Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 November 2006 — Page 21

The Muncie Times • November 16, 2006 • Page 21

The Judge s Chambers

America will lose

without Affirmitive Action

The Wednesday after the elections, many of the country’s progressive thinkers celebrated the Democratic victories. Civil rights activists, however, were mourning what appears to be the beginning of the end of affirmative action as we know it. Affirmative action was implemented by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 as a way to assist oppressed groups in achieving equality. Over the years, affirmative action policies have taken hits, but the nation’s courts, both low and h igh, upheld the law. More than 40 years later, the American people are voting down affirmative action, state by state. On election day, Michigan voters decided to do away with affirmative action. The law’s opponents are ecstatic; they say affirmative action is nothing more than reverse discrimination and believe that, ultimately, it will harm America. Since the courts have failed to agree with this thinking, there are plans to take this issue to each state and give it to the people to decide. Michigan was the first step and this victory has given the misguided cause a boost. But, this country only has to look to California to see what happens when there are no laws in place to protect historically oppressed populations. Ten years ago this

November, the people of California voted to prohibit public institutions from giving preferential treatment based on race, sex, or ethnicity. According to Newsweek mag azine, the law school at the University of California at Berkeley, one of California’s top universities, enrolled only one black student the year after Proposition 209 passed; 268 students were admitted to the law school that year. Ten years later, the University of California at Los Angeles projected that only 96 of the 5,000 freshmen enrolled in the fall of 2006 were black. Students aren’t the only ones losing out: without the guarantee of a certain percentage of government contracts, many minority firms in California went out of business. With no law in place to protect them, historically underrepresented populations “i.e. people of color and women” no longer have the access to the opportunities they need to thrive. Women and people of color aren’t the only ones who’ll lose ground if other states follow California and Michigan and vote down affirmative action policies. Already, this country is losing ground in the global marketplace to countries like China and India where many of our engineering and customer service jobs are outsourced. These countries

are producing more college graduates at much faster rates than the U.S. If large segments of our population are unable to access a quality education, this country will never be able to compete. Without affirmative action, minority owned businesses won’t be able to compete with larger corporations and many of this country’s citizens will never be able to realize their version of the American dream. Until a better solution for addressing race and gender disparities in hiring and education is

Judge Greg Mathis Chairman of the Rainbow t PUSH- Excel Board land a national member of rthe Southern Christian Leadership Conference

developed, this country self, affirmative action must support and uphold must stay, the policies that currently stand. Racial and econom- Judge Greg Mathis is ic justice is a national national vice president of issue; the states, and indi- Rainbow PUSH and a viduals, cannot be left to national board member of make this decision. If the Southern Christian America is to sustain her- Leadership Conference.

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