Speakers support affirmative action

Leslie Seymore, an American Civil Liberties Union board member, told an audience of more than 20 last night that "the powers that be are pitting minority groups against each other for their own personal gain." At the first annual Distinguished Speakers Forum, sponsored by Aetna Scholars, Seymore and three other panelists discussed the benefits of affirmative action. She said there are still Philadelphia police units lacking black and female members. Seymore also explained that she was a plaintiff in two different lawsuits against the city -- both of which succeeded in showing that Philadelphia hired its police force according to race and sex. Seymore defined affirmative action as the "legal redress of proven discrimination." She added that Philadelphia has been proven to be discriminatory in its hiring. For example, one court ordered the police department to meet a quota of 30 percent female officers by 1986 -- 10 years following the court's decision, she said. But almost 20 years later, the city has not yet met this quota. Seymore added that 75 percent of management jobs in utility companies are occupied by white males, while only six percent are occupied by minority females. Sociology Professor Elijah Anderson offered another definition of affirmative action. It "is a redistribution of opportunities," he said. "It incorporates people into the system." "The system" was also referred to by Angel Ortiz, a Philadelphia city councilman, who said that it "systematically made you ashamed of?your culture and heritage?and stereotyped you into a box." He recounted an experience when he was told he could not run for City Council because he is Puerto Rican. Ortiz added that he is proud to have eventually run for office and to have been elected. Kevin Vaughn, the executive director of the Philadelphia Commission of Human Relations, was worried that the government might end affirmative action programs. If it is abolished, Vaughn said he believes that the government should "criminalize discrimination" as another form of promoting equality of opportunity. Major Barnett, a graduate student in the School of Social Work, agreed that affirmative action is necessary to "promote equality and fairness in society." Wharton freshman David Lu said that without affirmative action "a white male–dominated society will continue." He said that being Asian, he was against affirmative action "in terms of college admissions." "If it was based on meritocracy there would be a majority of Asians," he explained.