Goldman Errs in Attack of Affirmative Action

To the editors:

I am not at all surprised to hear the tirade against affirmative action by Zachary K. Goldman ’05 (Op-Ed, “Affirming Equality,” Jan. 30). There seems to be a trend these days for people to proclaim confidently and loudly their conservative views, thanks to the environment fostered by our conservative presidentand conservative government.

America has never been a true meritocracy, and whether we want to admit it or not, ethnicity and skin color have played roles in paving or blocking the road to success for millions of people. White skin has been that 20-point advantage for centuries. All of this is not to say that it is impossible for people of color to succeed, because it is. But let’s be real: success is more possible in America when you are white.

The original aim of affirmative action was not to close the door on anyone: it was meant to open the door to people who had been excluded. This is what people forget when they criticize affirmative action. They imagine it as a free pass for unprepared, under-educated, poor, scary people from the inner city to run amok and blacken the hallowed halls of higher learning, all in the name of “diversity.” If that is in fact the situation, then who is really to blame? Not the students.

I agree that the affirmative action program at Michigan, like many other universities, is flawed. The problem is two-fold, though: the ones at the helm of the program think they are leveling the playing field by having pity, ironically treating blackness as an achievement (when for so long it has been treated as a liability), and fellow students and teachers are suspicious of the black students’ intelligence and worthiness of admission.

Blacks do not need pity, or special treatment; we need a fair chance. That is not achieved by scrapping affirmative action, just because it is flawed. Rather, it is by admitting the best students, keeping in mind that the playing field outside the college walls is not even. I believe this is the case in most places. Admitting the best students, after all, is not just a matter of looking at the 1600 highest SAT scores. If the campus seems to be getting a little more colorful, maybe it is because the students of color really deserve to be there, and were not there before because the opportunity was closed to them.

It would be wonderful to have a race-blind admissions policy, but the fact is that we do not live in a race-blind society, for better or for worse. So, to implement such a policy today, especially in educational institutions that are the only doorway to a better life for many people of color, is ridiculous. To get rid of affirmative action altogether would be treating the symptom and not the disease. Instead of just calling for minority leaders to cry out against affirmative action and discrimination, whites need to look at their role in solving the problem as well; and everyone needs to look hard at how deep the roots of racism are in our society. Once we address that, we can perhaps move more quickly to the meritocracy Goldman wants so badly.

Erica L. McClendon ’03

Jan. 30 2003