National affirmative action debate spurs on

By: Jessica Bassett/Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis American

Posted: 1/11/09

ST. LOUIS (NNPA) - On Nov. 4, amid all the excitement surrounding Barack Obama's election, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down a Pentagon Program that included five-percent set-aside contracting for minority-owned companies.

The impact of the decision is unclear, but on that same day, Nebraska voters supported an anti-affirmative action initiative by a margin of 58 to 42 percent. They thus joined voters in California, Washington and Michigan, who banned affirmative action programs in previous years.

Obama's historic achievement is being seen by some as proof that affirmative action programs are no longer needed.

"It would be a big mistake for people to look into the White House, see a beautiful family there and then say the struggle is over," said George Curry, a journalist and affirmative action expert. "The proof that we don't need affirmative action is when major corporations and higher institutions represent our composition in society."

Curry, author of "The Affirmative Action Debate," said one problem with affirmative action is that most people fail to accurately define it.

"Affirmative action has never been just for Black people," Curry said. "White women have benefited more from affirmative action than any minority group."

By definition, affirmative action (a term coined in the 1960s) was developed to ensure that applicants were treated equally without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

It proved controversial, as many White males hollered reverse discrimination by claiming that they were losing government jobs to less-qualified women and racial minorities.

The Supreme Court ruled 30 years ago that universities could use race as one factor in choosing applicants but could not set quotas. Subsequent court rulings and state referendums placed more restrictions on affirmative action.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209, which barred government institutions from using preferential treatment based on race or gender in employment, education and contracting.

The law had significant effects on higher education, with UC Berkeley seeing a 61 percent drop in admissions of African Americans, Latinos and Native American students. UCLA had a 36 percent decline.

Opponents of affirmative action argue that Obama's election eliminates the need for special programs for Blacks, while states like Missouri struggle to keep their affirmative action programs afloat.

President-elect Obama has called traditional affirmative action "absolutely necessary."

During a Democratic debate in April, Obama told George Stephanopoulos his primary priority would be "providing ladders of opportunity" and making sure "every child in America has a decent shot in pursuing their dreams."

In his March speech on race in Philadelphia, he made clear that America needs these programs to address the legacy of discrimination.

He noted that legalized discrimination in FHA loans, for example, prevented Blacks from borrowing to purchase homes, leaving older Blacks with little accumulated wealth to pass down to generations.

He also pointed out that many African Americans continue to attend inferior, segregated schools, to live in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty and to grow up in single-parent households, all of which are connected to some degree to discrimination.

"We're over-represented on the football field and basketball court but not where it counts," said Curry, who benefited from affirmative action as a first-generation college graduate.

Affirmative action proponents say Obama's campaign, which attempted to transcend race, is proof that the system is working and should not be dismantled.

"For the first time in the country's history we had two serious minority candidates run for president," Brandon Davis said of Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. Davis is political director of the Missouri/Kansas State Council of the Service Employees International Union and spokesman for the WeCAN Coalition that opposed banning affirmative action programs in Missouri institutions.

Like Obama, Davis suggested that affirmative action programs should be expanded to include class.

Curry disagrees, asserting that the needs of poor Whites should be addressed through antipoverty measures. As the country moves toward multiculturalism, it would be in the best interest for corporations to hire non-Whites, Curry said.

According to projections from the U.S. Census Bureau, ethnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the nation's population by 2042.