Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, May 4, 1987
Opinion
M/lin,
Two wrongs equal no rights
Martin Luther
King Jr. had a
dream of a society
in which every
man was to be
judged by his
character and abi
lities and not by
the color of his
skin. He led a cru
sade to overturn
the inequality of
blacks before the ■■
law that had existed.
Brian
Frederick
His crusade was
successful — the unjust laws were re
pealed. The same law was to apply to ev
ery American.
But the civil rights activists have not
been content with the mere removal of
the offensive laws and the establishment
of equality before law for all Americans.
They have sought affirmative action
programs in order to achieve what they
feel to be an ‘equitable’ representation in
the work force. In so doing, they have
cut the moral high ground out from un
der their own feet and become guilty of
the same offense for which they sought
redress.
Preferential hiring and promotion
are not new, but earlier this year they
received strong sanction from the Su
preme Court in two 5-4 decisions.
On Feb. 25 the court approved a one-
to-one promotion scheme for black and
white Alabama state troopers. On
March 25 the Court approved the pro
motion of a woman over two men who
scored higher on an oral test.
The way now lies open for legal dis
crimination against white males.
A Stanford law professor says
If
WELCOME
GOV: CLEMENTS
m mw TOXEiS 9
TOUR
Taking accountability to heart
In 1983, Men-
achem Begin re
signed as prime
minister of Israel
and returned to
his apartment on
Zemach Street in
Jerusalem. There,
he sees only two
people (both for
mer political asso
ciates) aside from
his son and has
Richard
Cohen
been out of the house only five times —
twice to go to the hospital and three
times to visit his wife’s grave.
Recently, the New York Times wrote
about Begin, about his self-imposed
exile and the possible reasons for it. His
beloved wife, Aliza, had died in 1982.
His war in Lebanon, which his generals
had promised would bring quick, rela
tively easy results, had turned into a de
bacle. Outside his house, protesters had
daily posted the latest casualty count,
and every day Begin saw the numbers
mount. In his mind, the dead were daily
placed at his doorstep. The old heart of
an old man broke.
The last time I was in Israel, I went to
the street where Begin lives. I just
wanted to see it. I had called the two as
sociates with whom he still meets, but
there was little they could tell me. As for
meeting with Begin himself, that was
out of the question. He even recently re
fused to see Jimmy Carter. My creden
tials are, of course, less impressive, but
my task was different. I wanted to write
about accountability.
Maybe no one knows the reason for
Begin’s almost total seclusion, but if the
reason had anything to do with Leb
anon, then Begin stands as a benchmark
for contemporary political figures. He
may be the only political leader who
judges himself accountable for nothing.
An example: Richard Nixon conducts
himself as if Watergate were the work of
someone else. He has distanced himself
from the protracted presidential crisis
of which he is the cause and has meta
morphosed into a foreign-policy wise
man. There is no hint that the useless
deaths of Vietnam visit him in the night.
If Begin can be compared to anyone.
it is Lyndon Johnson. The Vietnam War
woke Johnson in the night and sent him
down to the White House situation
room to ask for the latest information.
Effectively denied another term; he
went home to Texas to smoke forbidden
cigarettes. His heart just stopped as if
with a sigh. The real end had come a lot
earlier.
As usual, the Greek tragedians were
right: Defeat came through victory.
Washington could bring electricity to
the Texas Hill Country, but it could not
win the hearts of Vietnam villagers.
What had worked — what had always
worked — suddenly could not.
Something like that happened with
Begin. He never cut his idealism with
sentimentality. He was criticized for his
role in the 1946 bombing of the King
David Hotel, which killed — deliber
ately or not — 91 people, some of them
British officers. But the bombing had
the desired effect: It provided the Brit
ish yet another reason to pull out of Pal
estine. Begin defied world opinion by
permitting Israeli Jews to settle on the
West Bank. When the protests ceased,
the deed was done.
Lebanon must have seemed yet an
other area where the bold use of vio
lence could succeed. But it did not. The
PLO fought better than expected; the
world howled in protest at the bombing
of Beirut and the tragedy of Sabra and
Shatila. What was possible for a guer
rilla leader in 1946 eluded a head of
state in 1982. Once again, what had
worked — what had always worked —
suddenly could not. There was no suc
cess to explain away the bodies.
Begin appointed no commission of
inquiry. He wrote no book of justifica
tion. He could have said he listened to
the wrong people. He could have ratio
nalized, sought exoneration at the polls,
overwhelmed questions of accountabil
ity with a showing of popularity. In
stead, he closed the door to his apart
ment. He seems not afraid to utter the
word “I.” I was wrong. I am responsi
ble. No one else.
At the end of his life, Begin instructs.
Neither his prescription nor his exam
ple is for everyone. But maybe alone
among contemporary political leaders,
he holds himself responsible for his mis
takes. Behind his door, he awaits the fi
nal accounting. Meanwhile, he pre
pares.
Copyright
Group
1986, Washington Post Writers
someone doesn’t suffer in the picture,
it’s not affirmative action.” In this case,
it’s the white male who suffers.
Of course, these injustices have their
proper justification. It is said we need
an integrated society and that tempo
rary reverse discrimination is required
to counteract historical discrimination
against minorities and women. Thus,
social justice is to be achieved through
injustice.
This reasoning is seriously in error
and is not applied consistently. Consider
professional basketball. Blacks comprise
12.1 percent of the general populace,
but 80 percent of the NBA. Why is no
one seeking to achieve the proper pro
portion of whites to blacks? Have we no
pity for those aspiring white boys who
have failed to attain the skill to beat out
the blacks?
This illustrates an important point:
Basketball teams seek the best talent
available regardless of color. T he reason
is simple. If we were to have affirmative
action in the NBA and 80 percent of the
players had to be white, the game would
suffer tremendously. The same holds
true for business.
Affirmative action has other prob
lems which have been overlooked in
light of its dazzling goal of integration
and ‘proper’ proportion. It aggravates
the polarization of society by encourag
ing people to think of themselves as
black, Hispanic, white, female, or male
instead of simply as American citizens
who are equal before the law.
Instead of seeing individuals, affir
mative action imputes collective guilt to
white males and assumes that all mem
bers of the other groups have been dis
criminated against.
Racial strife grows as those who suf
fer under affirmative action begin to re
sent those who are profiting at their ex
pense. The judicial principle that each
man is responsible for his own deeds is
subverted and the communist view of
justice, which assigns guilt and virtue by
class origin, replaces it.
Racism is the belief that one’s traits
are determined by race. Once that belief
is no longer imposed by a nation’s laws,
it becomes a moral, not a legal, proble The 1
Attitudes and beliefs cannot be chan^r Bi yan w
by law. promiiK
Beliefs can be changed
only by persuasion and the example
those who know a better way. AndiiM t y wf j r
best way to reward ability is throic, Emm
color-blind free market. 1951, b
Contrary to popular opinion, ^ftiptist
rights <>l those not hired due toprtjHh _stee l
dice have not been violated whensur 1 nov y c
prejudice is not mandated by law.®, ,
. . . . JarcK.ul
violated because anon After
rights are not
refuses to deal with me, t egardlessott j e( i inat)
reasons for that choice. If he is prtpfflurch,
diced against blue-eyed blonds tines, s
German surnames despite their quai®stor o
cations, he will be the loser.
Affirmative action seeks to gi'f: T
law that which often has not beenm® . e< L
ited by ability. The free market,,ho® r ta |^
ever, rew ards die deserving in thelo; 0 j ()UI sl
run. I f we desire that all of us bejud^; After
by merit alone, affirmative action mi failed ai
be ended. ■mrch’?
If we do not, we shall all sufferM
many of the best-qualified white mi w ’^' a ^]
are kept f rom maximum productivitf.K^ re ^
The operation of the market s [ un
time. The biggest quarrel today isoi * “A k
the lack of proportional numbers ‘fook, y
women and minorities in high positka to rebui
Executives are not born, but are ma«|9 e ‘ n >t
1 his does not happen overnight. If® 0 * s a *
consider where minorities and womil
were 30 years ago, it is not surpri
that there are not more in high positn
today. They have not yet matured 1
great numbers. But their numbers ■I
growing and will continue todosoJ
die m.ii krt, rew ards dieir newlvacquirr^ Al’f
skills. Fc -"'
Affii
For
oft
rrt Wo
• ji».jf duty
inative action refuses to wart: s h,> fan -
the market to reward ability and instt«p rs un(
seeks to obtain the rewards of devt|f Henr
oped potential before that potential: lines, s;
developed. T he result is economic sc: Stanley !
nation and social strife as long-tec Was ° n d
peace and prosperity are sacrificedpy trainei
the name of a transitory ‘socialjustice E, t . ( |,
Outlawing discrimination is noti i e ( t a
way to end it. Brough
Brian Frederick is a senior hisif m ’ nal *
and Russian major and a columnist
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Mail Call
Wasting a free education
EDITOR:
I’m a senior in health education planning to go to
physical therapy school. Admittedly, health ed is not one
of the toughest majors, but I enjoy it. I work and play hard
and make good grades. My parents pay $2000 a semester
for school.
kind of pride that leads a group to oppress anyone who
disagrees with the group’s ideals. Pride has been the cause
of the Ku Klux Klan’s prejudice against minorities and has
driven labor unions to become the oppressors rather than
the oppressed.
I make this point because I have classes with the
football boys. (I apologize to the guys that don’t deserve
what I’m about to say, but a few bad apples always spoil the
bunch). They are virtually given a free education and a few
other luxuries, such as being catered to in classes, among
others. Some take advantage of this — others don’t.
If NOW pickets that man’s business in Bryan, not only
will it be violating bis right to publicly disagree with them,
but they will also be hurting his business. It would be the
wrong thing to do and I do not think the man is hurting
them with his sign. My suggestion is simply for these
women to reconsider the particular prideful, vain action
that they are planning. I apologize for calling them
“ladies.”
Kevin Murray is a case in point. The article in the April
30 Battalion pedestaling him above Roger Staubach, Joe
Theisman and Joe Montana is a bunch of bad bull! I have
no sympathy for Murray; he was given the chance for a
free education on a platinum platter and threw it away
because his ego convinced him he could go anywhere with
his “attitude.” Face it — he got what he deserved because
of his vanity. I just hope others learn from his mistake —
not everyone can be drafted, so don’t let your head get so
big that it can’t fit through a doorway.
For Mr. Bednar’s information, my girlfriend isaladv
and I am chivalrous toward her. I like an attitude of
mutually serving one another. Please forgive me formyig-
norance.
Darrell Dotson’88
Aggie inferiority complex
EDITOR:
I’ve had that on my mind for three years and finally got
so fed up with all the catering to the football boys that I
finally found the courage to say it. Think about it Ags —it’s
all true. Again, I apologize to those undeserving.
Lisa Battles ’87
Why does the Texas A&M War Hymn contain the
words “Goodbye to texas university,” and other derogatory
references to the University of Texas? This is a question
most Aggies have asked themselves at least once. (I must
say “most” because — believe it or not — there are thoseon
campus who will eat everything that is fed to them).
All rights deserve respect
EDITOR:
Why should one university occupy our thinkingso?I
think it is an inferiority complex this University has had
for many years. I think it would be better for the fightsonj
to speak highly of “Texas A&M and the home team”
rather than cutting down UT.
In reply to Mark Bednar’s letter of May 1,1 will not
resort to using an immature personal attack as Mark did.
Instead, I would just like to make a few points that will, I
hope, clarify my point of view.
It also feels extremely silly to sing this song when
guests from other universities are present.
I was raised by a single mother who held down two jobs
and had four sons. She received little or no funds from my
father. I supported her then and now support her in any
endeavor to augment her rights as a human being against
the womanizing oppression of male chauvinist executives.
I condone any movement whose goal is to obtain, for
women, economic and social rights that are equal to those
of men.
For whatever reasons the song was written, now is the
time to lay this tradition down to rest. I have two
suggestions:
1. Commission someone to write new words to thefigh 1 !
song for each opponent.
2. (This is the one I prefer) Commission someone to
write this “World Class University” a rea/fight song (or
maybe have a contest.)
I think that when someone criticizes the actions of a
group, he is automatically assumed to be in contempt of
those individuals in the group. If you look at my letter of
April 29 objectively, I do not think you will find the kind of
chauvinism that Mark Bednar sees. When I referred to
“pride,” it was obvious that I was not referring to school
spirit or to healthy self-confidence that leads to success. I
was referring to an ugly, self-centered conceit which is the
For die-hard Ags, the old song could still be sung when I
we play UT. Until the new song written, 1 suggest we
whistle or hum the melody fo th present war hymn.
Mike Montgomery ’87
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