
Republican politicians usually stay away from “affirmative action.” If the topic doesn’t come up in conversation, most don’t bring it up. If it does come up, they stick to platitudes.
I’m waiting for the Republican who includes racial preferences in his platform, with a campaign promise to abolish this practice in government.
The Center for Equal Opportunity’s Roger Clegg came up with several hypothetical questions for presidential candidates. An excerpt:
“Q. What do you think of affirmative action? Do you want to abolish affirmative action?
“A. Americans should not be treated differently because of their skin color or what country their ancestors came from. Period. We should all agree on that, because we’re all Americans. No discrimination, no preferences, no quotas, no goals based on race or ethnicity.
“Unfortunately, many so-called affirmative-action programs do just that, and they need to be changed. President Obama has acknowledged that there’s something wrong when well-to-do students (he gave the example of his own daughters) who apply to college are given a preference over students from poverty-stricken homes — just because the rich kids may have skin that’s a little darker than the poor kids, who happen to be white.
“That’s not what affirmative action or civil rights was originally supposed to be about. Now, if a program is designed to stop discrimination, that’s great – and it should stop it for everyone. If a program reaches out beyond an old-boy network, that’s great, too — but it should reach out to everyone. If a program is designed to help poor people, or small companies, or people who are the first in their families to go to college — again, fine, but that can describe people of any color and all ethnic groups…Diamonds in the rough come in all colors, you know.
“Q. But doesn’t discrimination still exist?
“A. Yes, unfortunately — and, unfortunately, there will always be some discrimination, even though we’ve made enormous progress. But the way to fight discrimination is not through more discrimination. As Chief Justice Roberts wrote, ‘The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.’ We have plenty of laws that ban racial discrimination, and they should be enforced. That’s the way to fight discrimination — not by piling politically correct discrimination on top of politically incorrect discrimination.”
I don’t deny that bias exists. But as Clegg said, the solution isn’t outright bias in the other direction. We must combat personal bias through enforcement—and reinforcement—of our laws, which are more than sufficient.
Admitting/hiring/promoting an individual on the basis of race is wrong; denying admission, employment, and promotions on the basis of race is equally wrong.
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Attorneys for New York City have asked that Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis be removed from the case that-shall-never-end f
…euphemistically known as “affirmative action.”
The battle to overturn racial neutrality in California’s government continues.



