The Center for Equal Opportunity‘s Linda Chavez wrote about a left-leaning Los Angeles Times columnist who believes “affirmative action,” aka racial preferences, is divisive.
“I couldn’t agree more with Rodriguez’s conclusion,” Chavez writes, “but not entirely with the analysis that leads him there. Rodriguez’s opposition stems from his fear that white racial anxiety is rising and that affirmative action could lead to a destructive white backlash. ‘The combination of changing demographics and symbolic political victories on the part of nonwhites will inspire in whites a greater racial consciousness, a growing sense of beleagurement and louder calls to end affirmative or to be included in it,’ he writes.”
Chavez disagrees with Rodriguez over why racial preferences must end. He contends the policy may cause a white backlash; however, they both agree about who racial preferences were intended to benefit and why: a small minority of mostly black Americans to make up for past discrimination.
As demographics shift, such racial minorities as Hispanics and Asians benefited from racial preferences, and the reasons went beyond past discrimination.
“Ironically, Rodriguez barely addresses what I’ve always believed is one of the strongest arguments against affirmative action: its detrimental effects on the very people it’s meant to help by turning them into perpetual victims. In passing, Rodriguez warns that whites, too, might fall prey to ‘the siren song of victimology that has captivated other groups.’ Victimology and affirmative action go hand in hand. Without claiming to be a victim, you can’t make a case that you’re entitled to special treatment.”
A note on whites lured by the “siren song of victimology.” Seeing oneself as a victim is a bad way to go through life, regardless of race. Unfortunately, the victimhood cult in America is booming. In some cases, charges of racial discrimination are legitimate, as was the case with white New Haven firefighters whose exam scores were tossed because too few racial minorities scored high enough. The teeming minority rights industry ought to think twice about flinging around charges of discrimination and racism. One day, and I suspect sooner than we think, whites will be a minority in the U.S. Will they become the beneficiaries of racial preferences? If not, why not? Consistency is the bane of PC’s existence.
“It’s time to end affirmative action not because it makes whites anxious but because it perpetuates race obsession that harms all Americans, regardless of color. We’ve got to get beyond thinking of ourselves in terms of racial or ethnic origins if we are ever to live up to our ideals as Americans.”
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