Affirmative action is "un-American, immoral, and doesn't [create] racial equality," said author Abigail Thernstrom, one of four speakers at a recent panel discussion on the contentious topic. Others argued equally strenuously in favor of affirmative action policies.
Harvard professor emeritus Nathan Glazer launched the discussion, stressing the complexity of affirmative action. One of its earliest critics, he now supports affirmative action in higher education but not in government contracts. Glazer said his reading of history is that racial preferences for contracts don't strengthen a group's entrepreneurial drive. Government contracts based on affirmative action invite fraud, he said, as when white men hire women CEOs solely to win contracts. "Absolute rules aren't going to work," Glazer said. "We need to work this out issue by issue, area by area, and solve it politically."
Sharon Herzberger, a professor of psychology and vice president of student services at Trinity College, said most people are "cognitive misers" who tend to rely on categories and stereotypes. This, she said, creates an ongoing need for affirmative action. It takes effort and practice for employers to overcome bias and resist the urge to hire only people like themselves, she said. "Without affirmative action, we're left with cognitive biases, miserly thinking, and, inevitably, racism."
Author Abigail Thernstrom's remarks captured much of the evening; she opposes all racial preferences. A member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, Thernstrom focused on the K-12 educational issue. "The racial gap starts here and this should be solved," she said, supporting her belief with reports and studies. "Through [educational reform], we can achieve racial equality." She said America should make solving the K-12 "disaster" our number-one priority. "I don't care if a few more or a few less black students attend Yale; I want to see all those black kids who are receiving failing grades on standardized tests educated."
Affirmative action, Thernstrom said, is "un-American, immoral, and doesn't [create] racial equality." She spoke about "The Shape of the River," a new book that has riveted the country with its view of the consequences of affirmative action in selective schools' admissions. Attacking it as "offensive," she derided the authors, former Ivy League presidents William G. Bowen and Derek Bok, among other reasons, for claiming that their institutions had created the black middle class. "It's Yale or jail [for African Americans], if you believe this book," she said.
SGA president Amanda Sapir analyzed how recently passed electoral propositions--though presented as civil rights initiatives--effectively, and from her perspective unfortunately, dismantle affirmative action. Sapir gave many examples of specific affirmative action programs she argued were working.
During a question and answer session, several MHC students of color confronted Thernstrom on her opposition to affirmative action. Capping the discussion was Director of Diversity and Inclusion Rochelle Calhoun, who noted that the evening demonstrated why affirmative action was a yearlong topic for the inclusiveness program.
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