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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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 Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 10:17 pm Post subject: Obama opens debate on affirmative action |
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BARACK OBAMA doesn't think anyone should cut his two daughters any slack when they apply to college -- not because of their race, at least. In the unlikely event that the Obama family goes broke, then maybe.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Obama waded into the central issue of the affirmative action debate: race vs. class. Perhaps typically, Obama's remarks were more Socratic than declarative. He didn't really answer the question, he rephrased it. Maybe the way he posed it, though, will lead to a discussion that's long overdue.
George Stephanopoulos asked Obama if his daughters should be able to benefit from affirmative action when the time comes for them to go to college. The girls "should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged," Obama said.
Stephanopoulos was driving at the question of whether race-based affirmative action programs are still needed. Another way to frame the issue is whether race or class is the more important factor in our society. Are minorities raised in middle-class or wealthy homes still held back by racism? Or should we now focus on socioeconomic status as the principal barrier keeping people from reaching their potential?
Obama's answer, basically, was yes. To both questions.
Obama has repeatedly gone on record as a supporter of affirmative action. But "if we have done what needs to be done to ensure that kids who are qualified to go to college can afford it," he said in the ABC interview, then "affirmative action becomes a diminishing tool for us to achieve racial equality in this society."
He seemed to side with those who think class predominates when he said, "I think that we should take into account white kids who have been disadvantaged and have grown up in poverty and shown themselves to have what it takes to succeed." |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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Poor kids should be cut a break. No matter what race, money will put you at a disadvantage especially in a system where school funding depends on the income of the surrounding neighborhood or district.
I find it quite sad that I had to make it clear to my classmates that I wasn't an affirmative action case because I was one of the few blacks there not on a sports scholarship 
Unfortunately, race is a smokescreen to some real economic problems in the U.S. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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That is one of the unintended consequences of race-based preferences. The "legitimate" (meaning, meritocratic) achievements of the group in question are passed off as not real always.
I don't know how a class-based system would work for business hiring practices but for the university it seems clear enough how such a system would be implemented. |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 12:48 am Post subject: |
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| hmmmm i see obama's popularity increase, uhm....10 fold... |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 4:49 am Post subject: |
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| I hope so! I think he would make an excellent president (not as good as Ron Paul...). I think his opinion on AA shows a willingness to break some PC taboos and move the nation forward. |
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