MICHIGAN’S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Lots of
MICHIGAN’S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Lots of blogosphere kudos to President Bush for his decision to oppose the University of Michigan’s affirmative action plan (Here’s Josh Chafetz and Andrew Sullivan). Yesterday, the New York Times made its views known with a truly misleading editorial: “The two cases, which challenge the University of Michigan’s use of race as ...
MICHIGAN'S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Lots of blogosphere kudos to President Bush for his decision to oppose the University of Michigan's affirmative action plan (Here's Josh Chafetz and Andrew Sullivan). Yesterday, the New York Times made its views known with a truly misleading editorial: "The two cases, which challenge the University of Michigan's use of race as a "plus factor" in undergraduate and law school admissions, have huge implications for the nation's efforts to widen racial equality and increase campus diversity by opening institutions of higher learning to more blacks and Hispanics. Moreover, in the aftermath of the Trent Lott embarrassment, the administration's stance will be seen as an indicator of the president's commitment to moving his party and the country beyond the segregationist past." There are serious errors in both sentences. Arguing that opposing affirmative action is the equivalent of supporting segregationism is absurd on its face. As for the implicit notion that opposition to affirmative action indicates racism, liberals of good conscience were careful to flatly reject that assertion during the height of the Lottroversy. As for the description of Michigan's use of race as a "plus factor," here's the Chicago Tribune's description of the exact weights used: "The Michigan undergraduate program awards students up to 150 points for a variety of factors, including 20 points for African Americans and some Hispanic students. That's more than a student can earn for having perfect SAT scores (12 points) or for having an outstanding essay (3 points), and is often enough to be the decisive factor for a student's admission, administration officials said. Michigan's law school sets aside a specific number of seats each year for minority students." (my italics) Face it -- these are quota schemes. The Tribune also has a nice profile on how Michigan's obsession with racial diversity crowds out other forms of diversity.
MICHIGAN’S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Lots of blogosphere kudos to President Bush for his decision to oppose the University of Michigan’s affirmative action plan (Here’s Josh Chafetz and Andrew Sullivan). Yesterday, the New York Times made its views known with a truly misleading editorial: “The two cases, which challenge the University of Michigan’s use of race as a “plus factor” in undergraduate and law school admissions, have huge implications for the nation’s efforts to widen racial equality and increase campus diversity by opening institutions of higher learning to more blacks and Hispanics. Moreover, in the aftermath of the Trent Lott embarrassment, the administration’s stance will be seen as an indicator of the president’s commitment to moving his party and the country beyond the segregationist past.” There are serious errors in both sentences. Arguing that opposing affirmative action is the equivalent of supporting segregationism is absurd on its face. As for the implicit notion that opposition to affirmative action indicates racism, liberals of good conscience were careful to flatly reject that assertion during the height of the Lottroversy. As for the description of Michigan’s use of race as a “plus factor,” here’s the Chicago Tribune’s description of the exact weights used: “The Michigan undergraduate program awards students up to 150 points for a variety of factors, including 20 points for African Americans and some Hispanic students. That’s more than a student can earn for having perfect SAT scores (12 points) or for having an outstanding essay (3 points), and is often enough to be the decisive factor for a student’s admission, administration officials said. Michigan’s law school sets aside a specific number of seats each year for minority students.” (my italics) Face it — these are quota schemes. The Tribune also has a nice profile on how Michigan’s obsession with racial diversity crowds out other forms of diversity.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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