Douthat makes the point for me

Posted July 20th, 2009 by Prometheus 6

Race and Identity

We're at the point that even the best white folks in power decide they've "done enough."

In 2003, writing for the majority in Grutter v. Bollinger, Sandra Day O’Connor upheld race-based discrimination in college admissions ... but only for the current generation. Such policies “must be limited in time,” she wrote, adding that “the Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.”...

“It is firmly my hope, as it was expressed by Justice O’Connor,” she told Senator Kohl, “that in 25 years, race in our society won’t be needed to be considered in any situation.”

But O’Connor didn’t hope; she expected....

A person who has experienced racism, and more importantly, the denial of racism, has no reason to "expect" the end of the need for affirmative action. Expecting the end of affirmative action itself, that's another issue....see the first line of the post. Actually addressing the damage caused by federal and state government decisions has never been accepted as the moral thing to do by Conservative America.

This is the big question underlying both the “wise Latina” contretemps and the controversy surrounding Sotomayor’s role in Ricci v. DeStefano. Whither affirmative action in an age of America’s first black president?

...because a Black President and a Latina Supreme Court justice counteracts all the racism and discrimination in the country, as well as reversing all the damage caused by slavery and Jim Crow.

The "big question" underlying that mess of a set of confirmation hearings was, "How can we embarass Obama and Sotomayor," though toward the end it was looking like "How do we embarrass ourselves?"

Mr. Douthat continues the Conservative tradition of self-embarrassment...

The nation’s largest states, Texas and California, already have “minority” majorities. By 2023, if current demographic trends continue, nonwhites — black, Hispanic and Asian — will constitute a majority of Americans under 18. By 2042, they’ll constitute a national majority.

...conflating (small-b) black, Hispanic and Asian folk into a non-white melange. By 2023, if current demographic trends continue, whites will still be the largest ethnic group in America by a considerable margin. By 2042...by gum, they're still the largest ethnic group in America by a considerable margin. And they will still hold the economic high ground.

You want to talk about ending affirmative action, fine. Just don't hide your reasons behind two individuals that not only have NOT changed the racial status quo, they have pretty much promised not to. Explain how the damage done to Black folks by our several governments has been corrected in as targeted a way as it was inflicted. Or admit you have no interest in doing that. Just so we all know where everyone stands.

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Actually addressing the

On July 20th, 2009 ptcruiser says:

Actually addressing the damage caused by federal and state government decisions has never been accepted as the moral thing to do by Conservative America.

Not in 1964, 1954, 1944, 1934, 1924......or 1864.

you two are on point

On July 20th, 2009 rikyrah says:

thanks. I was thru with this CLOWN awhile ago, with the whole Caribou Barbie defense he tried to give.

2023

On July 20th, 2009 TKG says:

I’ve heard Charles Ogletree give a couple talks on Brown v Board decision and he always makes a big deal out of the statement “at all deliberate speed” . It wasn’t a decision that said the law changes "now today", it was decision that said work this out at whatever pace you feel appropriate.

Always amused when people call for an exact timeline to end it.

Derrick Bell makes the same

On July 20th, 2009 Prometheus 6 says:

Derrick Bell makes the same point. I'm tempted to declare affirmative action should be ended with all deliberate speed, but I suspect both the "deliberate" and the "speed" would get a massive boost...

Wait

On July 24th, 2009 James R MacLean says:

In order to abolish something, don't you have to start it first?

I am totally in favor of STARTING affirmative action. You know, like the way the Federal Reserve responds to an economic crisis: it starts something (infusion of money through lowered federal funds rate) (sales of treasuries at the Open Market Window) and then waits a while to see if the results are satisfactory. If not, it scales up the action. If results are satisfactory, and normal liquidity is restored, THEN it cuts the motor and restores normal business.

Note for a financial cycle, 6 weeks is considered sufficient to observe some results. For a demographic cycle, I would expect 15 years--i.e., time for a cohort of children to get through school. Economic crisis, in this case, is the centuries-long depression suffered by people of color or by women.

So let's actually have some REAL affirmative action, and after 15 years of observation, discuss if perhaps it can be scaled back.

What passes for affirmative action today is really just the bare minimum required to prevent social unrest (and not necessarily by African Americans, either). It's little more than increased public services to people who have been disproportionately victimized. Calling it "affirmative action" is absurd and a little bit obscene.

Times letters respond to Douthat affirmative action column

On July 26th, 2009 ProfGeo says:

Letters - A Ticking Clock on Affirmative Action
July 25, 2009

Julian Bond's letter includes the following on the Supreme Court's 25-year clock (emphasis added):

But in her memoir, “The Majesty of the Law,” Justice O’Connor argued that a timefree standard could more generously measure equality for her gender. She wrote that until the percentage of women in important positions comes “closer to 50 percent, we cannot say we have succeeded.”

In Justice O’Connor’s formulation, achieving fairness for women is not time-limited; for people of color, sadly, the fairness clock is ticking fast.

That was a nice set of

On July 26th, 2009 Prometheus 6 says:

That was a nice set of letters!

Prometheus 6