COLUMN: Finding the Key

From Jamil Smith's "Invisible Man," Fall '95 From Jamil Smith's "Invisible Man," Fall '95Whenever one finds his or her path to a goal blocked by a locked door, he or she should not waste anytime pounding away angrily at the silent unfeeling impediment. Instead, he or she should look for the key to the door. However, when the key is hidden in anticipation of his or her arrival, they are left in a difficult situation. Many Americans have also stood up and vented their anger over this "unjust" policy. A citizens' drive has begun in California to put a referendum on the 1996 ballot to ban preferential treatment based on race and sex in state government hiring, education and contracting. The work being done against affirmative action is something of which women and racial minorities certainly need to be aware. When President Lyndon Johnson signed Executive Order 11246, which required companies doing business with the federal government to use numerical quotas, goals, ratios or objectives to establish affirmative action agendas for women and racial minorities, the purpose was to level the playing field. The term "reverse racism" used in conjunction with other unsubstantiated complaints such as "unfairness to whites" is thrown around much too carelessly. When words like this are uttered, they usually are spewed from ignorant mouths. If people really knew what racism was and knew what it was like to really experience racism and its institutional conveyance, discrimination, then perhaps an intelligent debate about affirmative action could ensue. What we need to do is send people like Gingrich and Dole dictionaries and have them look racism up. They might then understand that "reverse racism" is something that simply cannot happen in the American society as it is today. The definition of racism that I subscribe to is an ideology that is used to justify or support a biological hierarchy of groups based upon their somatic characteristics (i.e. dark skin, Mongoloid features, etc.) This ideology is used to assign inferior roles and classifications to the groups that are supposedly on the lower end of the hierarchy. This definition, a combination of those offered by Donald Noel and Lloyd Thompson, clearly illustrates what racism truly is (and has been) in this country. Racism in America was born out of a need to justify why black people were enslaved, and after emancipation, to keep the newly freed blacks from climbing to an equal position with whites on the socio-economic ladder. Women always lived life second-rate in the sexist, male-dominated American society; their fight to gain opportunity has been on par with the fight against racism. Affirmative action became a significant step in helping women and racial minorities gain that opportunity in the American work force; employment that was denied for so long was made easier to attain. What the people fighting against the policy don't realize (or don't want the public to realize) is when affirmative action is taken away, a "color-blind" hiring practice will not be established. Things will go backward, not forward. True, those who whine to America with false claims of stolen opportunity (who, frankly, deserve very little sympathy) may get jobs, but who is left behind? The playing field will not be level and socio-economic equity among the sexes and races in America will be a distant dream. The Republican status quo will continue -- and we all know how "successful" the administrations of Nixon, Reagan and Bush were. What would be the solution then? For some female and minority "scholars" and politicians, the solution would be to assimilate and join the vague "mainstream." Confused people like Shelby Steele, Clarence Thomas and Stephen L. Carter believe that affirmative action "fuels self-doubt" about one's qualifications and "stifles individual initiative with presumptions of entitlement." One might expect such statements to come from Gingrich, Dole and Bolick. What these people and those like them need to do is open their narrow vision to see the benefits that they personally have reaped as a result of affirmative action. Perhaps then they would realize what an asset the policy truly is. White women who criticize the policy are particularly misguided because they have been the greatest beneficiaries of affirmative action since it was implemented. Carter says in his book Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby that he believes that he got into Yale Law School because he is black. My response would be that he shouldn't generalize in his book about self-doubt because he is certainly one of few who are afflicted by it. When I received acceptance letters from colleges, a quota was the farthest thing from my mind. I knew that, with my record, I certainly deserved the opportunity to study anywhere I wanted to. My goal was to go to college. I refused to let any notion of an admissions quota affect my quest for an education. Reading many anti-affirmative action sentiments in books, articles and editorials, the question still remains the same: Why can't people realize how discriminatory and hierarchal the socio-economic system is in this country? It is obvious that some people can never be changed, but there are many people who at least have a half-open mind about this issue. What needs to be done is to make these people realize that affirmative action is absolutely necessary. The policy is not a crutch, as Carter claims; it is a key to opportunity. There are several locks on the door that block the way to socio-economic equity, but affirmative action unlocks a big bolt on the door. If we as citizens are truly in a democracy, we need to make sure that this very important key is not thrown away.

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