More brilliance from the Center for Equal Opportunity‘s Roger Clegg as he goes head-to-head in a comment thread with Jay Rosner, responding to his convince-me-racism-doesn’t-matter straw man:
“[N]o one believes that racial discrimination has vanished, that race does not matter. But there are better ways to fight it than giving preferential treatment to individuals who are more privileged than those being discriminating against (as President-elect Obama acknowledged), and it is not so systemic that it justifies institutionalized discrimination in the other direction. The playing field is not level, but there are plenty of folks of all colors at both ends. Enforce the civil rights laws; provide scholarship and other aid for those of all colors.
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“[E]ven if there are some dubious benefits to the use of racial preferences, they are overwhelmed by the costs: It is personally unfair, passes over better qualified students, and sets a disturbing legal, political, and moral precedent in allowing racial discrimination; it creates resentment; it stigmatizes the so-called beneficiaries in the eyes of their classmates, teachers, and themselves, as well as future employers, clients, and patients; it fosters a victim mindset, removes the incentive for academic excellence, and encourages separatism…”
Clegg and Rosner are discussing an article about an October 2007 study, which concluded that eliminating race preferences would result in a 35 percent decrease in minority enrollment at competitive schools and a lesser decrease at all colleges. See the original exchange on this Inside Higher Ed comment thread. Great stuff, Mr. Clegg.
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