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Affirmative action scrutiny
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John
Lemons
columnist
twas one of the uglier media
circuses in recent memory.
Charges of racism, calls to
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er, is 2-loi Jby the Rev. Jesse Jackson
rrounded the comments
ade by University of Texas
i w School Professor Lino
TflfK k ia a b° ut minority groups.
In the aftermath of last
Jek’s dramatic events, affir-
ptive action is once again on
e minds of the public. As
Falcons (0; ;se recent events show, it is a
virtually p N ect ihat cannot be breached without causing
nsiderable trauma. Wliile affirmative action offers a
ance to increase the fortunes of under-represented
ttj norities, it offers little peace of mind for Americans.
Graglia made his comments at the announcement
anew student organization, Students for Equal
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“Blacks and Mexican-Americans are not academ-
illy competitive with whites in selective institu-
ns,” Graglia said. “They have a culture that seems
t to encourage achievement. Failure is not looked
on with disgrace.”
In a statement released last week. Graglia said that
comments were taken out of context and miscon-
1 passes foilued. He also said that he regrets the incident,
down. IGraglia said, "I realize now, especially after being
Orleans tolled by some cordial Mexican-American and
was a paalackparents, that it [the comments] were careless-
Bates tooilput, and I regret it.”
md-10 frowIndeed, while the comments were ugly and ignorant,
d across tdfctfv were taken out of context. Graglia made the com-
jre Hastiliients in response a reporter’s question of whether the
utting the ip in performance between white and minority stu
nt! quarter.
its on standardized tests was “cultural or genetic.”
Nonetheless, to attribute the difference in per-
mance on standardized tests between whites and
norities to cultural differences is a gross oversim-
fication of the problem. It is a problem that owes
ite F • 695-1321
Vvallable
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Headqum )t more to socioeconomic status and history than
loes to culture.
The problem with attributing a cause for this gap
Derformance is that it is a dangerous question to
.As Professor Graglia learned, it is a question
only safely answered by awkward silence.
The long accepted solution to bridging the gap in
experiences between whites and minorities has
been affirmative action. For the past three decades,
affirmative action has been the dominant means of
leveling the playing-field for all ethnic groups. Un
fortunately, it also has been a bitter pill for many
Americans to swallow.
Many non-minorities consider affirmative action
to be reverse discrimination. Some minorities feel
that it is demeaning to recipients because it lowers
their performance expectations.
There is a lot of anger surrounding affirmative ac
tion today. Graglia’s comments offer insight to this
anger. Consider where the comments were made —
at the announcement of a club formed solely for the
purpose of opposing affirmative action. But, why
does UT need an organization that opposes affirma
tive action? After all, it was the UT law school that was
ordered to stop affirmative action programs by the
Hopwood decision. Affirmative action at UT is dead.
Creating a student group to oppose it is overkill.
Furthermore, the United States is in a catch-22 situ
ation — as the existence of affirmative action angers
some people, its removal only upsets others. Ten
months ago, Californians approved Proposition 209 to
end state-supported affirmative action. The controver
sial law touched off a fire storm of criticism and debate
culminating in a protest led by Jesse Jackson (sound fa
miliar?) at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Affirmative action is on shaky ground these days.
After being completely repealed in California and par
tially in Texas, surely it will suffer loses in other states.
Over the next years, as it is debated, affirmative action
will ignite more episodes such as the Graglia debacle.
While three decades of affirmative action programs
have done much to move the United States toward racial
equality, they have done little to relieve racial tensions.
Affirmative action is not the overall cure to equality, but
a jury-rig solution to the United States’ racial problems.
As the Graglia episode shows, people who are
willing to speak their minds on the subject should
expect to get burned. That is a trend that affords
Americans little peace of mind.
John Lemons is an electrical engineering
graduate student.
Encouraging boycotts misses
point of a higher education
David
Johnston
columnist
L ast week Jesse Jackson
and about 5,000 t-sips
protested a University of
Texas law professor. The in
structor, Lino Graglia, made re
marks about the academic
abilities of minority students.
While Graglia’s defenders
and opponents argue over his
statements (and cannot even
agree on exactly what he said),
no one has criticized the pro
testers for the way they are
voicing their complaints.
Everyone has opinions, and most people have a
few views that do not make much sense. As people
grow and develop, they should be allowed to hear oth
er opinions, defend their own and, as the need arises,
change an opinion or two. Most people grow up har
boring a few biases, but as they mature, they should
shed them. By applying rational thought and gaining a
better understanding of the world, false stereotypes
should be eliminated from at least the well-educated.
The university environment is a wonderful place for
students to come into contact with conflicting views
and gain confidence in their own beliefs. When students
are exposed to foreign viewpoints, they broaden their
minds and begin to understand their own beliefs better.
Students should be trained that an unpopular
opinion is not necessarily wrong.
When Galileo announced his theory that the
earth revolved around the sun, it was hardly politi
cally correct. His opponents insisted that he recant,
and they refused to examine his scientific evidence.
If a law professor insists that minority students
are academically inferior, his opponents should de
mand an analysis of the facts. His statements should
be held to scientific scrutiny, and they will either fall
or stand on their own. Instead, protesters complain
because Graglia’s remarks are socially unacceptable.
Many notions are socially unacceptable, but an
idea is not wrong just because it is outside of the so
cial norm. Hopefully many of the students currently
winding through college will one day present chal
lenging ideas that are unconventional.
When these students watch displays such as
Jesse Jackson’s in Austin, they will be too intimidat
ed to espouse their out-of-the-mainstream notions.
Tomorrow’s Galileo will be afraid of Jesse Jackson
and thousands of chanting students.
Students should witness as scholars evaluate a state
ment’s value on its merit — not on its acceptability.
In the case of Graglia’s remarks, instead of merely la
beling them politically incorrect, he should be present
ed with scientific studies that soundly refute his claims.
Protesting an unpopular opinion is a poor prece
dent, and it sets a bad example for our future leaders.
After Jackson condemned Graglia, he urged stu
dents to boycott the instructor’s classes. This pre
sents even more problems.
Students should never be encouraged to boycott
Graglia’s class. These are mature students who are
not likely to be warped by the opinions of a profes
sor. Instead, class members should be warned to be
alert and be encouraged to evaluate Graglia’s views
on their merit or their basis in fact.
Boycotting a lecturer has several drawbacks. Once the
monitors have left, there is no telling what he might be
gin to say. The few students who stay behind might hear
awful fallacies, but no one else would ever hear about it.
A class boycott also sends a message to students
that they do not have to listen to objectionable views.
While many rights are guaranteed in our constitution,
freedom from offense is not one of them. Everyone
will work with disagreeable people from time to time.
Bosses, coworkers and family members will eventual
ly do something irritating. Maybe they cannot get
along with other people, maybe they harbor stereo
types or maybe they cannot match their socks. Life is
full of offenses — from racism to being cut off in traf
fic. Each situation should be handled appropriately.
The university setting is a place where students
should learn how to think. They should be taught
how to develop their own views and how to evaluate
the views of others. Jackson is teaching students to
judge people’s opinions by how well they tickle their
ears, not by whether the facts are correct.
College campuses have traditionally been a place for
new ideas and critical, rational thought. Jackson is try
ing to turn it into a place full of closed-minded critics.
David Johnston is a senior mathematics major.
ublic education system fails students with racial barriers
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• ‘97 graduate*
327-3868
10) 490-3133
109) 846-0668
tis no secret the
education gods
at Texas A&M are
ving trouble cop-
with a post-affir-
y T. r ' f “" ! s '^ ve action Texas,
is year, African-
terican enroll-
nt dropped 23
rcent and His-
nic enrollment
15 percent.
While Texas A&M
sident Ray
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
ociety.
ASC
wen attempts to blame the Hopwood
cision, affirmative action backers fail
realize the problem with racially dis-
rportionate enrollment is caused, not
the government’s failure to engineer
ocially diverse university, but by a
led public education system.
While Bowen is correct in noting, “A di-
se student body is critical to ... high
ality education,” true racial equality
d educational excellence will never be
lized until America privatizes the edu-
ion system and parents are given true
iool choice. The reason that A&M has
few minority students is because poor,
mostly minority, students are being cheat
ed out of opportunities by an oppressive,
incompetent public education monopoly.
One out of every four Texas children
live in poverty. These inner-city school-
children (who are mainly Hispanic and
African-American) are held hostage by
radical so-called “teachers’” unions more
obsessed with big salaries and bigger gov
ernment than they are with nurturing
young minds to greatness. Education ex
pert Mario Fantini notes, “For many black
and Puerto Rican parents, the teachers’
unions now represent the enemy.” Teach
ers’ unions and public education are such
colossal failures. Of the 55 percent of
Americans who support school vouchers
for poor children to attend private
schools, most are poor, black and female.
Simply put, the public schools most
minority children are forced into are light
years behind the private schools more af
fluent white children attend. Inner-city
public schools suck up ridiculous
amounts of taxpayer money, only to
churn out illiterate, unprepared students.
Despite what certain University of Texas
law professors claim, African-American
and Hispanic students are more than
competitive with white students, unfor
tunately their schools are not. The public
education system fails to prepare minori
ty students for a college education.
It is no secret that private schools do
more with less than do public schools.
While Texas spends an average of $6,000
per student on public education, the av
erage tuition for a private school is un
der $3,000, a number that will drop
when public schools are abolished and
competition increases.
The privatization of education will
amount to a $316 billion tax cut. The
yacht club crowd may not notice, but a
South Dallas family making just above the
poverty line could use the money to send
its children to a reputable private school.
Under the public education system, poor
children are forced to attend the local
public school; rich children can go to pri
vate schools. Public education is inher
ently elitist and racist.
If education were privatized, an esti
mated 16 million children would need
some financial assistance (most private
schools offer scholarships to poor chil
dren worth close to $1,500, or 50 percent
of tuition). If only eight percent of the
$316 billion tax cut from education priva
tization were donated to private school
scholarship funds, all poor, inner-city mi
nority children could attend the same
private schools as rich white children.
Chances are that more than that
amount will be dedicated to education. In
1993, $126.2 billion was donated to chari
ty. From 1994 to 1995, another $12.4 bil
lion was donated directly to colleges and
universities. In 1994, the private sector do
nated $24.9 million in private scholar
ships, fellowships and partnerships be
tween schools and businesses where firms
donated equipment. Money and services
more than tripled from 1983 to 1998.
The immense fundraising success of al-
ready-existent school choice programs is
more than evident. When a Milwaukee
judge shut down the city’s wildly popular
inner-city school choice program, over $1.6
million was raised in only 10 days to keep
Milwaukee’s disadvantaged children in pri
vate school. The privatization of education
is not a question of whether minority chil
dren can attend better schools, it is a ques
tion of just how overachieving will they be.
The best and only way to ensure a
racially diverse university is to give all
students a quality education. Public
schools fail miserably at that task. The
bloated, wasteful, oppressive public
school system cheats Texas’ poor, mostly
minority children, out of a quality edu
cation. When public schools are abol
ished, the iron grip of teachers’ unions
over pay and curriculum is shattered and
all children are sent to better-performing
private schools, true racial equality can
be achieved. As Professor Ben Chavis, a
Native American instructor at San Fran
cisco State University states, “Choice (in
education) empowers, and empower
ment eliminates discrimination.”
In the 18th century, America pio
neered the idea of libertarian statecraft.
In the 19th century, America dedicated
herself to westward expansion and in
creasing global influence. The 20th cen
tury saw America emerge as an economic
giant. America should dedicate the 21st
century to educational excellence and
racial harmony. The first step in that di
rection is the abolition of our racially op
pressive, failed public education system.
Donny Ferguson is a junior political
science major.
Mexican-American students are
not as competitive in selective
schools as white students.
The proof to support his
statements is evident in the
number of minority students
attending Ivy League schools,
or even the numbers at our
own university after the Hop-
wood decision.
Graglia did not state that mi
norities are less intelligent
than whites, but that many mi
nority families do not strongly
encourage superior academic
achievement.
If Michael Jordan were to say
that Asians generally are not
encouraged as children to de
velop the skills needed to com
pete in the National Basketball
Association, and thus are sel
dom seen playing professional
basketball, he would not be
racist, but simply be stating the
truth. So why should Graglia be
persecuted for doing the same?
Michael Sawilowsky
Class of ’01
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