COLUMN: Rethinking affirmative action

From Malik Wilson's, "RosZ," Fall '98 From Malik Wilson's, "RosZ," Fall '98I have always been a strong supporter of affirmative action. For moral, racial and social reasons, affirmative action is, I believe, absolutely necessary for the advancement of our society. Many men and women have secured opportunities that have led to their advancement in society. I have begun to look at affirmative action for what it really is, and to look at the painful ways it harms our society. I have realized that affirmative action is a greater problem than a few luckily placed individuals, but instead reaches to the core of what it means to be American. Rethinking affirmative action has made me consider the people who unfairly gain from the system. Rethinking affirmative action has forced me to examine those who profit too easily by doing too little. It has made me question those who are the greatest abusers of American affirmative action: white students. Many white students I talk to often voice their uneasiness with affirmative action policies. They do not think "unqualified" black and Latino students should be taking "the places" of white students. Because they have never themselves discriminated against a black person, they do not think that they owe anything to them. Besides this being an enormous distortion of what affirmative action policies actually do, this line of argument is a complete non-sequitor. Whether you have ever called someone a "nigger" has no relationship to your identity as someone who benefits from a system that opens critical avenues of access to those with wealth. In the same way, every man, regardless of if he ever insults a woman, benefits from a society in which men are dominant. Simply by being white and being here, you are a product of the system. When I first came to the University of Pennsylvania, I was scared. How would I, coming from my mostly black and Latino public school, be able to compete with white kids from Exeter and Andover. My first few weeks of class were often nervous experiences. But after that, I realized that I was just as smart as all these people. What's more, some of these people -- from the best private and public schools in America -- were dumb. Many students showed little intellectual curiosity or insight, preferring instead to talk about who "hooked up" with whom and how they were going to get alcohol for the weekend. I soon realized that "intelligence" has nothing to do with being at this school. The fact that you got a 1400 on your SAT has nothing to do with how smart you are. It only means that at the school you went to they taught pre-calculus in the eighth grade and made you read Little Women in middle school. And having an "A" average in high school has everything to do with how much you are able to memorize the night before the test and spit out the next morning. What being here ultimately has to do with is power and privilege. If any of your family went to the University of Pennsylvania, you are a product of affirmative action. If any of you are from Hawaii, Wyoming, Louisiana, Utah, Missouri, Michigan or the like, you are a product of affirmative action because you are from an underrepresented state. In both cases, you might have taken the place of someone who is "smarter" than you. If you went to one of the best private or public schools in your area, you are a product of the affirmative action this society grants you, where power and privilege are passed from one generation to the next. This is the affirmative action society gives you because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and a Penn diaper on your bottom. Everyone here has worked hard. But the question is, How hard did you have to work? Did you go to a high school where most people went to college? What about a high school where even most people graduated? Not all of us did. And those who didn't often had to claw their way to the top in a way most people will never understand. The point of this is not to try to make you feel guilty. Guilt is the worse possible emotion anyone should have. But you should be aware. Aware that you are a product of the system as much, if not more, than the black and Latino students you are so quick to criticize. And if you still decide you are against affirmative action, then realize that you are also talking about your friends whose parents and sisters and brothers attended the University. If affirmative action were to be taken away, I, for one, would be sad to see you go.