Negative View of Affirmative Action – For a discussion of affirmative action by a journalist who has been on the receiving end but grown disillusioned with it, see Linda Walker’s eloquent essay in the Christian Science Monitor. (Tip from Howard Bashman.) The gist, and more, is conveyed by the opening paragraphs much better than I could summarize:
Quiet as it is kept, a few corporate jobs are earmarked for people of a particular race. We all know it, but most of us are smart enough not to let on that we know. Not me, of course. I just can’t keep a secret.
The managing editor at a metropolitan newspaper once offered me a job as assistant city editor. I had talent, initiative, and the respect of my colleagues, he said admiringly. Then, he quickly got to his real problem. “We need a black on the metro desk,” he confided. “We don’t have one.”
That sort of ruined our special moment together. “You have a job for a black assistant city editor and you wish to give it to me?” I said in disbelief. I could tell by his pained expression he was wondering if somebody had forgotten to send out the “stuff we all know but are too smart to talk about” memo.
My policy of taking actions that affirm my worth began on that day in that room. I turned the job down on the spot. “If ever you have an opening for a white assistant city editor, please let me know,” I said. “That is the job I have earned.”
That’s bull