Greetings Ben and others:
Perhaps we should organize a convenient time for Black folk in this
community to get together to discuss affirmative action. I love my brotha
Katim and don't know what he said, but I am concerned when I hear our own
folks talking about "merit" in this country. Many of us, or dare I say
most (especially in this state, which leads the country in poverty among
Black people-65% and rising), do not live or have not grown under the
conditions that would allow us to compete and be accepted on the basis of
our merit--in employment situations, higher education, etc. For example,
how can we expect very talented children who go to schools where there are
no Advanced Placement courses or very few honors courses and little money
in the family, and were they could not take Algebra in 8th grade, to
compete with students who go to wealthy/resource rich schools that have
teachers with MS degrees & Ph.D.'s, a litenany of AP and honors courses,
and have parents that can pay for them to take special SAT and ACT prep
courses? This is a tremendous factor in student preparation and our
schools, and these criteria do weigh heavily in the admissions process of
many colleges and universities.
So many of our children start out way behind in the education and training
game, but we expect them to catch up, compete, and be admitted and hired on
the sole basis of the ever subjective criteria called "merit" when we have
done little to guide them and open doors for them. What if what you feel
you "merit", I find terribly invaluable for the situation I am trying to
address. For example, so many people think that a Harvard education makes
them more qualified then the rest of us and will raise questions about any
person of color who is hired ahead of them who do not share the same
credentials. What if I am trying to market product and need a skilled
communicator and found someone with less education credentials but greater
skill who went to UW-Whitewater? What if I found someone who can
specifically attract the audience/clientel that I am after? What if I am a
graduate admissions counselor or chair of a graduate department and see the
necessity to diversify our talent pool so that we can achieve what the
university is intended to do--meet the needs of the people, communities,
institutions, and society they serve? Should I select a white student from
Hayward Wisconsin with a 3.8 college GPA and high GRE scores or should I
select a Latina young women from Fresno, CA with 2.6 GPA and moderate GRE
scores? Well if I am intendending to meet the pressing needs of society
and have every indication via these students essays that the Latina young
women has focus, commitment, and the talent to succeed in my program and
contribute the profession and her community, then that is the woman that I
would go with.
I guess I don't understand what you mean by "merit", so if you would please
explain, I would greatly appreciate. I would also like to know
specifically why folks support or do not support Affirmative Action. Is it
because we lack adequate knowledge on which to base our opinions, or is it
because we simply don't like the idea? When I hear or see people say/write
that they do not like "racial preferences", that raises a red flag telling
me that they do not understand affirmative action, its history,
development, or how it should/does work. Please read "The Shape of the
River" by William Bowen and Derek Bok, the most comprehensive study on
Affirmative Action in higher education to date. Peace.
************************************************************************
Lack of knowledge leads to misguided and ineffective strategies. Lack of
effective strategies leads to ineffective plans. Ineffective plans
increase the likeliness of failure. Failure increases apathy and
diminishes individual commitment. Without commitment and action, our
meetings become pointless, our goals unattainable, and our greatest
advocates begin to disappear.
Kaleem M. S. Caire
Special Projects Director
Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth (WCATY)
2909 Landmark Place
Madison, WI 53713
Phone: (608) 271-1617 ext. 22
Fax: (608) 271-8080
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
WCATY Web Site: www.wcaty.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Weller, Ben [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2000 9:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Let us embrace diversity of viewpoints!
There is a tradition in America, and indeed in every democracy, that free
speech is sacrosanct. For that matter, it is supposed to be an intellectual
conerstone of our daily discuss on this net, where the clash of ideas and
opinions should take place in civil and delibrative settings.
That has not happened in "conduit's" response to Katim's views expressed on
the radio a couple of days ago. Referring to Katim as "this African with a
doctrate...with a good job etc...is inapproprate and malicious. Affrimative
action is a very delicate issue, and the various parties must approach it
with care and understanding. I am opposed to it for many reasons, one of
which is based on the merit principle, but that does not mean that I am
insensitive to the sacrifices made by our ancestors.
It must be understood by all of us that if we want equality for ourselves
it
must not be at the expense of someone else in society. In other words, to
prevent public discussion of several decades of recial preferences, would
be
tantamount to trampling on over 200 hundred years of our constitutional
right of free speech.
Have a good day.
Ben
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