[E]nding preferences will allow minorities and women to take the full credit for their accomplishments.
One of the reasons I advocate doing away with race and sex preferences is to allow minorities and women to achieve on their own merits. Even if individual blacks and women are admitted or hired based on grades, scores, skills, and experience, there’s a perception these individuals in some way were treated differently. Fair or not, that’s the way it is.
Does the same reasoning hold for Barack Obama and Sarah Palin? Did they achieve prominence because they fall into two supposedly underrepresented groups? Or do their candidacies support the notion that blacks and women can achieve on their own? The editors at the Opinion Journal say yes, Obama and Palin show the “roads are open”
Although the editorial focuses on well-funded proponents of government preferences, the underlying issue is whether preferences are needed.
Also consider this: Will a Barack Obama presidency signal the end of government-sanctioned racial discrimination?
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