Comments on: Affirmative Action: Why Is Ward Connerly Wrong?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:50:46 +0000

I recently debated with an instructor about affirmative action. According to the law, I am a minority (Latino) but by identity I am the typical American rugged individual. I believe that affirmative action does not solve the two problems it attempts to solve: racism and poverty. I don’t think that poor blacks and poor Latinos should be advantaged more than poor whites. Moreover, if I was the recipient of affirmative action (that is, an active program to find my work or education simply because people of the same skin color as me are generally speaking impoverished) I would be offended, and I would feel insulted. The implication would be that, for reasons of race alone, I am somehow less capable than a white person, which is condescension, and perhaps the most offensive form of discrimination, I am currently an honors double-major in Political Science and Sociology with a 3.8+ GPA, and I will graduate with no debt.

By: lee cohen

lee cohen — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:28:18 +0000

Luke I think Ward Connerly is right when he pushes the notion that discrimination for or against folks based on their “race” ultimately hurts the folks we’re trying to help. And just as the formal discrimination of decades ago looks crazy today, so too will affirmative action look foolish. The sooner we quit judging people by the amount of melanin in their skin, the better!

By: S S

S S — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:06:32 +0000

Dear White Guy,

While I, as an Asian-American, do believe in Affirmative Action in colleges (as a plus factor and not a quote system) for a diversity of perspectives necessary for a utopia of learning, I must agree with one point in Connerly’s article – many of the Asians going to UCs are going to the same exact schools as the black and latinos who are not achieving near the level of Asians who also live in poor neighborhoods. While there are other factors to consider, and regardless of Connerly’s motivations, this circumstance cannot be ignored. While you quote Eric Holder, I find that you do the same thing as many white and black and now, Latino, people discussing race do – ignore Asians.