Whether people believe affirmative action is a necessary tool for equality or a harmful and unfair policy, the topic inspires heated opinions in many.
Yesterday evening, students and community members assembled in the Crest Room of the Arch Building to listen to a debate on affirmative action with regard to higher education admissions.
The pro-affirmative action side was represented by Shanta Driver, a lawyer from a Detroit civil liberties firm and representative of BAMN, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary.
Justin Shubow, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, represented the opposition, while Ed Brockenbrough, doctoral student in the Penn Graduate School of Education, moderated.
Brockenbrough urged participants and audience members to "attack ideas, not individuals."
The debate began with opening statements, a moderated question-and-answer session, and was followed by questions from audience.
Driver began by reviewing the history of higher education, citing, for example, that of out of 5,000 law students in top schools in 1965, only four were black.
According to Driver, GPA and test scores should not be the only criteria taken into account during the admission process.
Affirmative action laws "are as essential now as they were 35 years ago," she argued.
In response, Shubow outlined the basic claims of his argument -- that affirmative action is unjust and that its negative effects outweigh the benefits.
Shubow argued that affirmative action violates the Fourteenth Amendment by denying qualified students equal consideration in the admissions process.
He also presented data stating that only 14 percent of the beneficiaries of affirmative action are of the lower class.
"Why not focus on people who need it most?" Shubow proposed. "The ends simply don't justify the means," he added.
"Race is not the same as class," Driver countered, adding that there is an "independent experience based on race which is not the same as being poor."
For example, racial profiling affects both rich and poor blacks, Driver argued.
Afterwards, a large crowd gathered around Shubow, discussing the implications of his anti-affirmative action stance.
Approximately 50 students attended the event, sponsored by the United Minorities Council and SPEC Connaissance as part of Unity Week 2003.
"I thought that Justin made some blatantly racist remarks," College senior Kamaria Shauri said, noting that it was "good to see a large crowd and not just the usual suspects."
"Shanta Driver did a good job of expressing the inter-sectionality of affirmative action," College senior Yvonne Shirley said, adding that, "Justin did a good job of highlighting the inherently racist undertones of anti-affirmative action."
