Real Clear Politics: Obama, Sotomayor, Ricci and White Male Privilege

Submitted by anthony on Thu, 2009-05-28 17:58

Article here. Excerpt:

'Polls show support for affirmative action tracks with those who benefit from the policy. For example, white women overwhelmingly support affirmative action when it involves women. But when it involves only minorities, white women generally agree with white men. A majority of whites do still support affirmative action for minorities. But their support nears 90 percent when it regards economic background rather than race or gender.
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That's the bigger issue afoot. It is still acceptable for society to discriminate against white males and to speak derisively of them. At what point will this change?

As Sotomayor stood beside the president Tuesday, she said, "I strive never to forget the real-world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government."

But Sotomayor demonstrated no empathy for the "real-world consequences" of affirmative action on Ricci. In the months and years ahead, the Supreme Court, this president and Sotomayor will have to consider whether they should.'

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Comments

I'm hopeful that Sotomayor is perceptive enough to recognize discrimination is not a one-sided affair. Affirmative action based on race or gender are inherently wrong. And I do not believe that affirmative action based on economic background is inherently right. I think it's a step in the right direction, but the truth is that affirmative action is always just discrimination against one group to benefit another.

What needs to be done is to provide equal opportunity to all citizens - an incredible challenge indeed.

Take me. I grew up a poor white male. I didn't have wealth or connections going for me. I didn't have affirmative action based on gender or race going for me. And my family was by no means perfect. What I did have was a strong mind and a father who pushed me to succeed. Yet lacking either of these I'm quite certain I would not be where I am today.

Is everyone born with equal IQ? No. Is everyone born with a supportive father or mother or both? No. You have to realize that in society today we are not born equal. We start out with inherit physical and mental differences. We start out in very different life situations.

That's why I feel the community - and that includes government - needs to provide support. We won't make real progress if our world remains dog eat dog, based on selfishness. As the years pass this realization will become apparent as more and more people open their eyes to the truth of it. Life will become more about advancing humanity than advancing oneself - and the great thing is, the two are not mutually exclusive.

Affirmative action will never be a success because it leads us in the wrong direction. We must strive for equal opportunity. This means we as a society must promote a certain standard of quality of life for every child, an equal education for every child, an equal chance for every child. This is an ideal which won't be achieved in my lifetime, but we can take steps now on the path to getting there. We need programs to provide education and support to ALL our children and young adults. And for that, we need the society's support - which will come mostly through government funding.

This started as a short reply but blossomed - or ballooned - into the above, so I've added it to my blog in support of the neo-progressive movement: http://jayhammers.blogspot.com/

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Submitted by jayhammers on Thu, 2009-05-28 23:56