Leveling the Playing Field

I'm not one for arguing social politics. A more cool-headed person might mentally gather facts and statistics to rebut her opponent's argument during a debate, but I find myself envisioning brutal ways I can silence my opponent forever and save the world from his or her asinine point-of-view.

But while most other forms of corruption seem to be allowed in the political arena, murder is not. So on some occasions I am forced to take the even-tempered route in delivering my point, and this is one such occasion.

Last Monday the College Republicans held a bake sale to protest the "inequities of affirmative action." The pastry sold was priced so that certain minorities paid much less for their bags of sweets than whites. Had the young republicans given any thought to the discrimination that gave rise to the need for programs that facilitate equality, they most likely would have recognized the bake sale for the farce it was.

A black female buying a bag of cookies for 40 cents while a white man would pay $1 for the same bag seems unfair until all the factors are considered. One of the major oversights of the premise of the sale is that this black female and this white male are worlds apart in their socio-economic standings. This gap is heavily influenced by the fact that while white families still benefit from many generations of acquired wealth passed down, black families are relatively fresh from years of oppression and discrimination.

In his book "The Hidden Cost of Being African American," Thomas Shapiro points out how inequalities are inherited.

"Inherited assets are not earned," states Shapiro. "Wealth has a special character because it is something that is handed down in families, and thus can represent the cumulative advantages and disadvantages of previous eras visiting the present."

Even after blacks found themselves already three centuries behind in the economic structure of the United States after slavery, immeasurable discrimination in the pre-civil rights era pigeonholed them in the minimum-minimum wage jobs. They were forced to take them, since no white employer who wished to remain favorable with his constituents would place a black employee in a noteworthy position.

It was only when the Nixon administration wanted to combat inflation in housing costs in the '60s and early '70s that tentative efforts were made to coax employers to hire blacks in labor under the Philadelphia Plan.

Integration of the labor force was anything but welcomed.

George Meany, president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) during the Nixon administration summed up the conservative opinion on integrating the workforce.

"'When I was a plumber,' Meany remarked, 'it never occurred to me to have niggers in the union,'" Dean J. Kotlowski quotes in his articles "Richard Nixon and the Origins of Affirmative Action."

This kind of sentiment was rampant up until the late '60s, and the wishy-washy beginnings of programs to facilitate equality in employment didn't begin to stand on solid ground until the early to mid '70s.

The early leaders of this country had to force slave masters to put down their whips after 300 years of slavery, legislators had to force school districts to integrate after decades of segregation, presidents in the '60s and '70s had to force employers to hire blacks after generations of discrimination. It has only been 40 years of legitimate efforts to level the playing field and conservatives are already crying foul.

Critics of affirmative action such as Jay Ballentine, the lone black face on the side of the Republicans at the bake sale, say they don't want affirmative action to hang over the heads of blacks in noteworthy positions. But until minorities no longer make up the majority of those living below the poverty line and until predominantly black neighborhoods receive the necessary advantages to build worthwhile communities, a check needs to be in place. We must ensure that it will occur to people like George Meany "to have niggers in the union."

Ballentine voiced his great worry that whites will one day look at his kid's accomplishments and say they are products of affirmative action.

I would rather give my children the opportunity to prove the critics wrong than have them fall victim to the inequality and discrimination that still lurks inside reluctant employers and admissions officers.