I agree with the below, though obviously reasonable people can disagree on the remedy. The below is why I think the case for affirmative action for African Americans is a very serious one. Where we perhaps disagree is over whether Latinos are "raced" in anything near the same way as African Americans. High rates of intermarriage, self-identification as whites or as members of country specific immigrant groups (Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, etc., not "Hispanics"), wide variation in economic success among groups from different countries, etc., suggests not. Perhaps there is social science data to prove me wrong that I haven't seen, but I don't think that most whites or most Latinos think of Latinos as being a minority "race," and even fewer would if government and universities didn't insist on classifying them as such. A related observation is that most discussions of affirmative action begin with a disclaimer that the programs at issue don't apply only to African Americans, but then the discussion proceeds as if they do (see Schuck's otherwise wonderful book for an excellent example).
In a message dated 6/27/2003 3:54:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I think the problem is the confusion of race discrimination with economic disadvantage. Race is not simply an economic class problem, i.e., that minorities are disproprotionately poorer and thus have fewer advantages. Rather, race discrimination is a race problem. Minorities are disadvantaged because of the society's attitudes about race, and they are racially disadvantaged, even if they neverthelesss manage to become more affluent, or integrated, etc. Race still affects their lives. And it affects their lives no matter how much they might want to ignore race. Other people race them, regardless of whether they want to be raced or not.
