Grinding, grinding, grinding…
As long as I live, I will never understand why more blacks aren’t spitting mad about race preferences. In their minds, I suppose, it’s not a preference; it’s “affirmative action.”
The confusion stems from not defining terms. In its purest form, affirmative action is simply taking positive steps toward including more historically excluded people — blacks and women — in a hiring or admissions pool. Their inclusion presumes they’re as qualified as other applicants. But somewhere along the way, affirmative action turned into a quota system, whereby a certain percentage of women or blacks, even the less qualified, had to be hired in order to meet some arbitrary balance.
This, despite what naysayers say, is called a preference. Specifically, when a black person or a woman who is not as qualified is admitted or hired over a non-black person or a man who is more qualified, the black person or woman was given a preference over the more qualified person. From my perspective, too many blacks are satisfied with this practice and see nothing wrong with it whatsoever. The most glaring problem is that blacks who came before us fought to get rid of this kind of thing when it benefited whites.
Consistency is important in debate and discourse. If you believe racial discrimination is objectively wrong, it remains wrong even if your racial group benefits from the discrimination.
To me, there is nothing quite as dignified as knowing I’ve earned something based on my performance or by using whatever talents God gave me, not based on the hue of my skin. It is offensive to me beyond words that any white person, liberal or conservative, believes that I need remedial help or that I cannot be held to the same standards to which they (and employers or admission committees) hold themselves.
If, by being held to the same standards, I fall short, so be it. I move on to something else. It’s called life. I’m better at some things than others, and part of my journey in life is to make the most of the talents I have, try to improve them, and constantly learn new things. I see life as a great, though sometimes disappointing, adventure. All I ask is to be treated with dignity and respect. I don’t care if you can’t stand me or think I’m as dumb as a box of hammers. I couldn’t care less about what’s in your mind. Your behavior toward me is my only concern. And you can keep your crummy table scraps, too. I’ll dine on far better fare.
I’ll repeat myself: As long as I live, I will never understand why more blacks aren’t spitting mad about race preferences.
Now, I’ll get to the point of this post. As you may know, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative became Proposal 2, a measure that outlawed the use of preferences in government hiring and admissions in Michigan. Fifty-eight percent of Michigan voters barred their state government from discriminating against people on the basis of race, sex, etc. Last year, a Clinton-appointed federal judge, while ruling in favor of allowing MCRI on the November 2006 ballot, seized the opportunity to smear and accuse the organization behind it of committing fraud to get people to sign the petition.
Judge Arthur Tarnow not only accused MCRI of “systematic voter fraud,” he maligned state courts and agencies in his opinion (PDF). By implication, he believes the current law barring race preferences is somehow tainted because a handful of petition signers claimed they were “misled” about what they were signing. I suppose actually reading something before signing it is too high a standard for certain people. 
For more info, check out my latest Townhall column, Judge Tarnow’s Political Axe.
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