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Editor:
In response to the affirmative action debate in general, it seems to me that many people are forgetting one thing: If something isn't fair, that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't the correct course of action. By this I mean that affirmative action may indeed be the proper way to handle inequality in our society. Yes, the society in which we live can be seen as racist. Yes, there are white supremacists and the like determined to beat down any and all minorities. And yes, job wages are lower for minorities than they are for whites.
Nevertheless, this does not make whites opposed to affirmative action "dumb asses," (which, incidentally, is a remarkably clever way to get one's point across). Affirmative action, despite its good intentions and results, is a discriminatory concept. There's no way around it. Looking objectively, a program that takes race, color or creed into account for any reason is discriminatory, and this is what affirmative action does.
This is not to say that affirmative action isn't necessary. Many minorities do not stand on equal playing ground either economically or socially with the majority, and need such programs to compete. The point here is that one should not be labeled an ignorant racist for seeing these policies as racist, because, by definition, they are, despite any benefit.
As an example, there are many scholarships exclusively for certain minorities. These scholarships are embraced by society. But what do you think the society's reaction would be to an exclusively white scholarship? It would be labeled as intolerant and racist. Such is the double standard of affirmative action, one in which proponents of the program tend to ignore.
Perhaps affirmative action is a necessary consequence to 200 years of slavery and oppression. It cannot be denied that racism is still prevalent in America. The point is that those individuals who are angry and critical about such programs should not be dismissed as "dumb asses" or as "ridiculous," because they may have a legitimate point no matter how helpful or detrimental such programs turn out to be.
Jeremy Bachtel
ecology and evolutionary biology junior
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