Travellinguist's Musings

Affirmative Action....... Necessary?

I will know that affirmative action is no longer necessary when I can go for a week without hearing an anti-Black slur or a conversation between whites when for no obvious contextual reason one person will ask when hearing a story of human interaction, "Was he/she Black?" People who ask that are looking for confirmation of their own prejudices- ALWAYS. It is amazing how the more miserable and pathetic a person is, the more they will forcibly inject race into a conversation to somehow insult African-Americans or Mexicans. With the economy in the crapper thanks to the actions of an overwhelmingly, disproportionately white political party (Republican) these sentiments manifest more vocally and frequently, which shows that too many whites don't understand who really is to blame.
I am not sure Affirmative Action is done fully right as there needs to be some way to balance the disadvantaged white Americans who've been held down by a legacy of discrimination. They weren't slaves that much is certain, but Appalachian Americans are definitely held down, for example. There is a reason they rallied to the Union side during the Civil War. The great-great-grandparents of the current southern Congressional delegations, who were of course Congressmen themselves since government runs in the family quite strongly in the South, treated them like crap like then and still do today. It would be great to have more mill worker's sons defeat mill owners in elections the way John Edwards defeated Lauch Faircloth, but without Affirmative Action that can bring in those couldn't-even-afford-slaves-back-then white people the only people who can dethrone the hereditary Southern elite are African-Americans which means the race strategy will remain live and well. However, the persistence of racial discrimination, and the reality that the largest beneficiaries of Affirmative Action are women tells me that more still needs to be done throughout the entire society not just the American South.
To extend my previous point. I will know Affirmative Action is no longer necessary when at least half of all our elected officials are women (since women are the numerical sex majority on Earth and in the United States) and I can go one DAY without hearing a remark objectifying a woman or telling her her place (with Howard Stern and other "shock jocks" still on the air this will not be a day soon).
Sadly there are some whites who oppose Affirmative Action on principle, but the conversations I mostly hear indicate that most whites opposed to Affirmative Action are simply racist and prejudiced. They do not even know that women benefit from the program because for them it is all about 'Blacks.'
To summarize their opinions, and forgive the use of the slur but this is being authentic, as I often hear whites complains about Blacks, their points can be summed up by me as "The problem with ni^%&ers is they are racist." Do you get it? Yes, that is exactly the point.
Every election cycle where Republicans are losing, Affirmative Action comes up, so expect McCain to make a big stink particularly as he becomes more and more desperate as the numbers poll against him and especially in states like Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio and maybe even Florida. I am not sure if he'd pull out that card in Georgia or not since it might backfire by rallying more minorities to Obama, while racist whites would split between him and Barr.
So expect it to all hit the fan, especially because Obama is without a doubt a successful product of Affirmative Action, an intelligent man who needed help because his background would have held him down. However, don't expect him to even HINT that that might be the case, because in America everyone "does it themselves, through their own efforts" even if they obviously inherited daddy's Senate seat the way Lisa Murkowski did in Alaska, or their daddy's Chicago political machine the way Richard Daley, Jr. did, the one which helped Obama in his day. Both parties are guilty of this, and clearly this means that those who have power pass it on to their own while those without have none to pass on, thus another reason to maintain affirmative action in its purest form, which requires that people consider qualified people of all colors and sexes and physical abilities (or disabilities) and veteran status. Quotas are for lazy Personnel Offices without a doubt. Alright enough on this for now.

Labels: affirmative action politics racism

posted by travellinguist @ 7:38 PM