Bitter Inheritance
By La Shawn Barber (01/22/03)
I am a beneficiary of race-based policies like the one at the University of Michigan.
In the name of diversity, Michigan gives 20 extra points on a scale of 150 to minority undergraduate students (read: black), and sets quotas for law school admissions. Like many schools, Michigan admits less qualified students in place of those whose academic achievement warrants admission. Unconstitutional on its face, the policy is being challenged as illegally discriminatory to whites.
So goes the bitter inheritance.
Thanks to well-meaning, guilt-ridden whites, I share in the inheritance of race-based stigma with many of my black peers. While never experiencing the harsh oppression my ancestors faced, I've nevertheless benefited in the system because of the color of my skin. As a member of an oppressed race, I convinced myself that the undeserved gains were justifiable.
That justification begins in public schools. Race-based preferences not only set up certain black children to fail by promoting those who aren't prepared for the next grade level, the policy is demeaning. The underlying assumption: Blacks are inherently inferior and cannot be expected to compete with the rest of society. Liberals--who will never admit it--are afraid black students won't be able to compete with white students without an advantage. They're probably right, due in part to an academic achievement gap.
White and Asian students typically perform better than blacks and Hispanics, and the gap continues to widen. By the fourth grade, black students are about two years behind the others; by the eighth grade, about three years behind; by the twelfth grade, about four years behind. The gap persists through college.
Narrowing the gap has nothing to do with race-based preferences and everything to do with high expectations and a rigorous education where academic achievement is stressed in school and in the home.
According to the Center on Education Policy--an independent advocate for public schools--the achievement gap among students shows up early. The Center finds:
-Black and Hispanic students tend to take less rigorous courses. Students in hard classes are challenged by the curriculum and usually earn higher test scores.
-Peer pressure may cause students to scorn academic success. Researchers have found that some poorly performing black students criticize academically successful ones as acting white (Most blacks don't need a study to tell them this). In my own experience, I recall being teased by other black students for talking proper--using correct grammar.
-Student performance anxiety hampers minority students. Black students may become anxious about stereotypes of black inferiority until stereotypes become self-fulfilling prophecies.
Race-based preferences may perpetuate the perception of inferiority. So much for self-esteem.
Public schools must equip students with the necessary tools to compete effectively instead of falling back on the skin game. Black parents also bear responsibility. The same study points to factors at home that affect the achievement of black students. Black parents with low educational attainment are much less likely to encourage rigorous academics. These same parents tend to be less concerned with their children's school performance, homework, or whether they have access to books, libraries and museums. They are less likely to read to their children, an important activity that helps children learn to read.
Ironically, Democrats seem to opposed every program that offers hope to some black students. For example, school vouchers can put black kids into schools where rigorous education and hard work are stressed. According to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, 60% of blacks support school vouchers, particularly younger parents. Vouchers have the potential to inject accountability and competition into the malnourished arm of the public school system. When given a choice of private schools for their kids, black parents are at the front of the line.
To be judged as a group can be comforting to some. To be judged as a stand-alone individual can be intimidating to all. To be an American in the truest sense of the word means to succeed or fail on your own merits. Skin color is not an achievement; it's just a fact. Being an American goes beyond race or gender; it means advocating freedom and fairness.
Although President Bush called the admissions policies at the University of Michigan divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the Constitution, the question remains whether he'll take a broader stand against race-based preferences in all government-funded institutions.
Let this generation be the last one to ever ask, Was I admitted because I'm black?
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