Race, Race, Race
Let’s just lay it on the line and make it official. Because differences exist between the races, race will always “matter.” This article in Insider Higher Ed is just one more straw on the camel’s back.
Michelle Asha Cooper and David A. Longanecker work for education organizations. They, like typical left-leaning types, believe all people of all races should have the same grades, scores, and admission rates, and equal distributions in fields of study, income, hiring, etc. Differences and disparities, to people who hold this view, indicate some kind of injustice.
That individuals have different levels of talent, skills, and motivation doesn’t matter, although the authors do acknowledge the converse view:
“Certainly, there are those who firmly embrace the belief in the achievement ideology, which considers American society to be fair and meritocratic. For them, success and failure are based on individual differences in ability and motivation, and not societal or economic barriers. And while they strongly hold to their beliefs, there is a mountain of evidence to show that our society — including some of our campuses — is filled with longstanding, persistent barriers that fall along a color line.”
What are these “longstanding, persistent barriers” they refer to? They never say, at least not in the article. They do contend that those in higher education have a “unique teachable moment” to have “deliberative dialogues” about race on and on ad nauseam.
It’s unfortunate that the idea behind the American Civil Rights Institute’s motto that “Race has no place in American life or law” is seen as an aberration instead of a concept we should be striving toward every day. The only “deliberative dialogues” the country ought to be having on race should focus on a time-limited plan to stop talking about it.
Commenting on the article, Roger Clegg writes:
“We can have a dialogue if you like, but there’s really not that much more to say. Racial discrimination is bad; it should remain socially unacceptable and the laws prohibiting it should continue to be enforced. But continued progress will also require changes in culture and family structure that will have to be undertaken by African Americans themselves and their little platoons. (Oh, and dividing Americans in our increasingly multiracial and multiethnic society by skin color and national origin, and treating some better and others worse depending on which box they check, is a really bad idea.)
“Oh, and cheer up: This is the greatest country in the history of the world, and there are unparalleled opportunities for all, regardless of skin color.”
