm - Aug 28th, 2007 at 11:10 am EDT |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog |
Tags: affirmative action, civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ward Connerly
Today's the anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. If you've gone through life without ever having heard or read the entire speech (which is very possible, since we usually only hear 2 lines in most public school systems), I recommend you check it out.
Ward Connerly and his minions often try to appropriate Dr. King's words to criticize affirmative action, citing the famous line, "I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
But, if Dr. King were alive today, he'd likely be horrified at the continued attacks on affirmative action, through premeditated state-by-state ballot initiatives and conservative activism on college campuses, such as the infamous "affirmative action bake sales" across the nation. Connerly continues the fight in a number of new states, and in the next year, your state could be next. Campus Progress is working with college students to make sure that you're prepared to fight back, and through action grants, events, and trainings. If you're interested in learning more on how Campus Progress can work with you to keep Dr. King's dream alive, email campus@campusprogress.org
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We don't have any way of knowing the stand that King would take on affirmative action in America today -- and that's probably for the best. Given his dalliances with radical communism and the like, it's probably best that we remember King for his extraordinary aspects, rather than the totality of his vision for society.
Either way, King doesn't own the idea of people being judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin - he was one of many who articulated it. It's a perfectly valid sentiment for Ward Connerly and his supporters to use, because it's at the core of their vision for our society.
I'm not a fan of Connerly in many areas - I opposed his effort in California to end the collection of data on race and ethnicity in health care, for instance - but I agree with him on affirmative action. Opposition to affirmative action in public higher education is a thoughtful, progressive cause. Too bad CAP is taking sides on an issue that progressives can fairly disagree on.
If you want an example of what public higher education looks like when affirmative action is removed, look no further than California, where Ward Connerly succeeded. California's UC and Cal State systems are rightfully the pride and joy of American public academia, incredibly rigorous and increasingly competitive -- though still not competitive enough in many ways. Kids are working harder in school because they know the UC's standards are rising. Not all of this is due to removing affirmative action, but if you look at the numbers there's at least a decent correlation.
Nor has it been a plot by Evil White Republicans. Caucasian enrollment numbers haven't really changed at UCs after the removal of affirmative action, and Caucasians are a minority on the most prominent UC campuses.
But, deep down, most of us, being very human and caring and forgiving, and AMERICAN, even when we know that they aren't, we can't help but to feel sorry for our right-"clipped"-winged brothers. You know, if only they'd stop the non-sense politics of "vote for me because I'm morally superior to everyone else, and get down to some meaningful politics, maybe... just maybe, we can get back on the road to being the great nation that the creator wants and NEEDs us to be. And stand up again, TOGETHER, instead of separate, AS A NATION, and be real, legitimate, bona fide LEADERs in the world. These guy, as right as they are, are what's really WRONG with this country. Can't we all just get back to being GREAT AGAIN. You remember how we used to be, don't you?!? You know, honestly, if you take a good look around... there are a lot of other nations of smart people around the world that are watching the sadness that has become America, and wondering how we got to be so powerful, yet so stupid. The answer is... we used to be smarter, and that lead to our being powerful. Now we're not as smart. but we still have the power...For Now. In many other parts of the world, they look at us and think... maybe it's time they wrestle the power away from us and took control of the direction of this planet. No doubt, in our current state of stupidity we have lost our ability to lead ourselves and the repect of the rest of the world as far as our ability to lead them. All because we've decided that is more fun to stay at home and fight amongst each ourselves... You know...the big ole country western, yahoo, good ole boy, hold our own women back, erradicate the Red man, and hate the Yellow man, hold the Blacks back and run the Mexicans out, trailer trash, tabaco chewing, red neck, anti-Americans. Well, just Remember... the next time you stupidly and arrogantly look in the mirror shaking your head wondering... "what the hell happened to my great country?" Just remember..."A house divided can NOT stand!" These word are but a few wise words that came to us during a time when we were smart eough to hear them.
And were that not complete bullshit I'm sure you'd have a point.
Link
http://www.npr.org/templates/s tory/story.php?storyId=5563891
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In fact, I've scoured both articles, and there's not a single mention of the word "Caucasian" or "white".
Believe it or not, this is a subject I've studied a lot. And the gains in enrollment after Proposition 209 have been made disproportionately by Asian-Americans, not by Caucasians.
Caucasian enrollment has remained relatively stable while Asian-American enrollment has increased substantially.
What does it say about your implicit assumptions, when you assume a color-blind playing field means that 'white people win', without any evidence?
""Nor has it been a plot by Evil White Republicans. Caucasian enrollment numbers haven't really changed at UCs after the removal of affirmative action, and Caucasians are a minority on the most prominent UC campuses.""
There are some policies that Republicans pursue that are explicitly about benefiting Caucasians at the expense of people of color. Tantamount to "identity politics for white people". Things like supporting the Confederate flag and all that nonsense.
My point was that the battle against affirmative action *isn't* a matter of powerful white people attempting to disadvantage people of color - because if you split it up into group terms, Caucasians haven't increased their admissions due to the change in policy. The group that *has* benefited most, Asian-Americans, are also people of color.
My point is that whatever drives the [mainstream] foes of affirmative action, it's *not* bigotry, racism, or some unspoken desire to return to a 1950s world of fewer people of color on college campuses.
This is relevant because, in case you haven't noticed, many people have casually accused the foes of affirmative action of being racists/bigots.