I wish there was no need for Affirmative Action. I wish all children were born with an equal opportunity to achieve great things. I wish that every child had the same opportunity to receive an education and get a good job. Unfortunately that is not reality, there are children born every day who are disadvantaged from day one. They have a very small chance of graduating high school and an even smaller chance of going to college. These children are born into a cycle of poverty that is almost impossible to get out of without programs that level the playing field. This is reality and as a society we must realize what is happening every day in our community, children are born with little opportunity for a great future.
These children I speak of are statistically overwhelmingly minorities. An African-American child born today will make less money on average than a non-Hispanic Caucasian child. According to a 2005 Census Bureau report, the average African-American family’s median income was $30,825 compared to $50,784 for non-Hispanic Caucasian families.
An African-American child born today is more than twice as likely to be unemployed as the average American and according to the Bureau of Labor will, while employed, earn about $13,000 a year less than whites. Also that African American child will have a much greater chance of dropping out of high school.
According to the Harvard Civil Rights Project 2005, half of the nation’s African American and Latino students are dropping out of high school and 88 percent of high minority schools are high poverty schools (more than 50 percent of the students are on free and reduced lunch).
This is the world we live in. There are distinct and very real disadvantages for certain people. The playing field in America is not level and we must, as a society, realize these inequalities, why these inequalities exist, and support programs that level the playing field.
The reason the playing field is not level is because our country has a history of negative racial stereotypes and practices that have left minority groups at a disadvantage. Affirmative Action is a response to that. Affirmative Action is an anti-discrimination program. You cannot solve a problem that is rooted in race, without addressing the issue of race in the solution.
Those against Affirmative Action like to throw around the word merit. But we all know that hiring decisions consider more than merit. They also consider personal attributes (such as race and gender). Affirmative Action programs serve to balance the scales and influence whether race and gender are used against or in the favor of minority applicants. Universities have “legacy admits” and rely heavily on standardized test scores, which reflect more the socio-economic status of the applicant’s parents, and not merit. Affirmative Action acts to bridge the gap between merit and reality.
Right now a petition is in our community asking people to sign to “ban discrimination based on race or gender.” Ultimately, what people are being asked to sign is a ballot initiative that would end Affirmative Action in Missouri, although that is unclear from what people are being told.
We would all like to ban discrimination and not have discrimination in any form in our lives, but this is not the intent or the ultimate result of the ballot initiative. This attempt, spearheaded by Ward Connerly and the ill named American Civil Rights Institute, is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Similar language passed by California has caused state contracts to women and minority owned businesses to drop by 50 percent. It is a safe assumption that we would see similar effects here in St. Louis if the initiative passes.
I long for a day when Affirmative Action is not needed, but today it is and is essential to help end the cycle of poverty and lack of opportunity. I too wish that all discrimination could be ended with the passing of a ballot initiative, but that is not this initiative’s intent and certainly will not be the result. I encourage all people, of all races, genders and creeds to oppose this attempt to undo the very real gains we have seen because of Affirmative Action. We have seen very real gains in education, a diversified workforce and the breaking of glass ceilings. Now is not the time to start undoing these positive effects of Affirmative Action. Until every child is born with an equal opportunity for achievement and success, and the effects of past discrimination are no longer a factor, we must attempt to level the playing field.