Bobo, Thernstroms Debate Affirmative Action

Does arguing for affirmative action necessitate a "gloom and doom" perception of American race relations, or is it just the result of "genuine honesty?"

This question was the focus of the Institute of Politics-sponsored race relations panel held last night in the ARCO forum.

The African-American community has heard enough of the "gloom and doom" prophecies of life after affirmative action, said Abigail Thernstrom who, along with her husband, Winthrop Professor of History Stephan A. Thernstrom, co-authored America in Black and White: One Nation Indivisible.

"We know the bad news," she said, "but the good news is seldom heard."

But panel member Professor of Afro-American Studies Lawrence D. Bobo disagreed, saying his support for affirmative action came from "genuine honesty, not strained, spirited honesty."

Bobo said many people "have a sense that talking about racism is pessimism," but the subject still needs to be addressed with legislation.

Evidence of racism persists, Bobo said, because "there are virtually no black Americans in the white middle class."

Bobo's position was supported by Keith Reeves, author of Voting Hopes or Fears?: White Voters, Black Voters, and Voting in America, who concluded from his study on American voting discrimination that "too many whites still see black."

Reeves, an assistant professor of public policy at the Kennedy School, suggested that the government adopt "political policies to nudge us toward equality."

Stephen Thernstrom said he rejected the ideas proposed by Bobo and Reeves because what those scholars see as "signs of cancer...do not reveal cancer at work."

Racism in America is "only an ulcer, or whatever the correct medical analogy is," Thernstrom said.

Thernstrom responded to Bobo's reference to the income gap between blacks and whites by noting that income studies do not take into account an important variable.

"The white middle class is made up of two-paycheck families," Thernstrom said, "while the black middle class is made up of single female families, often high-school dropouts."

It is this family structure disparity, not racism, that accounts for the difference between white and black incomes, Thernstrom said.

The majority of audience questions weredirected toward the Thernstroms and were mostly ofan accusatory nature.

"Does it take a big, fat book to tell a big,fat lie?" one audience member asked, shaking acopy of the couple's book.

But some spectators said that such questionsdid not contribute to the discussion.

"I feel like the Thernstroms' arguments can bedeconstructed and should be criticized, but thatthey're sincere and well-reasoned," said MichaelA. Goldstein, a Kennedy School student whoattended the panel. "But the way the questionswere asked, 'You're a racist, what's yourreaction?' gives them an easy way out."

Others who heard the panelists said theaudience questions showed the questioners'interest in the debate.

"I'm surprised a lot of people read their booksand specifically cited them," said Dufirston J.Neree, a Kennedy School student. "It shows anopen-mindedness of them, to try to at least seewhat people of different viewpoints have to say. Iwouldn't downplay that.

The majority of audience questions weredirected toward the Thernstroms and were mostly ofan accusatory nature.

"Does it take a big, fat book to tell a big,fat lie?" one audience member asked, shaking acopy of the couple's book.

But some spectators said that such questionsdid not contribute to the discussion.

"I feel like the Thernstroms' arguments can bedeconstructed and should be criticized, but thatthey're sincere and well-reasoned," said MichaelA. Goldstein, a Kennedy School student whoattended the panel. "But the way the questionswere asked, 'You're a racist, what's yourreaction?' gives them an easy way out."

Others who heard the panelists said theaudience questions showed the questioners'interest in the debate.

"I'm surprised a lot of people read their booksand specifically cited them," said Dufirston J.Neree, a Kennedy School student. "It shows anopen-mindedness of them, to try to at least seewhat people of different viewpoints have to say. Iwouldn't downplay that.