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| The perfect comic for illustrating affirmative action? |
During Tuesday’s edition of MSNBC’s “The Cycle,” co-host Touré made the argument that without affirmative action in colleges, “the entire leadership of America would become entirely white.”
This, he explained, is barely a “whitewashing of what we already have” in America today.
“The Cycle” hosted Richard Sander and Stuart Taylor Jr., the authors of “Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won’t Admit It.” Touré began by citing the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which called their work “junk science,” in an attempt to discredit them before even allowing them to make their case.
“You suggest that it’s better for these black and brown students to go to second tier schools rather than to go to Harvard or Yale, the first tier schools. The entire Supreme Court comes from Harvard or Yale. Almost all presidents, Harvard or Yale – all the top of corporate America,” Touré said.
“So, if we follow your prescription then the entire leadership of America would become entirely white, which is just a barely whitewashing of what we already have,” he added.What if the government, academia, the military, and private and public employers actually based their hiring decisions on merit? Touré perfectly understands the reality of what affirmative action enables non-white people to achieve in America: what they couldn't achieve were merit the only barometer for success.
Perhaps that's why right after Barack Obama won a second term, an initiative banning affirmative action - that passed in 2006 with 58 percent of the vote - in Michigan was overturned by the Sixth Circuit Court [Affirmative Action Ban in Michigan Is Rejected, New York Times, 11-15-12].
Friends of Toure were popping champagne bottles over this news. Better, those organizations that filed Amicus Curiae Briefs on Behalf of the University of Michigan in the 2003 Supreme Court case on affirmative action were also joining in the popping of corks:
Several organizations have filed briefs on behalf of the University of Michigan in Gratz v. Bollinger & Grutter v. Bollinger
88 colleges and universities, both public and private, and more than 50 higher education associations representing virtually every college and university in the nation;
68 Fortune 500 corporations
29 former high-ranking military leaders;
24 U.S. states and territories, the cities of Philadelphia and Cleveland, and the National Conference of Black Mayors;
Labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, AFCSME, and NEA;
Religious organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and seven other Jewish organizations;
More than two dozen members of Congress;
American Education Research Association, American Psychological Association, American Sociological Association, and many other organizations specializing in social science research;
Civil rights organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Urban League, United Negro College Fund, and the ACLU;
A dozen Native American tribes and organizations;
25 Asian/Pacific-American organizations;
Hispanic and Latino organizations, including the New America Alliance;
National Academy of Sciences and Engineering;
18 broadcast media companies and organizations;
Legal organizations and legal education groups, including the American Bar Association and 10 law school deans;
More than 14,000 law students nationwide;
The authors of the 10-percent admissions plan in Texas
A plethora of friends of the court briefs have been filed in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin - a current Supreme Court case being heard on affirmative action deep in the heart of Texas - as well:
An amicus brief submitted by 37 other private colleges — including Amherst College, Tufts University and Williams College — expressed concern as to the potential of the Court’s decision to impact their admissions policies as well.Well, hold your horses [Ruling that outlawed Michigan’s affirmative action ban halted pending Supreme Court appeal, Washington Post, 11-30-12]:
In addition to the briefs submitted by the Ivies and the liberal arts colleges, briefs were submitted by 17 U.S. senators, 66 members of congress, Teach for America, 57 Fortune 100 companies and nearly 1,000 other individuals or institutions.
The ruling that ended Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in college admissions was put on hold Friday until the U.S. Supreme Court decides to hear an appeal by the state’s attorney general.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati issued an order staying its Nov. 15 ruling that the voter-approved mandate was unconstitutional.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a petition Thursday asking the high court to review the ruling.
“The ruling is on hold until the Supreme Court says it will take the appeal,” said Joy Yearout, a spokeswoman for Schuette.
If the high court hears the appeal, the stay will remain until the Supreme Court makes a ruling. If Schuette’s appeal is denied, then the affirmative action ban is ended, she added.
In 2006, Michigan voters amended the state constitution to ban the use of race in choosing students.
In their 8-7 decision, the appeals court said the amendment is illegal because it presents an extraordinary burden to opponents who would have to mount their own long, expensive campaign through the ballot box to protect affirmative action.
That burden “undermines the Equal Protection Clause’s guarantee that all citizens ought to have equal access to the tools of political change,” Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. wrote for the majority on the appeals court.
Schuette said in his petition that the appeals court misapplied the Supreme Court’s “equal-protection precedents.”
“It is exceedingly odd to say that a statute which bars a state from discriminating ... on the basis of race violates the Equal Protection Clause because it discriminates on the basis of race and sex,” Schuette wrote.
Since a 2003 Supreme Court decision, universities have been allowed to use racial preferences if they choose, though they are not compelled to do so. Michigan, Washington, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, California and Florida have banned racial preferences in admissions. Leading public universities in Texas and Georgia use a race-neutral system, though the University of Texas has maintained some use of affirmative action.The one issue that could propel the GOP to a huge midterm electoral victory in 2014, a defense of merit in the hiring of all public or private employees and in the application process of colleges and universities... is one that won't be addressed at all.
We are on our own.
Just read from the list of those filing Amicus Curiae Briefs on behalf of Michigan and Texas, and you'll understand who are allied with Touré in erecting a permanent anti-white structure governing life in America.
We are on our own.
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