Garbanzo Toons

Another Reason to Reject Affirmative Action

This November, thanks to that scourge of the race hustlers, Ward Connerly, Michigan voters will have a chance to overturn current Affirmative Action laws. Mr. Connerly, of course, has been villified by the Michigan Press, business leaders, government officials, and others who want to present themselves as progressive thinkers, sensitive to the needs of the downtrodden and abused in society. We've been told that anyone who doesn't support Affirmative Action is a racist, misogynist, homophobic, klan-loving, swastika-wearing pimple on the bunghole of humanity. We have further been warned that if this anti-Affirmative Action initiative passes, Michigan will return to the dark ages. Our economy will suffer becuase businesses won't do business here. (As if the decline of the car companies haven't trashed our economy already). Women will be forced back into the kitchen where they will remain for the rest of their lives, barefoot and pregnant, unless they go skulking off for back-alley abortions. Blacks will once again be forced to ride in the back of the bus. This will lead to the return of lynching as Blacks are pushed back into slavery. Japanese-Americans will be forced into interment camps. Mexicans will be mocked by stereotypical cartoon characters. Gays and lesbians will be spat upon, harassed, and ignored as they die from AIDS. We will all be forced to listen to the music of Pat Boone and Lawrence Welk. That's just the beginning. I don't even want to get into the truly awful predictions.

But according to this article by Amy Harmon in the April 12th NY Times;

Alan Moldawer's adopted twins, Matt and Andrew, had always thought of themselves as white. But when it came time for them to apply to college last year, Mr. Moldawer thought it might be worth investigating the origins of their slightly tan-tinted skin, with a new DNA kit that he had heard could determine an individual's genetic ancestry.

The results, designating the boys 9 percent Native American and 11 percent northern African, arrived too late for the admissions process. But Mr. Moldawer, a business executive in Silver Spring, Md., says they could be useful in obtaining financial aid.

"Naturally when you're applying to college you're looking at how your genetic status might help you," said Mr. Moldawer, who knows that the twins' birth parents are white, but has little information about their extended family. "I have three kids going now, and you can bet that any advantage we can take we will."

Yep, take any advantage you can. It's an entitlement, right? So who's entitled? Keep reading.

Given the tests' speculative nature, it seems unlikely that colleges, governments and other institutions will embrace them. But that has not stopped many test-takers from adopting new DNA-based ethnicities — and a sense of entitlement to the privileges typically reserved for them.

Prospective employees with white skin are using the tests to apply as minority candidates, while some with black skin are citing their European ancestry in claiming inheritance rights.

One Christian is using the test to claim Jewish genetic ancestry and to demand Israeli citizenship, and Americans of every shade are staking a DNA claim to Indian scholarships, health services and casino money.

[. . . ]

On its Web site, a leader in this cottage industry, DNA Print Genomics, once urged people to use it "whether your goal is to validate your eligibility for race-based college admissions or government entitlements."

This is the type of game Affirmative Action necessarily leads to. We all want our "piece of the pie". We are entitled!

"If someone appears to be white and then finds out they are not, they haven't experienced the kinds of things that affirmative action is supposed to remedy," said Lester Monts, senior vice provost for student affairs at the University of Michigan, which won the right to use race as a factor in admissions in a 2003 Supreme Court decision.

Does this mean that all non-whites have had the same experiences? Is there a "list-your-grievance" form to document the racist taunts you suffered growing up to make sure you qualify for the proper entitlement?

Still, Michigan, like most other universities, relies on how students choose to describe themselves on admissions applications when assigning racial preferences.

Ashley Klett's younger sister marked the "Asian" box on her college applications this year, after the elder Ms. Klett, 20, took a DNA test that said she was 2 percent East Asian and 98 percent European.

Whether it mattered they do not know, but she did get into the college of her choice.

"And they gave her a scholarship," Ashley said.

So you pick the ethnic group of your choice and the assumption is that you have suffered . . . unless you're white. White people have never suffered. Oh wait, unless they are female or gay.

Shonda Brinson, an African-American college student, is still trying to figure out how best to apply her DNA results on employment forms.

In some cases, she has chosen to write in her actual statistics — 89 percent sub-Saharan African, 6 percent European and 5 percent East Asian. But she figures her best bet may be just checking all relevant boxes.

"That way, of the three categories they won't be able to determine which percentage is bigger," Ms. Brinson said.

This is quite a game. When my children were born, my wife and I decided to play this game. Rather than having my children look forward to a lifetime of being left behind because they are white, we took advantage of the fact that my wife's grandfather was Mexican. That makes our children one eighth hispanic, so you're darn right we checked that box on their birth certificate. As long as the game is rigged, it's human nature to try to have it rigged in our favor. And I'm only human.

If we cut out all the race-based games and require everyone to compete based on their own skills, we won't have to waste our time and energy trying to find a way to beat a corrupt Affirmative Action system.

Labels: Affirmative Action, Ward Connerly

posted by Harry @ 6:24 PM