HOW DOES one justify using race as a factor in University admissions? Many good-hearted liberals have pondered this question, hoping to find some justification for a practice that apparently promotes equality through racial favoritism. Similarly, many conservatives like to assert that this system is unnecessary because we now live in a society that is colorblind, at least in terms of the law.
However, in the never-ending controversy over affirmative action, rarely mentioned are the effects of history on today's racial climate. While it's been made clear that affirmative action is a way to achieve a diverse student body, supporters rarely make the connection between oppressive policies of the past and disadvantages of the present. This is the fundamental argument that many in the affirmative action debate ignore: that minorities, as a direct result of segregation, discrimination and slavery, all of which were legal at one time or another, still face many disadvantages in today's society.
To put it plainly and simply, white people have an advantage simply because they are white. The son of poor white parents may face struggles, but these struggles would be greater if he were black. On the other hand, the daughter of well-off black parents may have it easy, but she would be even more at an advantage if her parents were white.
For a clear cut example of this, look at the University's history. While the first black student was accepted to the University in 1950, as the result of a lawsuit, segregation still was in effect, and it wasn't until 1965 that an African-American was a member of an extra-curricular group. Because of the legacy system, many blacks were and continue to be denied admission because of the University's history (http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/%7Ehius316/desegregation/deseghome60s.html).
This is a self-perpetuating system. According to a study by the National Committee on Pay Equity, the wage gap still is high - in 1999, blacks earned 80.6 cents for every dollar that whites earned. This isn't solely because blacks are paid less for equal work; it's because in many cases blacks are denied the opportunities for equal work.
Similarly, segregation in schools has gotten worse. According to a study by Harvard in July 2001, 70 percent of black students and more than a third of Hispanic students attend predominantly minority high schools, and these schools are "overwhelmingly poor and overwhelmingly segregated."
We can't pretend that these conditions either don't exist, or are the fault of minorities themselves. No one would make the assertion that these disparities are present because blacks are less intelligent, lazier or potentially less qualified.
While we no longer have legalized segregation, discrimination or slavery, the effects of these practices still are with us. There are many ways to go about fixing this problem. In schools, teacher exchange programs between urban and suburban areas can improve the quality of inner-city education. Likewise, job training programs aimed at minorities can help close the wage gap.
However, using affirmative action in University admissions directly breaks the self-perpetuating cycle of poverty many minorities face. This is not a form of "white condescension" by trying to say that blacks cannot do this for themselves; it's merely using the law to correct a naturally self-perpetuating problem.
Granted, this argument conceivably could apply to more than just blacks. There was active discrimination against the Irish a century ago. But never was an ethnic persecution so institutionalized and long-standing as that of slavery, segregation and discrimination.
Are white students put at a disadvantage because of this system? Plain and simple, yes. But white students also benefit from their parents, grandparents and ancestors never having to deal with institutionalized slavery, segregation and discrimination. This is a natural bias in the education system that must be corrected.
The University should continue its practice of using race as a factor in admissions. While this does put administrators on a slippery slope, overcompensating for the disadvantages faced by blacks today will not result in any enormous shift of equality away from whites. It is much more dangerous to under-react and pretend that we live in a color-blind society, when we most definitely do not.
(Brian Cook is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at bcook@cavalierdaily.com.)
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