The Affirmative Action Debate

Rating:
Summary: The title alone gives offense
Review: I have never given a one-star review, I am not unsympathetic to the emotions behind the pro-affirmative action side, but the title of this book infuriates me.

It is, in no stretch of the definition, a "debate" -- and it is intellectually offensive for the editors to attempt to pass it off as one. It is, instead, an almost entirely one-sided, exceedingly-pro-affirmative action screed.

Many of the essays in the book have merit; some are even persuasive. Yet the philosophical blinders evidenced in the gross partisanship of this book are THE most telling part of the story.

Don't you get it? This is why the pro-affirmative action side is doomed to eventual failure, after much (unnecessary) flailing...there is an *assumption* that this program is (now) an absolute minimum for social justice, and anyone who disagrees is, almost as a definitional precept: A Racist. The dangers are foreboding, and I'm not sure how our leaders are going to learn how to back down.

I am, in a way, African Americans' worst nightmare: I am white, male, socially very liberal, fiscally very conservative, and I'm growing tired of the constant attacks based solely on one-dimensional characteristics. I hope -- I truly do -- that African Americans will wake up and stop blaming everyone else for their ills. Yes, slavery was awful. Yet it was a fact of life, everywhere in the world (and still is, to this day, a fact of life in parts of the Middle East and Africa). Yes, the deprivations of modern day urban life are debilitating. But so they were for tens of millions of immigrants who moved on.

Get over it.

This is, I know, harsh. Yet it is also Tough Love. Both parts are crucial, as elder African Americans know. Move on, and move up. Stop asking for anything and everything -- and start demanding of yourself. Work twice as hard, and I will fight along side you to protect what you EARN. Keep whining about what is owed to you, and many, MANY will begin to grow tired of the endless complaining. Legitimate or not, it (the whining) is cancerous.

The better path for African Americans is education (academic and vocational) and ENTREPRENEURSHIP. This latter path, sadly lost to history, should be THE central focus of all leaders, today.

This is a warning. I hope I am wrong, but I fear I am not. I too have a dream: I hope the pseudo-philosophical screeching on either side subsides, and cooler (and more earnest) heads and hearts prevail.

Please, all, let's change our ways.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent source of a variety of views on this issue.
Review: I purchased this book as an individual who was undecided about this issue, although with a leaning toward viewing affirmative action programs with strict scrutiny. In my opinion this book provided a well rounded and fair presentation of this issue. I found it to be an excellent source of information and arguments written by some truly great minds, co-editor Cornel West the most prominent among them. I would highly recommend this book to everyone with an open mind who wishes to gain greater insight and more information on this issue. While I am still undecided on this issue, I know I am much better informed, and better for that.

Rating:
Summary: Boo! Hiss!
Review: This 400 page book was a waste of time. But there were a lot of information in it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and balanced collection of essays.
Review: This book contains an excellent collection of essays by some of the greatest minds of this generation, including Cornel West, Manning Marable, and many others. I would recommend this book solely for the purpose of reading a copy of Lydon B. Johnson's commencement address at Howard University in 1965. Overall an excellent, and fair collection which should cause individuals on either side of this issue to reexamine their respective position on this debate.

Rating:
Summary: The most balanced treatment of a most misunderstood issue.
Review: This book is arguably the most balanced treatment of one of the most poorly understood issues in contemporary American public policy. I read it when it first came out in 1996, and I feel that I a much better informed citizen on affirmative action as a result. This books is a collection of essays that present all sides of the debate on affirmative action from well-known scholars, businessmen, political and civic leaders. It dispels many of the misconceptions of the policy while highlighting its inherent flaws, explains the goals of the policy in its intended form, and includes two all but forgotten perspectives - that of women and Asian-Americans.

A very good and easy read, anyone with a desire to have as broad an understanding as possible on affirmative should buy and read this book.

Rating:
Summary: The most balanced treatment of a most misunderstood issue.
Review: This book is arguably the most balanced treatment of one of the most poorly understood issues in contemporary American public policy. I read it when it first came out in 1996, and I feel that I a much better informed citizen on affirmative action as a result. This books is a collection of essays that present all sides of the debate on affirmative action from well-known scholars, businessmen, political and civic leaders. It dispels many of the misconceptions of the policy while highlighting its inherent flaws, explains the goals of the policy in its intended form, and includes two all but forgotten perspectives - that of women and Asian-Americans.

A very good and easy read, anyone with a desire to have as broad an understanding as possible on affirmative should buy and read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Really want to understand the issue? Read this book
Review: This publication does an excellent job of addressing this most sensitive and complex issue from all sides (liberal, conservative, ignorant), clarifying its legal, political and social significance. It should be manadatory reading, especially for all journalists in this country, whose botched -- essentially useless -- coverage shows how unfamiliar many really are with affirmative-action realities. "Debate" addresses court decisions, executive orders and legislation involving employment, education and government contracting. And thankfully it's well-organized enough so that readers truly open to understanding the issue are easily able to discern the incendiary rhetoric and willfully blind misinformation of the William Bradford Reynolds and Linda Chavezes from the thoughtful and rational analyses of Civil Rights Commission Chairperson Mary Frances Berry and pollster Lou Harris. It sheds light on nonrace-based forms of affirmative action that opponents don't like to talk about -- like so-called "legacies" in education (relatives of alumni). It discusses who actually benefits most from affirmative action -- white women. Whether you support or oppose these programs, if you honestly want to understand the issue, read this book.