Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Positions: Education, Politics and Culture)

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Authors: Tim J. Wise.

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Racial preference is nothing new, argues Tim J. Wise in this compelling exploration of race, privilege, and education. This book recasts the debate over today's controversial, race-based affirmative action policies. Wise deftly demonstrates that the American educational system has always been complicit in institutionalized racism and racial preference.

Again, as he did in "White Like Me", Wise forces America to look itself in the face and examine the reflection with honesty and integrity. In this book, Wise appeals to common sense, and "scientific minds" for those who need proof for the otherwise obvious, and makes one of the most compelling arguments for affirmative action while rebutting, with countless research, the dubious arguments of those who claim that affirmative action, particulary in college admissions policies, is reverse discrimination and a system of "handouts" to unqualified blacks, who in essence steal the seats from qualified whites. He demonstrates how subscribers to such arguments base their claims almost entirely on the "racial gap" in SAT, ACT, and GRE scores that supposedly "prove" how whites are being discriminated against when blacks with lower test scores take whites' "rightly earned" seats. However, through use of countless research, Wise demonstrates not only how research after research shows that these standardized test neither reflect ability nor determine grades in college. He further shows through research how the tests fail to predict graduation rates for students of any race.

As a deafening blow to the "reverse discrimination" claim, Wise points to the overwhelming evidence pointing not only to blacks' competence once admitted to college (that is often superior to their white counterparts with higher test scores) but to the fact that whites with lower test scores, admitted because of parent alumnus status, take far more seats from "more qualified whites" than all affirmative action admits put together. Yet, those who decry affirmative action on grounds of racial discrimination effectively ignore this fact. Even more bizarre is that it never enters the radar screen for their arguments. For if the argument against affirmative action is that unqualified blacks are admitted over their more qualified white counterparts (based on test scores), by definition, decriers of affirmative action must be infuriated by the overwhelming number of "unqualified" white admits (sons and daugthers of parent alumni) who take the seats of more "qualified" white students. After all, the alum status admits have exceedingly more priority than affirmative action admits, so much so that beneficiaries of affirmative action wouldn't even make the chart for a statistical comparison to the admission rate of children of alums. Yet, opposers of affirmative action condone this "unjust" admission policy, as if saying, as long as the "unqualified" admit is white, he/she belongs there; if he/she is black, certainly a white student should be there in his/her place. This crippling discrepancy alone shows the inherent racism, and dubious foundation, in the reverse discrimination argument itself.

As if these arguments were not compelling enough, Wise goes on to demonstrate how the recent white "reverse discrimination" plaintiffs, based on the schools' admission policies, would not have been admitted to the college of their choice, even if affirmative action were not in place. Furthermore, none of their lawyers even attempted to argue that the black student admits were not fully qualifed to be admitted...because they were, demonstrated both by admission policies that put little weight on test scores in the first place and black student graduation rates after admission.

The underlying premise of all of Wise's arguments is that there has always been a system of "affirmative action" for whites in virtually all areas of life: housing, schooling, and employment; and until this "affirmative action" ceases to be in place, the affirmative action in response to the racism plaguing this society must remain in place, not only for the benefit of blacks, but for the benefit of a just, right-thinking society at large.

Finally, Wise appeals to proponents of affirmative action by advising them to reclaim affirmative action, not through watered-down arguments calling for "campus diversity" (an argument that in itself works to keep white privilege and power structure in place) but through the need for affirmative action in the face of the continuing prevalence of white "affirmative action" that defines this nation's past and present. After all, it was in response to this racist system that affirmative action was put in practice in the first place. Thus it is on this premise, that is backed by scores of research and common sense, that this system of justice must be reclaimed in the face of white privilege.

Even as a person who cares about race issues and followed the Michigan cases with great interest, I found this book to be tremendously eye-opening. Mr. Wise examines many of the myths surrounding affirmative action programs and race, and methodically and persuasively "de-bunks" them, in many cases merely by unpacking the statistics that were cited in the Michigan cases themselves. I've already given this book to several friends to read, all of whom found it as absorbing and fascinating as I did. And I've cited it to many other friends, including a number of black friends, to point out the many myths that have heretofore gone unchallenged, even in the black community. I wish I could give a copy of this book to everyone in the United States. I'd love to witness and take part in the dialogue that came out of that reading project. I can't recommend this book highly enough. And do be sure to read White Like Me, Mr. Wise's other recently published book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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