Vision Circle

College Graduates and Affirmative Action

If you listen to some people, Blacks don't graduate at the same rate from college as white students because of affirmative action.

Right now, overall, the percentage of Blacks in college is around 14%.

The number of Blacks with a college degree is around 12% while, for whites, it's about 28%.

I bring this up for one reason:

Study: Most College Students Lack Skills
Jan 19 2:43 PM US/Eastern
By BEN FELLER

Nearing a diploma, most college students cannot handle many complex but common tasks, from understanding credit card offers to comparing the cost per ounce of food.

Those are the sobering findings of a study of literacy on college campuses, the first to target the skills of students as they approach the start of their careers.

More than 50 percent of students at four-year schools and more than 75 percent at two-year colleges lacked the skills to perform complex literacy tasks.

More than 50%?
That can't be mainly Black students, can it?

Woman Loses Library Suit at Harvard

I'd heard about this story on one of my mailing lists. A woman sues harvard claiming race and gender discrimination (layer "appearance discrimination" on top of that because the woman is supposed to be attractive). She loses the lawsuit.

Do a google search on "bobo" and "honorary degree".

Larry Bobo is one of the best social scientists in the game, and he's black. He is now at Harvard in the Department of African American Studies. You see that "honorary" degree that Bobo got from Harvard in 1997? There is no way in hell Harvard is going to hire someone with an undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount. Ain't gonna happen.

Unless you change the rules. Like award the Loyola cat an honorary Harvard degree.

The woman was lost from day one...because she received her Master's from Simmons College. And while you can sue for race and gender discrimination (while not both simultaenously) you cannot sue for class discrimination.

Go to the right school and the world opens up. Go to the wrong one and try to get into the right networks, and in many cases the world will swallow you whole.

Ramblings On Affirmative Action

I guess it's my turn up on the game called "Lets Discuss Affirmative Action!" My turn in the mix comes from a blog entry made by LaShawn.

Generally, the "discussion" about affirmative action centers around statistics "showing" that those who are benefitted by affirmative action are not worthy.
Or, the "discussion" can also center around the perception that Blacks' self-esteem is some how damaged. Or, the "discussion" centers around how whites perceive Blacks to be incompetant.

I'll try to address those issues, but I'll do so by gathering previous comments that I've made. I've added more to some of the initial comments.

My ramblings start here.

Equilibrium vs Equality

I would like to raise a pointabout attributions of racism. Often these don't take into account matters of equilibrium. I covered this at length with a longish story about Xerox over at Cobb.

What I'm saying about equilibrium is that there are situations around the status quo which may not represent true equality but they are the best that can be done under the circumstances - that supply and demand are in balance and/or that systems are incapable of greater accomodation. Such systems establish limits to reform/change/progress independent of the chauvinisms and self-interests of the players on either side.

What I am suggesting is that such equilibria are not often recognized for what they are. People expecting equality come up with arbitrary standards which have no bearing on the ability of systems to be changed. The Xerox example is supposed to illustrate the difference between proportional representation vs balanced workforce.

In essence, balanced workforce was as broad and fair a program as could be established and managed at Xerox, and yet it fell short of the expectations of blacks who knew more could be done via aggressive recruiting. You simply couldn't shove more minority participation down Xerox' throat. Xerox was at a negotiated equilibrium, any further agitation threatened the good faith established up to then.

The vaunted cultural equilibrium is basically this: Is Corporate America integrated? The answer is yes. Do we need more Affirmative Action to integrate it more? The answer is no. This is not my opinion, this is public opinion. I don't believe you can change public opinion to be more positive about Affirmative Action for the purposes of integration. The public consensus is that the cure is worse than the disease. And yet Affirmative Action persists. I think it is unlikely to reach the Supreme Court again and that the Amicus Brief in Grutter represents what Corporate America will maintain from here forward.

Texas 10% Rule Under Scrutiny

In order to present an alternative to race/gender based Affirmative Action, both Texas and Florida instituted a plan that would allocate college spots to the top 10% of each state high school. This plan would lead not only to racial diversity, but also to class diversity. It was viewed by many as the solution to the sticky issue of college admissions.

But not any longer. Here's a snippet (because registration may be required to see the whole piece:)

Critics of the rule say that students from poor high schools without the resources of wealthier institutions are not ready for the work at an elite public university, and that too many graduates of high-powered high schools are leaving the state for college when they do not get into the University of Texas.

"Those kids are not prepared," said Douglas S. Craig, a lawyer in Houston whose son, Charles, was not accepted at the university. Charles Craig went to the University of Colorado at Boulder instead, Mr. Craig said, adding that getting into the top 10 percent at his son's selective private high school was very difficult. "His class was two-thirds National Merit scholars and semifinalists. Their scores are all very, very high."

I figured this would happen. Note that the same metaphors are coming into play--standards, preparation, etc. Here's the question for me. Why don't the not-so-elite students simply TRANSFER SCHOOLS?

But that would be too much like right. I'm thinking the plan will be gradually abolished. Too bad.

The 57

The Michigan State House recently passed legislation that ties state aid for universities to their rules on Affirmative Action. If you've GOT Affirmative Action, you don't get the aid. While on the one hand this is a nice trick, one you've got to give conservatives credit for, we should also be aware of the fact that Affirmative Action is the law of the land...recognized by every sane individual and institution as good for the country, good for business, good for citizens of whatever color or gender.

And we should take care to remember the names.

Anti-Affirmative Action proposal on the ropes???

This is good news.

I'm not sure who the judge is in this case, but this is a clear victory for the side of the right and the just. While America is not the anti-racist nation it could be, it is not quite the racist nation that it once was. What that means for those of us who support Affirmative Action is that it is very difficult to gut Affirmative Action in a straightforward manner. It has to be cut a piece at a time, usually using minor to major forms of deception. As long as organizations maintain vigilance we should be ok. The trick though is still to build up k-12 given our 25 year window.

(Edited to add the question mark. Ward Bell notes that this probably shouldn't be called a "victory" given that signatures are still being collected. We'll know more soon, but he has a point.)

Contracts, Discrimination, and a little Basic Math

OK. A group of black contractors in Albany, Ga. are threatening to sue because they feel they've been locked out of contracts. Here's the original story. Jim's thinking the issue a bit overblown, and truly hopes that Jackson doesn't come rolling in to save the day. Dean chimes in by noting that when given a choice between reason and politics...folks will choose politics most of the time. Math makes people's head hurt. And of course, people chiming in on both sites are arguing that what black folks really want are guarenteed contracts, regardless of whether the bid is the lowest.

I'm thinking some context is in order.

What's next?

Ok. We've been given a 25 year window to make due with Affirmative Action before the doors close.

Assuming that someone doesn't pull the rug out from under us, it now behooves us to ask a question that we haven't really begun to grapple with on a significant national level. What can we do between now and 2028 to abrogate the need for Affirmative Action in higher education?

Of course there is no one right answer...although there are probably several wrong ones. "Nothing" for example is a sure fire wrong answer.

Thinking about the civil rights movement, scholars like Charles Payne (author of the brilliant I'VE GOT THE LIGHT OF FREEDOM) argue persuasively that there were at least three modes of civil rights activism. One mode was largely legalistic...sue, get your case before the Supreme Court, and get the SC to change the law. The other mode was the large scale use of nonviolent protest. The third mode was door to door organizing.

The first two modes are what most of us think of when we think of the Civil Rights Movement, and its victories. Brown v. Board, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the student sponsored sit-ins...

But it's that third mode that really helped blacks and whites make the turn to a better democracy. Because they were about getting regular folks to recognize their rights and their full responsibility as citizens. This task was thankless. There were no cameras documenting these actions for prosperity. There was no cushy Supreme Court Justice job awaiting.

Bob Moses and the Student Nonviolent (later National) Coordinating Committee was one of the thankless heroes of this movement. He's now working on teaching kids in Mississippi math. HIs ideas are worth serious discussion.

Connerly v. State of Michigan

Ward Connerly has recently announced plans to put an anti-Affirmative Action initiative on the ballot that would disallow the consideration of race or gender in public education, in contracting, and in government employment (might be wrong on this last piece).

Interesting response from the Republican Party--they don't want any part of Ward. Michigan's Republican Party has a tiny fracture beneath the surface that pops up every now and then--there is a staunch social conservative wing, and a more liberal cosmopolitan wing. Their unwillingness to support this initiative could signify that for the time being at least, the cosmopoles run the Republican tent.

Another spin though, would just look at 2004. Michigan looks to be a highly contested state in the presidential election...and the last thing Republican stalworths of whatever ideological stripe want is the "sleeper" to be awakened. The sleepers in this case are cities like Flint, Pontiac, Lansing...and of course Detroit. Connerly gets enough signatures to put this issue on the ballot, and he single handedly ensures that the mobilization engine is upgraded to 3.0...and black voters across the state will turn out to defeat it.

It is very possible that Connerly's initiative will pass...but I'm almost positive that there is no way for the initiative to pass AND still have a Bush victory in Michigan.

Just to gum up the works, I'm suggesting that everyone I know in the state of Michigan sign the petitions.

I hear "Mickey Mouse" is a popular name.