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Equality means equal treatment for all races
There was a time in the United States when we took pride in our higher standards of excellence. We were an example for other countries where hard work and “putting your nose to the grindstone” could get you. We were the “land of opportunity.” We were, as some called us, “A city on a hill.” But then came affirmative action. And we, who claimed that no one should be judged on the basis of race, began to judge people on the basis of race. Now please don’t get me wrong, when affirmative action was instituted in 1965, it was desperately needed. The purpose behind it was obvious—help those who had been discriminated against for so long to have the opportunity to excel in whatever endeavor they desired. But even Lyndon B. Johnson (the president who signed affirmative action into law) said it would be a “temporary” solution to help “level the playing field.” But we’ve allowed a good thing to become a monster. First of all, we’ve got a system based entirely upon racial profiling. How many people have been kept out of a job because they didn’t have the right color of skin? How many people have been turned down by colleges because on the part of the application that asked for race, they checked “white/not of Hispanic origin?” Don’t believe me? If you’re not aware, a few months ago the University of Michigan was in court fighting lawsuits directed squarely at its admissions policy. The problem with its policy was that it awarded 20 points to African American, Hispanic and Native American applicants. No big deal right? Consider that by their policy, 12 points are awarded to a student for scoring a 1600 on his SAT’s. In case you don’t remember, that’s a perfect score. That means, all other things being equal, an African American student who scored an 800 on the SAT’s would score higher on the application than a Caucasian student who scored a 1600. Now please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that racism? Undoubtedly some of you are saying it’s not, but think about it. If Michigan gave a Caucasian applicant 20 extra points the first thing we’d all see would be the “Reverends” (and I use that term very loosely) Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton screaming for the head of the school president on national television. But when it happens to a non-minority, they are mysteriously silent (memo to Jesse: The term “equal rights” applies to people of every color, minority or not). And don’t for one second think it’s just Caucasians who are more than a little ticked off about this process. People of many different races are deeply insulted with the notion they aren’t good enough or smart enough to get into a school or get a job based solely upon hard work. They don’t want the help. They don’t need the help. To make matters worse, we’ve created a society of victims. What’s the incentive for a kid in high school to work hard if he knows he’s going to get into a good school because of his color? Why should an employee work hard if he knows there is no way he can get fired? Now, every other time someone gets fired, it’s because, “the boss is racist.” Whenever a kid gets put in detention, it’s not because he wouldn’t shut his mouth in class, it’s because “the teacher didn’t like me.” Too many people now walk around with their hand out expecting a reward they did not earn. Then they grow up, have kids and their kids struggle through life because they’ve been taught society “owes” them something based upon their race. The only thing this country owes anyone is a fair chance to prove they can get the job done. After that, nobody is guaranteed a thing. — This columnist can be reached at collegian@csufresno.edu |
