From the Houston Chronicle, but similar stories can be found all over:
A coalition of black leaders is asking Houstonians to support an upcoming civil rights march on Washington, protesting what they call efforts to roll back affirmative action policies.This raises two questions in my mind.The April 1 march hopes to influence the Supreme Court, which is considering a pivotal lawsuit filed against affirmative action admission programs at the University of Michigan.
(1) Do these people really think that this is an effective tactic? For influencing Congress or the president, perhaps, although I suspect that on this issue, minds are already made up. But for influencing the Supreme Court? I'm not naive enough to think that the justices live in ivory towers ("I don't know If the Constitution follows the flag, but the Supreme Court follows the election returns."), but they also don't have to stand for re-election. By design, they're insulated from the political winds.
Moreover, it's not as if the march adds new information into the political debate; this isn't a hot new topic like war in Iraq. They're deciding an old issue, affirmative action, about which the passionate views of each side are well known and firmly established. With regard to Iraq, an observer might react to a march on Washington by saying, "Gosh, I didn't realize so many people felt so strongly about this, and I didn't realize the wide variety of opponents." But in the affirmative action debate, I think everybody is pretty clear on who supports, who opposes, and how deep the feelings are on each side. So how useful is this march really going to be?
(2) Would these marchers want a Supreme Court that made decisions based not on the law, but on public demonstrations? Certainly many decisions involving civil rights, including the crucial Brown vs. Board of Education, would never have been made at the time they were if they were put up to popular vote. Not that Brown is going to be repealed anytime soon, of course, but certainly there are other decisions that minorities care about that are less popular. And so you would think that a political minority would be especially sensitive about sending the message that courts should make decisions based on popularity of the resulting policies.
Comments (7)
It's theater, not politics! It's a crucial distinction:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110002122
Posted by Poop | March 27, 2003 3:50 AM
Posted on March 27, 2003 03:50
Thanks for reminding me of that piece; I read it when it was published, but it's great for explaining the psychology of so many "activists."
Posted by David Nieporent | March 27, 2003 4:59 AM
Posted on March 27, 2003 04:59
The blacks just want attention, which is really what affirmative action is all about anyway - racism. They want us all to be racially biased - toward the blacks. They don't really want to have to work for what those that have it have; they want it given to them (maybe because they know they're, for the most part, incapable of creating/getting it for themselves?). They really don't want what they say affirmative action is all about - total and true integration into society. If they had that, they would have to actually fend for themselves, which would mean that they would have to actually get educations, jobs, etc. Nope, what they want is more attention, read:"their asses kissed!"
Posted by Anonymous | March 28, 2003 6:29 AM
Posted on March 28, 2003 06:29
At least we know racism is alive and well.
Posted by Dave S | March 29, 2003 12:56 AM
Posted on March 29, 2003 00:56
Sadly, yes, democrats and many blacks have kept raciscm alive and well by continuing to promulgate its existence and continuance. If you keep talking about it, it never goes away - no one will let it. The democrats continue to push it so they can proclaim themselves as the saviors and thereby, after convincing the ignorant to elect them to public office, have the power and access to public money that they so desire. (It must be nice to ride around all the time in a limo for which someone else pays.) They then fail to actually "fix" anything, all the while continuing to expound the evil divisions of race, class, etc. so they can once again set themselves up as the solution, etc., etc. - and so the cycle continues.
Posted by Anonymous | March 29, 2003 6:12 AM
Posted on March 29, 2003 06:12
Blacks do it by continuing to insist that, simply because minorities are fewer in number in comparison with other racial groups, they are inferior [Were the whites in South Africa automatically considered "inferior" because their numbers were fewer than blacks?] and, hence, need "affirmative action," which, in reality, entirely defeats the conjecture that "all men are created equal." Jesse Jackson had made a living - a fortune, in fact - off pushing racism. If all men and women would live their lives without grovelling for the free societal handout, if we would all make our way based upon competitive merit, and not some contrived system that rewards those who don't really want to make it on their own, our world would be a much better place, and racism would finally disappear. Again, racism continues because the selfish do not REALLY want it to go away. Just what have the democrat politicians done over the last 35 years to TRULY advance the cause of ALL peoples and get rid of racism? Affirmative action? If we really wanted racism to go away, we would no longer pay it any mind, and our children would grow up in a healthy world in which race is no longer an issue and racial lines no longer exist. Oh, and it would help if we would stop voting for democrap politicians, and the public school system should be eliminated, thereby engendering competition in the (private) educational system - suddenly, the masses would be SMART! BUT, I doubt if ANY politician would favor the abolition of the departments of education and the teachers' unions because the public would then become truly educated and would see through their prevarications (and, hence, wouldn't elect those who lie). Think about it - has the American citizen become more - or less - educationally proficient during this same past 35 years? Sadly, Americans have, for the most part, dropped in comparison with the citizens of several (quite a few, actually) other countries; we have become, as a whole, much *more* ignorant due to our poor educational system.
Posted by Anonymous | March 29, 2003 6:13 AM
Posted on March 29, 2003 06:13
Sadly, none of it will change soon. We don't REALLY want it to. We talk alot about it (sort of like clinton claiming to "care about the children..."), but the continuing talk keeps racism alive, and nothing really gets done. The potential is there, inasmuch as all men ARE created equal, but there are those who are able continue to pull the wool over (most of) our eyes while they ensure the continuance of the evil that satisfies their selfishness, all while the citizens fail to see what is smack in front of their faces.
Posted by Anonymous | March 29, 2003 6:13 AM
Posted on March 29, 2003 06:13