Anyone reading this blog who continues to believe affirmative action makes sense (I know it’s unlikely, but maybe someone stumbled on this site by mistake and couldn’t figure out how to leave) should take a look at this video, the link to which was sent by an attentive reader. It’s about an apparently still thriving group of descendants of Southern slaveholders who fled to Brazil after The War rather than live under the Yankee boot.
One odd thing about this community of expat Southerners, now Brazilians, is that their sons and daughters now qualify for affirmative action, as Hispanics, if they apply to selective American colleges.
And why not? As I quoted David Bernstein earlier this year in “Diversity” Is Not Diverse,
Hispanics can be the direct descendants of Spanish conquistadors, their indigenous victims, African slaves, immigrants from anywhere in the world, or any combination of these. Hispanics’ ancestors have come to the U.S. from any one of twenty-one very diverse Spanish-speaking countries, plus possibly Portugal, Brazil, and other countries, depending on exactly how the category is defined. So what exactly justifies singling out Hispanics for preferences, but not members of other groups?
Since the Census Bureau now regards Portugal (and hence presumably Brazil, whose language is Portuguese) as Hispanic, are no doubt as entitled to affirmative action preferences as … Italians or Germans from Argentina.
